I wanted to get on here and give a detailed trip report of my recent sabbatical down under. I got connected with a man in the Northern Territory by the name of Rob Templar on this very website, it has led to a lifelong friendship.
We began talking about doing a hunt and being a guide he had the connections and resources that far surpassed my expectations.
We set the dates for the last 2 weeks of September, tickets were booked and the clock was ticking.
My friend and lifetime hunting buddy would be coming with me on this trip too making it a 2x1 situation.
I will dedicate the next paragraphs strictly to the pre trip preparations, travel and detailing the part about traveling with guns and what one needs to do in order to make a go of it.
Documents I brought with me
-Passport and copy
-complete laminated 4457 and copy
-original NT firearms license 3 pieces
-Qantas dangerous goods approval and copy
-Border force RGP export permit (filled out best I could)
-
Around April of 2025 I applied for a firearm license for the Northern Territory, this was a fairly simple process but lots of information required.
Rob was instrumental in the details of all this and made it possible to happen.
About 30-40 days later I received in the mail at my US address the hard copy firearms license containing a physical ID card from the NT police as my license card, a orange piece of paper detailing my gun and license details and a second piece of paper outlining it all.
So I had my firearm license!
Tickets were booked on Qantas thru the American Airlines website using AA miles
(Great way to save some $ on these trips)
Before booking I spoke multiple times with Qantas to ensure there was no codeshare issues with the firearm part of things, all was fine. (It’s not fine when you book that way with Qatar airways just ask Jennifer from @TRAVEL EXPRESS )
About 2 weeks before departure I went on the Qantas website and got the necessary “dangerous goods approval letter” this is required for all Qantas flights when traveling with ammunition and or guns as far as I know.
It’s very easy to obtain and I had it in my email within 10 minutes of completing the forum.
About 3 days before the flight i got a txt and email from Qantas that out LAX-SYD flight was canceled, I immediately called them and they rebooked me on the LAX-BNE that left LAX around the same time so that was a great relief, in addition to that we didn’t have a 14hr layover in SYD but instead 3hrs in BNE before the flight up to DRW.
We arrived in LAX and went thru the Qantas check in process, they were great.
Only things they asked for was the dangerous goods approval letter and that I had the rest of my paperwork but never asked to see it.
They did ask to keep the dangerous goods letter which is why you make copies of everything.
Also to note the dangerous goods letter applies to your entire itinerary so no need to fill out another one for the return trip.
TSA check with the gun was very simple and pleasant.
Qantas runs the LAX-BNE route alternating the A330-200 and the 787-9 we had the A330 it was older and left a bit to be desired but definitely been in worse.
Upon arrival at BNE bags were collected and I informed a border force agent I had a firearm to declare, they walked me beside the line and around to a secure area I presented my paperwork to 2 young ladies. They had me open the gun case up and my other luggage with the ammo.
They then took my double out of the soft case and carried it to a “secure room” right beside us I’m assuming to verify the serial number and the fact that it was unloaded….
They came back shortly after Carrying my .500 across the customs area, indeed quite entertaining frankly I think they just wanted to carry a .500 around….
They were very nice to deal with and so was everyone with border force…
They wanted to just look briefly at the ammo, they did not count it but just took a quick look then I packed everything back up.
Downstairs I dropped my luggage off and went outside the international terminal and took the bus to domestic
It was about a 15 Minute bus ride…
At the domestic terminal I took my gun case to the oversize and away it went.
Flight to Darwin was pleasant and great views of the country side.
Upon arrival In Darwin it was very easy, no drama.
Just collect the luggage and show of ID at oversize for the gun case.
The next morning after a rest we went back to the airport in Darwin where Rob had made an appointment with the border force there to complete the export paperwork for my gun.
You do in fact need to have separate Export paperwork for your gun to go home with it.
This is the main confusing part that has limited information.
Upon arriving back at the airport we found a border force agent that got us in touch with the supervisor that we had an appointment with. We met him my the baggage claim area and he helped me fill out the rest of the RGP (restricted goods permit) then took all my documents and paperwork and came back about 15 minutes later with a stamped and complete RGP and a separate RGP record paper that he said could also be used to my my file in the system in the event something happened to my RGP. This was all free to do and pretty low drama.
