Six Days in the Flinders Ranges: Goat Country and Red Rock Country

The Country

The Flinders Ranges run 430km north-south through the centre of South Australia, rising to nearly 1200 metres at St Mary Peak. The country is ancient — the Ediacaran fossils in the Flinders are among the oldest complex life forms found anywhere on Earth — and the landscape shows it: deeply weathered quartzite ridges, narrow gorges, open mulga flats, and saltbush plains that stretch to a flat horizon.

Feral goats have occupied the Flinders for over a century. Estimates of population size vary but the animals are visible from the road throughout the ranges: groups of five to thirty on hillsides, near waterholes, along dry creek beds. Landowners and station managers universally welcome hunters. The animals cause genuine damage to native vegetation.

The Hunt

Glassing in the Flinders is effective — the open country and elevation changes allow you to find animals at distance and plan an approach. We glassed from ridgelines each morning and identified groups in accessible locations before moving in. The standard stalk in the Flinders involves approaching from above and with the wind — goats have reasonable eyesight and good noses, though they are considerably less cautious than deer.

Four days of hunting produced fourteen goats across the two of us, operating within the permissions granted by the station manager. The work involved was not trivial — the quartzite ridges are rough on boots and knees and the afternoon heat in March was significant. The evenings were cold and clear and the star field above the Flinders on a moonless night is among the finest in the country.

Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park

No hunting within the national park boundaries. The country outside them is extensive. Plan your trip with permission arranged before you arrive — cold-calling at a station gate produces inconsistent results. Browse our hunting gear range.