Lore and Lead

The offer

Three days on six thousand acres, and you do all of it

Friday arvo through Sunday night, an hour inland of Tenterfield. A driver and two guides. Rifles, unlimited ammo, every meal, firewood, ice and knives all sorted. You bring a sleeping bag and the biggest esky you own.

You'll be taught to handle a rifle properly, shown how to zero it and where the shot goes, and then you'll use it. After that comes the part nobody else lets you do. You gut it, you skin it, you hang it, and on Sunday you break it down yourself with every cut named as it comes off.

Small groups only. We'd rather knock people back than run it badly.

A fallow buck in hard antler — Placeholder · swap for a shot off the block

3Days, Fri to Sun

6,000Acres of it

6Deer, best weekend so far

0Bars of reception

Who it isn't for

If you want a lodge, a chef and a hot towel, this is the wrong weekend. If you've never held a rifle, that's fine and we'll teach you. If you've been hunting twenty years and just want a good block to shoot on, you'll probably find us slow.

Chuck it in the bag

What to bring

Nearly all of it is already sorted. Two things matter, and then there's the usual.

The one that matters The biggest esky you own

Two if you've got them. We're confident we can fill it with deer and roo, so this is the thing worth borrowing off a mate. Ice is covered. It goes home chilled, not frozen, so leave room for it.

The other one Something to sleep in

A sleeping bag if you've got one. If you haven't, a doona and a blanket does the same job and nobody's checking. Bring your own pillow, you'll want it.

Warm gearWool if you have it. It gets into single digits at night and colder down in the gullies. Layers beat one big jacket.

Two changes of clothesYou're going to get blood on you. That's not a maybe.

A towelThere's a hot shower. Rough, but it works.

Whatever you walk inBoots if you've got them, runners are fine. Matt wears TNs.

Head torchAnd spare batteries. You'll use it more than you think.

Phone chargerIf you want it. Solar bank's coming, cords are on you.

Cryovac machineOnly if you've already got one. We've got one and a second halves Sunday for everybody.

Your good knivesOurs are sharp and there's plenty, but everyone's got a favourite.

BinocularsIf you own a pair. Not essential.

Any food you wantAll the meals are covered. If there's something you can't go without, bring it.

Your usual stuffMedications and whatever else. You're a grown adult.

Anything else you fancyCamera, camo, a chair. If you want it there, put it in the ute.

Already sorted

Rifles, unlimited ammo, every meal, firewood, ice, knives, sharpeners, ear plugs, mattresses and water. Don't bring cash, there's nothing to spend it on.

Leave at home

The crinkly rain shell. They hear it well before they see you. Dull colours beat bright, but camo isn't required.

Banned

Nothing. Drink if you want to, don't if you don't. Matt and Leif are both off it, so there's no pressure either way.

What you actually get

Four things, and none of them are a hot towel.

No. 01

Learn the lot

Safety, zeroing, where the shot goes, then a stalk and a spotlight run. After that you gralloch it, skin it, hang it and break it down yourself. Every cut named as it comes off.

No. 02

Shoot properly

A 6.5 Creedmoor, a couple of .308s, the .222s, and as much ammo as you can get through. Plate rack and a gong at whatever distance you reckon you're good for.

No. 03

Good people

Small group, long nights, no reception. You'll know these blokes properly by Sunday, which is more than most weekends manage.

No. 04

Feed yourself

Months of meat in the esky and the first honest answer you've ever had to where'd you get this. No antibiotics, no hormones, no needle.

How it runs

Three days

Rough shape, not a schedule. It all bends around where the animals are and how much work is hanging on the rail.

Fri

Arvo, and then dark

Roll out early afternoon. If you're coming from further afield we meet at the Tenterfield IGA carpark and convoy the last hour in. Gates, hut, bags dropped, fire lit, no unpacking ceremony.

Last light is rifles out: safety, zeroing, shot placement, then the plate rack and the gong until you're actually hitting what you're aiming at. Then the first spotlight run off the back of the ute. Whatever's down gets skinned and hung before anyone sleeps.

Sat

Sleep in, then the long one

Nobody sets an alarm, you'll have earned it. The day is yours: the gongs and the plate rack set out at whatever distances you fancy, a good long session getting your eye in, a swim if the mood strikes, and a drive around the block to see what's on it.

Dusk is a stalk on foot into the wind. Dark is the main game: spotlighting, calling, working the paddocks and the scrub. Then hunt, gut, load, skin, hang, repeat. This is the night that earns the weekend.

Sun

Butcher day

Everything comes out of the cool room and onto the bench. You break it all down yourself, every cut named as it comes off: backstraps, rumps, shoulders, shanks, ribs, mince.

Cryovac what's worth it, bag the rest, ice the eskies, clean the hut properly. Roll out late arvo. You'll get home late and sleep like the dead.

Where you sleep

The hut

The bloke who owns this country is in his seventies with a war story for every hour of the day, and he's rough around the edges. So is his hunting hut. That's a feature, not an apology.

A rough timber hut in the bush at night — The hutSilent Grove

A proper fireplace

Big open one, inside, and it heats the whole hut. Where you'll end up at 3am with blood still on your hands, telling lies about the shot you missed.

Hot shower

Rough, but it runs hot. There's a portable one in the truck as backup. You will still be filthy and that's fine.

An actual toilet

Flushes and everything. No shovel, no long drop. Or go bush if that's your thing, it's six thousand acres.

Fridge, freezer, cool room

Carcasses hang overnight, go into the cool room, and come out Sunday for the break down. This is the bit that makes the meat good.

Solar power

The hut runs off solar and there's a solar bank coming for phones and head torches. Bring your own cords.

Three couches

Mattresses are coming for the boys. Two tents in the truck if you'd genuinely rather, but you wouldn't.

Assume there's no reception

There are a couple of spots on the property that scrape a bar if something genuinely goes wrong, and that's exactly what they're for. Tell whoever needs to know you're gone Friday arvo until Sunday night, then put the thing in your pocket and leave it there. It's most of the point.

The armoury

The rack

Unlimited ammo, and you'll shoot all of it if you want to. Before anything gets pointed at something with a pulse you'll be walked through the safety, how to zero, and exactly where the shot goes. That briefing happens by the fire, not on a website.

6.5 Creedmoor

Flat, forgiving and easy to shoot well. The one you'll be handed first if you've never done this.

Deer

.308

The old reliable. Does everything and has done for seventy years. There are a couple on the rack.

Deer · Pig

.222

Light and quiet. Roos, goats, foxes, and anything that doesn't need the big stuff.

Small game

Steel

A plate rack and a gong, set out Saturday at whatever distances you fancy. Most of the weekend's arguments get settled here.

All day

Unlimited ammoEar plugs suppliedRests and bipods Zeroed before you shootBring your own if you'd rather

Saturday afternoon

Optional target practice on your fav pedo

The Epstein target is a classic and it's coming back. But it's BYO villain, so send through whoever you want printed and taped to a post.

An ex. Your boss. A bloke who owes you money. A mate who said he'd come and then didn't. It gets printed, it gets stapled up, and it gets absolutely flogged. Photos on request.

Any face, any photo
Printed on site
No limit
Photos on request

Photo slotMatt + the Epstein target

Drop the real shot in here

You've eaten a
thousand animals

The hut is rough
and the nights are long

Most trips you come
home with nothing