Something that seems to have slipped by is that recreational shooters were
recently allowed into some state forests within NSW. This was done on a
'trial' basis to see how this would work if spread over other state forests.
This is what this media release is talking about, but with muddying the
waters with the idea that state forests should be turned into national parks
(a competely separate issue).
While this sounds great in theory (shooting ferals that is) the practice is
not always as good. I can remember keeping very low in my tent at night
while shooters were busy nearby. It is just not the same to compare
professional shooters to whom every shoot costs money to 'weekend warriors'
who shoot at anything that moves, and a few things that don't. This is not
to say that all shooters behave this way, but as with everything, it is the
few that spoil it for the rest.
Then there are issues of restocking. It has been said that pig hunters
(though it may apply to others) actively release animals into areas where
they like to hunt. I have seen pigs in the bush that wouldn't look out of
place in a piggery, completely unlike the razor back of generations of
breeding in the wild.
Nothing is every as simple as it appears on face value.
Graham Turner
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