How to Become a Professional Contract Shooter in NSW

This is the single most common question I get asked. There isn’t a week that goes by where I don't get a handful of calls and website enquiries asking this question. If you happen to call or submit a website enquiry, this article is the answer I will give you.

Now, before I make anyone in the industry nervous, no, this is not a comprehensive, spoon-fed, how-to article. Think about it this way: if you already work for yourself, how much help are you willing to give someone who wants to get into your industry and compete with you for business? I’m guessing not a lot.

What this article is, however, is a few truths and some general thoughts on my experience of getting started in the industry. Some things may have changed since I started, but my experience should still be fairly relevant.

If you’re in Queensland and are asking this question, Ozzie from Ozzie Reviews made a video you should check out: Ozzie Reviews how to get a category D firearms licence (feral pest control).

Getting Started

Guys, here’s the reality upfront: there are no secrets about how to become a professional contract shooter. Almost all the information you require is available on the NSW Firearms Registry website. If you have any questions, give them a call.

Before you get started, the single most important question you need to ask yourself is why. Why do you want to become a professional contract shooter? If the answer is anything other than you have a genuine desire to make a real difference for farmers, business owners, and conservationists by controlling feral animals, then forget it. Don’t bother. I mean that quite seriously. You’re far better off just shooting for the fun of it. 

Otherwise, if you think becoming a professional contract shooter is an easy way to get category D and some semi-autos, then you will be sorely disappointed. The entire process of getting licensed is intentionally hard, awfully time-consuming, and designed to make you give up. In a way, this is a good thing, since it weeds out those who aren’t serious. However, if you’re genuinely serious, read on.

Professional contract shooting is largely no different from any other business. You need a close relationship with a great accountant, lawyer, insurance broker, and workplace safety consultant. You may be able to do some of those roles yourself, which is great, but most of us don’t have those backgrounds and need others to help.

The other thing you’re going to need is to spend at least a year of your life jumping through hoops, applying for this or that, chasing paperwork, dealing with setbacks and refusals, all while trying to convince farmers and business owners to sign contracts just so that you can get a start. It’s endlessly frustrating, time-consuming, and there will be plenty of times you want to give up. 

Operating as a professional contract shooter also means you need professional equipment and must provide professional results. Professional equipment isn’t cheap and getting professional results isn’t easy. You’re going to burn through a lot of cash in the first 12 months. Make sure you’ve got plenty before starting.

Starting Your Business

Here’s the part where you speak with your accountant, lawyer, insurance broker, and workplace safety consultant. You need all this stuff straight out of the gate before applying for any licences.

They will individually give you all the advice you need on the best business structure, safety compliance docs, insurance, etc.

Professional Shooting Accreditations

Depending on the type of shooting services you are planning to offer, you will need one or more of these accreditations:

• AMPGAM303 – Use Firearms to Safely and Humanely Harvest Wild Game.

• AHCPMG304 – Use Firearms to Humanely Destroy Animals.

• AHCPMG311 – Use Firearms for Pest Control Activities from Aircraft.

If you're planning to harvest wild game, including kangaroos, you will need 'AMPGAM303 – Use Firearms to Safely and Humanely Harvest Wild Game'.

If you're planning to provide professional shooting of feral animals in rural and peri-urban locations, you will need 'AHCPMG304 – Use Firearms to Humanely Destroy Animals'.

If you're planning to provide aerial culling services, you will need 'AHCPMG311 – Use Firearms for Pest Control Activities from Aircraft'.

Hit the links for more details on those courses.

There are a few providers in Australia who offer these courses. However, I'm not currently working with any training organisations that I am willing to recommend. The best thing you can do is ensure you do this course with a reputable organisation who offers the full course you're after, not a fast-tracked version.

Licensing Genuine Reasons and Firearm Categories

Now, as far as professional contract shooting goes, there are two genuine reasons that apply:

• Vertebrate Pest Animal Control – Contract Shooter: this genuine reason allows you to provide feral animal control services on rural land zones only. Check out the NSWFAR VPAC fact sheet here.

• Business or Employment - Business Other: this genuine reason allows you to provide feral animal control services on non-rural land zones only. Examples of non-rural land can be golf courses, industrial parks, schools, council parks, etc. Residential land zones are excluded from this permission. Check out the NSWFAR Business Other fact sheet here.

Depending on which services you plan to provide, either or both of these genuine reasons will be required.

To apply for these licence genuine reasons, check out the fact sheets in the links above. The fact sheets list the required evidence that you need to provide as part of your application.

Only once you obtain one or both of these genuine reasons can you legally start shooting as a professional.

Vertebrate Pest Animal Control - Contract Shooter Firearm Categories

This genuine reason allows you to apply for categories A, B, and D for use on rural land only. Category D also includes any firearms that apply to category C.

Most professional contract shooters I know only hold categories A and B as that is enough for the work they do. If you’re just wanting to get into roo harvesting, categories A & B are all you need. It isn’t legal to use semi-autos for harvesting.

Now, if the culling of larger vertebrate pests is your business, once you’ve been operating for a while, you are going to want category D.

Getting category D approval is incredibly difficult. You need to prove beyond all doubt that the work you do requires semi-automatic firearms. For example: unless a reasonable number of your existing contracts are for the culling of significant numbers of feral pigs and deer on large rural properties, then you likely won't meet the bar for approval.

The vetting you go through to gain this approval is extensive on both you and the farmers who signed your contracts. You’re better off not applying for category D unless you genuinely need it. I personally know a few professional contract shooters who have applied and were refused for not proving enough of a genuine need.

