147 Foxes Down - The Southern Riverina Hunting Club Fox Drive

By The Southern Riverina Hunting Club | 24 May 2018

The Southern Riverina Hunting Club Inc is Celebrating its 20th Anniversary and on the 19 th May 2018 ran its annual

Fox Drive.

As you may know hunting clubs have been around for many years in many different forms.

With the introduction of the new gun laws back in 1996 it was seen to be necessary to try to protect and represent the

rights and traditional privileges of the average individual hunter. Hence the formation of this club in our area.

In May 1998 a public meeting was called for interested persons to form a Club to help hunters and shooters. On the night 40

to 50 people attended. Membership of the club in 2015 has was recorded at 350 members.

Most other Clubs or associations represent one type of hunting or shooting. Our club represents the broad

spectrum of all hunters and shooters especially supporting the hunters just starting out.

You can learn more about our club by visiting our webpage https://srhc.tidyhq.com

THE DRIVE:

Began on Saturday morning with 2 starting points from Finley and Corowa in Southern NSW.

3 groups worked from Finley, 2 Groups from Corowa. The participants drove swamps and rice stubbles across the the region towards the final camp destination out past Jerilderie.

A total of 87 hunters including current members and visitors from as far as Sale Vic, Ballarat Vic and Leeton NSW

participated with 147 Foxes shot on the day and from Camp the next morning.

Every second year the SRHC Inc is fortunate to have ongoing support from a number of sponsors throughout the

region. These donations vary from fishing tools, education on hunting, merchandise or camping goods. The prizes are

raffled off for those that attend.

This year the support was generous and allowed the club to also run a couple of fun activities on the Sunday for the children

attending.

The drive this year saw an increase in numbers on previous years. The result of the drive indicates a large increase in fox numbers and from a vermin control perspective the timing of this event could not have been better with lambing well underway.

The Red Fox is an introduced species to Australia. Many native species across Australia are affected by foxes, some threatened with extinction. 14 bird species, 48 mammals, 12 reptiles, and 2 amphibians (as listed under

EPBC Act 1999). Foxes also threaten a number of critically endangered species, including orange-bellied parrot, spotted quail-thrush, herald petrel, Gilbert's potoroo and western swamp tortoise. Foxes in our region affect the

population of other native animals such as the Stone Curlew, Barking Owl and the Plains Wanderer.

Ultimately the regions native ecology benefits from the drive and for the time being we have done our part in

conserving this.

Southern Riverina Hunting Club