Some Advice for A Newby

[the_joel]

Hi Guys,

I'm a Victorian who has been coming annually to the great state of Tasmania for abit of time away with the lads in my family. On our more recent trip we drove through some good country and saw some pretty awesome landscapes (we traveled through Arthur's Lake, St Clares Lake, Bronte Park etc). We were all mutually pretty much in awe and got to thinking we might do some hiking on our next trip.

So I guess what I'm after, primarily, is some advice about what to bring and where to go etc. My thoughts are that we would like to keep off tracks and "rough it" through the thick scrub for about a week/week and a half. Now I've never really been on a serious walk so any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. I'm leaning towards the warmer end of the year as the cold can be pretty trying as I found just last month. My shopping list at the moment (bear in mind my inexperience) is as follows:
*Sleeping Bag
*Back Pack
*Hunting Knife (figure if I get onto some game it'll lighten the load in my pack)
*Cooking supplies
*Food
*Warm Clothes
*Tent
*Machete

Also, what is the legality of snare trapping in Tasmania?

Again guys any advice at all would be massively appreciated.

[ollster]

Hi Guys,
....My thoughts are that we would like to keep off tracks and "rough it" through the thick scrub for about a week/week and a half. Now I've never really been on a serious walk so any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.

My thought would be that this sounds like a recipe for disaster. Sorry, but off track walking in Tas is ambitious even for experienced locals, let alone completely inexperienced "newbies". It can snow or the winds can rip through on any day of the year. Fog or mist can close in for days. Depending on where you go it can flash flood. Camping areas in thick scrub are non existent. It can take a whole day to get through a valley - Tassie scrub can be amazingly dense and impenetrable. Most importantly - people dissapear and are never found.

Sorry to bring you down, but I would probably encourage you to a few years of track walking before something this ambitous.

[tasadam]

What he said.
Tassie is different.

This sums it up -

http://www.subw.org.au/archives/POR/Thrash.html

Unlike in other types of scrub, in bauera only the leader does work. Using the weight of his pack for assistance, the leader claws and thrashes and bends the tangled branches forward, forming a tunnel. The little leaves get under one's clothes and fill every crevice. The rest of the party spend most of the time standing still right behind the leader and only occasionally take a step forward.

Whole article a worthy read.

[Nuts]

hunting knife, machete..... mate, just stay on a few tracks and get some experience with the way things are first, people have eaten each other...!

[Son of a Beach]

As others have said, scrub bashing in Tasmania is not something to be taken lightly, and is only recommended for experienced walkers. So I'd suggest doing some Tasmanian track walking first, then some walks that are mostly on track with a small amount of off-track walking. Sometimes you can come across scrub that is so dense you can talk all day to walk a couple of hundred metres.

As for gear, here's one recommended list of items you'd need: http://bushwalk.com/wiki/index.php?titl ... _or_Longer

[ILUVSWTAS]

Definately not for the light hearted! Alot of the "tracks" in Tassie are a hard enough bash. DEFINATELY get some experience on these before even considering off track! Even on tracked areas it's very easy to lose the track, much harder to re-find it. Sometimes you can be less than a few metres from the track and not even know it!

[Ent]

Content removed by poster

[Clownfish]

The convict Brett mentioned was Alexander Pearce.

The blog of the group that recreated his journey makes for some very instructional reading:

http://www.stormplanet.com/thecannibalrun.htm

Note the days where they only managed to cover 3 kilometres in a whole day, and days they ran out of food - and these people had a support team as well.

I second the comments above. Stick with the tracks, most of us mortals find even those quite challenging enough!

[stu]

I'll also throw my 2 bobs worth in.
Hunting Knives & machetes are a definite NO in our National Parks!!!!, irrespective of anything you may have read about the old days of exploration.
You cannot go hacking your way through our wild areas willy nilly!!! This is not only highly frowned upon but illegal to the best of my knowledge.
If you want to throw yourself into off-track walking outside of the National Park system & hunt for your dinner do some research on allowable areas / seasons.
Generally all native wildlife is protected; not being a hunter I can't give you advice on any exceptions to this rule.
As others have said, if you don't have a decent amount of on-track experience down here then contemplating a Tasmanian style scrub bash is lunacy!
Why not explore some of our beautiful wilderness areas without the Rambo knife & machete - there are a lifetime of such adventures both on & off tracks.
There are also a massive amount of more advanced walks on more remote pads / tracks, but even these can be dangerous without a base level of experience.

Learn the basics first & don't become another statistic!

Stu.

