Sad to kill rabbits anymore.

[elliotmcc 67]

Riflemen with IR scopes and better suppressors, summer hunting, myximatosis, RHVD, cats, foxes, intensive farming with pesticides, pollutants and taking out hedgerows (along with the warrens), taking out cover and boys who just don't know their limits to leave a population. Really in short terms rabbits are f****d

[bird 9,961]

14 hours ago, elliotmcc said:

Riflemen with IR scopes and better suppressors, summer hunting, myximatosis, RHVD, cats, foxes, intensive farming with pesticides, pollutants and taking out hedgerows (along with the warrens), taking out cover and boys who just don't know their limits to leave a population. Really in short terms rabbits are f****d

on the button mate 

[walshie 2,804]

Summer hunters shooting rabbits till there's none left instead of letting them breed. Dog men who talk about (or used to) taking rabbits in the hundreds. With that, mixy and VHD, rabbits will probably be extinct soon .

[Bobtheferret 1,249]

I think (hope?) that rabbit numbers will turn around, when people are going out not catching much they will lose interest and leave them be. Equally if they aren’t damaging crop etc then farmers will also not bother getting them dealt with. History, and evidence from NZ and AUS, suggests that immunity to RVHD2 will devolop. Once these things happen coupled with the rabbits amazing ability to reproduce they will be back in something approaching good numbers but...it may take a few years or even decades . 

[CushtyJook 1,097]

There just isn't any around here either I haven't started ferreting yet but a recent walk to size it up on the common I hunt didn't look very productive warrens looked dead and only Seen one rabbit above ground last season was terrible aswell which is a Shame as only started ferreting it last few seasons after moving away but 6-7 years ago it was real good land 

[Saltmoon 2,208]

Probably soon be a ban on how many people can shoot no dog work on them. Lurcher game fecked really but will always keep trying and doing a little bit 

[Elchapo 3,167]

Going start lamping pakis soon plenty them round me 

[Pirate 9000 676]

I had 14 rabbits on my field start of spring only 2 litters were produced one of 5 the other had only 2,both litters lived until about 16 weeks and then I started to find them dead with out a single mark on them.at the present time only 2 rabbits remain alive.just bred a litter of lurchers god knows if there will be anything to run them on.

[Moocher71 4,050]

Very thin on the ground round my way,

Rabbits definitely in a bad place, just hope they can come back from this,

[smithie 2,443]

On 31/10/2018 at 09:34, Councilestatekid said:

The rabbit numbers are OK round me but not many people hammering them don't get me wrong your not going to go out and get the numbers you used to but if you dintend hammer the same spots over and over you'd still manage a few good runs.I heard a few year ago of a chap not far from me dropping a few pet  buck rabbits about and left the spots for a couple of seasons and helped the numbers as pet rabbits breed more or something 

I had a black and tan rabbit earlier in the year and a black one with softer fur than brown rabbit.  There is a white one when i get it ill look to see if it's a buck. 

[bendrover 556]

Why kill it ?

[Bosun11 537]

Just got back in from a couple of hours walk. Got 4 out of 7 runs on rabbits. A sad state... But i'll still catch my rabbits wherever i may find them...

[baldockbanks courser 598]

On 04/11/2018 at 09:39, rob284 said:

If you shoot 160 the previous season your being a bit naive to expect a good tally in the following season. If that lad was out for sport he would leave that healthy population and take a few every outing, then he would have something to go at the following season. Different story if he is a pest controller, and if he was it’s a job well done and he couldn’t complain about the fall in numbers. My opinion, if your concerned about the numbers in an area, don’t hunt in it.

What's niave?

The kepper shot 160 with a shotgun not me the keeper. Surely your not so niave to think the rabbits sitting in the corn are the only rabbits!?

That was what got me the permission and that season I had good bags but at the end of the season there was still large numbers of rabbits at which point I stopped at seeing the first young rabbits in the doe rabbits for the breeding season.

Next season they were almost gone the holes were almost empty were before they were very active. Makes me laugh that someone who has never been on that land doesn't know how many acres there were can come up with that assumption that shooting 160 from one large bit of land would have a 12 month delayed effect of a population collapse!!! And let's be honest to shot 160 the population was very healthy.

I'm not some 16 year old out 7 days a week on a place with little game day n night all through the year, in fact I'd kneck the bucks to keep the land owner happy seeing a bundle of rabbits caught and let the ferreted does go again. I had 2 Lurchers and a couple of ferrets on a massive track of land and once I started on there the keeper my friend left them for my sport, no way in a million years would that cause the rabbits to disappear.

Such assumptions.

Edited November 9, 2018 by baldockbanks courser