ShaggyRS6 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 What an afternoon. This is what 2 hours of patience has gotten me today. As normal I have a quick mooch around the orchard before I start to shoot. On my walk I noticed hidden in the undergrowth was an entire family. I set up at about 25Yards away and just picked them off one after the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naddan28 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 You must have either: a) no rabbits left they speed your going :blink: **** loads of rabbits! I went shooting for the first time in months today, saw 3 rabbits and loads of crows which I managed to decoy in but they then ******** off, if only I had a SG I would have had a good 20 :blink: Nice to see your getting to grips with all this shooting so quickly, made a decision on the daystate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Dan, I tell you. There are hundreds in this orchard, itf not the low 1000's. Noone has ever kept them under control. I think I will get the Daystate yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naddan28 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Dan, I tell you. There are hundreds in this orchard, itf not the low 1000's. Noone has ever kept them under control. I think I will get the Daystate yes. bloody hell! Sounds like paradise :blink: ! As i said I have seen 3 today and only ever seen 4 all together on my shoot. Regular shooters on my turf including the farmer and his daughter, found 2 carts on the floor today :blink: was on a ploughed field so no reason for the shooter to leave it behind not hard to find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Dan, I tell you. There are hundreds in this orchard, itf not the low 1000's. Noone has ever kept them under control. I think I will get the Daystate yes. bloody hell! Sounds like paradise :blink: ! As i said I have seen 3 today and only ever seen 4 all together on my shoot. Regular shooters on my turf including the farmer and his daughter, found 2 carts on the floor today :blink: was on a ploughed field so no reason for the shooter to leave it behind not hard to find! If you are ever up this way drop in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fert Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 this is what really ****** me of about airgunners what have you achieved by putting up a picture of 4 2to 3 week old dead rabbit kits i can go out tomorrow with the air rifle and shoot 20 odd rabbits picking my rabbits only shooting the 3/4 growns or bigger. why i dont do this is i have grown up in the country and i have morals.a blindman can shoot rabbits in the spring the real test is in the winter when all you airgunners are tucked up in bed while the real country men get to work fereting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Because the Farmer has given me permission to clear the Rabbits from his Orchard. The best way I can see of doing that is taking an entire family thereby elminating the chance for those 6 Rabbits to produce another, lets say 40 or so bunnies, maybe more over the next year. Know one ever said clearing an Orchard of 1000 or so rabbits was going to be hard. I'd say that that would be one happy land owner. Or am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naddan28 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 this is what really ****** me of about airgunners what have you achieved by putting up a picture of 4 2to 3 week old dead rabbit kits i can go out tomorrow with the air rifle and shoot 20 odd rabbits picking my rabbits only shooting the 3/4 growns or bigger. why i dont do this is i have grown up in the country and i have morals.a blindman can shoot rabbits in the spring the real test is in the winter when all you airgunners are tucked up in bed while the real country men get to work fereting Well being has he only started shooting a few months so that would discount winter..... Also, if he has been asked to clear his permission (not sure if he has) its a case of clear it or loose it. Cupra has only recently gained it so he is hardly going to ignore the landowner's condition if he plans on keeping it. As for morals....I fail to see what it has to do with shooting rabbits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Well being has he only started shooting a few months so that would discount winter..... Also, if he has been asked to clear his permission (not sure if he has) its a case of clear it or loose it. Exactly the reason I was given the permission. They have 5 people shooting here already and still they breed like errrr Rabbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badgerman Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 this is what really ****** me of about airgunners what have you achieved by putting up a picture of 4 2to 3 week old dead rabbit kits i can go out tomorrow with the air rifle and shoot 20 odd rabbits picking my rabbits only shooting the 3/4 growns or bigger. why i dont do this is i have grown up in the country and i have morals.a blindman can shoot rabbits in the spring the real test is in the winter when all you airgunners are tucked up in bed while the real country men get to work fereting fert you gotta be able to see that whilst it is a sport, cupra's got a job to do aswell, and certainly if he wants to keep hold of his sport. i should think most of us on here have grown up in the country and as such recognise the need to shoot these rabbits, cos we know they're gonna grow up. morals hasnt got anything to do with this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fert Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 so is ther any need to put up pictures of young rabbits? remember this is a open forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted May 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Sorry. Have to laugh now. I'm sorry Fert, and I know I am only new here but.... I see foxes with eyes hanging out of there sockets, I see videos of rabbits being cut in half by rifles, whole sides of animals missing. And your worried about a few dead, non graphic shots of baby bunnies. I dont get it. I dont want to argue, because of being new to shooting live quarry, I may be missing the point. But at this time, I just dont get it. And I am certainley not gonna start an argument over a sport I have begun to absoloutly love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naddan28 Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Fert, when you "real country men" go ferreting while us airgunners are in bed or starbucks, have you trained ferrets not to go near any rabbit under x amount of weeks old? I don't personally have a problem with the age of an animal thats being shot, if you make the decision to shoot it for reasons other than euthansia then in MY opinion age should not come into the equation as it will soon grow up. I also don't understand what the problem is with the pictures, regardless of being an open forum? No eyes bulging, entrails hanging out etc. Could you please explain the problem for us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Shaun Posted May 20, 2007 Report Share Posted May 20, 2007 Don't see the problem myself, is it any different to the roost shooting pics etc? I shot 3 young maggies the other day, which was met with a "nice one" from the owner of my permission. We are all doing a job for a purpose. Cupra is new here and is giving a good account of himself from what I have seen, being a newb myself. Cupra - job done and happy land owner congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipper Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Personally I would rather leave the rabbits to get on with there buisness this time of year :( But for the first spring ever I have killed lots of young rabbits and milky