I know it's a long way for most but over here we have finally been given a right that has up until now been senselessly kept from us. For those of you that are unaware in Victoria only sambar may be hunted with the aid of dogs and only in a small part of the state and the breeds were highly restricted. This was nonsense for us red deer hunters as they can be just as useful but if we were caught we'd lose our guns. A new revision of the laws has now enabled us to hunt all species except hog deer with dogs that includes gwp, gsp, labs, vizslas etc. A win for common sense? Yes.. But stained with some bad news. Our red deer population in Vic is not big and is limited to a small area but the government in all is wisdom has changed the season from 2 months to all year. The ultimatum was that or an extensive poisoning regime. Only short sighted yobbos from the city are praising this as they can now bomb the shi* out of everything year round with no thought of sustainability. Only a couple of years ago I ran into some Melbournites who couldn't figure out why they couldnt find any deer seeing as the year before they shot 25 and only the cut the heads off (23 of which were hinds) or the two big velvet stags I've been watching that have been shot a couple a weeks ago by a dog runner for dog Tucker. If you can't tell I've grown up in the mountains here and I hate that the deer I have respected and loved are facing a terrible plight.
Sorry for the rant it's just been driving me wild!
Jack
