Jax13

Current batch all have between 2 and 5 full seasons of experience behind them, usually out one or twice a week - most weeks (I probably miss 3 or 4 due to work commitments between mid October and mid Feb but try to make it up because I can get out with the boy through the week when he is on school holidays on October half term, Xmas and Feb if I'm still going)

I think that's a bit harsh to be fair. There is every chance that a rabbit has passed through that Warren not too long before (especially if it was the first one of the day) on its way back to wherever it is nesting / sleeping so there could be fresh scent there. I've had it this year where I've seen bunnies using a warren (whilst out foxing with the nv) yet turn up the following morning or a couple of days later and there is nothing home. Im not sure if a lot of the warrens on some of my perms have been vacated after the prolonged hot weather as they are

On a few patches we have been second guessing the dog due to signs on the ground but she is proving reliable. On others the dog has marked a bit and we have been pulling singles. The chances that 2 dogs and 7 seasoned ferrets are all wrong is somewhere between slim and none to be honest.

The ferrets aren't missing anything chaps, between buzzards, fox, disease, poachers and roadkill - all of my perms have been hit hard and numbers are scarce

After that 250 odd yard hedge being totally empty, we dropped 5 out of an 8 ish holer on another hedge the following week (video for that goes live 9.30 on Monday) then pulled another 3 out of a 5 holer at the front of a horse paddock next to the path. It's been a very odd season.

How many people are seeing things like this... Fresh droppings, freshly dug out holes, new scrapes in the fields but no bunnies at home! We didn't blank, but would have expected a lot more considering the damage starting to be done on the ground.

Another stint in the kitchen yielded a very tasty terrine.

Cheers, si. Appreciate the feedback and glad you like them.

My 2nd recipe video, a gamey adaptation of another old specials board favourite I used to do. Deliciously simple when you break it down into steps and easy to modify too.

Despite being decent steel, opinel are not good field knives imho. The wood swells and binds up on the blade and after a bit of use the blade loosens up and the locking collar with it which means the tip can just drop out of the handle in your pocket and get you when you reach in to get it (and I've been bitten by one a couple of times before I stopped using them) All you need for bunny gutting is a sharp tip, for me, if you want a proper knife rather than a craft / Stanley type then look for something with a decent clip or drop point so you can puncture cleanly.

Paul Sullivan (of Paul Sullivan leather fame) is doing them now.

Next 2 that I film will be a rabbit & pheasant terrine (ideal for Xmas buffets or a starter!) and I am going to make a roasted pork loin with rabbit & chestnut stuffing, all wrapped up in parma ham! Should hopefully have them both filmed & posted in the next couple of weeks

Still struggling for half decent numbers in the easily accessible parts of my main permission while I'm waiting for the cows to be brought in for the winter and cover to die back, but I'm still getting the odd couple here and there. https://youtu.be/bRp3mGNYwMc Hopefully over the next couple of weeks we will get a keen frost or two so I can actually get near & hit the busier areas of my land hard over the Christmas period to fill the freezers.

That's the biggest problem for most people this year! Typical that when I decide to have a proper go at developing and growing the channel the little sods go into massive decline across the couple of thousand acres I've got rights over!

First in a series of quick & easy restaurant quality rabbit dishes for people who are bored of stews & pies!