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The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Victoria) was incorporated as a public company on October 1, 1973. We exist to promote the shooting sports and protect firearm owners' interests.

With more than 40,000 members, SSAA Victoria is a leading body representing licensed firearm owners in Victoria. SSAA Victoria has more than a dozen branches and more than 30 sub-clubs and disciplines within the organisation.

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SSAA Victoria News

Victorians on target at the silhouette nationals

A group of Victorian shooters travelled to Tasmania recently for the:

Lever Action Metallic Silhouette (LAS) Nats 21st – 25^th March 2024 at SSAA Westbury Range.
Scoped Rifle Metallic Silhouette Nats (RMS) 29^th Mar – 1^st Apr at SSAA Tas State Range Runnymede.

For the LAS shoot the team consisted of Mark Butler, Greg Norton, Mick Manini, Grace Manini 15YO (Open Junior) Sarah Manini 13YO (U15 Junior) Grace and Sarah both learned to shoot in the Youth Traning Scheme at Springvale. For Scoped RMS we had the same team with the addition of Colin Robinson Lever action kicked off with a practice day on 21^st for everyone to sight in and get their settings for the 3 different rifle classes being shot over the next 3 days, Rifle, Pistol Calibre Rifle and Smallbore rifle. This was an important day as there would be no sighting in sessions on the mornings of each shoot. The club provided a fantastic, cooked breakfast each morning and the weather gods smiled on us for the entirety with chilly mornings and beautiful sunny days. A total of 37 Shooters representing all states except NT along with a 3 member NZ team were in attendance.

Rifle Cal – Open sights off hand to 200m Mick Manini 2^nd A grade with a total of 40 Sarah Manini 1^st B Grade & 1^st U15 Junior with 39 Grace Manini 2^nd B Grade & 1^st Open Junior with 38 Mark Butler (44) Greg Norton (49) both AAA grade out of the placings

Pistol Cartridge Rifle – Open sights off hand to 100m Sarah Manini had a breakout day, shooting 55 to win A grade and a score that would have put her in first place in AA grade, she also took 1^st place in U15 Juniors. Sarah had a long run of 17 Consecutive Pigs. Grace Manini took first place in Open Juniors with a 36. Greg Norton (AAA) and Mark Butler (AAA) both had a 52 and Mick Manini (A) had a 37 to finish out of the placings in their respective grades.

Smallbore (22LR) – Open sights off hand to 100m The Manini girls got off to a bad start with a rifle failure and both lost their first ten targets, other members of the team stepped in to share their rifles with the girls, Sarah sharing with club captain Mark Butler and Grace with Greg Norton. Grace ended up having a good day (42), taking out first place in A grade and open Juniors after a shoot off against a member of the NZ team. Grace shot 5/5 in the shoot off to make sure she couldn’t be beaten. Sarah ended the day 2^nd in B grade and U15 Junior (36) but did shoot 10/10 Turkeys with Marks rifle, a feat many say has never happened before. Greg Norton (AAA) had a 57, Mark Butler (AAA) a 56 and Mick Manini (AA) a 37 to finish out of the placings in their respective grades. Sarah took out the 3-gun title for U15 and Grace took out the 3-gun title for open juniors. Sarah also won the Lightforce performance Lighting lucky shooter prize of a magnificent light bar. Consistently shooting good but not winning scores put Mark Butler into 9^th Place & Greg Norton into 8^th position overall, a respectable effort amongst Australia’s top LAS Shooters

Scoped RMS Nationals The scoped RMS nationals were held at the new Runnymede Tas State range with the silhouette range only finished a few days before the shoot, it was an absolute credit to the team that put it together. Practice day on the Thursday was busy with most shooters needing to dial in 5 rifles for the proceeding days, with the added bonus that there would be a short sight in period on the morning of each shoot. Day 1 Hunter Class, centrefire (to 500m off hand) Sarah Manini had never shot centrefire before and decided the day before she might give it a go. Mick offering her $50 if she shot 10 as an incentive, but thinking, no way, never. Well just to prove dad wrong and take the $50, she shot 10 with Grace’ s little 6.5 Grendel, also winning B grade and U15 along the way. Grace went in ungraded and shot her way into A grade with an 11 to take out Open Juniors Greg Norton came away with a 3^rd place in A grade with a 12. Hunter Class Rimfire (to 100m offhand) Greg Norton 1^st in A Grade (18) Grace Manini 1^st in B Grade (18) and Open Junior Sarah Manini 3^rd B Grade (9) and U15 Junior Day 2 – Centrefire (to 500m offhand) Sarah decided an 80-shot centrefire match might be a little too much and opted for a day shopping in Hobart with mum while the rest of the team battled it out. Mick Manini took 1^st place in B grade (20) Grace Manini took 1^st place in A grade (35) after a shoot off against fellow Victorian team member Colin Robinson who took the Silver. Grace also taking out open Juniors Greg Norton Ended the day with a 37 which was good enough to get the bronze in AA grade. Greg & Grace both losing several targets due to using a 6.5 Grendel which was struggling on the day to knock over the rams at 500m. Day 3 – Rimfire (to 100m offhand) Today was a good day for the Victorian Team, Sarah Manini shot a 42 to win A Grade and U15 Juniors, Grace Manini was third in AA grade (45) after yet another shoot off, this time dropping her guard to be beaten by the NZ Captain Eric Clausen. Grace won open Juniors Greg Norton shot a 53 to win the Silver in AAA grade and Colin Robinson shot a 61 to win AAA grade and equal with the 2^nd place getter in Masters grade. Day 4 – Air rifle (to 45yards offhand) Probably the Manini girls favourite event, but with more shooters in AA and AAA grades than any other, it was going to be a big ask, and true to form, both girls performed very well on the day, Grace shooting a PB of 57 to take 3^rd in AAA grade and 1^st in Open Junior. Sarah a bit off her best, shooting 51 to take 2^nd Place in AA grade and first in U15 Junior. Colin Robinson (M) shot a 61 & Greg Norton (M) shot a 57 to finish just out of the placings in Masters grade Both girls also won the Aggregate medals in their respective age groups Once again Greg Norton’s consistency placed him inside the top 10 with an 8^th place in the 5-gun Aggregate (Overall Placings) a top effort shooting against Australia & NZ best. Well done.

