SSAA NSW

An Unwanted Visitor SSAA NSW Facilities and Program Manager Robert Broderick recently had an unwanted visitor on his property. Over the last five months I have visited my 120 acre bush retreat in the Rylstone area with my wife and grandchildren for weekend and extended stays. By the afternoon the ducks were back and having a good time. Now the dog tracks will be no more the next project is the pig that is digging up the nettles around the block. We had noticed that the birdlife had not been very busy at the dam and surrounding grassy area for a few weeks. As our sometimes quiet group wondered the bush and looked for the animals and birds, we came down to our dam to look for the ducks and turtles where I was surprised to find large dog tacks around the edge of the dam. Three weeks later my wife and I visited our property to find even more tracks on fresh ground at the dam. I planted myself in cover early the next morning for a couple of hours, with no result. I returned to the shack disappointed and ate a warm breakfast and a cuppa. About two hours later my wife and I went for a stroll along some of the many tracks and eventually headed toward the dam. There it was, big, red and just mooching around the edges of the dam. Having no rifle with me, I took off to retrieve it from the shack. Returning to the area, puffing like a train, my wife informed me that the dog just looked around, watered a few bushes and wandered off. I don't think I could have aimed up being so out of shape. This dog was very comfortable around this area and there were no more sightings this visit. Another two weeks passed and we returned, with a mission to get the dog. A late evening stake out produced nothing so early the next morning I planted myself in the same area determined to succeed. An hour passed and I knew I was getting restless because I was watching two magpies having a sing off nearby. One leg had pins and needles and my bum was cold. The time had come to give up and have a feed. I stood up, had a last look and there he was, just over the dam wall looking at two ducks that had landed. My heart raced as I saw the dog was engrossed in his next meal. The opportunity was there to move to a closer tree for a sure shot. Taking aim and a slow squeeze, the job was done. Score 243 one, dog nil. The NSW Shooter is published by the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc Disclaimer: Please note that the views expressed are not necessarily those of SSAA (NSW) Inc. Attention: Branch Secretaries/Publicity Officers Editorial deadline for the August 2013 issue of the NSW Shooter is Wednesday, 17th July 2013. Editor: Tim Horan Graphic Designer: Craig Rogers Post all correspondence and contributions to: Newsletter, PO Box 1001 St Marys, NSW 1790 or email: nswshooter@nsw.ssaa.org.au Cover: Membership on the rise in NSW. Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. You can find the latest results from the safe, fun and unique range of shooting events around the State at the SSAA NSW website. www.ssaansw.org.au 5

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