Things have been pretty lean for me hunting wise. The last hunt I did was mid October and because of moving house and other factors I simply haven't got out. But due to an invite from a mate and 2 other standing offers I've managed to get out on everyone of the past 3 nights.
Sunday 16thAndrew, a mate I met through a forum and through friends locally, finally got out to hunt together. We tried a regular spot he shoots. The torrential rain that has affected most of Australia has also given our area a fair dumping. The dams are full and the paddocks are green and knee high in places as this pic shows:
We arrived in the late afternoon but struck trouble with the length of the grass immediately. The rabbits hid or disappeared quickly. As a consquence even Andrew's quick shotgun work was not quick enough. We spent a little time working our way down a creek bed but the only success was by Andrew and the bunny he whacked rolled back into its burrow as he died, irretrievable.
So we hopped into Andrew's SUV and moved over to the back end of the property to try the "sure thing" warrens. More problems greeted us there. The Scotch thistle was waist high in places and the warrens we overgrown. There was new erosion where the recent heavy rainfall had torn through ravines with blackberries......exactly where the rabbits live. I missed a very easy shot with my 22 Hornet Martini, the bullet going over the top. Other rabbits quickly fled at long range and there were few of them. So we returned to the SUV as the sun sank.
The dusk light against the thistles.
The moon in the twilight.
We decided to do a last ditch trip around and I found and shot at another close range rabbit.....to miss,
again too high. We wound the scope down 6 clicks and as we headed for the homestead spied 3 bunnies near a feeder trough. Two of them ran but the third copped a 40gr Nosler BT @130yd. Success!
Ouch! Guts!
So even though it was only one rabbit it was good to get into the field, knowing that I had another 2 nights ahead of me.
Monday 17thThe next night was a trip to cull some rabbits and hopefully a hare or 2 on a vineyard where my wife works. I've had offers multiple times and should really have got out there before Christmas but things were mad so it took me this long to get along there. My friend Jane once again helped spotlight and for the first time my eldest son Bryn came along to watch. He'll be 7 this month and I thought it was a good time for him to understand what hunting is. He was really excited and chatty so we had to explain to him to use his "hunting voice" so the rabbits wouldn't hear him.
We got out there around 9pm and started to drive along the rows in search of likely suspects. This time it was much harder to find rabbits as the recent rains and advanced growth of the vines meant the spotlight was blocked a lot more. Nonetheless upon reach the top end of the vines rabbits appeared in numbers. I nailed the first quickly with the Hornet as it was out in the open. The next lot were harder as they crouched in the rows of vines. I used up a few rounds missing about 2 other rabbits before nailing an additional 2. Still, 3 was not bad for a start. Bryn was very pleased, not because I'd killed them, but because I'd shot accurately and he was interested to see them and touch them.
Here he is picking up one of them. He was stoked and fascinated how soft the fur was:
About that time I realised exactly how little ammo I had. I'd had little time to reload after moving house and I couldn't afford to blaze away so I tended to be less definite. That meant the rabbits before I had a chance to take the shot. With no more we went for a drive to the back of the property but outside the vines, where the grass had been mown so they could work on them, the grass was waist high in places. We did see a fox on a hill but he was a long way out and moved away as we used the game caller. Returning to the vines my shots were less accurate but Bryn was not to be disappointed. Eventually #4 was hammered by a 40gr Nosler BT so he came to help me fetch it.
He was particularly excited about the guts, not because he likes blood or gore (rather the opposite), but because that was what was inside the rabbit and he found it interesting:
No more opportunities appeared so we were about to leave when a hare appeared on the track in front of us. It quickly passed through a fence but I hopped out and eventually nailed it. Unfortunately in the dark it was hard to locate and since Bryn was the only one small enough to get over the fence he probably wasn't that great at looking. But he came home super excited and told my wife all about the rabbits and the guts. You can imagine how much she appreciated that.
And he really wants to learn to shoot. Another convert.....
Tuesday 18thTonight Andrew and I went out to the historic house I'd taken 22 rabbits at in October last year. The numbers there are staggering. We left my house around 9:30pm and a light mizzle was falling, not that it discouraged us or the bunnies. No sooner arrived than started shooting. We were barely in the gate then we'd nailed 4 or 5. We were using .22lr Subsonics as it was the conditions of shooting on this property but there were still effective and within the first hour we'd nailed alot. 11 were recovered but a few more were lost in the darkness or had kicked themselves away under shrubbery.
We took a drive down into the river flat field Jane and I had knocked over 4 or 5 in last time but the long grass was a great hindrance so we gave it up as a lost cause. More repeat trips around the house eventually yielded another 9 recovered rabbits and at least 2 that kicked away to die quietly away from our gaze. So our grand total was 20. You can see the mizzle in this shot:
Here's a bucket o' bunnies. If only KFC offered this as a meal!
Sadly, despite the numbers, we couldn't use any for meat as they had varying degrees on myximatosis. Soon it will sweep through the colony there, as it does in many places in late January and February, and the sport will be gone for a few months. But at least we had our fun.
Now I can look forward to next week's 2 days goat hunting with Andrew on the Abercrombie River. Mmmm, do I take my 9.3x62 or my 8x57JS......
