The first traps were in and we had just had light rain overnight which would help to kill the man scent along the trapline. Time to go out and see if Skunk had helped select our trap sites wisely.

Outstanding dogs may only come your way a few times in your life. Chocky Ya Ya (also known as Chock, the old General, La La to his countless friends) was one of those dogs. Super smart, a superb hunting mate but he was getting old. On one of his sojourns away from the lodge, he crossed paths with some seriously bad wild dogs and the rest, unfortunately is history. He paid the ultimate price, so will they.

In search of Chocky's killers

Skunk and I had our first catch, a very different style of wild dog to what was normally seen in this area, a new arrival. With big rain predicted, could we strike again before the heavens opened up? Time to check the trapline again.

The wild dogs that killed old Chocky had been through our area often. About two years ago, the Alpha male of the pack was a very trap shy and cunning dog known as "Saddleback" due to his colouration. This is the story about this trapping session in two parts.

We had been highly successful with our wild dog trapping program but our trail camera photos showed the two dogs which were scratching traps and dodging our best efforts. Could we crack these hard cases in our last day?

In search of Chocky's killers, Checking the first nights work.mp4

When life makes my head spin, I go for a walk in the bush with my dogs, listen, breathe, settle my spirit and count my blessings. We are all in the circle of life and there is no jumping off this train. As we see fazes of our life pass, we see their reflection in our children, Grandkids and even our four legged mates.

Our trapline had worked, we had the main dingo packs rattled and the survivors were on the move. This is the time when you need to remain focussed, improve your set patterns and get ready to finish the job.

What makes a good society? Respect, ethics, compassion and tolerance?
Or would it be best if it were more about laws, mandates and enforced compliance? We made our choice, we choose humanity over tyranny.

Sometimes your efforts all come to fruition in a short space of time.The dog sign was strong and we set our trapline accordingly ... and it worked.

More ethical and well coordinated recreational hunters working across private and public lands will achieve a range of positive environmental outcomes. Wild deer then become the catalyst for great results to happen, one step at a time.