samboy Posted October 19 Report Share Posted October 19 Hi gang. In July 2020 i put on here i have never shot a rat and i still haven't . I have never shot a myxi rabbit either. At one time i had 7 permissions 2 of which had stables and chicken runs and i covered 2 fishing lakes and have never even seen a rat on them I also have been taking my dogs out every day over my local fishing lake for 27 yrs and only seen about 3 rats over there. I've been shooting my perms about 18 years and started clay shooting in 1981. My FAC and shotgun certs run out in 2025 and i will call it a day then. I'm getting too old 😂. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted October 20 Report Share Posted October 20 (edited) Nighttime is your best friend for seeing Rats, I recall (many years ago) calling at a small farm on our way home from shooting just on the off chance that we could have a go at the crows in the guys fields. The farmer walked us round the buildings after agreeing to show us the best place to hide and just happened to mention that he was having serious problems with Rats - so much so that they had chewed through his kitchen floor (wooden) and were often seen running around indoors despite having several jack Russell dogs . TBH we thought that he was maybe exaggerating as we didn't see any signs anywhere. Turned up about a week later with Air Rifles just to show willing and didn't see a single rodent. And then darkness fell. It was like a horror movie with Rats appearing as if from nowhere, there were thousands and we were so shocked that we left as Air Rifles were not going to make any dent in the population (many were so close that you couldn't focus the scope on them).A few weeks later we returned, I had bought myself a 3 shot 9mm semi and my mate had a .22lr shotgun - both had laser pens and maglites fixed underneath so it was a case of torch on, finger on the laser switch, red dot on Roland and pull the trigger (usually shot from the hip) - now we were cooking on gas!! This perm usually produced over 200 in an evening and continued till the owner retired about 5 years later and moved to a care home. RIP Colin. Edited October 20 by bruno22rf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted October 20 Report Share Posted October 20 Hello, Did you not go out at night ?? , Night Vision ??, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samboy Posted October 20 Author Report Share Posted October 20 Spent many a night out lamping but without night vision for rabbits and still never saw any rats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted October 20 Report Share Posted October 20 Haven't seen a myxy rabbit in years but plenty in the past each year as it came through. These days they die of something else, RHD I think. Spent many a night rabbiting but don't see rats. As a youngster I was terrified of rats, then I went and worked on a pig farm in Essex! There were literally thousands of them there, they were everywhere. Just got so used to seeing them that I couldn't be bothered to be afraid of them any more. Shot quite a few but it was such an impossible task to call it control of any sort. Here in Cheshire it is unusual to see a rat, I can't ever remember shooting one other than dispatching live trapped ones. A lot of people say there are hardly any rabbits these days but I have plenty here, strangely I don't shoot them any more as I actually like to see them around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted October 20 Report Share Posted October 20 (edited) 5 hours ago, samboy said: Spent many a night out lamping but without night vision for rabbits and still never saw any rats. Hello, They would have been about , the lamp may have spooked them, Hello, Giving up ???, Why not get yourself a Air Rifle set up ?? A decent PCP and day scope with a N/V add on, Edited October 20 by oldypigeonpopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samboy Posted October 20 Author Report Share Posted October 20 I have got an Air Arms S410 .177 but as far as night vision is concerned i'm too old to be sitting in fields now. 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.