Shooting Rabbits

[Justin]

I have to agree with others re. using a shotty in regards to keeping the neighbours safe. I had a 410 when I was a kid, and a 12 guage after that - 410 is a good choice IMHO. I'm not a country boy but I honestly reckon you're not going to make much of a dent on the population just by shooting them yourself.

On of the more interesting ( ie sounds a bit urban myth) solutions I heard is to head to a warren with an oxy-acetylene rig, plug all the holes you can find except for one and then squirt a big dose of oxy-acetylene down the hole. Give yourself as much distance as possible and toss something fiery at the hole. KABOOM toasted rabbits and collapsed warren.

Cheers,


Justin.

[Grunt]

I can assure you my two boxers are useless. I quite like them tho.

The shotgun is having a bit of appeal. There are also foxes about and when I move on to the block later this year, we'll have chickens. Foxes and chickens don't mix. At least the chickens don't think so.

The nearest neighbour is 700 metres away not 70 metres.

[Cliff Rogers]

I am on 25 acres and have so far planted about 2500 trees from tube stock and have done about 5 km of direct seeding lines......
If you are interested I can post a few photos of the direct seeding, both from last year and now.

I am active in our local Landcare Group and we have our own direct seeding machine, we did about 300kms of direct seeding this year.

Having done both, I would not plant those 2500 seedlings again, I would do it all with direct seeding. Better success rate and a s**t load less work.....

I'm keen to know more about the direct seeding, can you maybe start a thread with some pics & the story in FORESTRY MANAGMENT ?

Ta.

We have planted about 300 seedlings & while I was planting the last lot I tried sticking in some seeds that were falling off the local trees... I got about 1 in 12 to strike.

I have had better luck digging up the ones that self seed & moving them, that way I only lost about 1 in 12.

[Big Shed]

Cliff

Will do, but won't be till either tomorrow or Monday as I am busy (with a Landcare project!) at present.

[Buzza]

I've been a contract shooter a couple of times, and we used two rifles each night, auto .22, firing shorts. A caravan sliding window fitted for a windscreen in a 4x4, and we'd putter around at night driving up to rabbit warrens, and at about fifteen to twenty feet (tune in that scope), blaze away out of the front window until the fifteen shot magazine was emptied into HEADS ONLY. After three or four warrens, change rifles, to make sure the used one cooled down to prevent jamming. Late afternoon was also a good time to "reccy" the warrens and take out a few more. We called these "sitters', as they were sort of on duty, and always sitting up ready to thump the ground to warn the others of any danger.

After thirty bunnies were shot, or two magazines emptied, we stopped for a gutting session and to "smoke if you have 'em". This was when foxes would sometimes come to within four or five feet to snatch the guts. The bunnies were then legged and the shooting contined. At the end of these shoots, the bunnies were then loaded ino chillers, and we did our best to de-flea our bodies in some areas. Four or five days of this life was plenty for most of us each week. My record was just over 280 pair shot for one night.

The virus is begining to fail, and this brings to mind the days when we made a soak area. This was left for a week or so, and then fenced with chook wire with one-way gates all around. Three thousand rabbits taken in one night by a team of men and youths. The team inside the fence actually sat on boxes grabbing the rabbits up and stretching their necks, passing them to the blokes outside who gutted and legged them.

Exhaust fumes work, but make it a two stroke motor with all entrances closed. It also leaves the burrows useless for habitation for a long while.

Unfortunately, there is currently, no real answer to your problem, as the rabbits are coming back. Hopefully, the wet weather on its way will see mozzies spreading the disease again.

Should we be discussing this before Easter?

[Grunt]

Should we be discussing this before Easter?

Kill the Wabbit, Kill the Wabbit.

[Gra]

[Shedhand]

Say your prayerz rabbit!

[Cliff Rogers]

The Rootinist, Tootinist, Shootinist...... I HATE THAT RABBIT!

[Iain]

I found 410's a bit gutless but a 12g with SG's is the answer, kills-skins-guts and cooks the bunny in one action

[bsrlee]

As a one-time keen shooter, I would tend to go for something like a 222 Remington, 223 Rem , 5.56x50 RWS or even bigger - 22/250? The main reason is there is virtually no chance of ricochet - as soon as the bullet hits something it breaks up - so does the bunny if its in the way. Not much good eating for people but the cats & dogs like them. And the noise may convince the neighbours to do their bit to reduce the numbers over the fence.

A .22 or .22 Magnum rimfire can ricochet a fair way with bad luck - even a shotgun may break a window or two.

And I've brought in rabbits by the hundred with .22's, 222's, 32/20( shot the ears off!) - only ever got 'close' with a shotgun.

[Howdya do that]

There is a product called RAB-BAIT. I know you dont want to use poisons. But if, like I'm thinking your a "blocky" and have heaps of neighbours thats not the best place to be firing a rifle.

You wouldn't want to shhot a hole in the water tank either

[jmk89]

Damn - and I thought this thread was going to be about planing long rabbets on a shooting board.

Grunt - my 2c - I was the treasurer of a golf club with a rabbit problem - they really stuff up tees, greens, fairways and bunkers, so there was a real maintenance cost. Some of the members had licences and thought that they would like to be rabbit shooters. They did it in turns every night for 6 months - they were getting 250-500 bunnies a night. But they gave up - they really weren't making a dent in the population. Then we got pro shooters in - same result, only it cost money. I stepped in as Treas and said - enuf, it's costing too much. I went to the AGU and they said use 1080. So we put in a big 1080 campaign over a year and problem solved for 3 years - then new bunnies came in and 1080 had to start again and now it is just an annual baiting. No wildlife or domestic animals killed. It may not be organic (but so what - being blown apart by a lead projectile ain't very organic either).

[Shedhand]

I remember when my late brother was a cop and they were allowed to buy a weapon of choice. He bought this beautiful nickel plated .357 Colt Magnum from the USA. The rabbits had nowhere to hide. If they hid behind a tree Leon just put a round in the tree and when it fell on the rabbit we had somethin' to eat....true....

[Grunt]

Damn - and I thought this thread was going to be about planing long rabbets on a shooting board.

I tried that but the fur kept getting stuck in the plane. Also, I could only find short rabbits.