So, as some of you may be aware, I’ve been without a property to shoot rabbits and other such furry things on for quite some time now. It’s been driving me bonkers to be honest, because rabbit shooting has to be one of my favourite pastimes. There is something that is just so satisfying and brilliant about tagging the little buggers, as most of you are aware.
Fortunately, through the family business I have quite a lot of contact with rural property owners in the area. Being something of a ‘food bowl’, most of the properties are former or current farmland. Chickens, deer, fruit and market gardens predominantly, but cattle are also run on a few blocks and there are some very expensive horses around too!
In fact, there are not many properties that don’t have the remnants of an orchard on them, and the conditions are usually such that vegetation is rampant and therefore, rabbits are too. Lately, Calici and to a lesser extent myxamatosis have put a serious damper on rabbit numbers, but given the especially wet Summer we’ve had, and the fact that the diseases are running out of steam, rabbit numbers are higher than what I’ve seen them for a long time. As a result, foxes, cats and even wild dogs are benefiting from both the increase in food, not just rabbits.
Not much good if I can’t get among the action though!
I had given up on this couple getting back to me after asking about the rabbit problem they had. Turns out they were very keen, they just were busy. At any rate, I checked out the property and was pleasantly surprised to find what I thought was quite a small block be significantly larger than I had expected. The lay of the land was very positive for shooting – sloping land downhill with thick wooded areas bordering kept the noise down and shots safe, and there were no end of rabbit warrens to sit over. This place is a former farm for both chickens, citrus and vegetables, so there is no lack of feed for the rabbits, that is for sure!
Several old sheds, as well as some brand spanking new ones mean that there are some nice clean lanes of fire, and the beautiful thing is that the rabbits are down the back anyway which means that along with the slope shooting is pretty much no dramas at all. When I get some photos up, it’s quite an interesting blend of old and new.
Anyways, the rabbits. I haven’t been rabbit shooting for months – I was definitely excited. I parked in a paddock, overlooking a well used thoroughfare. Time was of the essence – I had a family get together to get to, and it started on rabbit time...
Sitting there for a fair while listening to the radio on a nice late summers day is always nice. I was nearly asleep when I saw him run out. He was quite large, and very light in colour. He ran full tilt as fast as he could between the lantana he was burrowed in and a shed, sitting in the open. Interestingly, I saw him straight away but the missus was playing on the phone and didn’t see. He was sitting right up, fully exposed and well contrasted, but the way our eyes work meant that he didn’t pop out until he twitched his ears.
At any rate he was probably confused as to the V8 ute sitting in his paddock. I leant out the window, the 17HMR rested on a towel on the mirror. It was a perfect shot – I lined the crosshairs of the Leupold on the rabbits eye, and gently squeezed the aftermarket trigger on the Marlin.
I missed.
The rabbit did a full back flip in the air – probably around about a metre in the air. It landed and was off like a shot, while I sat there looking stupid.
“Ha! You missed.”
Supporting, eh?
On the plus side, I’m sure I’ll find a rabbit with a .17cal hole through each ear sooner or later.
To add insult to injury, it was time to go, and as I checked out the neighbours orchard I could see a few fearless rabbits grazing. On the way out, we also saw a whole bunch run off the road...
There is always this weekend.
