Hunting In NSW - 2 million ha more land

Licensed hunters now have 2 million hectares more land to hunt on since the establishment of Game Council NSW. Since March 2006, 400 State forests have been progressively declared for hunting in NSW, with more to follow.

To hunt in these areas, you must have:

• A Restricted NSW Game Hunting Licence (R-Licence) issued by the Game Council of NSW; and
• Written permission, obtained on application to Game Council NSW through an online/telephone booking system.

 

Meeting R-Licence requirements

The two main requirements for the R-Licence are:

a) Applicants must be a member of a Game Council Approved Hunting Organisation (AHO), and

b) Be trained and accredited for their R-Licence category which can be one or a multiple of the following: Bows, Firearms, Dogs, Black Powder.

The good news is that Australian Bowhunting Association (ABA) members who hold the Bowhunter Proficiency Certificate meet these two requirements.

Licensed ABA members are already hunting species such as wild deer, goats and pigs on public land.

 

Hunting areas

Many of the declared public land areas allow bowhunting, with some areas exclusive to bowhunting. For example, Clandulla State Forest in the Central West of NSW only allows hunting by holders of an R-Licence (Bows) and contains good numbers of quality goats.

A complete list of declared public land areas and the authorised licence categories is available on the Game Council website: www.gamecouncil.nsw.gov.au

 

Approved Hunting Organisations

Only members of a Game Council Approved Hunting Organisation (AHO) who have completed adequate training and are accredited may apply for the R-Licence.

ABA Inc is a Game Council Approved Hunting Organisation. This means any member of ABA meets the membership requirements for the licence. This also means that ABA affiliated clubs do not need to apply to the Game Council for AHO status as they are already approved under the ABA Inc.

Previously, any member of ABA who holds a Bowhunter Proficiency Certificate (BPC) met the accreditation requirements for the R licence (Bows). As of July 2007 this will change slightly.

The BPC is a Game Council accredited course for bowhunting, however the course has recently been updated and again approved by both the Game Council and ABA. This means as of July 2007, anyone wishing to sit the ABA BPC for the purposes of being accredited for Game Council R-Licence (Bows) will be required to sit an additional section about NSW hunting legislation. On completing the BPC course, your card/certificate will be stamped as Game Council approved.

Any current holder of a BPC prior to this date will be required to get their card updated as Game Council approved. Anyone who currently holds an R-Licence (Bows) is ok as they have already met the criteria and are not required to re-sit any tests. Just make sure you keep your licence up to date.

Assessors can help ABA members fill out their R-Licence application forms before they are sent to Game Council NSW. The turnaround time for processing is generally about 10 working days.

 

Booking your hunt

Once the hunter receives their R-Licence, they will also receive a special pin number for use when booking their hunt online or via telephone.

Members who have booked using either method claim its very simple and only takes a few minutes. Game Council only allows one hunter per 500ha of public land, therefore numbers for each area are limited.

 

Hunting On Private Land

If you wish to hunt wild deer on private land in NSW, a General NSW Game Hunting Licence (G-Licence) is required. However, the R-Licence confers authority of the G-Licence.

 

Deer Hunting in NSW

Open seasons apply to the following species of wild deer on public and private land:

March 1-October 31: Red, wapiti, fallow (no bag limits)

April only: Hog deer (Bag limits 1M, 1F).

Hunting allowed all year: Sambar, chital, rusa (no bag limits)

 

Contact:

Game Council NSW, phone (02) 6360 5100

Email: Game Council Information

Web: www.gamecouncil.nsw.gov.au