Australia safari? - 12/31/07
Hope AGW and others from Down Under will respond, as will anybody else who might have experience with hunting in Australia.
I read in another thread about action life that many Australian hunters (never mind the cullers) have shot thousands of animals. Is there a such thing as an Australian safari?
Obviously Australian animals are much different than the famed African animals, but it seems like there are a tremendous number of animals that land owners want rid of; thus, it would be theoretically possible to have an inexpensive hunt (on a per animal basis) with a large volume of shooting on large animals. What kind of animals are typically hunted/shot in Australia besides the obvious roos/wallabies and various(?) Asian buffaloes?
I know the plane fare would be expensive to Australia, but it is such a great place to visit, it seems like a three-week trip, with a week hunting and a couple weeks sightseeing would be a great trip (I spent four days in the Cairns area a few years ago - diving at the GBR, a great ecotourism guided tour, Kuranda, etc. - and plan to visit other parts of Australia on another trip someday).
Funny side story, while I was in Cairns, one evening in an area with a lot of restaurants and shops several classic American convertibles and sports cars were driving around with American flags on antennae, etc. blowing their horns (some with custom horns playing American music) and having a great time. Somebody (an Aussie) asked what was going on, and I immediately responded, without thinking, that it was the 4th of July. She kind of looked at me oddly with an expression of "so what," and I quickly realized that outside the States the phrase "4th of July" doesn't automatically bring thoughts of Philadelphia in 1776 with Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hancock, et al. When I told her it was American Independence Day, she said, "Oh, that makes sense." That is the only 4th of July I've spent outside the States, and it was definitely an odd feeling.
I read in another thread about action life that many Australian hunters (never mind the cullers) have shot thousands of animals. Is there a such thing as an Australian safari?
Obviously Australian animals are much different than the famed African animals, but it seems like there are a tremendous number of animals that land owners want rid of; thus, it would be theoretically possible to have an inexpensive hunt (on a per animal basis) with a large volume of shooting on large animals. What kind of animals are typically hunted/shot in Australia besides the obvious roos/wallabies and various(?) Asian buffaloes?
I know the plane fare would be expensive to Australia, but it is such a great place to visit, it seems like a three-week trip, with a week hunting and a couple weeks sightseeing would be a great trip (I spent four days in the Cairns area a few years ago - diving at the GBR, a great ecotourism guided tour, Kuranda, etc. - and plan to visit other parts of Australia on another trip someday).
Funny side story, while I was in Cairns, one evening in an area with a lot of restaurants and shops several classic American convertibles and sports cars were driving around with American flags on antennae, etc. blowing their horns (some with custom horns playing American music) and having a great time. Somebody (an Aussie) asked what was going on, and I immediately responded, without thinking, that it was the 4th of July. She kind of looked at me oddly with an expression of "so what," and I quickly realized that outside the States the phrase "4th of July" doesn't automatically bring thoughts of Philadelphia in 1776 with Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hancock, et al. When I told her it was American Independence Day, she said, "Oh, that makes sense." That is the only 4th of July I've spent outside the States, and it was definitely an odd feeling.