Buffalo Hunting in Australia

[Kilimanjaro]

Paul,
Great to see that your season went extremely well!
I haven't been on the site in a long time and peeked in to see how you did.
Well done!

We had a fantastic hunt with some great guns and all took some really grand bulls. Mine went 102. I was 110% thrilled to get a crack at him. The other guys took a 105, a 101 and a 97.
Great hunt in a really interesting part of the world. I enjoyed it and hope to get back there sometime for a crack at a banteng on day up on the "burg.

 

[PaulT]

Hey Scotty, great to hear you had a VERY successful hunt.

That's an extremely impressive bag of bulls taken on the one hunt, well done and my sincerest congrats to all involved.

I trust you got your bull at "spitting" distance with your double, I'm sure everyone here would love more details.

Awesome to see more and more hunters travelling Down-Under to hunt our bulls.

Banteng on the "Burg" are a whole different kettle of fish and another awesome hunt for a very unique animal which I'm sure you would enjoy if you could get over the cost of the hunt !

Cheers,

Paul.

 

[Kilimanjaro]

Will do, Paul.
I did a write up when we got back & I forgot to put it onto here.

Not sure if you receive Dangerous Game Hunting magazine but if you do, my buddy Cal Pappas wrote an article in the latest issue about our Aussie hunt.

I'll get the report over here asap.

 

[Kilimanjaro]

Paul

Here's a pic of my personal bull. I'll get a full report up soon.

 

[PaulT]

Scotty, congrats, that's a "proper" buffalo bull.

Regardless of what he scores, he's an advanced aged, mature +, bull with plenty of mass and great horn length as well.

I see from the pic that you didn't give him much of a chance with the two initial hits shown quite close to one another, and well placed too.

I see somewhere else on this site a fellow questioning whether his 450/400 is adequate for buffalo.
Maybe you could enlighten him.

Again, congrats that's going to make a very impressive wall mount (if you have the space !).

Paul.

 

[35bore]

Paul, If and when I end up in OZ, I will look you up I would love to hunt one of these Buff's (big sweaper horns). Congrats on a fantastic season. Never know where my wife and I will end up. Never thought I would hunt in France either, but I killed some bunnies there. Could be in Oz, could be in Japan, if my ass ends up there I'll be killing something.:thumb::thumb: Besides, I require some fresh Fosters...

 

[PaulT]

Thanks for the kind words 35.

And just to provide a little incentive and motivation I've included a pic of a very nice young bull we passed on this season as he just wasn't quite "ripe" enough YET.




Cheers,

Paul.

 

[Wheels]

Paul,

It's been awhile since you posted photos/hunting reports. You are putting me in withdraw. Your video is great by the way.

A couple of questions:
What are the chances of getting some bird hunting in? I see some ducks in your photos. Are there other birds available?
What are the possibilities of doing any spearfishing along the reefs? Are there salties about?

All the best.

 

[PaulT]

Hey there Wheels, good to hear from you, and I'm grateful to you for your positive comments on my article and video.
You do know that there is a very straightforward cure for your withdrawls !

Yes, as you have seen on my video, at certain times of the season, there are lots of waterfowl, of numerous species.
At certain times there are tens of thousands of ducks and geese.
Generally, I do not hunt the waterfowl.
Unless requested by my landowners, who may be short of protein at times, to collect some for them I usually leave them alone as the high numbers of Salt-water crocodile makes recovery extremely problematic.
Infact, the shooting itself of the waterfowl can, and at times does, expose oneself and is difficult to manage.

The last person I know that went spear fishing, locally, in our area was never recovered.
Not sure if the crocs would be fast enough to beat the sharks and other preditors to the carcass to prove much threat if you decide to go spear fishing.
We do do quite a bit of land-based freshwater and esturine fishing where again you need to be alert and cautious when exposed in the "strike-zone", being the first 5 meters from the water's edge.

Best regards,

Paul.

 

[Wheels]

Paul,

I just reread this entire thread and watched the video yesterday. Really enjoyed it. I'm hoping you can post some more photos and stories as time permits.

It sounds like the crocs really mess with some of the potential extracurricular activities. I wasn't sure if the crocs would be a problem spearfishing along the reef. It sounds like they are. It would be nice if there was a season on them. I'm not much of a fisherman with a rod and reel. Noodling and pole spears are more down my alley. I do know I don't want to do any noodling in your neck of the woods though.

The NT is on my 2-5 year plan. We will talk some more at DSC in January. I really enjoyed our time together last year.

All the best.

 

[AkMike]

Paul, here's a shot of the bag we got on the hunt with Scotty. The others are my personal bag.
The lovely ladies were already spoken for..

