2016 Trophy Taker Awards
When some last-minute bureaucratic red tape created some unforseen barriers to holding the 2016 Awards up at Gympie, it was the Dubbo and District Field Archers who came to the rescue and put their hand up to host the event at short notice. The Dubbo club pulled together an absolutely stellar effort, and in conjunction with the nearby gun club the Trophy Takers cohort were treated to a great location and setting for the 2016 Annual Awards. Not even the heavy rainfall and nearby flooding deterred members from travelling from far and wide reaches of the country, to catch up with fellow Trophy Takers members - old, young and new. Many familiar faces, a thousand hunting yarns, a roaring fire and plenty of venison were key features of the social aspect of the weekend.
During the weekend we ran a very in-depth Measuring School on the Douglas Norman Measuring System, attended by twenty members, with the much appreciated assistance of master measurer Darryl Bulger of Native Hunting Gear. Darryl’s knowledge on the measuring of Australian trophy animals is surpassed by few if any. The training course ran for the best part of a day, resulting in a number of new accredited measurers for the club.
The Saturday night awards presentation was as enjoyable as ever, as a big crowd gathered round our famed display. The taxidermy display included a number of incredible pieces, from all over the globe, while the photo and trophy display was as diverse and fascinating as ever.
Trophy Takers stalwart Dave Keable was awarded Life Membership, the third person to reach this milestone in the club’s history. For the very first time in our history, a female bowhunter took out our Junior Bowhunter Award – Miss Kasey Payne. We were also proud to present for the very first time the Leny Smith Memorial Award for Female Bowhunter of the Year, with traditional bowhunter Karen Valery taking the honour of this award for 2016.
The climax of the awards ceremony was of course the presentation of the Best of Species trophies for the 2015-2016 hunting season, and once again there were some incredible trophy animals awarded, including several making the Top 5 of the ratings. Here are a few of those remarkable animals taken by our members during the season which took out top place, plus some photos from the awards ceremony. To find out more about Trophy Takers, head to
2016-17 Perpetual Hunting Awards
Boar Award:
32 2/8
Peter Fryda, Rod Collings
Goat Award:
136 2/8
Mark Soulhwell
Red Deer Award:
274 7/8 Mark Soulthwell
Rusa Deer Award:
190 Ben Salleras
Sambar Deer Award:
153 6/8 Leigh Cragg
Chital Deer Award:
159 3/8 Paul Southwell
Fox Award:
10 8/16 Randal Sullings
Banteng Award:
66 1/2 Karen Valley
Buffalo Award:
99 Allan Karaitiana
Feral Cat Award:
7 9/16 Lee Payne
Scrub Bull Award:
62 1/2 Damien Dwyer
Bill Baker Deer Award:
274 7/8 Mark Soulthwell
Traditional Award:
Boar 32 2/8 Rod Collings
Chairmans Award:
Goat 129 6/8, 123 1/8 Ben Chambers
Junoir Award:
Fox 9 10/16 Kasey Payne
Female Hunter of the year:
Banteng 66 1/2 Karen Valley
Splashout ad for 2017 Awards
Don’t miss the 2017 Annual Awards!
- Confirmed Location: Chevallan Archery Park, Gympie.
- Dates: 30th Sept to 2nd Oct, 2017.
- In conjunction with the Chevallan Traditional Shoot – a massive gathering of Traditional Archers
- 25 Target Traditional Archery rounds, plus a huge array of Novelty events!
- Beautiful camping area, all facilities, catering throughout the weekend.
- Please express your interest by nominating at
www.chevallanarcherypark.com