'Roo Shooting in Pictures
As I have mentioned before, I am working on a large feature story about my experience shooting kangaroo in Australia. My other mate Luke Simon is a fantastic and talented photographer, and just returned from a shoot (in more ways than one) with these photos...hopefully we can use them with the story.I seriously cannot stop looking at these...
Here's a 'roo shooter scouting for packs of kangaroo:
The first one of the night:
I cannot remember what sort of bird this is, but they are native to Western Australia, and I don't think they are in the owl family:
Like all too many other species, foxes were introduced into the Australian ecosystem and have run absolutely wild. They hunt and eat all manner of indigenous marsupials and are wreaking their own sort of havoc on the ecosystem. Consequently, it is a perfectly legal activity to just go out into the bush and drill as many foxes as you can. There is a difference between legal and enjoyable in my book, but I understand the reasoning behind it...
As a soft inner city kid with a penchant for digital photography and comic book reading, I was totally unprepared for the harsh reality that comes along with killing mammals. I would like to state for the record that this sort of thing is not for me at all, but I do see the value in culling 'roos, hunting, and I definitely eat meat. If you're going to eat meat, you have to be willing to participate and get your hand dirty at least once, and I sure did. I overemotionalized what is a very normal, common thing for any country person that has ever slaughtered a hog or dressed a deer.
But one thing that hit me was the weird, grimly comical faces that the animals could make. I saw sights like the following a lot, and I never got completely used to it...it's silly and scary all at once, and really makes you understnad he power of laughter as a coping mechanism.
If you get queasy easy or get bummed out by pictures of dead animals, don't scroll down. I am building in a bit of space for the fainthearted so you guys can navigate away if necessary....
posted by Jeff Simmermon @ 8:50 AM
33 Comments:
unreal...
the spectre of death is so conveniently overprocessed out of our daily lives. if people only had the constitution to come face to face with the faces of their meals!!
why do you guys take pictures of dead kangaroos? as if people want to see something that was shot and has blod coming out of it's mouth. secondly, why ever would anyone want to kill a kangaroo or any animal? unless it was trying to kill you but i dont think those would have done it
Uh...these are for a magazine article about kangaroo shooting. And kangaroos are a plague in Australia. I don't mind being questioned, but please do a bit of thinking before you point the finger..
I have been farming my whole life up until recently and can verify first hand the damage roos do to a wheat paddock, what they don't eat they lay on and make into beds where they sleep in the cool during the day. Shooting roos is sad but is the most humane way of lowering numbers and at least the carcasses are put to a good use rather than being left to rot as is often the case when other means of control are utilized. By the way that bird is commonly known as a mopoke or a frogmouth.
i think culling is nesecery for a healthy population of skippy's
I think culling roo's is very inportent in austrlia, because they are wrecking all th farmers land witch we need to live off. I enjoy shooting roo's with my friend it is a good game to hunt. all greenies that cry about this sort of shit should piss of and go hug a tree, so greenies piss off and get a life.
yeh g'day mate i just come back from barreling a heap of roos in morra and there's no shortage of the bastards. IT NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!
im a roo shooter in northern NSW. things are hard enough for the farmers around here let alone roos comin on to the properties and fuckin things up more then they are. there is plenty of them and with the department not issuing anymore tags for here untill next year there will be a fuckin shitload of them. ill be goin on a bloody rampage next year
sorry to put a dampener on this but im a full time shooter who requires this practice for a living. now you silly cowboys mouthing off at the greenies and calling them poofs. you guys are the idiots. talking about chasing them down and blasting them. you are a dickhead. if you had any idea how to shoot roo properly you wouldnt say that. a Pros roo are one shot clean kills. and the carcass is cared for in a manner that befits meat for human consumtion. and gettin blood on your hands doesnt make you an aussie.
Hi -- I actually own this blog, and wrote the story in question, which you can see here:
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/04/roo-shooter-part-1.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/04/roo-shooter-part-2.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/05/roo-shooter-part-3.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/05/roo-shooter-part-4.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/05/roo-shooter-part-5.html
I'm going to have to side with the last commenter. 'Craig', the shooter I worked with, was a consummate professional and took no real joy in killing 'roos. I saw him get a head shot about 90 percentof the time, and was always concerned with bringing the animals as respectful a death as he could manage.
A lot of the talk on this thread just reads like you guys are trying to prove something and don't really mean what you're saying. Perhaps if you just got a ruler and measured your units privately, real 'roo shooters wouldn't have to defend themselves against so much unfair, blanketing criticism.
Hi -- I actually own this blog, and wrote the story in question, which you can see here:
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/04/roo-shooter-part-1.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/04/roo-shooter-part-2.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/05/roo-shooter-part-3.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/05/roo-shooter-part-4.html
http://andiamnotlyingforreal.blogspot.com/2006/05/roo-shooter-part-5.html
I'm going to have to side with the last commenter. 'Craig', the shooter I worked with, was a consummate professional and took no real joy in killing 'roos. I saw him get a head shot about 90 percentof the time, and was always concerned with bringing the animals as respectful a death as he could manage.
