Very interesting - my understanding is that duck shooters in Vic have to
pass a duck id test but I guess it is like taking a driving test - just
because you pass doesn't mean you follow the rules afterwards!
On 28 March 2013 18:38, Graeme Gallienne <> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> I spent last weekend at the SSAA Property at Captain's Mountain (for those
> of you who need to know the area, this is about 20km west of Milmerran a
> town on the Darling Downs of Queensland). I was in the company of my
> husband, a shooter and also a member of BirdLife Australia, as well as
> about
> 40 other members of a Gold Coast Shooting Club. By the way, this property
> is run as a nature refuge and all wildlife is protected. The only shooting
> of guns that takes place is on various ranges at inanimate targets, under
> the strict control of various Range Officers. The only shooting of
> wildlife
> was done by me with my camera.
>
>
>
> I have formed very definite opinions about shooting ducks - IT SHOULD NOT
> BE
> ALLOWED! Not one of the shooters I was with last weekend would be able to
> identify which species was able to be shot and which species wasn't - not
> even my husband. They would not even know that there are such birds as
> Coots, Moorhens and Grebes - to the uneducated, they are all ducks.
> Unfortunately, most of these people are very nice and very respectable and
> would not intentionally break the law, they are just ignorant. I showed
> them a slide show of the photos I had taken over the weekend and some were
> very interested but NONE knew what any of the birds except for a Willie
> Wagtail, were. Others were not very interested in the photos mostly the
> younger males who'd shoot at anything if permitted.
>
>
>
> As, to my great disgust, shooting ducks in Victoria appears to be here to
> stay for a few years - birders could lobby the government for a far better
> level of training to enable correct duck i.d. by shooters before they get
> out into the great outdoors if it is possible for these people to become
> experts at identifying a flying bird whilst the adrenalin is pumping in
> their veins BUT my other even greater wish is that if shooters go out to
> shoot ducks or ferals in National Parks, they must take a registered Wild
> Life Spotter (say 1 spotter to 4 shooters) with them, whose job it is to
> identify the targets and also officially report back to whichever
> government
> department controls the shooting, what is shot, how many and how many got
> away but were injured. There would be a cost involved to the shooters but
> they pay quite high range fees etc. to go to shoot at gun ranges and don't
> seem to mind.
>
>
>
> The other major point that should be made law is NO ALCOHOL should be
> allowed to be consumed whilst any person is in possession of a firearm,
> whether in use or locked away in a strongbox in a vehicle at a campsite.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sandra Gallienne
>
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