Helicopter Mustering- Buffalo

Well before daylight we were up and fed, we needed to get started at first light

if we were going to have any chance of getting the mob into the yards before dark. The ground crew convoyed past with their lights on as I was pre-flighting my machine, just like I had done hundreds of times before, exactly as I was taught-during my Helicopter Training-and then some. Fueled up and ready to go, a quick dirt map was drawn by the number one pilot to show me the plan for the day.

Buffalo are quite different to muster compared to cattle, they are generally smarter so you cant afford to make any mistakes and everyone must be in just the right place otherwise you will have a mutiny on your hands. They also get hot a lot quicker than cattle so you cannot run them for as long or as far, particularly on the North Coast of Australia during the wet season.

As we got airborne we could see a layer of fog lying directly over the area where we needed to begin as we flew out over the wispy cloud we could see it wasnt very thick when we could spot trees through some holes, the head pilot came over the radio saying he was going down through a gap to see how high the cloud was off the deck, I followed, but as soon as I lost sight of the other Helicopter I pulled in pitch and climbed back up to a safe height.

The ground crew told us it was clear where they were so we headed for their position.

Mustering over heavily timbered country is particularly difficult, there are no landmarks apart from the odd billabong, fence line or patch of Turkey Bush, you need to keep your grid lines tight in order not to miss any animals and at the same time trying to stay in line with the vehicles on the ground, on some passes I wouldnt even see a vehicle and start to doubt whether or not I was in the right place then I would see the tail animals and relax a little. Back and forward, back and forward, hour after hour until finally a young bull breaks....... cars, bikes and Helicopters everywhere! all it seems, trying to bend him in a different direction, if we can bend him back, good, otherwise he will be caught in the bionic arm attached to one of the toyotas and tied to a tree to be retrieved tomorrow. As Im ducking and diving amongst the trees with my head out the window looking for a spot to get lower to try and turn the bull, I can hear my instructors voices from my Flight Training I try and listen to them but the adrenalin is pumping now and and its the most fun Ive had all day, I keep my airspeed up and know where the wind is all the time, constantly looking out for anything that will take out my tail rotor.

by: Andy Thomson

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