Onto the rest of the trip
Day 1
We went out for a midday hunt on a small private block close to town, not much was harmed.
We took a bit of a tour around the area and got some last minute items for the main hunt.
Day 2
Do not go to the NT without going out for a day of saltwater fishing.
We went with a local charter operator, Offshore boats
They run a fantastic show, top of the line equipment and they are all about catching fish!
Matt the skipper had us on fish the entire day, sharks are a real problem down there and we were instructed to bring the fish in as fast as possible to try and avoid the sharks eating them.
Needless to say it was action packed, we caught about 12 species of fish including about 16 sharks (we were not trying to catch sharks either but still managed to get that many), golden snapper, Black Jew fish and others were getting put into the cooler. They were not to keen on bringing sharks in the boat obviously so the best we could do for pictures was this 4’ black tip but we had to lemon sharks beside the boat to release that were over 9’ according to Matt…!
They run boats with 4 or 5 spots per boat available, each spot runs about $340USD for the day so you can have a lot of fun pretty cheap!
Day 3
Drive to hunting area, camp setup etc.
We had a modest tent camp that we would be hunting out of for the next 5 days, the NT has no end of super cool camping and overland stuff and Rob is no exception.
We had a fridge with cold drinks in the truck with a slick dual battery setup and solar blanket for the day and the solar shower was setup making it just like home…
The NT at this time of year was quite warm to say the least, temperatures ranged from 32-43C in the days and it would get down to about 23C at night.
The humidity was the real killer coming in at 70-95%. This hunt is not for the weak or shallow minded individual that is for sure…
After setting up some camp stuff we went out to check a water area about 1/2 a mile from the rd. There was a small heard of buffalo on it including one young bull. We decided to just keep walking.
Always a great feeling seeing game right out of the gate within a hour of starting.
To set the stage for the hunting we had several good conversations about the wildlife there and hunting tactics, the area we were hunting is a cattle station on a absurd amount of land to a North American resident.
You could drive for a full day to get across this thing…kinda like when Matthew Quigley asked in the wagon when will they get to the station and they told him that they’d already been on it for 3 days…yea the place is huge…
So the area we were hunting was along a river system that for the most part was bone dry with areas of static water, the moral of the story was the less water there is the easier the game is to find because it’s very hot before the rainy season and the game has to stay close to the water.
The station we were hunting is not a very high numbers place such as one might see on areas of Arnhem land in the swamps where one can expect to see a hundred or more buffalo a day from the truck.
But instead it’s a place where there is a healthy population of buffalo and Pigs that require some serious work and effort on your part to kill. This was not a hunt from the truck operation at all, we averaged about 10 miles a day.
The next day we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and got in the bush soon after, after a couple miles of slow bush hunting a boar came bolting out of some thick cover and the .500 made short work of him at about 30 paces. As a general note the shooting on this hunt was fast and fleeting.
We continued on hunting, after lunch we started a second trek which included a close encounter in the thick stuff with a group of Buffalo cows all with calves, about 12 head in total.
At 20 paces or less we had a great look while maintaining our soaking wet status of sweating…
With no bulls or single cows we backed out, continuing on. Another small wallow provided a nice boar that was quickly killed.
Later that afternoon we moved up a few miles and started again,
The vegetation changed slightly to more high saw grass and sign was becoming more prevalent, descending to the bottom of a steep embankment I looked up to see the back of a buffalo at about 45 paces.
Feeding out of a tree a single cow was prime for the taking,
After a brief look around her to ensure she didn’t have a calf the square post front sight was on the point of her shoulder and that was that.
Continuing on to our objective area we found 2 additional herds of buffalo, unfortunately all cows with calves about 25 head in total between the two groups.
Seeing them at a couple hundred paces we watched as intent tourists would for a while then backed out and headed for camp.
We would normally get back to camp around 6 each evening and cook up some food.
Rob’s wife had prepped several good meals for us and it made a great difference!
