SSAA NSW

On Wednesday it was decided that everyone would get up at 4:30am to make the most of the optimum hunting time. We spotted a good mob of goats but a good shot was out of the question because of all the shrub around. At around lunchtime a person from the .50cal association arrived to check the suitability of a 2km .50cal licensed range. He brought up a McMillan .416 Barret with a Nightforce scope, also with the biggest muzzle brake I have ever seen! He let everyone have a shot on the 600m range and the shock wave that it produced made the shed wobble. It was also amazing how little recoil it had because of the muzzle brake. had never shot a shotgun in my life. At the end I started to get the hang of it. That night everyone packed the bags for the bus ride back to Sydney the next morning. Awards were also handed out to every junior participating in the camp. We also think that Wendy made great food for everyone considering what she had to make food with. Thursday consisted of another 4:30am start and I shot a trophy goat as well as a meat goat, but the meat goat was too large. Two other people in my group also took trophy goats that day. The rest of the day was spent recovering from the 2 early starts and learning mapping and compass navigation as well as knife sharpening. After dinner half of the camp went out spotlighting, but we didn't see anything apart from millions of roos. The next morning we left Trangie at 8:30am and continued the journey back to Sydney. We stopped in the same park for lunch where we had lunch on the way to Tilterweira before heading back to St Marys. Friday had another 4:30am start and a supervisor in my group took a trophy goat but that was it. In the afternoon everyone went down to the range and we had a go at clay targets. This was very new to me as I On Saturday we left at 9:00am and at 11:00am we stopped at the Tilpa pub so everyone could write their names on the pub. We then had lunch at Cobar and then headed off to Trangie for the night. The Youth Camp at Tilterweira is a great opportunity for anyone who hasn't been hunting before to learn the right way to go about it. Every day I was impressed that I learnt something new. I was able to use this to build on my previous hunting experiences and try different techniques when I go hunting in the future. Hamish Campbell-Whittaker 3 Hunter of the Year Winners! 4 Hunter of the Year: Branch Nominated – Joe Rossi, SSAA Illawarra Hunter of the Year: Member Submitted – Michael Adams, SSAA Illawarra Junior Hunter of the Year: Branch Nominated – Beau Rosewood, SSAA Coffs Harbour Junior Hunter of the Year: Tilterweira Youth Camp – Hamish Campbell-Whittaker, SSAA Sydney Congratulations to the winners. SSAA NSW will be in touch with you shortly. Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 7

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