[underthestars]

i would just like to say that alot of what people have said is true, the tasmanian scrub is thick and can be a real struggle but with deterination and a strong will you can get threw it. every one likes to tell you that you want be able to get threw it because they wouldnt be able to. i have made my way threw tassie lots of times and with NO experience or knowledge of bush walking that comes with time

[text removed by admin due to recommending both dangerous and illegal practices]

i hope i have helped cos as you can see no one els was willing to and good luck.

[Son of a Beach]

i have made my way threw tassie lots of times and with NO experience or knowledge of bush walking that comes with time.

This is a contradictory statement. The first time would have been no experience. Lots of times cannot be with no experience. In any case, specifics on which routes were walked would have been useful in determining how difficult the walking was, otherwise, the comment is not particularly helpful.

Anyhow, the rest of the the post from which this quote came included recommendations for illegal activities (eg, snaring is illegal in Tasmania). Whether we agree with all these laws or not, we cannot have posts on these forums recommending illegal activities. Therefore some elements from this topic have been deleted, and the topic has been locked.

Sorry to the OP for any inconvenience, but in the short time this topic was active I received more complaints by PM about it than for any other topic in the last 12 months.

If you sincerely wish to get further information on bushwalking in Tasmania, I hope that we may be able to assist you in another topic without people recommending illegal activities in their replies. I hope that some of the information already provided in this topic is of some use.

[the_joel]

Hey Guys,

Just want to say that the previous post was not a setup on my behalf. I think the lack of gramatical skill alone should hopefully validate my claim to some extent. Obviously someone saw an opportunity to make fun of my apparent ignorance of the subject matter. I hope that this point is trusted as I look forward to further using all of your experience as a resource leading up to my trip. If we could continue discussion in this post or even unlock the other one that would be great.

[corvus]

G'day t_j,
I did not respond to your first post because I really thought you were taking the *&^%$#! however if you are for real we will assist you where possible I am certain.
Everyone has to start somewhere however "off track" is not the way to learn IMHO ,try some easy well marked tracks where you have the security of other walkers and huts to fall back on if the excrement hits the proverbial.
Cheers
c

[tasadam]

Hi the_joel.
Firstly, thank you for clarifying that.
Secondly I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the forum.
I see that apart from the rogue response, the consensus is somewhat unanimous in relation to off-track walking, and the need (or should I say lack thereof) for a machete.

I will discuss with site admin re whether to unlock original post and merge this in <snip>

EDIT - in light of the merge and subsequent post (below), some content irrelevant here.

[Son of a Beach]

I will discuss with site admin re whether to unlock original post and merge this in, but for now feel free to continue the discussion here.

Agreed.

Joel... thanks for the clarification, and I hope you get some useful information now.

With the offending items (and a couple of other items) removed, and in light of Joel's new topic (now merged here) I've unlocked this topic again, and merged the new topic with this one. If there are any items remaining here that people think are inappropriate, please let me know, and we can consider if any further changes are required to keep this topic sane.

[the_joel]

I'll also throw my 2 bobs worth in.
Hunting Knives & machetes are a definite NO in our National Parks!!!!, irrespective of anything you may have read about the old days of exploration.
You cannot go hacking your way through our wild areas willy nilly!!! This is not only highly frowned upon but illegal to the best of my knowledge.
If you want to throw yourself into off-track walking outside of the National Park system & hunt for your dinner do some research on allowable areas / seasons.
Generally all native wildlife is protected; not being a hunter I can't give you advice on any exceptions to this rule.

I really think I would like to look into doing some kind of hunting as part of the trip. The idea of getting onto some kind of live game is definitely a selling point and I feel as though it would provide a much more legitimate "at one with nature" experience, if your living off the land instead of eating out of cans etc.

If anyone can set me in the right direction for getting advice on what I can and cannot hunt and the best ways to do this specific to the area that'd be amazing. Do any of you guys hunt when your on your treks? Obviously this would need to be done outside of national park area. Also thanks SOAB for the info re what gear to take.

Does anyone know if mixomitosis is in Tasmania.

[tasadam]

Does anyone know if mixomitosis is in Tasmania.

A quick bit of googling showed me that myxomatosis was released into Tasmania in 1953.
I've certainly seen rabbits near our place that had it.

[Son of a Beach]

Yes, there is myxo in Tassie, but it doesn't seem to be as common as it used to be (rabbits getting more resistant?).

I do hunt (not snare), but have not combined it with bushwalking thus far (too heavy to carry! amongst other reasons).

Of course, it is very difficult to find areas that are suitable (and legal) for both activities at the same time. Any areas with tracks are likely to be in parks or have lots of people around. Any areas without tracks are going to be more difficult to get through, especially if carrying extra equipment, which means the walking part is going to be slow going, at best.