Off to bed and we awoke to a tropical downpour around 3am…
Thankfully Rob has great equipment and the tent we were in was completely 100% waterproof
Hard to believe but we were sitting in 3” of water pretty soon and the tent was a waterbed.
We spent the 1st half of that day fixing camp and getting things dried out and a sense of humanity restored again.
Rob informed us this rain was about the worst thing that could happen because the animals that were somewhat concentrated in the areas of water will just scatter because of the abundance of water for the time being.
But this is hunting, so you do your best and The Lord will provide.
We got out that afternoon for a big walk, very limited life to be found.
Around 4:30 another storm blew in and dumped a couple hours worth of rain.
We had about a 3 mile walk back to camp but at least we were clean by that time.
(Always bring a good cleaning kit for your gun)… with the 500 dried and well taken care of we ate and called it a day.
Back in the bush the next morning we did a big loop without much movement of game to be seen, however the ground was drying out due to the intense heat of the sun and we would be able to move on the road again and try a new area. Regrouping and refilling we took a drive a few miles up the river system to try a new spot.
Moving into the thick stuff we went, it was a very short while and things got really exciting. At about 2:30 in the afternoon we rounded the corner of some stunted palms, I was in the lead when i seen just ahead a huge bodied buffalo with heavy wide horns browsing in a broad leaf shrub, with no time to waste and trying to always live by the famous sang “if you’re going to shoot, shoot don’t talk.” And not wanting to mess this up I immediately shot the bull quartering to us on the point of the shoulder, he turned and I shot him thru the opposing shoulder with the second barrel.
The bull stumbling to the ground while I was quickly reloading and back on the front sight shot him again on the ground for good measure. We had a bull!
Everything was over in about 6 seconds but thankfully the air still smelled of RL15 for a little while.
We commenced studying, documenting and processing the bull, thankfully he was in some thick cover that provided some shade.
Upon skinning the bull I was lucky to find a couple of the 475gr CEB raptor bullet cores that stopped against the hide on the exit side. These are an absolutely devastating bullet and at 2390fps with the talon tip they are flat shooting. Many thanks to @michael458 for all the hours and money spent into developing these…
A while later we headed back to the truck and to camp. Adelaide River had some seasoning I had bought on the way to hunt so we put that to good use and made some fresh buffalo backstrap on the Cobb stove.
The next morning we set out in a new area, with stronger winds and cooler temperatures we moved a little faster and covered lots of ground.
One nice sized boar and a wayward but resilient donkey were the victims of the mornings escapade.
You never know what you’ll bump into in the NT and it’s usually quite entertaining compared to the PC hunting in the western United States.
Onto a different area for the afternoon, we went deep into some very thick vegetation, as the hottest part of the day was here we slowly went along and found a heard of unsuspecting buffalo. Locating a suitable Cow my friend shot at about 65 yards, the cow went down on the spot.
My friend was using one of Rob’s rifles, a 375 H&H with some locally made 270gr Atomic Mono hollow point bullets that proved to be very effective.
After the commotion of the shot, there was a bull in the heard we hadn’t seen that was moving off to parts unknown. We followed behind but the bull never stopped or presented a shot opportunity.
Back at the cow we begin the normal autopsy procedures and documentation.
Back on the trail en route to the truck about a mile in the other direction we quickly seen a small heard of buffalo crossing a road bed in the distance.
My friend quickly got ready using one of the perfectly sized and abundant ant hills as the last animal was crossing, thankfully it was a Bull.
I was watching thru the binos at about 220 Yards away as the shot broke and down he went, a spinal hit but allowed enough time to sprint up and put a finishing shot in with the 500NE and a @North Fork Bullets CPS, another amazing bullet.
With the second Bull down we repeated our process again.
Back at camp and 2 skulls skinned out we enjoyed some dinner and the quiet evening.
The following morning we went out for a short morning hunt, we seen a glimpse of a single bull but no shot opportunity. The wind did us no favors once we started following him
And after a while we gave up.
Back at camp we packed up the truck and started the journey back to Darwin.
2 days later we made the journey for the second part of our hunt in a different direction, Rob told us we will be walking farther and it will be hotter so we’d better bring more water…with that in mind I’d like to emphasize the fact that the heat and humidity there is no joke…
Back on the road early, we arrived and straightaway started hunting.
