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Rabbit numbers


Ferret664
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51 minutes ago, Ferret664 said:

Has anyone noticed a increase in rabbit numbers again ? We were devastated a couple years ago by that second haemorrage disease but have seen a real bounce back in numbers recently which is nice to see . 

Be nice if you had your location in your post or under your avatar, it would give some idea of where they were making a come back.

10 years ago this area was hit badly by Myxomatosis and then RHD, used to shoot a lot of rabbits with the rifle but since the outbreaks I may have shot 5 rabbits in the last 5 years, showing very little signs of recovery here.   

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still seeing very few over this way . on my main rabbiting permission , i would usually expect to shoot 200/300 every year(except the years when myxi hits) , but i havent shot a rabbit on there for about two years , infact , ive been spotting one rabbit in the same place every time ive visited , and thats the only rabbit on the farm at the moment. night time visitors on quads , seem to have taken every hare from the same farm.

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Have not seen a rabbit on my own patch here for a while now. There are usual a ozen hopping around and I don't bother them. Probably RHD done for them again.

Very few on a farm I cover where normally see a fare few about. None on my trail cams.  No doubt that the RHD has lowered the population considerably.

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11 hours ago, old'un said:

Be nice if you had your location in your post or under your avatar, it would give some idea of where they were making a come back.

10 years ago this area was hit badly by Myxomatosis and then RHD, used to shoot a lot of rabbits with the rifle but since the outbreaks I may have shot 5 rabbits in the last 5 years, showing very little signs of recovery here.   

I’m on the Essex/Herts border 

 

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NON here in Cheshire , or very few .  Although there are one or two road kills about in the last two weeks.

As requested , please put your location when reporting sightings,, then we can draw up a map of where there are , and any increases or decreases.

Scary , as we face  our own virus.

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7 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

What I’d give to have land with plenty of rabbits that could be flushed by and shot over my spaniel! 

I shot this lovely hare over my pair  this season .... point, flush, kill. It’s a walked up shoot, at the AGM two weeks ago ground game was banned (to my despair). There was no trigger incident, we just had a conversation. In my view if you can’t judge when safe to shoot a rabbit/fox/hare then I don’t want to be next to you when a pheasant flushes up in woodland... 

56ED9848-30FF-467C-A324-A69CB7AF985C.jpeg

Edited by WalkedUp
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3 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

 

I shot this lovely hare over my pair  this season .... point, flush, kill. It’s a walked up shoot, at the AGM two weeks ago ground game was banned (to my despair). There was no trigger incident, we just had a conversation. In my view if you can’t judge when safe to shoot a rabbit/fox/hare then I don’t want to be next to you when a pheasant flushes up in woodland... 

56ED9848-30FF-467C-A324-A69CB7AF985C.jpeg


The trouble with hares is once shot you have to carry the big *******. 
 

I have taken a couple in the past, held about waist height they would touch the ground, a good 3-4ft in length. 
 

I stopped shooting them after trying to eat one and I thought it was bloody horrible. 

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I don’t think the lads with the modern night vision and thermal setups help mind, years ago if rabbits in one area were being hunted hard they would become ‘lamp shy’ and run off at the first sweep of the lamp. At least this would keep some number about. 
 

These days lads are thermal spotting them from 600 yards, coming in with NV and shooting every rabbit in the field. 
 

We are our own worst enemy. 

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11 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

I don’t think the lads with the modern night vision and thermal setups help mind, years ago if rabbits in one area were being hunted hard they would become ‘lamp shy’ and run off at the first sweep of the lamp. At least this would keep some number about. 
 

These days lads are thermal spotting them from 600 yards, coming in with NV and shooting every rabbit in the field. 
 

We are our own worst enemy. 

Spot on , this is why I decided against the thermal and nv route so as to leave some breeding stock. I am old school lamp , still get my share of bunnies but always some left for next year.

20200118_221349-600x1234.jpg

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2 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

I don’t think the lads with the modern night vision and thermal setups help mind, years ago if rabbits in one area were being hunted hard they would become ‘lamp shy’ and run off at the first sweep of the lamp. At least this would keep some number about. 
 

These days lads are thermal spotting them from 600 yards, coming in with NV and shooting every rabbit in the field. 
 

We are our own worst enemy. 

Agreed, I am not a fan of NV, as you say rabbits have little chance with these set-ups and its not just the people who have permission on the farm using NV, the use of NV on a farm is almost like putting a mixy rabbit down.

A while ago I was talking to an elderly lady from one of the farms I shoot on, she is a big follower of the hunt, she was saying that on some farms where they would flush and hunt a good number of foxes, they now draw blanks, she and other hunt members have put this down to lads over shooting the farms with NV.

Another farm I shoot on I would see the odd fox trotting up the hedgerow on late summer evenings, just over two years ago the farm gave permission to a couple of lads with NV to shoot foxes, in that time the lads virtually lived on the ground, I have not seen a fox on the farm for over a year now.

Foxes need controlling but I think some people are over doing it with this NV setup.

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Got to agree with the above comments on NV /thermal , NV now is so cheap every man and his dog must have some sort of set up which has got to be detrementle to the rabbit population  , i have a couple of decent smaller perms but the estate i shoot on is very poor now ,you would be lucky to get six bunnies on an all day session , i no longer own nv or shoot at night for various reasons , hopefully the rabbits will have a good couple of years as apart from it being good sport it is nice to see them in the fields 

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10 hours ago, FOXHUNTER1 said:

Spot on , this is why I decided against the thermal and nv route so as to leave some breeding stock. I am old school lamp , still get my share of bunnies but always some left for next year.

20200118_221349-600x1234.jpg

EDIT - I was incorrect in this 🙈

Edited by WalkedUp
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58 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

Seems a shame, no sport in blasting hares at night. They sit out in the middle of the field oblivious even with the lamp on. At least rabbits want to make for the hedges as soon as they see the red light! I do all my lamping on foot with lamp and mouth call... would love thermal spotter, electronic call and NV scope for foxes but do not have the funds currently to justify such an outlay. 

1st of all it's up to the individual shooter how they manage their wildlife populations. I would rephrase blasting hares to culled humanely with a rifle. Also dont generalise,  I see hares sitting in fields but also see plenty that take off as soon as they are lit up , the same goes for rabbits most just sit but some take off , all depends on how much they are pursued . I personally dont shoot my rabbit grounds often choosing to go and have a good cull in a single night . I lamp on foot too with my foxpro but dont want thermal or nv as have seen how populations can be devastated,  each to their own.😁

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I accept each to their own, but very rarely see plague populations of hares around here. The only reason we take any are for the meat and to avoid temptation for poaching. The hares on all my permissions seem particularly dim at night but they are left to their own devices at night so have no reason to become skittish, some may be more lamp shy especially if they have been lamped etc previously. 👍

Edited by WalkedUp
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