Squelch.

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Seems I am a bit lax in my posting, I went out last Friday afternoon and forgot to relate my tales to you. Well it was the only day that rain was not forecast in such violent quantities, in fact not forecast for the afternoon and early evening at all! So I thought get the rifle out. However wind speed was up to around the 10-15mph mark so I took out the HW100! Otto has been quiet of late. Filled up the cylinder to the 200 bar mark, swapped the pellets in the gun bag over to .22 (always worth remembering to do) and off I sallied!

 

Got to the permission and where was dry caked earth now lay pools of water. No rabbits were out so I got into the woods and had a look for pigeons.As I was getting the gun out and getting ready to check zero I hear the unmistakable boom of a 12 bore, must mean the friendly neighbourhood pigeon plugger who has permission on the farmland that adjoins mine, so pigeons will not be on the menu today!

 

Just as I checked zero, shower starts. Into the laurel bushes and wait, half an hour later (blasted big passing shower) I venture out. I walked through the woods to the track and walked up the mound to check into the back of the paddocks. This mound is not earth, it is wood chippings and as I saw a nice large rabbit, I started to sink. Slowly and gracefully, like a decaying trawler... I raise the rifle and got a good line of sight, just as the rabbit saw me, so I just held the aim and continued to sink... Eventually the rabbit got bored and I hit the maximum compressibility limit for my weight on wood chippings, the aim was good, wind speed had decreased to below 5mph, so I fired. The rabbit rolled over and I attempted to get myself out. Squelch, sounded like somebody running though a swamp in vomit filled wellies, Left foot out, sqeeelllcchhhh (the left foot was higher up than the right when I started to sink). I turned round, and made my way down the mound, luckily I had my Aigles on, as well as the NBC camo, so even though it was soaked the water was not caplliliaring up the trousers to soak me!

 

I made my way through the nettles, behind the grassy knoll, across the ditch (now with about 5 inches of water in the bottom, first time I have seen water in there), under the electric fence and down to get my rabbit. Nice sized buck it was too. Back up, under the fence and with alarming timing I see one of Moby Bun's (the big black buck from last year) offspring hop out 70 metres down the paddock, there is me, rifle left other side of the fence, carrying big rabbit, standing out like sore thumb, all it did was sit and look as I went back through.

 

I tried to stalk it down, but obviously me in the size 9s had done a good job of scaring it as I did the successful hunter limbo through the electric fence. As I started back down to where I left the rabbit the rain started again! So back into the laurels (good emergency tents those) and waited for the rain to pass... In the meantime Mr Pigeon plugger has obviously got fed up with the showers that were not supposed to happen and bogged back to his 4x4 and gone home as an eerie sense of calm descended. As did a few pigeons, So Otto came out and one was soon falling under the spell of gravity!

 

Retrieved back to my little hidey hole and then another load came down. As I was getting ready to take a shot a car klaxon exploded through the woodland and scared off all the pigeons. Damned pheasants are beginning to enjoy the ring of steel that being a game bird gives them again. This one was sat 20 foot away from me in a dead tree, I was that annoyed I could have dropped it! But I resisted temptation, another season of feeding on the crops should mean another half pound in weight at least!

 

Then the partridges started calling outside the permission, then the rain started again. I had had enough of the weather by this point (no rain forecast but the rain was obviously not listening to the forecast or reading it online), so I packed up and summoned my transport. I had had enough. The rain was so hard the rabbits were staying in their warrens and the pigeons had roosted elsewhere. Time to call it a day. Went to find camera, to find I had left it at home after my artwork buying (I needed to check that who I thought painted the oil painting we bought had painted it and he had)! So no damned camera! No photos!

 

Upon cleaning the rabbit I weighed it, to find that gutted and skinned, it weighed 2 lb 3 oz. Not a bad bunny and Otto's first!

Edited April 29, 2012 by secretagentmole

[Sweeney-Todd 208]

Hi Mike.

 

Bloody good read that was , nice post, and well done to you and Otto on the first kill

[AR177 588]

Great write up

 

ATB

 

Adam

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Not Otto's first kill Bill, it is Otto's first rabbit! I have had pigeons with this HW! It is his first fur though!

Edited April 29, 2012 by secretagentmole

[dymented 2,220]

good read bud

[Sweeney-Todd 208]

  On 29/04/2012 at 11:28, secretagentmole said:

Not Otto's first kill Bill, it is Otto's first rabbit! I have had pigeons with this HW! It is his first fur though!

 

 

Ohhh sorry mate......I stand errected

[ftm 3,357]

good read mole this poxy weather is starting to annoy me now!

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Let us look on the positive side, when the grass and crops respond to the water we are going to have some big bunnies!

[stealthy1 3,964]

The darkside takes another victim

[kanny 21,081]

thanks for the read bud on such a boring wet day its been hammering down all night and so far all day here

[milegajo 595]

Hahahaha, love your style Mole. Your analogies are most illustrative! Hehehhehe

NBC camo is a cheap resource i've not heard much discussion on. In the army we used to get through them like disposable gloves. Chronic waste really, just didn't think at the time, i've seen packs of 10 of them for very little money on eBay. I live in combat 95, i intend to get some goretex camo if this weather doesn't shift soon.

I was all for 'climate change'...Mediterranean weather i thought, endless blue skies, no need to travel, just keep running the 2.7 litre deisel engines and make lots of unnecessary trips to the shops and majorca here I come! But noooooo we get bloody monsoons!!!

 

Will never listen to that Al Gore again....all politicians are liars...they should become weathermen!

[secretagentmole 1,701]

Well the NBC is great, over a layer of clothing in cold weather, shower proof (not mosoons proof). I have one suit I took the liner out of for lightweight summer camo. I have one lined set for spring and autumn use, but in the depths of winter nothing beats the Jack Pyke!

 

The NBC is low cost, durable and if you rip it you have not ripped £90 worth of trousers! The camo pattern is effective, but it depends where you are, on mixed background and in woodland it is great. For use in ripening crops, not so hot but on my permission it works!