does :( I have not enjoyed it neather do i feel good about doing it, But it is like this. A couple of weeks ago I was at some of our permission in lincolnshire. the farmer came to us and said "I have just stoped a chap from shooting on my land He offered to do pest controll for me but only turnes up once in a blue moon and only wants to shoot pigeons" well he has a point. He went on to say that the crop he had recently set was getting hammered with rabbits again last year we had 136 rabbits out of one dyke that runs down one side of the field ( not all in 1 go) he went on to imply that if we could not do the job there is plenty of people willing to do it . its not only crop damage but they fill in the dyke with sand when they are digging their warrens then he has got to hire a machine to clear the dyke out. they have also under mined hedge rows and trees So basicly if we dont clear the rabbits I might as well sell my rim fire and shotgun because we wont have any land to shoot on. Well done cupra keep up the good work mate Fert to say you claim to be a "country man" you dont seem to show the knowledge of one kipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Keep up the good work CupramanRR Your out of order on this one Fert. Vermin control is still vermin control if it's done with an air rifle. Precision shots require more fieldcraft than 'point in something's direction and shoot with the benefit of spread from a shottie, especially when luring quarry from a hide with deeks to draw them to you, sitting all comfy and all. I guess all your quarry is confirmed as mature with no injured flyoffs? I've never tried ferreting, but at a guess - without going into detail that shooting them is more humane than what "real men" do with ferrets and lurchers up close and personal like. I'm not saying your real countryman's way is wrong, but it's no more right than using an air rifle or posting pictures of dead birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldwanderer Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Absolutely agreed I shoot nearly every day on my permission and rarely go home having shot less than a few bunnys. This time of year most of them are young and, although I know there's people out there who aren't keen, I'm there to do a job and I'm making a massive difference Look at it this way, three years ago I got this permission and there were patches of crop damage that you could park three, maybe five 4x4s in! and plenty of them, now I walk along the hedgerows etc and there's only an odd patch that's smaller than me laying down! The farmer's over the moon and I think I can safely say I'll have this permission for a long time to come but I wouldn't have had such an impact if I'd left the young 'uns to breed etc. Just a note though, I ferret this land in the winter occasionally too and was there last year in snow that you couldn't see more than 3 car lengths in front of you so, just because people shoot young rabbits, doesn't mean they're not "hardened country folk" just means we're doing the job - more effectively if you ask me Keep up the good work mate, every young rabbit you shoot now's one less adult that means you HAVE to be there when the weather's **** :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted May 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 That was my point exactly. Studying the gestation period for rabbits in further detail and how many rabbits are in a litter I have taken the lowest average results and based on the young I took being a mix of female and male rabbits the number of rabbits I have stopped from being born in a year is from this kill is…. 210 Rabbits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 i've got to agree with the fellas on this one fert , most farmers want rid of as many rabbits as is possible , i dare say they like cute little rabbits as much as the next person but when they're eating your livelihood things take on a different slant , i shoot on a fair few farms and some of the farmers are happy for me to just keep the rabbit numbers down to an acceptable level but several others insist that i do my best to kill every rabbit on the farm (including milky does and small rabbits). for me personally i would rather leave the little ones and the milky does until the winter , not because i'm a bit of a softy but because tiny rabbits are good for nothing but ferret food and i would much rather have a full grown rabbit to eat or sell later in the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 This has been covered recently on here. As I see it. there are 2 reasons for doing what we do, either for sport or for pest control. If it is sport, you manage the numbers to ensure you have onging headcount to enjoy doing what you do. If it is pest control (as in this case) you do what you are 'employed' to do, or the person that gave you the permission will simply get someone else in to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fert Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 claim to be a country man. and what the hell does that mean kip? one day you will understand dave g what the hell is fieldcraft. you can pretty much walk up to any half grown rabbit let alone shoot them 30 yards away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipper Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 As I see it. there are 2 reasons for doing what we do, either for sport or for pest control. If it is sport, you manage the numbers to ensure you have onging headcount to enjoy doing what you do. If it is pest control (as in this case) you do what you are 'employed' to do, or the person that gave you the permission will simply get someone else in to do it. That is a very good way to look at it stuartp, And at the end of the day if your there for the sport and the farmer wants you there for the "pest controll"you might just end up losing your permission. Unless you have got hundreds of acres all over the place this could cause you big problems when you come to renew your shotgun/firearms licence. "claim to be a country man. and what the hell does that mean kip?" Look fert sorry if I have upset/insulted you in any way mate. But i think some of your coments are out of order on this one. Your circumstances are obviously different to some of ours. as I said I would rather leave the wildlife to get on with its own thing this time of year. On the other hand I would rather keep my permission and shotgun/firearms licence that lose it. afterall if you have no land to shoot on you have no reason to hold a SGC/FAC for the purpose of pest controll. "one day you will understand" One Day I will understand what fert? Oh and Why do you look down on Airgunners? A Airgun is a very effective way of pest controll. It is very safe, very quiet,very accurate and it does not blow the rabbits in half (like a shotgun or large caliber rifle). Infact I would say at least 95% of members on this forum has owned a Airgun at some time in there life. Im not having a go mate I just Disagree with some of your negative comments. Kipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Sounds to me like fert is more of an anti than a 'countryman' and where is 'timbuctoo' anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friednewt Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Well done CupramanRR You are doing the job you set out to do. Keep up the good work and keep us all posted of you're progress. Personally i want the rabbit for the meat, so i pick the larger rabbits. Pest's come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes need to be controlled !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edd Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 well done mate, keep it up (pest control is pest control,) keep at it, well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.