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Still no Rabbits.


samboy
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Hi gang.

              Went out yesterday at 5pm hoping to bag a few. All i saw was 1 magpie 1 stoat and a fox which had the audacity to fall

               asleep about 60 yards in front of me. So at 9pm i came home. Plenty of foxes about.

               So is it too hot too dry or maybe a disease about. I think i've only had 3 rabbits in the last month but i won't give up.

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1 hour ago, Scully said:

Wrong time of day? I find my most successful outings ( without ferrets ) to be first thing in the morning or late evening, or once it’s dark. 

Been out at 5am on same perm and still nothing. I'm the only one who shoots there.

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On a reasonable night it would have been possible to shoot some 10 rabbits from some 300 acres so we weren't inundated with them. Gradually, the numbers shot reduced until it wasn't worth going out for them and even when out after something else, it was rare to see even one. VHD has been muted and of course is entirely feasible. However, I'm not so sure. When you start off with no great numbers in the overall scheme of things, would it be possible if they were 'visited', say, some 5 nights out of 7 over a period of, say, some 15 years that this would result in the above rare sightings? I can't be certain of the situation as I'm not the only one who shoots the land. However, I'm pretty sure that the nocturnal visit rate has reduced and I'm now able to see and pick off the odd one or two in a few locations.

How say you, please.

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On 05/08/2022 at 15:39, wymberley said:

On a reasonable night it would have been possible to shoot some 10 rabbits from some 300 acres so we weren't inundated with them. Gradually, the numbers shot reduced until it wasn't worth going out for them and even when out after something else, it was rare to see even one. VHD has been muted and of course is entirely feasible. However, I'm not so sure. When you start off with no great numbers in the overall scheme of things, would it be possible if they were 'visited', say, some 5 nights out of 7 over a period of, say, some 15 years that this would result in the above rare sightings? I can't be certain of the situation as I'm not the only one who shoots the land. However, I'm pretty sure that the nocturnal visit rate has reduced and I'm now able to see and pick off the odd one or two in a few locations.

How say you, please.

Anyone, please.

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On 06/08/2022 at 21:12, wymberley said:

Anyone, please.

 

there is a nature reserve near me, its about 250+ acres and part of it is a golf course, the whole reserve is land locked by houses, in all the years I have walked this reserve I had never seen a rabbit or signs of them, but about 20+ years ago I started seeing the odd rabbit during my evening walk with the dog, on one of these walks I bumped into a guy whose very large garden backed onto the reserve and the subject of the rabbits popped up, he said, there probably from my rabbit pen, had a tree fall on it a couple years ago and most escaped, he reckons about 10 escaped, well over the next 5 or so years rabbits did what they are good at, breed, they were everywhere, people whose gardens backed onto the reserve were complaining about their garden being overrun with them.

Now this reserve is walked by a lot of people and the rabbits have become almost blasé about people and dogs, walk the reserve any time of day and you will see half a dozen rabbits sat out, I did approach the golf club about some very early morning shooting but they would not entertain the idea, apart from one outbreak of mixy about 8 years ago these rabbits are still thriving and now cover the whole reserve.

So is it over shooting an area that slowly depletes the rabbit numbers to the point they are so small that any other outside pressure wipes them out? If these rabbits on this reserve are anything to go by it would seem that if rabbits are left unmolested they will flourish.

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I agree with your comment on over shooting , then as you say other pressures sees them off , l have shot  (occassionally now ) on a large estate  for 15 years + , the place was over run , i used to go a couple of times a week , there were other shooters on that lived a lot closer than me and went up more often , there have been very few rabbits there now for the past five years 

i have left them alone for years now hoping they might recover but other shooters hammer the few that were left to the point that last time i was there , i saw only two 

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There are a few rabbits returning on my perms, buy not in great numbers . RVHD TYPE 2 decimated huge numbers . 

I have also found that as tech gear has got better , and more affordable , taking greater numbers became easier. 

If you take all the breeding Does  of a perm , the next generation will not appear.

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On 15/08/2022 at 21:05, Longbower said:

There are a few rabbits returning on my perms, buy not in great numbers . RVHD TYPE 2 decimated huge numbers . 

