To see and learn about actual deer sign is a huge benefit of holding the course in the heart of sambar country.
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NEWS Paul Gray
The 2026 Victorian Hunter Education Course, held from May 1 to 3 at CYC Forest Edge Camp in Neerim East, was another outstanding event with the course selling out well before the weekend kicked off. This year’s course also marked a significant milestone, celebrating 40 years of the Victorian Hunter Education Course.
There were a few small changes to this year’s format, with the course operating out of the Pavilion and the weekend moving to a self-catered setup. One of the major positives from the change was the ability to put venison front and centre across the weekend’s meals.
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Attendees began arriving from 5pm on Friday, May 1, for registration and were welcomed with venison sausages, gravy and onions prepared by the hardworking volunteer kitchen crew of Dwayne Peel, Darsy Peel, Jen Counsell and Sarah Hawkins. A huge thanks also goes to Dwayne for preparing the venison sausages and burgers for the weekend, along with Paul Boag for supplying the deer.
Steve Robinson and Ryan Shane gave a talk on optics and had some of the latest equipment on hand.
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Paul Gray
Once everyone was fed, the course got underway with Barry Howlett presenting an Introduction to Deer. Tim Koschade followed with a presentation covering animal welfare considerations from a hunting perspective before the night wrapped up with Moroka30 and Beyond the Divide founder Rob Fickling talking all things sambar stalking.
Saturday is always one of the biggest days of the course and started with Paul Boag presenting on deer sign, tracks and locating deer in the bush. From there, attendees split into groups, with half completing the field trip component while the other half took part in a deer breakdown and caping demonstration run by Paul Boag and highly respected taxidermist Gavin Counsell.
The field component of the course is always of great interest.
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The field trip component gave attendees the chance to work through a range of practical hunting scenarios and see deer sign in the bush. Steve Robinson and Ryan Shane covered optics, Tim Koschade ran the blood tracking station, while Rob and Charlie Fickling discussed rubs. Jamie Stevens covered preaching trees, Ken Slee took attendees through wallows, Peter McDonell discussed beds, Peter Burke covered browse and Barry Howlett wrapped things up with scent. Guiding groups around the course were Jeff Owen, Issac Albert, Matt O’Connell, James Johnston, Jamie Stovold and Cass Fleming.
Once the field trips and breakdown sessions were complete, Saturday night’s presentations kicked off with Kurt Murphy and Matt Rogers from the GMA covering hunting safety, hunting regulations and the More to Explore app.
ADA member and hunting guide Zeb Jones then delivered a great presentation on backpack hunting before Peter Burke finished off the night with his take on sambar hunting. Anyone who has seen Burkey present knows how engaging he is in front of a crowd, and his sense of humour is just as well known as his hunting knowledge.
Sunday may have been the final day of the course, but there was still plenty to get through with presentations on navigation by David Sumbler, hunting over hounds by Andy Smith, deer management with Barry Howlett and finally a look at the future of deer hunting from ADA Executive Officer and Head of Advocacy and Deer Management Sean Kilkenny.
A huge thank you goes to everyone who helped make the weekend happen.
Thanks to ADA staff Sean Kilkenny and Paul Gray, VHEC committee members Neil De Coite, Rhonda Hackett, Barry Howlett, Tim Koschade and Jamie Stevens, presenters Paul Boag, Peter Burke, Rob Fickling, Kurt Murphy, Matt Rogers, Zeb Jones, David Sumbler, Andy Smith, Peter McDonell, Ken Slee, Steve Robinson, Ryan Shane and Gavin Counsell, field trip volunteers Issac Albert, Jeffrey Owen, Matt O’Connell and James Johnston, Cass Fleming for running the laptop and helping throughout the weekend, and once again Dwayne, Darsy, Jen and Sarah for the tireless work in the kitchen across the entire course.
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who attended the course and helped make the weekend what it was. The Victorian Hunter Education Course continues to provide hunters with the opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced people in the hunting community while building skills, confidence and friendships along the way.
We look forward to hearing about the hunting successes, experiences and memories that come from this year’s course in the months and years ahead.
