SSAA NSW

14 Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. Andy's Hunting Guide A bit about the man: G'day folks my name is Andy Mallen, I'm at the prime age of 60, I've been hunting ever since I was 13 and I'm currently the range manager at Silverdale Range in Sydney. I love shooting sport and very passionate about fi rearms, but I'm a hunter, fi rst and foremost. Hopefully through this guide I can share a few tips and tricks I've learnt over the years so you can better enjoy your next hunt! My fi rst hunt? I started hunting when I was 13 years old and my fi rst was a bunny with an air rifl e. I remember it well, I aimed at the fi rst rabbit in a bunch of six and shot the last one so I learnt a bit about leading a target. My fi rearms? Currently I own about 60 fi rearms and I reload for just about all my fi rearms. There's quite a variety, ranging from from .177 calibre air rifl es to .75 calibre Brown Bess and I've got a range of .22 rifl es. I've even got a .55 Boys Anti-tank Rifl e, everyone needs one of them! Favourite rifl e? I currently have a love affair with a .204 Ruger but if I had to do one job and was told you could only use one rifl e it would be a Merkel. My hunting background? I'm a hunter, fi rst and foremost. I've come from seven to eight years on the former NSW Game Council as an inspector relating to public land hunting. I've hunted locally in Australia, hunted New Zealand, Northern Territory and Africa a couple of times. I've hunted dangerous game in Africa in 2012 and then went back in 2014 for a Huntymoon, like a honeymoon with my new wife after we married. My favourite hunt? I love pig hunting. I initially started that as a youngster when I was 15 years old. I also hunt deer and have been involved through the Australia Deer Association on the Sydney branch committee and served as state president for a couple of years. But if I only had one hunt left in me, I'd go chasing pigs. My deer caping demonstration at Silverdale Range? The interest in caping and game meat is tremendous but it's just getting the word out and once it's out people come. I consider game meat to be more of a trophy than the antlers on the wall. People can sometimes be a bit ignorant about game meat utilisation and I think some are a little bit embarrassed to ask because as hunters we're already meant to know all that stuff. But we don't know until someone tells us and that's why the course is there. My teaching method? I don't rush through it or speak quickly. I break it down to really simple steps and try to make it understandable to even the newest hunter. I take six hours to deliver a caping and butchering demo that covers taking out the internals to cleaning it for the taxidermist. So I try and make it pretty user friendly and also I don't cut myself often if I go slowly! My aim for Silverdale Range? "I'm really focused on opening up Silverdale to our 30,000 SSAA NSW Sydney Branch members and make it an even more fun place to go to when shooting. The range is looking really good and we've got a few improvements in the works as well so I invite you to come down. What will I write for this? I'll bring to you some tips on caping and butchering, and hunting skills in general. Write about things like the ethics of long shooting and making sure hunters can be the best hunter they can be. I'm looking forward to it! Margie and Andy on their 'Huntymoon' in Namibia Andy leading a deer caping & butchering demonstration

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