Thru the brush we went and immediately ahead and to the left thru the thicket came running a massive scrub bull, well this was quickly getting very entertaining, the brute was not wasting time and headed for an old fence line, I was sure he would just plow right thru it. With no time to waste and a great blessing the bull turned and started to run straight away from us in a bit of a clearing, having Rob’s 375 in this more open country loaded with the 270gr Atomic bullets I shot at about 130 paces as the bull ran straight away breaking his right hip, the bull went down on his back end and turned his head and neck to the rear, as he did I was reloaded and shot him at the neck/shoulder junction and down he went for good.
A very exciting few seconds!
We began our inspection, documenting getting the truck close to begin filling the coolers.
The meat looked and smelled amazing I was very keen to try it that night.
The Scurb bull is quite the animal, this one we estimated was about 2,000lb on the hoof with an awesome set of horns.
Continuing on, we went into a small river system (mostly dry)
With the high heat and humidity it was very tiring, after about 3 miles a trophy Boar bolted out of its bed in the creek and my friend got a good shot into it going away with Robs Tikka 30-06, we quickly found the boar still up on his feet and he took 2 more 165gr Triple shock bullets thru the shoulders at point blank range before he conceded defeat.
With the appropriate items taken we continued. Another 2 miles in and I was in the lead again with the 375, we approached a heavily wooded area with a small puddle, another large boar made a commotion while departing his cool spot, I only had 1 small lane I could see the grass that was my height and thankfully the boar ran right into that lane with just enough time.
He fell over dead, with more trophies collected and in the pack we kept on. At this point all electrolytes were depleted and we were perpetually soaked.
The other critter of interest was a 3’ water monitor lizard, pretty neat to see. A couple more miles and we were back at the truck, an epic day indeed!
A Long day that was concluded by some very good scrub bull filets cooked on the Cobb.
The next and last day of hunting we made another big loop thru a high grass area with periodic ground water. A small pond held a nice Pig that we took.
The bird life in the NT is remarkable, there is not hardly a moment out in the bush where you can’t see a neat bird.
We encountered two snakes on the hunt, a Banded tree snake and a golden tree snake. Rob thought we were very fortunate to see them this was probably the only thing we had a disagreement on lol. He noted them in his accent as “mildly venomous” you can discern from that what you will…
Back in town the next day we packed and recovered. The next morning early the trip home began.
DRW-ADL, for someone who has never been to Australia before, this place is vast…
Was a petty eye opening 3.5 hr flight with almost nothing in between those 2 places…
ADL-SYD was delayed a bit, arriving in SYD the time crunch was real, originally I had 3 hrs (the absolute minimum I will book with guns overseas) now I had 2 hrs when the seatbelt sign went off…
First time in SYD to boot, thankfully the luggage came out pretty quick, then you have to take a bus/uber from the domestic terminal to the International terminal. This was a 15 minute ride!
Once you arrive at the international terminal unless you have done it before just go find a border force agent and ask where the office is inside the terminal, once directed there clearing the gun was very fast thankfully and my paperwork was perfectly in order thanks to Rob’s efforts.
After that was done you have to walk to the other end of the terminal to get to the Qantas check in and the oversize bag drop.
They had some new people at the counter so I was the Guinea pig for that process…lovely
Thankfully after that there was no line at security and I went straight thru and ran to the gate I arrived when they started boarding first class.
Very relived we took off on the A380 to LAX, upon arrival at LAX we discovered the alarming problem that the gun case had not been loaded on the plane in SYD….Was very good about it and they located the bag and had everything straight to get it on the next flight leaving in 7 hrs, US customs was the next part.
They were great, I was pleasantly surprised and happy.
I delt with 4 different officers including the main supervisor, they got everything closed out on their end and I went on home to Tucson.
Door to door was 36hrs and I was happy to have some Mexican food.
Gun arrived the next day in Tucson without any issues.
If you’ve read this far I hope you enjoyed.
It was a wonderful trip for us, if you wish to go on an adventure like this one in the NT I’m happy to help in any way and especially connect you with Rob, he has some great options and you will get the full wild experience I can assure you.
