Camel Hunt

[Kapow]

Was talking to a guy recently who had shot a wild camel with his GPR .54 roundball. Got me to thinking. It is really a hunt I would like to set up for the following reasons:
1. What a unique animal to hunt with a black powder rifle.
2. They are huge in body size and pretty wary from what I understand.
3. Where they live is truly remote and challenging country to hunt.
4. They are a huge pest so it would be viewed favourably.

There are an estimated 500 000 wild camels in outback Australia (that was the count after a massive cull program) They are remnants of ones turned loose when the country was settled. Afgan camel drivers used them to transport telegraph wire and such across our deserts.

The problem is so big that some farms shoot 20 000 per year and cannot notice the difference. One shooting guide tells his clients to expect 100-200 shots per day on camels and other ferals such as donkeys and horses. Surely they won't miss one if I shoot one?

Anyway, something interesting to add to the bucket list.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Bet someone gets the hump over this! :wink:

 

[Brokennock]

Should be interesting. Be sure to post pics. I've seen what .50bmg and 20mm does to 'em and would like to know how a comparatively low velocity and low mass round does.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Just don't offend their god!
http://www.apnatalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Amazing-camel-natural-art.jpg

 

[Lonegun1894]

I have seen them taken with .45 ACP, .308, and 12ga slug, and all worked fine with proper placement, so your .54 will be fine. I gotta ask though, are they just a varmint, or do you plan on eating it? I have eaten some, on several occasions, and the meals ranged from excellent to absolutely horrible, so I guess it is like anything else and just depends on the skill of the cook.

 

[Wes/Tex]

so I guess it is like anything else and just depends on the skill of the cook.

http://bloggingpioneer.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/camel-001-e1383877301335.jpg

 

[Kapow]

Of course they are edible, they, like all animals are just protein but I don't know that I would be in too much of a hurry, so for the sake of the argument let's just call them pig tucker. Like Clint says, "Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms." Loved that line as a kid. I know that some remote Aboriginal kids reckon they make a pretty good trampoline!

 

[BillinOregon]

I am just plain sorry that Australia is plagued with overpopulated introduced critters such as camels, donkeys and rabbits. Can't think of another continent that has suffered as much from this human foolishness.
Agree camels might best be left as "pig tucker," but are the hides worth tanning? I'll bet your .54 will be plenty with good shot placement.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Should be interesting. Be sure to post pics. I've seen what .50bmg and 20mm does to 'em and would like to know how a comparatively low velocity and low mass round does.

No no no....not the Afgans, he is talking about their camels :idunno:

B

 

[Alden]

The numbers are staggering...
There will be 1,000,000 free-ranging camels there in ten years I think it was and that's WITH culling-programs of 20,000 going on now... Means nothing in the scheme of things. And they are big and eat up and destroy farms.

Imagine a million 4-foot tall feral pigs all over Texas, and that's just the illegal alien women! Now imagine a million 12-foot tall wild hogs that look like camels and the damage they'd do...

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Wow, approx one year ago, an acquaintance had to put down his tame camel. That camel was gentle as could be, a towering giant and sweet as could be with little kids. They had the saddle and halter, but never rode him, although the prior owner did. It was a bit strange driving down to the house and seeing a camel just roaming around the unfenced property. Four years and he never strayed more than a couple hundred yards from the barn.

I certainly hope the wild camels are more sporting to shoot. We have shooter farms around here where folks go and pay a fee to shoot such creatures as Jacobs sheep and Barbados sheep. To me it is like shooting a cow in a barn yard. At a nearby "boar hunting preserves" the animals can be drawn into the stands just by calling "here piggy come and get it"

 

[satx78247]

BillinOregon,

YEP camel is good eating. - It tastes like veal AND the skins are commercially tanned in the UAE.
(The leather is attractive & stronger than the skins of cows too.)

Young camel meat can be cooked like veal; older camel is better ground or braised.
(It also makes good sausage, when mixed with pork.)

yours, satx

 

[Spikebuck]

Combine this topic with all the talk about speed shooting in my post on the Percussion Tape Springfield, and I think you have the right combination for the problem down there! :wink: :grin:

Camels must have a fairly long gestation. Do they give birth to twins generally? I guess the population is so big it's impossible to put a big enough dent in it so length of gestation and birth rates don't matter much.

 

[Golfswithwolves]

"he liked the animal as much as a man could like a camel, which is to say that he hated it only a little" -Ken Follett, The Key to Rebecca

 

[Sean Gadhar]

**** The fallowing is politically incorrect!! and accurate *****

:hmm: Where oh where have I heard of some really big animals reckoned in the millions?

Roaming in vast numbers?

Meeting up with some smelly guys with rifles powered by black powder?

Sir! I think if vast numbers of herd animals are the problem, you've come to the right place. We will need a good price on there hides, a market for there tongues, and dusty rail heads with over priced cheep whisky of dubious origin, twist tobacco, & women of ill repute. :grin:

Plainsmen Of America, Australia calls!!!

 

[larry wv]

Back in the old days I raced a lot of Motocross. I wore a set of leathers made from Camel. They lasted me my whole career. A friends son used them for a few years and gave them to another rider. They are still in good shape. So I guess Camel is tough as well as ugly. Larry

 

[house]

Sounds like a great hunt. Just wish I had the funds and/or the time right now to do it.

 

[Kapow]

Oh man they were some funny responses... The biggest damage they do is on stock fences, no respect for them. Hard to put an exact number on them due to their extreme range. Imagine about 1/3 to a 1/2 the landmass of the USA being infested with them.

As far as eating, skinning or otherwise using them forget it, too much effort for too little reward. It will be shoot, photograph, repeat. And as far as burying dead camels goes, the farmers complain about the resulting speed humps! :wink:

 

[Brokennock]

Florida may be catching up fast with all the stupid "exotics" that have found freedom their and have procreated and thrived in ideal habitat without the threats they might have had in their native origins.

 

[Idaho Ron]

I understand what you're saying about them not being worth anything,but. Guys here would like camel leather. I am just guessing it is fairly thick and would make an awesome soft rifle case. It would also be very unique. I would love to tie into them big old devils. Sneeking up on them might be tough when a whole herd goes up periscope. Sounds fun. Ron