Issue link: http://ssaansw.uberflip.com/i/209433
Tilterweira Youth Camp 2013 Although the numbers were a little down this year, the spirit of adventure made up for that. We left from St Marys Indoor Shooting Centre on Saturday morning at around 9am and headed north to Mudgee for lunch in the park. BBQ sausages on rolls were well received and devoured. After the quick stop we hit the road – next stop Trangie. Upon arrival at the Trangie Caravan Park a tired group of boys quickly ate dinner and made a hasty retreat to bed. Sunday saw us all up early, on the bus and on our way north. The country is quite dry but everyone enjoyed the trip with stops for fuel and lunch in Bourke. The next three and a half hours were the most uncomfortable trip the travellers have ever experienced. The road is 210kms of dirt with the biggest and most frequent corrigations ever seen. Unknown to us in the bus, the doors on the trailer did not remain latched properly and upon our arrival at Tilterweira Station the doors were opened to find a very thick layer of red dust over everything, bags, pillows, sleeping bags and gun cases. The first job for the weekend would be a thorough cleanout! Monday was a chance for the boys to discover the beauty of the area as we took a drive through the 80,000 acre property to get everyone familiar with our surroundings. Plenty of goats around and only one pig sighted running away from us. A couple of camels were sighted at a distance on the edge of green lake – which as it turns out was a lake in name only. Driving down the centre road another camel was seen a long distance away in the bush. We all exited the vehicles for a look. About 400 metres into the bush we encountered another four camels coming out of the scrub. An old skinny bull with a low girgle and a stare, decided it was time for us to leave and we did. A call came over the radio from a group that had gone down to the river, that there was two big pigs in the trap. They were very cranky pigs and the team witnessed the rage of a cornered pig first hand. The pigs were humanely dispatched without incident. The rest of the day was spent with some instruction on shot placement where the boys undertook some theory before completing practice on the Range. Teaching the Juniors about safe, responsible and ethical hunting is a key part of the Youth Camp as all the instructors enjoy sharing their considerable knowledge with the boys. During the week the boys swapped teams and supervisors daily and went out hunting with 4:30am starts. With little water or feed around due to the lack of rain, a lot of walking came up with little results. Goats were taken by all, with some nice trophy heads to take home. After the morning hunts were over, lunch was devoured and firearms locked away. The small dingy and a canoe were put into action deploying yabby traps far and wide. The traps had to be placed far and wide because the paddling and rowing of the vessels left the observers on the banks in stitches. No yabbies were harmed in the process but some egos were damaged a little.