FINALLY, I’d turned 12, could get my minor’s permit and accompany dad on hunting expeditions. I’ve been hunting with dad before but only with a camera, and I have experienced the Queensland bush hunting red deer, targeting rabbits and foxes on the NSW South Coast and the Victorian High Country, carting out legs of sambar venison.
I enjoy service rifle shooting and that is where I’ve honed my shooting technique. The different matches, like rapids, snaps and deliberates have taught me to shoot under pressure – skills I could take into the bush. The rifles that abound on range day are various types of SMLEs, P14s and one of my favourites, the SMLE Russian Conversion. It looks like a standard .303 SMLE but fires the 7.62x39 round. It is cheap…