is it me ?

[chimp 299]

its not a dig at anyone but i notice huge write up's and a pic of a magpie or one rabbit etc..

 

if im going out for a few hours lamping with an air rifle i get mightly pissed off if i dont get a min of 20 rabbits , as for the daytime i forget rabbits and just shoot pigeons or crows and if there is nothing about i find another bit of land what is holding the gear.

 

i understand and waiting for the reply of ' it's just getting out there and doing it is enough' for some people but if a land owner has allowed me to shoot there land they want me there for a reason... to do a tidy job !!

 

i cant believe cambridgshire is the only place holding silly numbers of rabbits this year

[markha 99]

Chimp,

 

I only lamp over 600 acres or so of family owned farm land and the rabbits are just not there in those quantities yet, and after being wiped out with mixy just like many other areas of the UK (theres a thread about somewhere with mixy hotspots through the UK) which is great news, because I don't want to be out all the time clearing rabbits.

 

I have another 2500 acres of permission land that I currently don't lamp and only shoot in the daytime, from my accounts and the odd picture you'll see the land is pretty open and not a lot of useful cover for getting the very twitchy and vigilant corvids with either a rifle or shotgun.

 

As for pigeons, they don't seem to have appeared in great numbers this year in North Wales, Yet, fingers crossed they will though.

 

I guess some areas of the UK just don't hold the 'big bags' you would expect, and also I'm sure that the farmers where you have permission are happy that any pests are thinned out, regardless of the numbers, more so if your doing it for free.

If your being paid for it however then I wouldn't waste my time with an air rifle I would be netting and smoking them out with old newspaper.

 

 

So its great to hear that you get to shoot lots of bunnies, crows and pigeons and that if they aren't on your permissions at one place you can just go somewhere else 'to find the gear' whatever that means? not being petulant mate, but 'gear' to a man of my past can mean anything from drugs to arms mate.

 

 

Referring to your comments of long write ups and a few pics of a few pests, I bet theres a lot of us who have had times when we have cleaned up, personally I just get on with things, I tend not to post many pics of dead stuff as I don't see the point of that all the time. As with everything, its best in moderation.

There was a wave of loads of pics of foxes in some right states, it prompted a good debate on whether it was right to post them, as with this type of thing, the posting of foxes with innards hanging out did drop off.

 

 

There is another thing doing the rounds in the airgun section, and that is good quality write ups about a days shooting, some of the lads on here are very good a putting into words what happened on a days shoot.

I enjoy reading them, and the pictures are secondary in my opinion.

 

In fact the posts are getting so good now, I think there should be a THL Airgun Section Award for the the months best write up.

 

 

Its an internet forum at the end of the day.

Some members cant get out and shoot for a variety of reasons and they enjoy reading the contents of the website and It must be nice to be able to read some descriptions of a days hunting as if it were a small section of a book.

 

So if its a good story, regardless of length or how many pics there are, all love and power to it.

It is after all a lot of fun for people to share their day out with friends by writing about it one here.

[pianoman 3,587]

It depends on how the permission goes with what's growing to support the rabbit population Chimp. Mine's a huge shoot spread over several miles and yet, the barley crops this year are only just starting to show through and the rabbits are becoming only visible just now as a result. I expect it will be similar experience for other lads here. Some alas have only a small crop-growing area to shoot over; or no permission at all. You can only shoot what pops out in front of you, regardless of how many other fields you have to shoot over. If the general view was taken, not to write and post up anything that doesn't show at least 20 kills, this forum would be very light on posts, to say the least and so would all the others!

 

If a poor night and getting pissed off is less than twenty rabbits for you, (you must be shooting over a lot more grassland pasture and meadow than others have?) we'd all love to see pics and a write up of what a great night on your permission looks like. Sometime.

 

What does just being out with your rifle in the fresh air and enjoying the wonderful little moments of nature you see, the sweet smells of the fields and the shades of trees in the dusk and rising mists, and a single shot rabbit for your supper do for you? I just ask in the light of your reference to the wildlife as "Gear"!

 

 

I'm going shooting. It's a beautiful Friday afternoon here. Doesn't matter to me whether I bag one or a dozen mate.

Edited April 8, 2011 by pianoman

[zini 1,939]

Hi Chimp,

 

I can see that this post will be a popular one buddy and one that lads will all have their say in no doubt.

 

I must say 20 rabbits in a night are few and far between on this forum as far as I can recall ever reading in the past few years buddy.

 

3 of us managed 32 in a night about 4 or 5 weeks ago in Wiltshire, but that was me using a lamp and 2 other regulars from this section using NV scopes and we were driving about trying to find them on about 20 or 30 large fields.

 

20 on my own would be fantastic though and if you are getting this kind of bag I’m pretty envious of you pal, you must have a real good set of bunny populated permissions to be able to see this many regularly.