I have also found that as tech gear has got better , and more affordable , taking greater numbers became easier. 

If you take all the breeding Does  of a perm , the next generation will not appear.

Must admit ive thought that for a long time now , from the red torch to the very first NV screen type rigs , then better NV , then thermal , all became very affordable for the average shooter . With all of those advancements and rvhd , then we wonder where all the rabbits have gone , - does make you wonder

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There is one field near me where I've seen a few this summer, they have bred as I've seen a few small ones, i was seeing a few rabbits daily.....haven't seen one for a while now, and nobody shoots these fields, seems rabbits just suddenly disappear! 

Cheers

Aled

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29 minutes ago, telf said:

Must admit ive thought that for a long time now , from the red torch to the very first NV screen type rigs , then better NV , then thermal , all became very affordable for the average shooter . With all of those advancements and rvhd , then we wonder where all the rabbits have gone , - does make you wonder

I know a guy who does a fair bit of rifle shooting, mainly lamping rabbits, he covers a number of farms and used to shoot about six rabbits an outing, about 18 months ago he got a NV and now he’s shooting a dozen or more a night, does make you wonder.

I know a lady farmer who is a big supporter and follower of the local fox hunt, she will not allow anyone on her farm with NV, she says people with NV are wiping the foxes out in the area.

 

10 minutes ago, Aled said:

There is one field near me where I've seen a few this summer, they have bred as I've seen a few small ones, i was seeing a few rabbits daily.....haven't seen one for a while now, and nobody shoots these fields, seems rabbits just suddenly disappear! 

Cheers

Aled

that you know of..:hmm:

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1 hour ago, old'un said:

I know a guy who does a fair bit of rifle shooting, mainly lamping rabbits, he covers a number of farms and used to shoot about six rabbits an outing, about 18 months ago he got a NV and now he’s shooting a dozen or more a night, does make you wonder.

I know a lady farmer who is a big supporter and follower of the local fox hunt, she will not allow anyone on her farm with NV, she says people with NV are wiping the foxes out in the area.

 

that you know of..:hmm:

Exactly , i caught 2 lads with thermal , about 2 go on a golf course permission  of mine , Fx air rifles as well. So no shortage of top kit . They got arsey  when challenged , but did leave .But it was obvious they had previously visited.

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1 hour ago, old'un said:

I know a guy who does a fair bit of rifle shooting, mainly lamping rabbits, he covers a number of farms and used to shoot about six rabbits an outing, about 18 months ago he got a NV and now he’s shooting a dozen or more a night, does make you wonder.

I know a lady farmer who is a big supporter and follower of the local fox hunt, she will not allow anyone on her farm with NV, she says people with NV are wiping the foxes out in the area.

 

that you know of..:hmm:

Might all change when the lead ban comes in , few years and we might be over run with rabbits , rats , squirrels and ferel pigeons 

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10 hours ago, old'un said:

that you know of..

well if they are i've got to hand it to them, they have been very very clever, as the field is very close to where i live, and i go past it at all hours of night and day, (i'm a sea trout angler so late nights are not unusual!). If they have good luck to them!

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Its completely down to VHD. Shooting will keep a rabbit population under control but will never wipe them out. 

The opposite to the above I know areas where there were hundreds of rabbits and can guarantee no-one has shot them. And they have all vanished. Once VHD gets in an area its game over for 5 years.

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On 18/08/2022 at 10:16, telf said:

 Theres no vhd on the estate i mentioned , i think over shooting and mixy can reduce large populations to very few over a sustained period to the point where repopulation may never recover

I can understand that, especially if a few appear and get shot pretty much straight away. 

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On 04/08/2022 at 17:02, samboy said:

Hi gang.

              Went out yesterday at 5pm hoping to bag a few. All i saw was 1 magpie 1 stoat and a fox which had the audacity to fall

               asleep about 60 yards in front of me. So at 9pm i came home. Plenty of foxes about.

               So is it too hot too dry or maybe a disease about. I think i've only had 3 rabbits in the last month but i won't give up.

Hope he didn't awaken after you saw him :ninja:.

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