Former gamekeeper Doug Vickery won some fantastic hunting gear by submitting this story of his feral-cat cleanout. Click here to find out you too can win!
I am a pom, originally from the north-east of England, a cold, wet, miserable, windy place. I was a gamekeeper in my spare time, doing endless vermin control leading up to the shooting season. I would hunt foxes, cats, rats, stoats, crows, magpies, weasels etc.
Now I live north of the river in Perth, WA, and hunt on a few properties about 1½ hours away near Calingiri. One farmer asked if I could clear the cats off the property. The farm backs on to the army training area (forest) which I know is riddled with cats.
I spent two days there for a total of 21 cats. I have never seen so many cats in my life. They just kept coming.
The first day, when I pulled up on the farm, I could see cats running around the sheds. I got one straight away with the shotty and a second with my rifle, then all was quiet as they scattered.
I trapped four in my homemade fox trap. I had no idea if it would catch cats but it worked great.
Parked in front of some sheds, I started whistling and five cats poked their heads out from inside, under cars etc, and some started wandering about but none gave me a clear, safe shot. Then one walked into the open and I got him with the rifle.
All went quiet again.
I walked an anti-clockwise lap of the farm buildings as I am right-handed; I bagged another two with my Adler loaded with BBs.
When I started whistling again, this time using a recording played over the ute radio, cats started coming out of the canola in the paddock.
I got them with both rifle and shotty. I would shoot one, then after about an hour another would wander in.
At the end of the day, I’d bagged 10 cats and the next day was more or less a mirror image of the first. On my way out of the property I bagged one more to make it 21.
The damage this amount of cats would be doing to the native Australian fauna around there is absolutely crazy. I don’t think I saw one bird on the place.
A cracking solo effort, even if I say so myself!
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