 

Regarding the big posts with the odd bunny or magpie I think its just like the lads have already said and some just love to be out in the fresh air whether they shoot their rifles or not don’t matter to them, and some just haven’t the numbers of bunnies on their permissions to be able to achieve high numbers pal without making a massive impact on the ecology of the land for the next few years on.

 

I suppose if the section members were doing a job for a farmer or land owner that wanted all the rabbits culling as in a proper pest control job and it wasn’t going to be a permission that they wanted to keep the ecology correct for the future that we would see some more posts with bigger numbers.

 

I’m soon to move into a new house and will be looking for some new permissions on the local farms with some lamping land after I return from Canada. If I find some you will be more than welcome to pop up pal with other section members and have a shoot with me.

 

ATB

 

Si.

[BASE JUMPER 18]

ill get the popcorn ready

[moxy 617]

What does just being out with your rifle in the fresh air and enjoying the wonderful little moments of nature you see, the sweet smells of the fields and the shades of trees in the dusk and rising mists, and a single shot rabbit for your supper do for you? I just ask in the light of your reference to the wildlife as "Gear"!

 

 

Sounds a bit romantic that pianoman :kiss: Can i come and we can hold hands

[Buster321c 1,010]

Is it me ??

 

 

NO ITS MOXY ,

 

 

 

 

its normally his fault

[ArchieHood 3,692]

Happy now Chimp

 

[Karpman 44]

Get some writing done then pal. Put us all to shame with some big bags taken with your rifle mate.

 

Personally I don't reckon big bags make the perfect day. They ate of course nice though.

 

Karpman

[eddiej35 10]

I can get bags like this through out the year doing pest control chimp but it does nothing to make me feel better than anyone els. This picture shows half of what we usually get but i would rather stalk half a dozen on a nice day and get a mixed bag than do this every week. Everyone to their own bud but try not to knock what others like.

Edited April 8, 2011 by eddiej35

[pianoman 3,587]

What does just being out with your rifle in the fresh air and enjoying the wonderful little moments of nature you see, the sweet smells of the fields and the shades of trees in the dusk and rising mists, and a single shot rabbit for your supper do for you? I just ask in the light of your reference to the wildlife as "Gear"!

 

 

Sounds a bit romantic that pianoman :kiss: Can i come and we can hold hands

Course you can me old darling!

 

That's a good bag Archie. Top shooting mate!

 

I think Si's post makes a good answer, generally all round.

 

I've just got back home from a lovely afternoon and evening out. Serious practice shooting during the day and a hunt in the evening. The air's like wine on my permission; watched a Buzzard alight for a moment into a tree not thirty yards from my cover . Magnificent bird. Saw a badger trimming his set in the woods at dusk and shot three good rabbits (2 on Davy's spot !) and a couple of Magpies by baiting for them with one of the rabbits. That makes a cracking session for me. A lovely walk for a mile or two and a bag at the end of it. What's wrong with that?

 

If I saw 20 or more rabbits I'd have shot them and that would have been a blistering good shoot. It's been a few years now since I saw that many in a single session but, I've shot 30 or 40 and more in the past. I'm not seeing anything like that now. But three and a pair of maggies tonight is five kills more than some lads get, not as much as others and I'm happy with that.

 

I suppose it depends how you view the sport. If my mate who owns my permission asked me to cull everything in sight, Kitts, milky does, male bucks, then that's exactly what I would be doing; from dawn to dusk and nightfall with a lamping or NV specific rifle. But, as I've stated elsewhere before, I'm an air rifle hunting enthusiast. How many I shoot is how many I see.

 

Simon

 

Edit to add. Blimey Eddie that's industrial shooting mate! I've seen bags like this on my shooting permission, shot by my father and my mate's father and grandfather who owned it when I was a youngster and I've had days and evenings to myself when I couldn't transport them all. Those days are over now. I haven't seen anything like this for some years now.

Edited April 8, 2011 by pianoman

[andyfr1968 772]

It's not a pissing contest!!

 

The most I've ever had on my own (for what it's worth...) is 24 a few summers back and I don't mean a sack full of kits... Best bag last year was 17. Again, no kits.

 

I'm what you'd call a 'sporting shooter' these days and I don't really mind too much about getting a good bag or not, I just enjoy getting away from all the shite of everyday life and doing something I love.

 

One of the best things that's happened to me while out and about this year was sitting under a tree watching a couple of shrews going about their business while I kept on trying to take a photo of them!! I'll remember that for a hell of a lot longer than how many whatevers I shot that day. Or not....

 

It's also a treat to meet new folks, which this forum has allowed me to do. There's some feckin' decent lads on here.

 

Cheers.

Edited April 8, 2011 by andyfr1968

[pianoman 3,587]

Speakin' of which Andy, you coming over tomorrow? It's gonna be a great weekend!

 

Simon

[andyfr1968 772]

Speakin' of which Andy, you coming over tomorrow? It's gonna be a great weekend!

 

Simon

 

Twelve ish..??

[pianoman 3,587]

SOLD! see you then matey, bring your best shooting trousers it's gonna be warm!

 

Simon