In this clip, I try to summarise the issue as best I can. Anyone still taking the "she'll be right" attitude towards recreational hunting, private firearms ownership and our freedom, should take a good hard look at themselves first before they point fingers.

Too many people have accepted the "Pest" rhetoric without thinking hard about where that trail will lead. Hunting is a pastime to some, or a way of life to others, maybe even an essential part of our culture or a combination of these and much more. Treat them as a Pest and all this will be lost.

As the old saying goes, we have Good news and we have Bad news. Fortunately for hunters, it is mostly all good news so hopefully this clip will see the start of more sustainable use projects to control and utilise wild deer as a resource and not as a Pest.

Trapping this wild and beautiful country is actually a privilege. To stand on ground that few actually have ever tread makes you humble. My thoughts always go back to the reality of what we have and what we almost lost and this makes me determined to do all I can to protect it for all future generations of Australians, no matter colour or creed.

As a hunting guide, you often have to scout the trail ahead. Use the lessons learnt over the year now past, scan the terrain ahead, look for sign on the ground to judge what is actually happening, then pick the best path.
This is the same for trying to establish a fair, equitable, moral and safe system for hunting, management and control of a species like wild deer.

There looked to be a number of very cunning, trap-shy dogs cruising around the area that had been trapped by some of the local coal mine workers on their "days off". Although well intended, this practice leads to very educated, hardened killers right in the middle of the calving areas. Time for a well thought out strategy.

If you are one of the growing number of people who wish to see common sense and practical solutions return to our hopes for the future, then the time to act is now. Wild deer management is just one small but vital part of this sustainable use approach.

Do we want to see the historic herd of wild chital deer in North Queensland Australia, managed sustainably or slaughtered? Since this clip was made, terrible things have happened in North Queensland. Most hunters don't have a clue what has, is and will happen.

There were quite a few wild dogs in the area that had survived the best efforts of shooters with thermal gear, spotlights, sharp eyed landholders, weekend trappers and two of my own traplines. They were very cunning and trap shy, largely nocturnal and most probably responsible for the spate of calf kills in the area. Game on!!

We have been solid supporters and sponsors of the Quality Deer Management Association of America, now the National Deer Assoc, (NDA) for the best part of 30 years now. During that time, we have donated more than a dozen guided hunts to the organisation to promote sustainable management of wild deer in Australia. Here is one of those hunts for a trophy red stag with a great hunter from Marylands.

As I rolled along over the last few weeks on the trapline, I had plenty of time to throw the issues facing us around in my head. What we face here in Queensland is not insurmountable if we face reality, put our thoughts together, work as a team and come up with solutions. It is up to us.

So many of our viewers have asked for more basic info on how we do what we do. This clip is more about that side of a trapline, the basic techniques and procedures that are so important to success.