In all honesty, I don’t say that to discourage anyone. I say it simply because it is the reality of the situation. Currently, there are only 500 shooters in NSW who hold category D for VPAC, which is a testament to how difficult it is to obtain. In saying that, however, if you genuinely need category D, then by all means go for it. Having the right tools for the job makes everything easier for you, and provides the best value for money for your customers.

Business or Employment – Business Other Firearm Categories

This genuine reason allows you to apply for categories A and/or B on non-rural land only. Residential zoned land is excluded from this permission.

Applying for category A is pretty straightforward. Just about any non-rural location like an industrial park is enough to prove a genuine need. However, to prove a genuine need for category B, you will need contracts for larger non-rural areas like golf courses, or council parks where the control of larger pest animals is required.

Prohibited Weapons Permits

These permits apply to a whole swag of items. However, for those of us in professional contract shooting, the main one we care about is the silencer (a.k.a. suppressor) permit.

Unless you have this permit, getting work as a professional contract shooter in NSW is almost impossible, especially for peri-urban work. Now, to get this permit, you need to submit a written application demonstrating a clear and compelling list of reasons why you need suppressors, along with evidence of current contracts requiring their use. The reasoning you need to provide is specific to your business case.

Full details available here on NSWFAR silencer application.

If you're in NSW and would like to know how to apply for a silencer/suppressor permit, check out this article: How to apply for a silencer/suppressor permit in NSW.

Attorney-General’s Permits

This only applies to those of us endorsed with category D for Vertebrate Pest Animal Control – Contract Shooter on rural land. 

Once you have category D in NSW, you can only purchase new category D firearms or parts that are made in Australia, or imported category D firearms or parts that are secondhand. Any new category D firearms or parts that are imported come under federal control by the Home Affairs Department and can only be purchased via means of an Attorney-General’s permit.

There are a few Australian manufacturers who make some awesome category D firearms. Namely Wedgetail Industries, Warwick Firearms, and Oceania Precision. I personally run Wedgetail Industries firearms and suppressors. I highly recommend them.

I’m not aware of any Australian manufacturers that make high-capacity magazines for semi-autos. This means you either have to find some old mags on the secondhand market for an exorbitant price, or you can purchase new mags quite cheaply via an Attorney-General’s permit. 

Full details on Attorney-General’s permits here.

Apply for an Attorney-General’s permit here.

Now, the bar to pass is that you need to prove that you perform vertebrate pest control as a business, not a hobby. Just having the genuine reason Vertebrate Pest Animal Control - Contract Shooter for category D on your firearms licence is not enough.

The minimum evidence required is roughly a dozen different items, which makes getting category D approval look relatively easy. These items include, but are not limited to:

• A written explanation and business justification of why you 'need' that category D firearm, high-capacity magazines, or spare part.

• An approved PTA for the firearm you want to purchase or the firearm registration certificate for the associated spare part or magazine you want to purchase.

• A copy of your most recent tax return showing your pest control business income.

• A copy of your most recent tax notice of assessment.

• Multiple recent contracts for work requiring category D firearms.

• Multiple recent paid invoices for work requiring category D firearms.

• Recent quarterly bank statements showing those invoice payments and associated pest control expenses.

• A statement from your accountant stating the percentage of your total income made from professional contract shooting.

• Evidence of the severity of the pest problems in the area you operate. This can be a letter from a local council or a publication from Local Land Services, National Parks, etc.

It’s quite a mountain of evidence to get together.

It’s the same bar to pass whether you want to purchase an imported semi-automatic firearm or simply a few spare high-capacity magazines.

It’s also worth giving a little shout-out to those who work in the Attorney-General’s Firearms Department. In my experience, they’re a pleasure to deal with and are as helpful as possible with the mountain of evidence you need to provide. I’ve only ever had good experiences dealing with them.

The Reality of Professional Contract Shooting Work

In this profession, if you are one of the few who manage to get through all the licensing and permit hurdles, and then go on to actually win enough contracts to make it profitable, you will spend around 80–90% of your time working on everything except shooting.

Roughly only 10-20% of your time will be spent doing actual shooting. In other words: you don't just get a phone call from a new customer saying, "Hey, I've got a problem, when can you come shoot?" There's a lot of work and safety compliance that needs to happen long before you take a gun out of your safe.

Again, I don't say that to discourage anyone. I say it because it is something you really need to stop and consider before deciding if this line of work is really for you.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! I sincerely hope I have given you some food for thought if getting into professional contract shooting is something you truly want to do. 

If you genuinely want to get started, please remember this one vital thing: you are becoming a ‘professional’ shooter. You are no longer some weekend warrior. I mean that quite seriously. As a professional contract shooter, you are in an incredibly privileged position in a country that largely has a phobia of guns. Act appropriately with that in mind.

Be a professional in how you display your business and conduct yourself, a professional in how you deal with customers, and a professional in how you do your job. Never forget that you’re representing all professional shooters, and shooters in general, so set an impeccably good example.

Just as important: professional shooting is more about the shots you don’t take than the shots you do. Show restraint and patience, always act with safety in the forefront, and never take an unsafe or risky shot. It’s never worth it.

All that said, I love this industry. Getting paid to do something you love isn’t work. It also brings me great joy to know that, collectively, us professional shooters are making a real impact on controlling feral animals for farmers and businesses, along with protecting our country's beautiful, unique wildlife. All of which are worth protecting.

If you share this same passion, and are genuinely prepared to operate as a professional, then I wish you all the best in getting started.