Where are all the rabbits ?

[long dogs 580]

We were wondering where all the rabbits were the other week, then we saw three cats hunting in the fields! Thought they were foxes at first in the lamp...I don't bother going out now if it's dry and warmish - they stay indoors if the weather's bad!

yeh ive been seing a load more cats out in the sticks,called one up the other night thinking it was a fox cub it was a kitten

[ftm 3,357]

mixy has taken its toll every where i think but the humble bunny will bounce back im sure as for cats if there feral i think they should be fair game [i said THINK] lol

[Tyla 3,179]

In answer to a few posts, I dont reckon anyone else is out there, there arnt as many lurcher lads down this way as it seems in other areas and the ground is all permission and fairly well watched. They'd be pissed off poachers anyway as its a lot of work for not much gain lol! All my ground seems to be like this too, its all in approximately the same area differents farms but all within a 10 mile radius, they held rabbits all summer and now they are gone. I think myxi hit the area hard this year. The main difference i've noticed over the last few years in a big increase in badger numbers, foxes have stayed the same but the badgers are getting more and more. I know badgers can dig alot of nests in the spring but would be amazed if its them alone having this effect.

 

Im out 2 or 3 three times a week, obviously some nights are better than others but overall its been crap this season. I seem to get between 6 and 10 runs a night and "hope" to catch half of them. A few seasons ago you'd get that many runs in a single field!

 

As for travelling and poaching Im afraid i like my gun licences and driving license too much. Im self employed and struggling as it is, loosing the van or ending up in court just isnt an option.

[Moll. 1,770]

Same here Tyla, no-one else works the land.

 

One thing always puzzles me.....Why do people get running dogs if they have no-where/need to run them?

[Millet 4,497]

Same here Tyla, no-one else works the land.

 

One thing always puzzles me.....Why do people get running dogs if they have no-where/need to run them?

It's a fashion.. ..when the hit that age where there nob's and bollock's are found to work nice.. take the dog world is forgotten..

[iworkwhippets 12,507]

Entirely the opposite here, fields alive with em, yes there is myxi about, but also a healthy population of fit bunnies, there is one particular permission i use, thats worked by other lurcher men, poachers to be exact, cos according to the landowner, there is only me thats asked for permission, ive seen their tracks, but still there is enough flying about to keep me happy, they are out there if you are willing to travel

[Tyla 3,179]

Im more than willing to travel, I just wont poach, I have an invite from my pups breeder to lincs this month and hopefully a trip to somerset too but you cant rely on invites all the time. My problem is that its hard to know who/where to ask for permission outside my area, local knowedge is hard to beat.

[iworkwhippets 12,507]

Im more than willing to travel, I just wont poach, I have an invite from my pups breeder to lincs this month and hopefully a trip to somerset too but you cant rely on invites all the time. My problem is that its hard to know who/where to ask for permission outside my area, local knowedge is hard to beat.

 

wasnt suggesting you poach, as for who, or where to ask for permission, i cover 4 counties, with no problems, with digging out the landowners

[baldockbanks courser 598]

Same here Tyla, no-one else works the land.

 

One thing always puzzles me.....Why do people get running dogs if they have no-where/need to run them?

because they / I love there sport! iv got a lot of permission but if I lost it all tommorow id still keep lurchers. Im not an unpaid pest controller Im a dog Man ! !

 

To add my permission has gone from near on plagues of rabbits to barley any this season too! !

Edited November 3, 2011 by baldockbanks courser

[toby1066 413]

plenty of rabbits on whins land he doesnt think there a test for a dog so he leaves them alone

[Moll. 1,770]

Same here Tyla, no-one else works the land.

 

One thing always puzzles me.....Why do people get running dogs if they have no-where/need to run them?

because they / I love there sport! iv got a lot of permission but if I lost it all tommorow id still keep lurchers. Im not an unpaid pest controller Im a dog Man ! !

 

To add my permission has gone from near on plagues of rabbits to barley any this season too! !

 

I meant why do they get them in the first place if they have no-where to run them, not if they lost their permission/numbers of game

 

You wouldn't buy a a formula 3 race car with no race track to drive it on

[yeeharr 41]

At the start of the Spring I commented to Rascal-2005 that it'd be a bumper year for bunnies. They were in places that we hadn't seen them for years or even before. Driving down to the coast to go fishing and there'd be all along the verges, we even had the oppurtunity to hang the catty out of the window after them. Now there are none to be seen, from Newhaven to Lingfield, right up to Croydon and Mitcham. I think the mild year has a lot to do with it. Fleas can spread easily if the temperature in October is the same as in the summer.

[blackstaff 488]

It's all just weird imo. I have seen an increase in Badgers on one of my permissions, but surely that can't be the answer ? Anyhow i'm saddened to hear that more people are having the same problem as us, but it's nice to have the knowledge that we're not alone.

What can we do about it ? Just keep getting out there and enjoy the fortune of bagging a bunny or 2 and know how hard earned they've been. The times of the ground moving will be back . . . . . . . . . . . Hopefully

Happy hunting all

[baldockbanks courser 598]

Same here Tyla, no-one else works the land.

 

One thing always puzzles me.....Why do people get running dogs if they have no-where/need to run them?

because they / I love there sport! iv got a lot of permission but if I lost it all tommorow id still keep lurchers. Im not an unpaid pest controller Im a dog Man ! !

 

To add my permission has gone from near on plagues of rabbits to barley any this season too! !

not trying to cause a row but its taken me 18 years running were I could and needed too, to get to what dogs I run today and what I know ( not much! ).

Iv had my permission 1 - 2 years should I have waited till 2 years ago till I aquired a running dog do you think ? ?

[Tyla 3,179]

Im more than willing to travel, I just wont poach, I have an invite from my pups breeder to lincs this month and hopefully a trip to somerset too but you cant rely on invites all the time. My problem is that its hard to know who/where to ask for permission outside my area, local knowedge is hard to beat.

 

wasnt suggesting you poach, as for who, or where to ask for permission, i cover 4 counties, with no problems, with digging out the landowners

 

Fair enough, i obviously need more time to explore. I picked up extra permissions over the summer as i wanted to be sure of having enough rabbits to bring my pup on, looks like i should have tried further afield rather than trying to keep them all close together.

 

In my other post it makes it seem i wont travel outside 10 mile for a shine, thats not the case as i dont live anywhere near the permissions. They are all near each other as its where i grew up and have good connections with the landowners.