Tracing rabbits in the snow

[SMOGGY 34]

With the cold weather now here and bits of snow falling around the country, It's got me thinking ahead to when the snow properly comes, and tracing rabbits in the snow.

 

I normally only get one or two mornings a year, when the conditions are just right. ( a new layer of fresh snow which has come just before light, then stopped).

 

And out i go armed with one purse net and my trusty single barrelled 410.

 

out onto the bleak moors, just above the fields, looking for the tracks up into the heather or dead bracken, and on following these tracks to where the rabbit has gone underneath the heather/ bracken,(and you can see by the tracks it hasn't come out), place the purse net over the entrance opening, then trampling the heather/bracken until the rabbit bolts either into the net or out across the snow for a quick shot.

 

The action can be quite fast at times and great fun, and good bags gotten too

 

But does anyone else still practice this way of hunting.

 

atb smoggy

[hollands hope 1,024]

With the cold weather now here and bits of snow falling around the country, It's got me thinking ahead to when the snow properly comes, and tracing rabbits in the snow.

 

I normally only get one or two mornings a year, when the conditions are just right. ( a new layer of fresh snow which has come just before light, then stopped).

 

And out i go armed with one purse net and my trusty single barrelled 410.

 

out onto the bleak moors, just above the fields, looking for the tracks up into the heather or dead bracken, and on following these tracks to where the rabbit has gone underneath the heather/ bracken,(and you can see by the tracks it hasn't come out), place the purse net over the entrance opening, then trampling the heather/bracken until the rabbit bolts either into the net or out across the snow for a quick shot.

 

The action can be quite fast at times and great fun, and good bags gotten too

 

But does anyone else still practice this way of hunting.

 

atb smoggy

Great sport did it alot myself in the past ,but instead of using a shotgun or pursenet we used a long willow stick six seven foot long and try to locate them in the heather, bracken ,or long grass and give them a smack on the head, but we dont get much snow in the recent years

[SMOGGY 34]

Great sport did it alot myself in the past ,but instead of using a shotgun or pursenet we used a long willow stick six seven foot long and try to locate them in the heather, bracken ,or long grass and give them a smack on the head, but we dont get much snow in the recent years

 

Sounds like an interesting twist , i might have to try that way

 

But i know what you mean about the lack of snow

[hollands hope 1,024]

Great sport did it alot myself in the past ,but instead of using a shotgun or pursenet we used a long willow stick six seven foot long and try to locate them in the heather, bracken ,or long grass and give them a smack on the head, but we dont get much snow in the recent years

 

Sounds like an interesting twist , i might have to try that way

 

But i know what you mean about the lack of snow

its an art, i loved it to bits

Edited October 28, 2008 by hollands hope

[camies 1]

Yep, i do but I use an air rifle. Last snow here in Lincs was March and I upset the wife by disapearring for a couple of hours, still the rabbits I came in with tasted great.

[Guest MIST NET]

Used to do it in the past but sadly we dont get the snow like we used to .

[snareman 3]

With the cold weather now here and bits of snow falling around the country, It's got me thinking ahead to when the snow properly comes, and tracing rabbits in the snow.

 

I normally only get one or two mornings a year, when the conditions are just right. ( a new layer of fresh snow which has come just before light, then stopped).

 

And out i go armed with one purse net and my trusty single barrelled 410.

 

out onto the bleak moors, just above the fields, looking for the tracks up into the heather or dead bracken, and on following these tracks to where the rabbit has gone underneath the heather/ bracken,(and you can see by the tracks it hasn't come out), place the purse net over the entrance opening, then trampling the heather/bracken until the rabbit bolts either into the net or out across the snow for a quick shot.

 

The action can be quite fast at times and great fun, and good bags gotten too

 

But does anyone else still practice this way of hunting.

 

atb smoggy

another good time to kill rabbits this way is when its hard frost, the rabbits will lie out in thick tussocky type grass, and you can see the nice pop holes due to constant use , they can also be found when a few strips of straw are left lying in the stubble fields , out from a hedge or wood edge, or along grassy dry stone walls , etc. a little sheet net is very handy for these locations, fling it over the front of the holes and kick the grass at the back and they are out and caught up in the net in seconds. phil lloyd and i were netting them like this 16 yrs. ago . its great fun, and a few nice clean rabbits can be picked up qite easily with little effort.

[JoeD 24]

I used to track things in the snow, before I got into hunting, I just love tracking. I might go see if I can still track one and take a catapult or something next time it snows, worth a try.

[dogs-n-natives 1,182]

Always fox tracking when the conditions are right. Used to shoot rabbits on the fell in the snow, was good fun, never did the purse net trick, good idea!