Setting the traps is often the easy part, keeping them set and ready to catch a dog is usually the hardest thing, especially in wild pig and cattle country. Think outside the square and find the solutions.

Maybe it is time to look outside the square. The deer are the true "asset", we the hunters are secondary. Might be hard to accept for some but here are the basics of primary production.

I grew up looking up to those we now regard as legends of our youth. Now we have others who fit the same mould. One such man, lives on the south coast of NSW and in my mind, is a man amongst men.

Trapping central and North Queensland for wild dogs means you have to contend with everything that wants to wreck a trap-set, from wild pigs, to goannas, kangaroos and even the things you are there to protect, the cattle. You have to think outside the square.

What they may lack in total antler mass they more than make up for with their cunning and overall survivability. The heritage herd of truly wild and free Queensland red deer are an asset that should be better managed for the future.

When did the wild dog get to Australia? Did it cross a land bridge or was it brought here by man? Heaps of emotive questions surround our wild Australian dogs. Have they more right to be here than our stock? Whatever the answers are, one thing is for sure, your life would be far more expensive and a lot less enjoyable without the success of our primary production. We must be good Shepards of our herds.

For over 30 years, our business AWCA has been a strong supporter of the Quality Deer Management Association of America. Part of what we do is the donation of a guided hunt for QDM members almost every year. Here is the first part of David and Larry's trip, a top class free range Queensland fallow deer buck.

The land of drought and flooding rain.... Australia.
We were trying to get this trapline working before the rain but the wet season in Queensland is always unpredictable. You just have to learn to adapt to it and do your best.

My personal feeling is that we, as true hunters, need to aim at being better "cullers" of deer herds than "killers". My Dad Jim McGhie was a culler in NZ and hated the fact that they had to change from being selective, to simply shooting everything to keep herds in check. We still have a chance to contain herds in this country and the best place to start is by carefully assessing every mob of deer we see. We will be posting regular clips like this on the www.theridgegroup.net website. We would love to have you as part of the team.

We were trapping on the second property now, with only four days before predicted rain. Could we manage to come up with a good tally? My daughter Grace was with me and she is one of the best things in my life, how could rain dampen our spirit!

Although Queensland is largely looking green and fresh at the moment, with high cattle prices, it wasn't this way for most of the last decade. Relentless drought has hammered the rural sector and taken its toll on the people who live on and work the land. Trapping/controlling wild dogs during this time is an essential part of property management. Here is the first of three clips we filmed just before the drought started to ease.

Hot dry and dusty with the hope of rain still a week away. We had dozens of traps in the ground, had our scent trails in place and the dogs were starting to fall. They too were showing the signs of suffering through this extended drought faze. Thats when we started having camera problems.