We began talking about doing a hunt and being a guide he had the connections and resources that far surpassed my expectations.
We set the dates for the last 2 weeks of September, tickets were booked and the clock was ticking.
My friend and lifetime hunting buddy would be coming with me on this trip too making it a 2x1 situation.
I will dedicate the next paragraphs strictly to the pre trip preparations, travel and detailing the part about traveling with guns and what one needs to do in order to make a go of it.
Documents I brought with me
-Passport and copy
-complete laminated 4457 and copy
-original NT firearms license 3 pieces
-Qantas dangerous goods approval and copy
-Border force RGP export permit (filled out best I could)
-
Around April of 2025 I applied for a firearm license for the Northern Territory, this was a fairly simple process but lots of information required.
Rob was instrumental in the details of all this and made it possible to happen.
About 30-40 days later I received in the mail at my US address the hard copy firearms license containing a physical ID card from the NT police as my license card, a orange piece of paper detailing my gun and license details and a second piece of paper outlining it all.
So I had my firearm license!
Tickets were booked on Qantas thru the American Airlines website using AA miles
(Great way to save some $ on these trips)
Before booking I spoke multiple times with Qantas to ensure there was no codeshare issues with the firearm part of things, all was fine. (It’s not fine when you book that way with Qatar airways just ask Jennifer from @TRAVEL EXPRESS )
About 2 weeks before departure I went on the Qantas website and got the necessary “dangerous goods approval letter” this is required for all Qantas flights when traveling with ammunition and or guns as far as I know.
It’s very easy to obtain and I had it in my email within 10 minutes of completing the forum.
About 3 days before the flight i got a txt and email from Qantas that out LAX-SYD flight was canceled, I immediately called them and they rebooked me on the LAX-BNE that left LAX around the same time so that was a great relief, in addition to that we didn’t have a 14hr layover in SYD but instead 3hrs in BNE before the flight up to DRW.
We arrived in LAX and went thru the Qantas check in process, they were great.
Only things they asked for was the dangerous goods approval letter and that I had the rest of my paperwork but never asked to see it.
They did ask to keep the dangerous goods letter which is why you make copies of everything.
Also to note the dangerous goods letter applies to your entire itinerary so no need to fill out another one for the return trip.
TSA check with the gun was very simple and pleasant.
Qantas runs the LAX-BNE route alternating the A330-200 and the 787-9 we had the A330 it was older and left a bit to be desired but definitely been in worse.
Upon arrival at BNE bags were collected and I informed a border force agent I had a firearm to declare, they walked me beside the line and around to a secure area I presented my paperwork to 2 young ladies. They had me open the gun case up and my other luggage with the ammo.
They then took my double out of the soft case and carried it to a “secure room” right beside us I’m assuming to verify the serial number and the fact that it was unloaded….
They came back shortly after Carrying my .500 across the customs area, indeed quite entertaining frankly I think they just wanted to carry a .500 around….
They were very nice to deal with and so was everyone with border force…
They wanted to just look briefly at the ammo, they did not count it but just took a quick look then I packed everything back up.
Downstairs I dropped my luggage off and went outside the international terminal and took the bus to domestic
It was about a 15 Minute bus ride…
At the domestic terminal I took my gun case to the oversize and away it went.
Flight to Darwin was pleasant and great views of the country side.
Upon arrival In Darwin it was very easy, no drama.
Just collect the luggage and show of ID at oversize for the gun case.
The next morning after a rest we went back to the airport in Darwin where Rob had made an appointment with the border force there to complete the export paperwork for my gun.
You do in fact need to have separate Export paperwork for your gun to go home with it.
This is the main confusing part that has limited information.
Upon arriving back at the airport we found a border force agent that got us in touch with the supervisor that we had an appointment with. We met him my the baggage claim area and he helped me fill out the rest of the RGP (restricted goods permit) then took all my documents and paperwork and came back about 15 minutes later with a stamped and complete RGP and a separate RGP record paper that he said could also be used to my my file in the system in the event something happened to my RGP. This was all free to do and pretty low drama.