Anyone interested in becoming involved in Silhouette Shooting or the YTS program should email the secretary at msrc.secretary@gmail.com

Call for hunters to assist with Stubble Quail research

Victoria’s game quail hunting season opens this Saturday, 6 April 2024. The Game Management Authority (GMA) is appealing to quail hunters to assist with a research project identifying the age and sex of hunter-harvested Stubble Quail. As part of the program, licensed quail hunters mail harvested quail wings to the GMA so they can be aged. This data contributes to a better understanding of harvested Stubble Quail demographics and reproductive rates in Victoria. Together with the data gathered from the Stubble Quail monitoring program, this information allows GMA to model the Stubble Quail population to predict trends and assist in developing sustainable management practices. We don’t have to look back too far to see what happens with our quail seasons when decisions are made by the wrong people, using the wrong information for the wrong reasons. Anti-hunting activists are using cherry-picked and misrepresented data to attempt to further their campaign to ban what we do. Researchers must have the best available information to ensure that the Government can meet its commitment to basing game hunting seasons on the best available science. For more information and to become involved CLICK HERE.

Scientific advisory committee recommends the removal of Hardhead from the threatened species list.

Victoria's Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) has recommended removing Hardhead (Aythya australis) from the State's Threatened Species List. A de-listing would clear the way for Hardhead to return to the list of game ducks that can be hunted. Hardhead were listed as vulnerable in 2013 on the basis that there were fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and that there was purported evidence of a continuing population decline. In a detailed nomination to the SAC, SSAA Victoria demonstrated that the population of Hardhead is considerably greater than 10,000 individuals and that there is no evidence of a continuing population decline. The SAC recommendation is in direct response to SSAA Victoria's nomination. The Association is grateful to the SAC for assessing the evidence and accepting the nomination. In doing so, the SAC has struck a blow for the integrity of the listing process. It follows from the SAC's recommendation that Hardhead should not factor as a trigger species for any wetland closures for the 2024 season. The Government now has sixty days to consider the SAC's recommendation. SSAA Victoria appreciates that duck season settings have already been announced and that timelines are tight; however, the Association is hopeful that the Government is able to consider the SAC's recommendations ahead of the duck season and then take advice from GMA on the appropriateness of including Hardhead in the bag for 2024 Field & Game Australia worked with SSAA Victoria to frame up the nomination for the SAC.

Compliance data shows a rapid increase in protestor offending

Victoria’s Game Management Authority has published compliance data from the first five days of the 2024 Victorian game duck season. The data shows a generally excellent level of hunter compliance, with no hunters exceeding their daily bag limit down from one last year. It also shows an increasingly poor level of compliance amongst anti-hunting activists, with the number of banning notices issued in 2024 being seven times that of last year and equal to the amount issued in the preceding six years combined. On return from observing duck opening in northwest Victoria last week, SSAA Victoria staff advised that the protestor activity had taken a particularly nasty, dangerous and intolerant tone this year. The data released by the GMA today supports that anecdotal reporting. Just as SSAA Victoria and other organisations actively condemn any illegal hunting activity, the Association condemns the increase in dangerous illegal behaviour amongst the anti-hunting movement and calls on their so-called leaders to show some integrity and do the same.

	2023	2024
Game licences checked	795	1079
Hunter bags checked	652	792
Hunters over bag	1	0
Protestors observed/engaged	197	Not stated
Banning notices issued	2	14

You can view the data from the first five days of the 2024 Victorian duck season on the GMA website.

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