 

[PaulT]

Great pics Mike, looks like you guys had a very successful hunt.

I'm very pleased to see you took the opportunities presented to you and you actually did hunt the wild Oxen (scrub bull).
I have many hunters who visited with us in the past, who come and see us in Dallas each year and regret their decisions to pass on the opportunities for Oxen that were presented to them on their hunts, and they passed.

When they first see them, many hunters see them as no more than "a cow" and cannot appreciate them as a hunting Trophy.
In my area the Oxen are keenly pursued by our Traditional Owners as a source of protein and are very highly "strung" and provide a unique hunting challenge.

Truth be known, I actually find the Oxen a much greater hunting challenge than our buffalo and just as tough to bring down, and just as dangerous.

Do you remain in contact with Scotty ?
I have not heard from him in a while and have not seen him post here for some time.

Wheels, looking forward to catching up with you and everyone again in Dallas in Jan.

Cheers all,

Paul.

 

[AkMike]

I may still have his email addy. But I haven't spoken with him in some time. I'll see if I can scare him up and get him back here.
I got tons of great pics of some big buff and quite a few big scrubbers on that trip. I also got 4 donkeys and other target practice.
Cal Pappas got a nice bull with his 600 NE and Omni-Bob did a cull hunt and racked up 9-10 buffs with his 4 bore rifle. That 4 Bore with an 1800 grn round ball did wonders on those buffs!

 

[PaulT]

When you are speaking with him, please say G'day from me.

 

[PaulT]

Mike, not that it is important at this stage, but, I do note that the particular buffalo bull that you personally took displays characteristics of an advanced aged animal and the very type of bull that we try and target as a "proper" bull buffalo.
Obviously difficult from pics alone, but I would be suggesting your bull would be 12+ y.o

Outstanding bull, well done.

Did you take a shoulder mount, or Euro ?

Paul.

 

[AkMike]

I just had both skulls boiled so it's more of a Euro style. They match well with a Cape Buff and Musk Ox I have.

The teeth were pretty well worn so I'd guess that your 'guesstimate' is pretty good.

 

[PaulT]

Hello all and welcome back to this thread.
Firstly,
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all of you who provided feedback, and interest, in a topic which is very close to my heart.
My aim with this thread was to provide information, and an insight, in to what I believed to be a world-class hunting option, that being buffalo hunting in Australia’s remote Arnhemland region, and generate interest amongst the general hunting community.
If I have managed to pique some interest amongst some of you, and maybe even encouraged some of you to consider this as a hunt you would do, I will consider my aim achieved.
Now, I wish to announce to all of you who have come to know me as the owner/operator of Southern Safaris Australia that we have recently ceased to operate and have retired our guided buffalo hunting services.
Ongoing challenges in renewing operating contracts for our hunting concession, combined with a general “levelling-off” in the safari market place, have contributed to my decision to retire, after 12 years, from the safari industry.
I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our friends who, over the years, supported our business, experienced the excitement of hunting buffalo with us, shared our campfire and created lifelong memories and became lifelong friends.
I would also like to thank all of you here at AH.com who have generated interest, provided positive, or otherwise, feedback, information and also advice.
I have appreciated the various perspectives and enthusiasm expressed towards the hunting of buffalo, and all of the various aspects associated with it, and acknowledge all that I have learnt from you all and your different experiences expressed in this thread as well as the numerous p.m’s I have received because of it.
I certainly do hope that my announcement does not affect the interest in the topic of this thread and that International hunters continue to consider Australia as a destination on their safari-travel itinery, and that hunting buffalo in Australia continues to be a serious consideration for all buffalo hunters world-wide.
Lastly, my most sincere thanks to the many friends I have made through my participation on this web site, my fear in listing you all here and potentially omit even one of you would, to me, be a major miscarriage of fairness.
Thank you again to all,
I wish all of you continued good health and good hunting and look forward to continued interaction on AfricaHunting.com in my new “position”, that being a very keen and active recreational hunter, and proud of it !
Very best regards,
Paul Truccolo, formerly of
Southern Safaris Australia P/L.

 

[PaulT]

Of course it would be remiss of me not to include a pic with my latest post.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I am very disappointed to hear this Paul, I've enjoyed the time spent with you and DiDi in Dallas. I hope to see you someday in Australia!

 

[Buff-Buster]

Paul,
I really hate hearing this as you and Southern Safaris Australia made it to my "bucket list" after our conversations last year at DSC. I wish you all the best in your decision and hopefully we can still share a campfire some day. Now it may be as fellow hunters. That may turn out to be a great deal of fun too. Keep that 500NE ready just in case! Lol