Onto the rest of the trip
Day 1
We went out for a midday hunt on a small private block close to town, not much was harmed.
We took a bit of a tour around the area and got some last minute items for the main hunt.
Day 2
Do not go to the NT without going out for a day of saltwater fishing.
We went with a local charter operator, Offshore boats
They run a fantastic show, top of the line equipment and they are all about catching fish!
Matt the skipper had us on fish the entire day, sharks are a real problem down there and we were instructed to bring the fish in as fast as possible to try and avoid the sharks eating them.
Needless to say it was action packed, we caught about 12 species of fish including about 16 sharks (we were not trying to catch sharks either but still managed to get that many), golden snapper, Black Jew fish and others were getting put into the cooler. They were not to keen on bringing sharks in the boat obviously so the best we could do for pictures was this 4’ black tip but we had to lemon sharks beside the boat to release that were over 9’ according to Matt…!
They run boats with 4 or 5 spots per boat available, each spot runs about $340USD for the day so you can have a lot of fun pretty cheap!
Day 3
Drive to hunting area, camp setup etc.
We had a modest tent camp that we would be hunting out of for the next 5 days, the NT has no end of super cool camping and overland stuff and Rob is no exception.
We had a fridge with cold drinks in the truck with a slick dual battery setup and solar blanket for the day and the solar shower was setup making it just like home…
The NT at this time of year was quite warm to say the least, temperatures ranged from 32-43C in the days and it would get down to about 23C at night.
The humidity was the real killer coming in at 70-95%. This hunt is not for the weak or shallow minded individual that is for sure…
After setting up some camp stuff we went out to check a water area about 1/2 a mile from the rd. There was a small heard of buffalo on it including one young bull. We decided to just keep walking.
Always a great feeling seeing game right out of the gate within a hour of starting.
To set the stage for the hunting we had several good conversations about the wildlife there and hunting tactics, the area we were hunting is a cattle station on a absurd amount of land to a North American resident.
You could drive for a full day to get across this thing…kinda like when Matthew Quigley asked in the wagon when will they get to the station and they told him that they’d already been on it for 3 days…yea the place is huge…
So the area we were hunting was along a river system that for the most part was bone dry with areas of static water, the moral of the story was the less water there is the easier the game is to find because it’s very hot before the rainy season and the game has to stay close to the water.
The station we were hunting is not a very high numbers place such as one might see on areas of Arnhem land in the swamps where one can expect to see a hundred or more buffalo a day from the truck.
But instead it’s a place where there is a healthy population of buffalo and Pigs that require some serious work and effort on your part to kill. This was not a hunt from the truck operation at all, we averaged about 10 miles a day.
The next day we woke up to a beautiful sunrise and got in the bush soon after, after a couple miles of slow bush hunting a boar came bolting out of some thick cover and the .500 made short work of him at about 30 paces. As a general note the shooting on this hunt was fast and fleeting.
We continued on hunting, after lunch we started a second trek which included a close encounter in the thick stuff with a group of Buffalo cows all with calves, about 12 head in total.
At 20 paces or less we had a great look while maintaining our soaking wet status of sweating…
With no bulls or single cows we backed out, continuing on. Another small wallow provided a nice boar that was quickly killed.
Later that afternoon we moved up a few miles and started again,
The vegetation changed slightly to more high saw grass and sign was becoming more prevalent, descending to the bottom of a steep embankment I looked up to see the back of a buffalo at about 45 paces.
Feeding out of a tree a single cow was prime for the taking,
After a brief look around her to ensure she didn’t have a calf the square post front sight was on the point of her shoulder and that was that.
Continuing on to our objective area we found 2 additional herds of buffalo, unfortunately all cows with calves about 25 head in total between the two groups.
Seeing them at a couple hundred paces we watched as intent tourists would for a while then backed out and headed for camp.
We would normally get back to camp around 6 each evening and cook up some food.
Rob’s wife had prepped several good meals for us and it made a great difference!
Off to bed and we awoke to a tropical downpour around 3am…
Thankfully Rob has great equipment and the tent we were in was completely 100% waterproof
Hard to believe but we were sitting in 3” of water pretty soon and the tent was a waterbed.