A lot of the talk on this thread just reads like you guys are trying to prove something and don't really mean what you're saying. Perhaps if you just got a ruler and measured your units privately, real 'roo shooters wouldn't have to defend themselves against so much unfair, blanketing criticism.
i work as a boilermaker and shoot roos professionaly on weekends in cetral old. This is a very healthy 2nd income for me and my family. Roo shooting is a multi-million dollar industry that keeps thousands of aussies employed all over Australia.shooters pay a fee for licences and accreditation. Every year we are audited by Safe Food to ensure our vehicles,racks,claners,return books
etc are up to standards.Every roo is head shot hung on the rack and dressed for either humam consumption or pet food.At the end of a nights work the carcasses are taken into the chillers and sold.This is a very professional job and iwould like to see this industry be around for many years to come.So when you hear dick
heads mouthing off ignore it ,talk to a pro shooter and find out this isn't about killing or blowing roos away.Roo sooting is a living and a humane way to keep the kangaroo population to a sustainable level.
what is the qualification test for us guys these days. 5 out of 5 shot in the bull. You have to have CLEAN HEADSHOT kills. I shoot roos professionally (our only income) and between me and my mate i shoot with we have had about 8 misses this year. by misses i mean not head shots
Anyone reading through the comments left here would do well to only note those made by Sako 223 and Rooshooter.The rest of the opinions expressed here are obviously made by those who have no idea of what a Professional Shooter is or what the Wild Game Harvesting industry is about.I have been in the industry since 1987(harvesting in Queensland),and have seen the image of the roo shooter change dramatically in that time.We don't need to see opinions of idiots ruin our good names.
8 miss shots in 1 year? what is it, never windy? or you only shoot 10 per year.. maybe being a sniper might be more suited to you.
ya bloody clown!
i have been feral game hunting 4 only 7 years and have shot many roos.i admire sako 223 and the way roos should be shot, BUT greenies are loopy fucks. just wate till the cunts get all types of projectile firing weapons made ilagal.
I also have been huntig with the last guy for 4 years, and been a gun enthousiest since the craddle. to see the greenies talk shit on this page annoys me. when they wanted the buyback done all it did was put alot of guns under ground and on the streets being sold 2 drug dealers etc.
Sako 223 has a point. I'm a young bloke looking at becoming licensed to cull Kangaroos, as a supplementary income to my fragile Uni student income. Kangaroos are a viable industry, and are in great demand overseas, whether it be on a German's steak, or on on Beckam's feet. I have shot since I was a boy, and I certainly grew out of the 'kill everything' stage very quickly. It is a neccessity to head shoot, for both the animal, and your wallet. The farmers out there ensuring there livelihood and killing cleanly are to be commended.It's the people who think it's tough and emasculate to shoot a roo for the hell of it,talk about it and then as an afterthought cite 'crop damage' as a reason really piss me off (Especially since I live on a station in N.Qld where cattle and not wheat stalks frequent the paddocks). Sure, shoot them, but do it quick and well... don't shoot your mouth off like the activity will extend your dick size or your pickup rate.
i used to chase them down in my holden ute with a guy on dolphen tourch and two blokes in the back with semi auto shoties (back when they where leagal), those days are over and i feel very ashamed of wat we did, if the guys on the back didnt finnish them off (which was a freqent thing) the wheels would if all alse failled we'd stab them in the neck........ i now no how fucked up that was.
im only 13 and i have shot 256 roos and 113 pigs and 74 rabbits and only 28 foxes i want to no if i should be a roo shooter and is it good money i live in hay nsw and it full of the busteds
for sako223
I agree with you but Roo shooting may be a profesion but you can still have fun doing it. personaly i think all the aussie greenies are poofs (and much worse) because they have no knowledge about culling pests but they still say its crule and the typical question of 'what did the kangaroos ever do to you'. I have been roo shooting for many years now for the meat and the enjoyment. If there are any greenie types reading this, get a life! and before you go telling us that were crule go roo shooting yourself and realise that if your responsibly shooting there is no crultey envolved and you are simply culling a pest and using the pest as a food source.
What is your oppinion...
should i get a .204, 223 or 22/250 for roos at around 150m and longer. i would aso use the gun for smaller varmint e.g. cats and foxes.
how coud some heartless pice of s#!$t do this to a living creature
were did you see it
Seriously why do you have to put culled kangaroos on the bloody internet. My husband is a Professional kangaroo shooter( meaning he does it full time)No other income comes into our family. I am very proud of him being a kangaroo shooter, as he is very good at his job. You idiots that think its fun to go shooting, grow up and get a life. He works from dark to dust, 7 days a week. And people like you only make it harder for him and his job.
I firmly agree with sako223 in his comments about roo shooting.
I believe the quicker we get the cowboys off the internet, with their outrageous comments on kangaroo shooting, the better.
All the cowboys are doing is giving the greenies a negative opinion about roo shooters, when in reality the cowboys aren't roo shooters, they are just idiots, with guns, who call themselves roo shooters.
