North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

New to forum. Looking for places to hunt pigs with rifle and quad. Know of Howard springs reserve but don't know exactly where to go. Would like to hunt private land but I've read it's pretty hard to get permission, Any advice greatly appreciated

Yeah here's some advice
Don't put names of stations up that you may have a chance with unless you want a dozen people ringing the manager or going there and annoying them because that's what will happen
I suggest you edit the stations name out.
Asking and ringing them is the way to go .
Join SSAA or APDHA and get yourself some insurance by doing so ,it goes a long way
Regards Shaun

Thanks for the advice. Do you know if the reserves are any good, I assume they get pretty flogged but I only just got a licence so I haven't been to any yet.

There are a lot who say the reserves are no good and been flogged,they said the same thing twenty + years ago when I got up here
I have been involved in a few of the dog a hog comps up here and I can tell you some of the biggest boars that have won some of those comps have come from Howard Springs Hunting reserve
It's like fishing,if you put in the hours and the hard yards you will reap the rewards,if you don't you might get lucky but more often not.
The pigs are out there but your not going to see them driving around in a car with a spotlight.Footwork and knowledge of your quarry is necessary to become successful '
Wach out on the little Island out there on the floodplain as large crocs like to get in there on the bigger tides
Hunting it on a full moon with big tides is usually the best time
Regards Shaun

Oh and the rock bar out there is a prime landbase fishing spot but once again you have to be in the know and it's seasonal getting there most of the time

Look at your crown land permit and you will see the Blackmore river shooting reserve. Heaps in there but boggy ATM should be ok on a quad though. Less people use this area then Howard springs, but I agree with shaggs that there's still a fair bit out there

Thing I have noticed about Howard springs / shoalbay reserve is that in a normal wet the pigs will root up the edges the wetlands as the water level recedes. But by the time it's dry enough to get in (4wd) they have been and gone, so I don't bother. So best to get in early.
Google Earth is your friend , find wet lands, patches of dense vegetation and tracks. This will save you hours of driving round in circles.
Get right in deep as it will surprise you how many people get in there as hunting reserves are great places to tear around in a 4WD, Quad, buggy throwing empty stubbies as they go.

The best hunting reserve use to be the old Marrakia but they took that off us
3 times as many hunters here now and they still haven't released any new land to hunt but they will always squeal about the feral populations
I know the APDHA tried to get some land opened up by the grubberment but then the other mobs jumped in on it and it and the plan got shut down real quick
Ah well,get some properties if you can

I know the APDHA tried to get some land opened up by the grubberment but then the other mobs jumped in on it and it and the plan got shut down real quick

Who are the other mobs???

Woh ! three ? marks Col ( I'm a shooter to Col)
Lets just say after it hit the news that it was likely to go ahead it ended up being a consolidated effort from the hunting fraternity around N.T. the NLC ,Northern Territory Cattlemans Association and maybe a couple of others and a meeting was called and some of the organisations didn't show up.
The whole thing got canned
I'm led to believe that the grubberment is still being lobbied by the interested parties so lets hope something can be done in the future

few spots to look,not my map

Any licensing needed etc to hunt here? Weather is not real good for fishing and wouldn't mind getting tHe rifle out either. New to NT