What to hunt?

[Joe]

Hi chaps,

 

I'm a bit new to this game, and was wondering what people are out hunting in these thypes of conditions, and at this time of year?

 

It seems like the moon's too bright for effective lamping at the mo? I managed to get a rabbit the other night by stalking it on my belly, and didn't even need the lamp because it was so bright in the moon light.

 

I went into the woods the yesterday but didn't see **** all, I think because it was too windy and all the furry animals were hiding away.

 

Any thoughts on what I should be shooting mo, or have I gotta wait for the moon to sod off / wind to drop?

 

Thanks, J.

Edited October 9, 2006 by Axe

[Lancs Lad]

Hi chaps,

 

I'm a bit new to this game, and was wondering what people are out hunting in these thypes of conditions, and at this time of year?

 

It seems like the moon's too bright for effective lamping at the mo? I managed to get a rabbit the other night by stalking it on my belly, and didn't even need the lamp because it was so bright in the moon light.

 

I went into the woods the yesterday but didn't see **** all, I think because it was too windy and all the furry animals were hiding away.

 

Any thoughts on what I should be shooting mo, or have I gotta wait for the moon to sod off / wind to drop?

 

Thanks, J.

 

Rabbits..........................Squirrels...........

[Theskyfox]

I seem to get a lot of woodpigeons around this time of year. Also loads of crows and magpies, but they are much harder to get.....

Havent seen many collared doves, but thats probably coz of my antics over the summer

 

Personally I'm gonna properly try again about christmas time when Ive broken up from uni....itl be cold, but I guess thats part of the fun =D

 

-Andrew

[Hunter]

No offence, but if you dont know what to shoot, you shouldnt be shooting anything. There is no need to shoot something if A) its not causing a pest problem (E.G high numbers of squirrels damaging trees, or too many rabbits in a domestic garden) if you arent going to use it as some sort of food, either for yourself or for an animal.

 

What you should do is go to your permisions with a map, a pen, and binos. Leave the gun at home, and do some research work. Have a look for damage buy squirrels, note their numbers and the areas they are most populated in. Stalk around like you usually would with the gun, so you dont spook away your quarry.

Airguns require much more stalking skill then most types of hunting, because of the range factor. I also think airguns give all hunters a good ground skill to begin hunting with firearms for this reason.

 

Once you have marked the pest problems, wait for the right day, contact the land owner, and head out to the field with all your data. Make a mental note from the map where to go, and give it your best shot so to speak..

Doing it this way will mean you are trying to solve a problem, and make use of natures food, rather then aimlesly wandering the woods looking for something to shoot. Even just a little planning can greatly increase your bag size over time

 

 

 

I hunt squirrel this time of year as I know exactly where they are. They are at the top corner of one of my permisions, and from about 9am-12pm, they are digging around on the forest floor hiding nuts, acorns, and seeds for the winter, later to be dug up and consumed. The acorns that dont get found (by the nutty squirrels who forget) later grown into oak trees and likewise for any other seeds/beachnuts. This is how british forests spread, and produced a healthy mixed variety of trees.

 

Pigeons can be seen eating berries from bushes, but as for rabbits, they are spending more hours underground, and the best bet to get them, is early morning, they will be out on the dew covered fields soaking in warm sun and eating dew covered grass. The dew is the rabbits main source of moister, making mornings a good time for rabbits.