We spent the 1st half of that day fixing camp and getting things dried out and a sense of humanity restored again.
Rob informed us this rain was about the worst thing that could happen because the animals that were somewhat concentrated in the areas of water will just scatter because of the abundance of water for the time being.
But this is hunting, so you do your best and The Lord will provide.
We got out that afternoon for a big walk, very limited life to be found.
Around 4:30 another storm blew in and dumped a couple hours worth of rain.
We had about a 3 mile walk back to camp but at least we were clean by that time.
(Always bring a good cleaning kit for your gun)… with the 500 dried and well taken care of we ate and called it a day.
Back in the bush the next morning we did a big loop without much movement of game to be seen, however the ground was drying out due to the intense heat of the sun and we would be able to move on the road again and try a new area. Regrouping and refilling we took a drive a few miles up the river system to try a new spot.
Moving into the thick stuff we went, it was a very short while and things got really exciting. At about 2:30 in the afternoon we rounded the corner of some stunted palms, I was in the lead when i seen just ahead a huge bodied buffalo with heavy wide horns browsing in a broad leaf shrub, with no time to waste and trying to always live by the famous sang “if you’re going to shoot, shoot don’t talk.” And not wanting to mess this up I immediately shot the bull quartering to us on the point of the shoulder, he turned and I shot him thru the opposing shoulder with the second barrel.
The bull stumbling to the ground while I was quickly reloading and back on the front sight shot him again on the ground for good measure. We had a bull!
Everything was over in about 6 seconds but thankfully the air still smelled of RL15 for a little while.
We commenced studying, documenting and processing the bull, thankfully he was in some thick cover that provided some shade.
Upon skinning the bull I was lucky to find a couple of the 475gr CEB raptor bullet cores that stopped against the hide on the exit side. These are an absolutely devastating bullet and at 2390fps with the talon tip they are flat shooting. Many thanks to @michael458 for all the hours and money spent into developing these…
A while later we headed back to the truck and to camp. Adelaide River had some seasoning I had bought on the way to hunt so we put that to good use and made some fresh buffalo backstrap on the Cobb stove.
The next morning we set out in a new area, with stronger winds and cooler temperatures we moved a little faster and covered lots of ground.
One nice sized boar and a wayward but resilient donkey were the victims of the mornings escapade.
You never know what you’ll bump into in the NT and it’s usually quite entertaining compared to the PC hunting in the western United States.
Onto a different area for the afternoon, we went deep into some very thick vegetation, as the hottest part of the day was here we slowly went along and found a heard of unsuspecting buffalo. Locating a suitable Cow my friend shot at about 65 yards, the cow went down on the spot.
My friend was using one of Rob’s rifles, a 375 H&H with some locally made 270gr Atomic Mono hollow point bullets that proved to be very effective.
After the commotion of the shot, there was a bull in the heard we hadn’t seen that was moving off to parts unknown. We followed behind but the bull never stopped or presented a shot opportunity.
Back at the cow we begin the normal autopsy procedures and documentation.
Back on the trail en route to the truck about a mile in the other direction we quickly seen a small heard of buffalo crossing a road bed in the distance.
My friend quickly got ready using one of the perfectly sized and abundant ant hills as the last animal was crossing, thankfully it was a Bull.
I was watching thru the binos at about 220 Yards away as the shot broke and down he went, a spinal hit but allowed enough time to sprint up and put a finishing shot in with the 500NE and a @North Fork Bullets CPS, another amazing bullet.
With the second Bull down we repeated our process again.
Back at camp and 2 skulls skinned out we enjoyed some dinner and the quiet evening.
The following morning we went out for a short morning hunt, we seen a glimpse of a single bull but no shot opportunity. The wind did us no favors once we started following him
And after a while we gave up.
Back at camp we packed up the truck and started the journey back to Darwin.
2 days later we made the journey for the second part of our hunt in a different direction, Rob told us we will be walking farther and it will be hotter so we’d better bring more water…with that in mind I’d like to emphasize the fact that the heat and humidity there is no joke…
Back on the road early, we arrived and straightaway started hunting.
