Back on the rabbits!
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:59 pm
I finally got my backside into gear and took a wander up to the farm for a look at the rabbit situation. Middle of the afternoon and there was 3 or 4 running around the orchard, all adults. I decided to have a good walk around first so the first hour was spent looking for signs of rabbit activity, surprisingly there wasn't as much as I expected, whatever hit the rabbits last year and the year before did a good job.
Back to the orchard and the rabbits were still out, these seem to live above ground or in the wreckage of a few old buildings so maybe they have escaped the virus/disease that clobbered the burrow living bunnies. I settled by an old roller parked in a gateway, shooting sticks and Prosport, it was beautiful and warm, hazy sunshine and hardly a breeze. Being low down, sat on the grass I was almost invisible to the first rabbit that appeared, lasered at 39 yards I used the padded sticks to support the PS and gave a tad of holdover, a satisfying thud and bunny rolled over without a kick. The pellet was a pass through and hit the old galvanised sheet of the shed, proof that care needs to be taken with .177!
The second rabbit appeared 15 minutes later at 55 yards, being out of practice I decided not to take the shot but to stalk closer using the cover of apple trees and stinging nettles to close the gap. A fair bit of time on hands and knees reminded me that I'm not as young as I was! Eventually I got to 40 yards but could only see a pair of ears as it was busy feeding. A final crawl got me to 35 yards and I sat up to shoot off the knee. A quick squeak got the bunny sitting up and off went the AADF. Clinical kill, just a shake of a back leg and it was all over.
Both were not in very good condition, older and tough so they got staked out as crow and fox food. Crows will be the next target as they have been pestering the hens, they've got very bold since the last time I was up here.
All in all a nice couple of hours, I think I may have got the hunting bug back again!
Back to the orchard and the rabbits were still out, these seem to live above ground or in the wreckage of a few old buildings so maybe they have escaped the virus/disease that clobbered the burrow living bunnies. I settled by an old roller parked in a gateway, shooting sticks and Prosport, it was beautiful and warm, hazy sunshine and hardly a breeze. Being low down, sat on the grass I was almost invisible to the first rabbit that appeared, lasered at 39 yards I used the padded sticks to support the PS and gave a tad of holdover, a satisfying thud and bunny rolled over without a kick. The pellet was a pass through and hit the old galvanised sheet of the shed, proof that care needs to be taken with .177!
The second rabbit appeared 15 minutes later at 55 yards, being out of practice I decided not to take the shot but to stalk closer using the cover of apple trees and stinging nettles to close the gap. A fair bit of time on hands and knees reminded me that I'm not as young as I was! Eventually I got to 40 yards but could only see a pair of ears as it was busy feeding. A final crawl got me to 35 yards and I sat up to shoot off the knee. A quick squeak got the bunny sitting up and off went the AADF. Clinical kill, just a shake of a back leg and it was all over.
Both were not in very good condition, older and tough so they got staked out as crow and fox food. Crows will be the next target as they have been pestering the hens, they've got very bold since the last time I was up here.
All in all a nice couple of hours, I think I may have got the hunting bug back again!