True roo shooters are professionals. They are qualified in what they do, they are great marksmen, who are culling kangaroos, but with that in mind, they are doing this with up-most respect for the kangaroo, and giving it the most dignified death, as a true professional roo shooter would not take a shot, unless they could make it a head shot.
The cowboys of roo shooting are the idiots distroying the industry for the professional shooters, who make their "bread and butter" money from this profession.
Well as a matter of a fact I am maybe what you city people refer to as a "cowboy". Do you know the reason why these kangaroos are culled? Because there is too many of them, because they eat the grass that is suppose to be for sheep and cattle etc. Do you know why there is too many of them? Because the parts from where I am from, the native kangaroo is the Red. There is also another breed called the Grey. This breed does not orginate from inland Australia. The reason these Roos live in inland Australia is because their habitat, the Coastal areas are inhabited by people. Yes so while you greenies say "oh thats terrible, stop roo culling" its ok for you to sit down on your sea side apartments etc. And if farmers, graziers etc didn't do it then you can kiss your steak, mutton, wheat, etc goodbye. So while you carry on about how cruel it is, enjoy your cereal or whatever it may be that youi eat every day because if the roos aren't getting culled, the men and women of the land aren't making a living.
sako223, your right. Getting blood on your hands doesn't make you a real Aussie, but it sure does mean your a whole lot more harder than you fucking sooks in the city. Recently my cousin from Melbourne began crying as we finished off a pig on my property. And by the way the best Roo Shooters are blokes from the bush, who have grow up with a gun in their hands. They know the land and they know the how to use a gun. The cowboys you speak of are the people suppling you with your food. How does the saying go? "Biting the hand that feeds you"
I don't know if the last two people are having a dig at me... either I have misread their comments and taken it as they are disagreeing with me.
If so, I think you have misread my comments.
I am actually same-minded as you, and agree with your comments also.
When I made my comments "I believe the quicker we get the cowboys off the internet, with their outrageous comments on kangaroo shooting, the better"
WHEN I SAID THIS, I MEANT ALL THE DIM-WITS THAT JUST GO OUT SHOOTING WITH THEIR MATES, JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT. THEIR NOT GOING OUT TO CULL THE KANGEROOS, OR KILL TO USE THE MEAT, OR TO HELP THE FARMERS.
THIS ARE THE PEOPLE THAT I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH, THE ONES WHO ARE JUST GOING OUT SHOOTING FOR THE FUN OF IT, JUST TO KILL.
I believe if you have a gun, and are going to shoot kangeroos, it should to cull, kill for meat, to aid farmers, etc, etc,
not to just go out and see what it feels like to blast a roo away, or shoot it and leave it there to rot.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO KILL, WHETHER YOUR A PROFESSION OR NOT,
KILL FOR A REASON...
It is these sicko cowboys,
that are shooting for their own kicks, just to go out with their mates amd 'blast away kangeroos' just like the idiot who said the wheels of his 4-wheel drive finishes them off,
all they are doing is giving the greenies a negative opinion about roo shooters in general, when in reality these cowboys aren't roo shooters, they are just idiots, with guns, who call themselves roo shooters.
You have your true roo shooters who are professionals. They are qualified in what they do, they are great marksmen, who are culling kangaroos, but with that in mind, they are doing this with up-most respect for the kangaroo, and giving it the most dignified death, as a true professional roo shooter would not take a shot, unless they could make it a head shot. They are here to cull, and also kill for meat for human consumption, and use of skins.
The roos they shoot are put to use, not just shot for fun and left to rot.
Then your have your country boys shooting roos, they may not be professional, but they too are also killing for a reason, being to cull, aid the farmers, or to use for meat.
Then unfortunately to have your cowboys shooting with thir mates, usually chasing and tormenting before shooting, and sometimes leaving to rot. These cowboys of roo shooting are the idiots distroying the industry for the professional shooters, who make their "bread and butter" money from this profession,
and they are the idiots making it harder, and the rules tougher for the honest country boys
who go out shooting roos, to cull, aid the farmers, or to use for meat.
to "Kahill"
I am not a city person.
I am in the country, and know exactly the reason why these kangaroos are culled.
I should know, I have a large farming family, most of my uncles, have property in various parts of Victoria.
I agree that there are too many of them, they eat the grass that is suppose to be for sheep and cattle etc. But the point I was trying to make in my last posted comment was
about the "cowboys" that aren't here to shoot roos for a reason, the reasons that you mentioned.
Because farmers aren't doing what these cowboys do. I have never seen a farmer chase, torment and shoot a kangaroo for the fun of it.
303 lee-enfield
The Bird is a Tawny Frogmouth and yes it's an owl :-)
g day guys theyes dick heads should come out to the sticks and see howm many roos are accually there just riding threw the middle of the paddok on the motorbike i count over 3000 and thats with the shooter comming everyweek so its good to see you's killen them off
just another thing the other day this guy came from brisbane and he was trying to tell me that roos were nely endangered
gday to bad the pictures are taken in Western Australia and the guy in the photos are not Craig at all when you write some thing write the truth you are a tool.But the photos you have taken are good.
we kill them because they eat our stocks feed a couple are alright but there are way to many around at the momant
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