Thru the brush we went and immediately ahead and to the left thru the thicket came running a massive scrub bull, well this was quickly getting very entertaining, the brute was not wasting time and headed for an old fence line, I was sure he would just plow right thru it. With no time to waste and a great blessing the bull turned and started to run straight away from us in a bit of a clearing, having Rob’s 375 in this more open country loaded with the 270gr Atomic bullets I shot at about 130 paces as the bull ran straight away breaking his right hip, the bull went down on his back end and turned his head and neck to the rear, as he did I was reloaded and shot him at the neck/shoulder junction and down he went for good.
A very exciting few seconds!
We began our inspection, documenting getting the truck close to begin filling the coolers.
The meat looked and smelled amazing I was very keen to try it that night.
The Scurb bull is quite the animal, this one we estimated was about 2,000lb on the hoof with an awesome set of horns.
Continuing on, we went into a small river system (mostly dry)
With the high heat and humidity it was very tiring, after about 3 miles a trophy Boar bolted out of its bed in the creek and my friend got a good shot into it going away with Robs Tikka 30-06, we quickly found the boar still up on his feet and he took 2 more 165gr Triple shock bullets thru the shoulders at point blank range before he conceded defeat.
With the appropriate items taken we continued. Another 2 miles in and I was in the lead again with the 375, we approached a heavily wooded area with a small puddle, another large boar made a commotion while departing his cool spot, I only had 1 small lane I could see the grass that was my height and thankfully the boar ran right into that lane with just enough time.
He fell over dead, with more trophies collected and in the pack we kept on. At this point all electrolytes were depleted and we were perpetually soaked.
The other critter of interest was a 3’ water monitor lizard, pretty neat to see. A couple more miles and we were back at the truck, an epic day indeed!
A Long day that was concluded by some very good scrub bull filets cooked on the Cobb.
The next and last day of hunting we made another big loop thru a high grass area with periodic ground water. A small pond held a nice Pig that we took.
The bird life in the NT is remarkable, there is not hardly a moment out in the bush where you can’t see a neat bird.
We encountered two snakes on the hunt, a Banded tree snake and a golden tree snake. Rob thought we were very fortunate to see them this was probably the only thing we had a disagreement on lol. He noted them in his accent as “mildly venomous” you can discern from that what you will…
Back in town the next day we packed and recovered. The next morning early the trip home began.
DRW-ADL, for someone who has never been to Australia before, this place is vast…
Was a petty eye opening 3.5 hr flight with almost nothing in between those 2 places…
ADL-SYD was delayed a bit, arriving in SYD the time crunch was real, originally I had 3 hrs (the absolute minimum I will book with guns overseas) now I had 2 hrs when the seatbelt sign went off…
First time in SYD to boot, thankfully the luggage came out pretty quick, then you have to take a bus/uber from the domestic terminal to the International terminal. This was a 15 minute ride!
Once you arrive at the international terminal unless you have done it before just go find a border force agent and ask where the office is inside the terminal, once directed there clearing the gun was very fast thankfully and my paperwork was perfectly in order thanks to Rob’s efforts.
After that was done you have to walk to the other end of the terminal to get to the Qantas check in and the oversize bag drop.
They had some new people at the counter so I was the Guinea pig for that process…lovely
Thankfully after that there was no line at security and I went straight thru and ran to the gate I arrived when they started boarding first class.
Very relived we took off on the A380 to LAX, upon arrival at LAX we discovered the alarming problem that the gun case had not been loaded on the plane in SYD….Was very good about it and they located the bag and had everything straight to get it on the next flight leaving in 7 hrs, US customs was the next part.
They were great, I was pleasantly surprised and happy.
I delt with 4 different officers including the main supervisor, they got everything closed out on their end and I went on home to Tucson.
Door to door was 36hrs and I was happy to have some Mexican food.
Gun arrived the next day in Tucson without any issues.
If you’ve read this far I hope you enjoyed.
It was a wonderful trip for us, if you wish to go on an adventure like this one in the NT I’m happy to help in any way and especially connect you with Rob, he has some great options and you will get the full wild experience I can assure you.
