In NSW, you are allowed to shoot on rural properties that you do not own or lease, with the owner or leasers permission.
One such property I shoot on is half flower farm, half former flower farm. The front half of the property is occupied with dwellings, greenhouses, sheds, and ploughed fields that cycle various crops of different flowers and filler plants. The owners are certainly old, as are the few staff who assist there. It's not a huge property - you can comfortably walk from the road end to the National Park it butts up against and back probably in around 45 minutes. The National Park has the advatange of harbouring all the predators and other fun things who wander on to the property. Definately no shooting allowed, though, unlike State Forests with an "R" recreational hunting license.
The front half usually has the tracks properly mown. The property is actually on top of a mountain range, so is elevated quite high. It's gently undulating, and mostly ironstone. This can be an issue when shooting, as richochets with certain cartridges are almost certain - the humble .22LR being a typical culprit. The 17HMR has never richocheted at this property or any other, so far.
The combination of mown grass, rows of thick flower crops with little alleys between them, and the nearby shelter of very very deep irrigation channels mean that there is plenty of habitat for rabbits. Unfortunately due to the small amount of staff, the part that is mown is not neccesarily the part that the rabbits frequent. While these conditions suit rabbits, it doesn't always suit hunting them and there can be multiple rabbits in a location that you simply cannot see.
Crossfire can be an issue due to dwellings, sheds, and vehicles, so careful planning of the stalk route to ensure safe shooting is a must. Rabbit behaviour when faced with a predator is to either freeze, or flee - usually one, then the other! The problem with this is that human hunting eyesight relies on movement to notice and track prey. Most of the time, you don't see the ones that sit there hoping you don't see them. When they take off, it's tricky times with a rifle to take them down - and with a shotgun, if it is at extended range it can be a nightmare with shot dispersal. That is, of course, when you can see them! One of my more memorable shots was actually about where I am standing in the title photo. I missed the first one and was about to pack it in when I could see a mate of his, basically an ear and a set of eyes the only thing visible. He wasn't as lucky as his buddy!
Given the brief window you have to take down a rabbit, often times the majority will get away. A rabbit that sees you first, and, due to being shot at nearly every week by various parties since forever, runs for its warren will occasionally stop for a second and as you get the crosshairs on it, dart into the inpenetrable lantana or camphor laurels. I have had the most success surprising them up close where they panic and freeze, or at extended ranges where they don't see you or at least don't see you as a threat. I more or less trod on one the other day, and it took me so much by surprise that I couldn't even lift the gun before it was off. The rabbits migrate around, and where you expect them to be in numbers in one month is vastly difference to the month before. You have to be on your toes because they can be literally anywhere! Often it is where you don't expect to see them that you do. There are entire football-field sized paddocks unusable due to rabbit warrens you sink shin deep into, and I've never seen a rabbit there.
The huge variance in range can be frustrating too. Mostly visibility on the ground is poor due to tall grass in the main paddocks away from the trails, but occasionally a long shot will present itself. I can guarantee it is when I am carrying the shotgun! Likewise, I will get half a dozen break from a row of flowers when I'm holding the rimfire and the lever action 12g would be incredibly handy. It really is a matter of luck more than skill often as not, as to if you can bag any rabbits at all. This is what happens when over time they are shot out, and recover. The survivors know what is going on and the young ones follow the big ones.
Foxes are in huge numbers in the area. The neighbouring properties are chicken farms but the foxes still pass through. I've seen a few and shot even less, because there is an enormous amount of cover and if a fox survives around here it's certainly a cagey creature. The neighbours will often see large amounts in a night, where poor old me less than 200m away won't get a single one!
The rear of the property is former crop paddocks, heavily overgrown with occasionally cleared trails. This is where a large population of rabbits live. I've nailed quite a few out the back but the same problems apply - poor visibility and cagey rabbits in scrub that suits them rather than you. Deer, wild dogs, and other interesting things pass through the area and you never know what you might stumble across. The very back of the property is where you have no chance getting any rabbits but on the plus side, you can basically shoot any big rifles you want as the noise won't disturb neighbours or game, and you are more or less shooting into a gully. It's always nice to have a spot like that you can just unleash any old centrefire you want, at least in moderation!
Spotlighting with LED torches has some success but they are used to lights at night meaning death. A Lightforce 240 may change that soon!
I have a love/hate relationship with this property. I've had some fantastic hunts, and some miserable experiences there, including at one stage looking like I could never go back. Fortunately, it all worked out in the end. It's an interesting blend of the maintained and run down - rabbits living under sheds and piles of tin, and on the other side, complete paddocks claimed by the furry little buggers as they turn lantana-overrun irrigation ditches into homes.
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