Why aren't the lads with high populations of Rabbits helping the lads with none in a hunting community

[Str 793]

23 minutes ago, CushtyJook said:

Hit the nail in the head it’s the predators I think aswell badgers everywhere these days digging out warrens etc 

Mans the problem not badgers Fox’s & buzzards, farmers farm for profit that’s the number one problem for all the birds & animals on arable land especially in this country,the population is growing and there’s more demand on land for more housing and more food,not many farmers have scrub & waste land & how many keep up to there hedge rows dykes’ etc, huntings next, rifles on a night,ferreting guns dogs during the day no wonder numbers of game are dropping in many areas.ive counted upto 8 buzzards soaring above the farm at the end of my street, there’s Fox’s & badgers yet there’s still a healthy rabbit population because I don’t hammer them into near extinction, i manage the rabbit population so the farmers happy but I’ve still a few to chase with the dogs,hunters need to look a little closer to home.

[terryd 8,424]

nah I blame the badgers lol

[fred90 3,233]

2 minutes ago, Str said:

Mans the problem not badgers Fox’s & buzzards, farmers farm for profit that’s the number one problem for all the birds & animals on arable land especially in this country,the population is growing and there’s more demand on land for more housing and more food,not many farmers have scrub & waste land & how many keep up to there hedge rows dykes’ etc, huntings next, rifles on a night,ferreting guns dogs during the day no wonder numbers of game are dropping in many areas.ive counted upto 8 buzzards soaring above the farm at the end of my street, there’s Fox’s & badgers yet there’s still a healthy rabbit population because I don’t hammer them into near extinction, i manage the rabbit population so the farmers happy but I’ve still a few to chase with the dogs,hunters need to look a little closer to home.

you won't have a say in it if myxi or rhd strike. its more luck than management. 

[Str 793]

mixi struck this summer I went catching as many mixi rabbits as I could and I didn’t shoot the healthy ones and they have recovered despite foxes badgers kites buzzards.

[fred90 3,233]

Big rise in badger & buzzard & fox etc & big reduction in rabbit numbers it's not rocket science. 

[Chaff 3,621]

11 minutes ago, fred90 said:

you won't have a say in it if myxi or rhd strike. its more luck than management. 

The two combined are lethal haven't been to my main permission this winter, land that would give you 40+ ferreting 6 year ago now you might get half dozen and its not over hunted 

[Str 793]

15 minutes ago, fred90 said:

Big rise in badger & buzzard & fox etc & big reduction in rabbit numbers it's not rocket science. 

There easy targets, I’ve watched summer half to full grown rabbits 50 yards form home with buzzards soaring above them, they wouldn’t do that if buzzards were a real threat, I’ve seen buzzards on very young rabbits,I’ve stud in pheasant pens with six weeks old poults which clamp to the ground when buzzards fly over because they are easy caught in pens.foxs kill rabbits but not by ferreting lamping nite vision there not as affective as I am with a shotgun lamp and land rover.you have to except that foxes etc will kill game but there not the reason for land suddenly becoming void of all game,the blame lies with folks who don’t know when they have killed enough.

[fred90 3,233]

4 minutes ago, Str said:

There easy targets, I’ve watched summer half to full grown rabbits 50 yards form home with buzzards soaring above them, they wouldn’t do that if buzzards were a real threat, I’ve seen buzzards on very young rabbits,I’ve stud in pheasant pens with six weeks old poults which clamp to the ground when buzzards fly over because they are easy caught in pens.foxs kill rabbits but not by ferreting lamping nite vision there not as affective as I am with a shotgun lamp and land rover.you have to except that foxes etc will kill game but there not the reason for land suddenly becoming void of all game,the blame lies with folks who don’t know when they have killed enough.

it's a valid point you make and it makes sense but explain this to me. local to me going back 15 years buzzards were unknown & badgers were seldom seen. not huge number of rabbits but decent. now loads of both & rabbits virtually extinct & no local hunters to speak of. answers on a postcard please

[Str 793]

It’s the same in my area Fred buzzards were never seen but there’s plenty now, there’s always been healthy badger population  in my area but I would say they are more spread around now, I am not a fan of buzzards as the kestrel population has decreased local to me and I’ve flushed a buzzard off a freshly killed little owl but they are not wholesale killers of rabbits.i use to lamp from a Land Rover on a 3000 acre estate and shoot with a shotgun upto 125 rabbits in 4 hours the least I shot was 20 and that place had more than its fair share of badgers buzzards.

[fred90 3,233]

1 minute ago, Str said:

It’s the same in my area Fred buzzards were never seen but there’s plenty now, there’s always been healthy badger population  in my area but I would say they are more spread around now, I am not a fan of buzzards as the kestrel population has decreased local to me and I’ve flushed a buzzard off a freshly killed little owl but they are not wholesale killers of rabbits.i use to lamp from a Land Rover on a 3000 acre estate and shoot with a shotgun upto 125 rabbits in 4 hours the least I shot was 20 and that place had more than its fair share of badgers buzzards.

your right about kestrels don't see many at all now. 

[Daniel cain 45,458]

Just now, fred90 said:

your right about kestrels don't see many at all now. 

no voles because the great unwashed thought it a good idea to release all those North American mink???

[fred90 3,233]

3 minutes ago, Daniel cain said:

no voles because the great unwashed thought it a good idea to release all those North American mink???

too many do-gooders about now. 

[Chaff 3,621]

3 minutes ago, fred90 said:

too many do-gooders about now. 

In a nut shell mate

[Str 793]

1 minute ago, Chaff said:

In a nut shell mate

There is but they are not killing all the rabbits.

[Chaff 3,621]

No maybe not but they ain't helping matters.

Its a combo of myxi and rhd the two combined they don't stand a chance.