bushranger

Etymology

From bush + ranger.

Why this word is great

BUSHRANGER — [Noun] A fugitive or outlaw who takes refuge in the wilderness, evading authorities while surviving through robbery. From bush ("wild, uncultivated land") + ranger ("one who ranges or roves"), the word conjures a figure both feral and free. Unlike "highwayman" (who preys on travelers along civilized roads) or "bushman" (who thrives in the wild without malice), the bushranger is a creature of desperation and defiance. He is the crackle of dry leaves underfoot at midnight, the glint of a stolen watch in firelight, the echo of a pistol shot swallowed by the vastness of the outback—a man made myth by the land that hides him, and the law that hunts him.

noun

A convict or outlaw who escapes to the bush to avoid capture; a roving bandit who lives in the bush.“We each discharged a shot in the direction of the explosion by the bushrangers, for we had no other guide in aiming, owing to the night being so very dark, which was rendered denser by the mizzling rain which had been falling all day.”
A person skilled in bushcraft.“1824, The Australian, quoted in 1966, Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, 2nd edition, chapter II section 2, page 31, Mr Hovell lacks all the qualities befitting a bushranger.”