Now some people might think that considering the number of animals taken that the hunting is easy. I can assure you that it is anything but. Insanely hard is the best way to describe it. The statement was made by Mitch that you hunt the morning and then spend the afternoon trying to survive and this is completely true. The conditions while tranquil around camp are brutal when out hunting. The mornings are nice until about eleven o'clock when it starts to heat up and by one o'clock its unbearable for long periods. You can only move about 1 km max with out having to drop into a waterhole and cool down. The heat is staggering on the flats and it reflects back at you from the hard ground, and when pushing through grass the heat comes up into your face like a Sauna. Several times when having to cross some rather large open flats your feet become so hot that you can feel your skin start to burn, but you cant stop as there is no shade. You just have to push on until the next water hole and then dive in and recover. Before I came up Mick said to me don't bring any boots that have glued soles only as they will separate with the heat regardless of how expensive they are and I can see what he meant. I had Courtney's and they didn't give a shit but you can see what could happen. Luckily Mick had worked out the best ways to hydrate and his techniques were a game changer.

It was by far the hardest hunting I have ever done and to be honest I couldn't keep up with the guys after a couple of days. Over the six days I walked 90km but Mick, Mitch and Jason did double that in the same time, and at an insane pace. Remember too that Mick is sixty and Mitch has only just recovered from a broken neck and shattered chest and is on meds, but you would never know. They would come into camp and complain about their feet being a bit sore with some blisters, have a laugh and then go and do fifteen kilometers in the afternoon before dinner, and it can still be 35 degrees at that time. These guys are on another level and friends of Mick that I met in Darwin said the same thing. I found it worked better for me after the first two days to get dropped of early in the morning at certain distance from camp and then work my way back or do a loop out of camp working back. Distances would be between 12 and 15Km but I could take my time and would take most of the day to do it returning at about four o'clock. That way I didn't burn out my feet and I was able to look around and investigate as well, take some pics and enjoy being out in totally unfamiliar terrain. Once back I would have a wash, clean out the fire pit and collect fire wood. This gave me a chance recover and give my feet a rest. Remember to that Mick and I were carrying 10 1/2 pund guns although after a couple of days I didn't feel the weight anymore. The guys would then come back at about 6:30 and as soon as they arrived instantly start cooking, and I mean Instantly, as in Mitch would open the car door, take one step to the cooker, light it and have olive oil in and be stirring. Bloody funny, Mick wasn't any different.

Matt