mr lee Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Went up to the farm on friday to cut some trees down, play in the 4x4 and shoot some rabbits and crows. Farmer asked us if our vitara would manage to get down the fields and if so, could we pour a few bags of provin down for the sheep and lambs at the other side of the river. Jumped in, guns in the rear, bags of provin in the back and off we went. NO problem going down the fields. gravity helped us a lot. Through the river and back out the other side. At this point I had to put it into low range 4x4 rather than the high one we had come down the fields in. Drove along a bit and found A sheep. One! That was it. Radio'd through to the farmer to inform her we could only find one and did they want the provin dropped or not. She asked us if the gate was left open and were they up on the top field. Off we went up a narrow rock infested gully. The little jeep managed it suprisingly well and popped out of the top to find well over 300+ sheep all grazing happily. Paul sat in the back of the car whilst I drove slowly round and he tipped the provin out as we went. Once that was done we drove over to the old milking sheds and saw quite a few rabbits all feeding. Rifles were brought into the front and clips loaded up. Within about ten minutes we had accounted for 3 rabbits and a few crows and one pigeon. Paul was shooting High velocity rounds which made a loud crack and I was on the .17hmr which also has a fair old crack to it. Needless to say once they had heard them both go off most ran for cover. With the rabbits accounted for we headed off to the furthest point of the farm and it was now getting dark very quickly so the front spotlights were switched on. The going was rough and wet. very wet. Again we radio'd through to the farmer to check we were okay on this part with the motor. No problems from her so we carried on. We had got into the furthest field when we came across a sheep which was well and truly stuck in a bog so trudged over to it to try and get it out. NO chance. I have some large webbing straps in the rear so we tied one under the sheep and clipped it onto the car. Slowly I reversed and pulled the sheep out. Paul removed the straps and it got up and trotted off, stopped looked round to us as though to say thanks then went on it's way. We headed back down the rocky gully sort of sideways at times and being bounced all over the place, closed the gate behind us and re-crossed the river. The climb back up the hills was one we wasn't looking forward to. Low range was still engaged so we set off steadily up the hill. First big climb was done without any bother fortunately so we got a bit giddy and headed into the last field. This is also on an incline but nowhere near as bad as what we had just done. However, it was wetter. MUCH wetter! We stuck to the main part of the pathway/track and started to slide around a bit. Steering being turned left, right and even straight forward had little bearing on which direction the car wanted to go. Almost 3/4 of the way up the car stopped. Stuck in a bog that was upto the underneath of the body. Hmmm...reversed engaged and we moved backwards about a foot. Forwards...about 2 foot..backwards..forwards and so this went on. I grabbed the spade from the rear and dug out behind the wheels and reversed again. We got free and climbed out and looked for a new route by torchlight. Paul picked a firmer route and I set the car off up it. We were about 50 foot from the exit when the car bogged down again. As above, we wrestled it out and had to dig the wheels again. The farmer had come out and was laughing and saying not to worry if it got stuck as his tractor could use it as grip for when they needed to go down the track the day after. Eventually and after trying 3 different ways up we got it out. Go suzuki power! We nipped in and had some food and a cuppa before heading out onto the tops with the shotgun to start calling in the fox and tying the rabbits we had down as bait. The rabbits were tied in 3 seperate areas about 20 foot apart where we knew old Charlie could come out of the fir trees. On each one we tied to the fence it had a can tied to it so if the fox grabbed one we would hear the can rattle against the fence and we could lamp on and shoot him. Well, that was the plan anyway... We waited and called for almost 2 hours before giving up with only one sighting of him about 150 yards away. He wasn't going to come in. We headed back to the van and grabbed a few beers, sat round the fire and chilled out whilst chatting about how impressed we were with the little car. Checked again this morning to see if the rabbits had been taken or not. None had even been touched. Looks like old foxy will have to wait for another weekend as we were supposed to be up there until tomorrow but horrendous weather saw us pack up and come home a day early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr lee Posted October 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 The .17hmr does a truly evil job on rabbits heads... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Great story and pictures! You both had a good result,but the elusive fox will have to wait for another day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Interesting write up, what tyres do you have on the Vitara? webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr lee Posted October 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Great story and pictures! You both had a good result,but the elusive fox will have to wait for another day. sadly. We actually had some good news too by the farmer on the neighbouring farm. He heard us shooting and phoned our farmer up to see who was about or was it his lad who goes after foxes. He was informed it was us on our land after rabbits and crows so no panic. He then said if they want rabbits to come and see him and have a chat as he had hundreds and the lad that shoots for him only does the foxes once a blue moon. Stopped in his place on our way home and introduced ourselves and he has already signed a permission slip for us to go there or cross onto his land if we see any. Bonus! All we need to do is inform him we are on the land and when and he will tell the other lad not to go out shooting when we are about on his place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr lee Posted October 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Interesting write up, what tyres do you have on the Vitara? webber Mickey Thompson baja ones. NOT cheap to buy but we got these used. Think they had done less than a 1000 miles soft offroad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webber Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Looks like you got the tyres well sorted. webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr lee Posted October 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Looks like you got the tyres well sorted. webber Yeah if I am honest they aren't too bad at all. Clear well in most conditions barring really horrid clay. Got the pressures set at 16psi now too and that helps a lot. Awful on the farm road though. Squeek when turning and rumble like mad when driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seisobs Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Quality story and pictures. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeplemming Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Sounds like a very intresting night. I would love to be doing that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scout Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Great write up and good news getting another permission Just goes to show being in the right place and doing the right thing can pay off. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 Two things about your write ups...it's the tyres that maketh the vehicle off road and if you're seen out and about on a regular basis you'll pick up more shooting. So many times I talk with farnmers who will initially tell you that they have people who shoot the vermin. When questioned the (usual) truth of the matter is that they might (note the might) turn up once in a blue moon, don't call farmer beforehand and generally please themselves. A regular, reliable shooter will always get more shooting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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