About Conservation Shooters
Ethical feral animal control, from one South Coast local to another.
How it started
I'm Taliesin Millhouse. By day I'm a software engineer working from home. Conservation Shooters started as something else entirely, hunting to put food on the table for my family and my dog.
That grew into volunteering my time to help local landholders with a persistent rabbit problem, starting with family friends, then their friends, and their friends. It spread from there. Eventually the cost of the equipment outgrew what volunteering could sustain, so I started taking on paid work. Conservation Shooters was founded in August 2025, and I've kept picking up new clients and properties to manage since.
A year on, I'm averaging around two nights a week of control work alongside the desk job. It's turned into exercise, meat for the table, and a good excuse to stay connected with the community I do it for. The vast majority of my family's meat based protein now comes from feral animals I've taken.
How we work
Most of the work is night-time ground shooting using thermal and night vision equipment. A lot of clients have never been around firearms before and simply don't like the idea of using poison baits. I spend the time up front explaining what's involved so everyone is comfortable and there are no surprises.
Safety first
Every new client gets a free property assessment and job safety analysis before work starts, then every job is planned and run with safety as the non-negotiable, for the client, neighbours, and myself.
Discretion & privacy
I carry out work quietly and privately, many clients value that as much as the result itself.
Humane & ethical
I take every shot with animal welfare in mind, not just the outcome for the property.
No poisons
A targeted alternative for clients who don't want baiting on their land, around pets, near waterways, or where other animals could eat a poisoned carcass.
Conservation Shooters is fully insured, licensed for both rural and peri-urban work, and a proud member of the Vertebrate Pest Managers Association of Australia (VPMA).
Why local matters
I live here. Being part of this community is the biggest reason I do this work. No one who isn't local is going to care about getting it right the way someone from the community does, and that's where the extra effort comes from, in the results I deliver and in how seriously I take safety, because these people are my community.
Looking after our native flora and fauna
The other half of the motivation is what this work protects. Rabbits, deer, foxes, and the rest of the feral animals I control graze out regenerating bushland, compete with native species, and undo the effort local landholders put into their properties. Every job is as much about giving the local flora and fauna room to recover as it is about the client's bottom line.