I think it was Chainsaw that posted something about Roo hunting. Is this what I think it is? Kangaroos? How do you hunt them? And can you do anything with them, or what? Do they respond to calls? Or do you spot and stalk? Or am I way off and you dont even mean Kangaroos? Im just a redneck from Arizona so I aint much knowing about them there mysterious critters called roos, just what we got over here in the Zoo.
Any info on this would would be appreciated.

hey knifeboy, sorry took so long 2 get back 2 ya been workin and shootin (kangaroos funnily enough) for last coupla weeks and havent been home.The aussie kangaroo is very much a stalking animal to hunt of a day time they have very keen eyes ears and sense of smell.they tend to b resting in groups in the shade as they r nocturnal and primarily come out 2 play of a night.spotlighting them of a night also provides large amounts of enjoyment.imagine trying to shoot a jackrabbit that covers 3-4 meters a jump on the run in the dark!roos make great eating much like a rabbit except 20 times the size u can bake em mince em stirfry em fry em make sausages out of em pretty much whatever u like.hope that helps yell out if u wanna know anything else about em

I thought the gun laws in Australia had gotten so bad that it had about ended private gun ownership.

How bad is it?

its not the best and keeps getting worse everyone with a reason 4 it must have a gun licence and all firearms must be registered and stored correctly.u have2 ask permission from firearms division (government) any time u want to buy or sell firearms.the worst of it was the changes to what type of guns u can own, depends what ur reason for the firearm is semi autos became hard to get its just endless paperwork for us and a reason 4 government to stick its nose in but those of us that love shooting just keep wadding thriugh it

Gidday Chainsaw. Tell ya what mate, you must be huntin' different roos to me. I will eat some of the meat, but I am very picky about which parts. Don't always find roo meat to be to my liking...a bit strong. Love "underground mutton" (rabbit). Found a spot where the calissie virus (bastard CSIRO) hasn't wiped them out and have a ball sniping them with my Krico .22 I bought in Wagga 36 yrs ago. Sometimes use my .243 Weatherby, but only for longer shots (gotta be fair). Best part is I usually find a feral cat or two hanging around the warrens.

Would love to get amongst some goats....damn fine eating.

I hunt SE Qld and Nthn NSW. What part of Oz do you hunt?

Cheers, Vince

I have a friend on another forum who hunts kangaroo regularly. He uses a .222Rem. for the most part so they must not be too hard to kill. I think the weight varies a good bit. Most of his kills appear to be about 60lbs. The main market for them would appear to be for pet food. There certainly doesn't appear to be any shortage of them. He posts pictures on occasion, and I'm surprised at the variety of game available to Aussies.
Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Gidday Cal,
You are correct when you say they aren't difficult to take. I have actually taken a roo with a .22 rimfire. I would consider them to be light skinned game, although a poorly placed shot, as with all animals, will not produce the intended result, and its bloody cruel into the bargain. I have been out with professional roo shooters and the .222 is a common calibre. Its accurate (allows for head shots) and has sufficient hitting power to do the job, although I must admit I much prefer a minimum of the .223 Rem. The .243 does the job very nicely out to about 300 metres (assuming I do my bit) or more. Biggest problem I have is spotting the buggers at that range.

There are basically three types of roo shooters in Australia....the pro skin shooter, the pro meat shooter (for the pet market) and the sporting shooter like myself. I believe that there are more roos in Australia than there are people, although there are many different types. They range from Kangaroo rats (not much bigger than a good size mouse) , wallabies (many different types from small ones about 2' high up to larger ones up to about 4'), wallaroos (scruffy rough looking buggers up to about 5' high and pretty heavy, maybe 50lb for a big one), Grey Roos (most common and vary between 3' and 5-6'), and then the best of all, the big Red Kangaroo (up to 6-7' tall). The Red can weigh more than 170lb. I have never actually weighed one, but I have tried to pick them up to skin and believe me it was a two man lift, and then we near bust a "puffa valve"... LOL.

Most roo shooting is done at night with a spotlight because thr roos lie up during the day. I suppose it would be considered unsporting by some because the spotlight makes them stop and stand up to see what is going on....makes for an easy shot.

More info at the following link:
www.australianwildlife...ngaroo.htm

Cheers, Vince

mate of mines just come back from Oz and was gettin paid to shoot roos all day and all night, can even get the piks!!

he reckons he was killing at least 1,000 roos each weak with a .270 and at least 750 wild donkeys!! he said you just leave em where they fall!! he says roo hunters have been known to burn brand new rifle barrels out in a week!! ask me more ill be happy to tell!!

they have a few operators utilising a few pelts for the fur and leather and the meat is ok too, but 90% are just left where they fall!!

That just seems so... ummm "alien" to me. I guess i havent quite wrapped my brain around the idea that roos = american jackrabbits.

How often do they breed and what is the litter size of kangaroos? To they multiply at a ferocious rate or something?


-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

That just seems so... ummm "alien" to me. I guess i havent quite wrapped my brain around the idea that roos = american jackrabbits. How often do they breed and what is the litter size of kangaroos? To they multiply at a ferocious rate or something? -DallanC

They are a tad bigger than a jackrabbit DallanC. A big red can be 6' or more standing up, and they can be nasty buggers too if cornered.

Roos are one of the strangest critters when it comes to breeding, as are a number of other aussie animals. The female can control her "season" and will not come into season unless the environment can support more animals. The "baby" when born is hairless and about 1.5" long. It crawls "out" of the mother and up her belly, on the outside, to her pouch. It then enters the pouch and attachs itself to a teat where it stays until it grows. I suppose you could say it actually grows in the pouch, not the womb. Not sure how many a female can have in the pouch at a time, although I have heard of two being in there. They don't have litters though.

I will search out more info and post it for those that are interested.

Cheers, Vince

Hm, seems I am learning a bit about our roos as well. Here is a link that will tell you more about their reproduction.

www.australianwildlife...production

Cheers, Vince

Chainsaw.......... from what I have been reading about roo's and you saying that you can stirfry them - I have come to the conclusion that you must have bloody big woks in Oz! What is the best eating bit? I have had roo steak here in London in an Aussie restaurant up the road from me and I must say that it was lovely, but damned expensive. I'm now wondering just what bit of it I ate.