You need to have written permission from land owners (including crown land).

You need to have a license to take game (for just about anything except rabbits), and can only go in season.

[Singe]

Just by coincidence, there was a story on myxo and calicivirus on Catalyst last night. Myxo was initially very effective, but the bunnies gradually developed resistance to it. Made sense to me as when I was growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, the smell of dead bunnies was common around blackberry patches, wood stacks and drains under gravel roads - but this doesn't seem to be the case any more. They expected calicivirus to be effective for a similar amount of time, but have found that despite being initially very effective, its effectiveness dropped both earlier and faster than expected - turns out that Aus rabbits already carry a different, non-fatal form of the calicivirus, which gives them an immunity (or ability to develop it) to the fatal virus. The researcher's closing comment was along the lines of, "biological controls will only buy time before the rabbits evolve to cope with them".

And now, back to your scheduled programming

[loric]

Just noticed you're a mexican like me (well not as mexican as our tas bros anyhow).

Why don't you just head up to the Vic state parks? Heaps cheaper than going to Tas - AND (wait for the retorts..) we have better game if that's your liking!

Depending on the time of year, up behind Mt Buller (in the private land and state parks, not the NPs) you can find: Sambar, feral pig, feral goat, feral cat (tho i wouldn't wanna eat those), trout in the streams...

Personally, i'm a keen fisherman only - so i can't provide advice on what hunting techniques you may want to use for the other stuff... (i don't recall anyone ever using snares tho - mostly sport hunters with rifles or bows)

The bush the Vic state parks is plenty thick enough to keep you amused/hidden/lost and another benefit is that there are also plenty of gazzetted tracks up there so you can car-camp if that's your thing.

You could even speak to a farmer - he may let you on the property to trap rabbit.

http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1process_details.cfm?activity=12

[whiskeylover]

If you go to the DPIW site at http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au you will find all the information you need on what and when and where you can hunt in Tassie and how to obtain a license. I tend to agree with Nik, that tracked areas will tend to be no hunting areas and non tracked areas will not be suitable for someone not familiar with walking in Tassie. Most open, easy walking and easy hunting country will be privately owned or leased so you will need permission. Most seasons here are very short and there are strictly enforced laws. Snaring is definitely not allowed in any form. Feral animals are the only ones you don't need a license for, i.e. rabbits, foxes, cats, feral dogs, goats and pigs. Maybe you should go with a tour operator that offers hunting trips as a newby, as Tassie is fairly easy to get lost in - are you good with a map and compass and keeping track of where you are while hunting? There is also bushcraft skills, bush etiquette and hunting etiquette to consider. You can't learn these skills from a website. I'm not a hunter but I know a few and I believe you would be better off going with someone familiar with the area and the locals. The other information you need re-what to take for walking in Tassie has been covered elsewhere - canned food is not recommended - too heavy.

[Son of a Beach]

Feral animals are the only ones you don't need a license for, i.e. rabbits, foxes, cats, feral dogs, goats and pigs.

Mostly. You do need a license for feral deer and feral trout (make sense of that?). I think that you may be able to take brushtails without a license, but I'm not certain of that (I'm not interested in them anyhow, as I don't fancy trying to butcher, cook or eat them).

[olblackbilly]

watch out for the heffalumps too Newby, they can be very viscious if provoked......

[whiskeylover]

C'mon olblackbilly, I bet you've even tangled with a drop bear or two in your time. If you see a heffalump don't shoot it, they are harmless unless cornered - I believe they are common in the midlands, South of the Line. On a misty night near Oatlands......

[flyfisher]

Perhaps back off on that whisky a bit you guys.
FF

[olblackbilly]

what whisky, you obviously havent been chased by a heffalump before have you flyfisher.....

[Son of a Beach]

One thing's for certain, you can't get a license to take heffalump.

[BarryJ]

I don't imagine you need a license to take heffalump.

[corvus]

what whisky, you obviously havent been chased by a heffalump before have you flyfisher.....

No but I recon as a golfer he would have been stressed by an Oozle


"Golfing terminolgy in Scotland. Where by the player gets out of the greenside bunker and has one putt on the green for Par.
Yeaterday at the Balboa Course, Jake had hit a tee shot into the greenside Bunker at the Par 3, he chipped out of the bunker to six feet and holed his putt for a Par 3. What he got is called an Oozle."
c

[flyfisher]

Thanks for that little piece of trivia Corvus. I sure that'll get a chuckle out of some at North West Bay (golf club)
FF