zini 1,939 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 (edited) Well lads after LJ finished work yesterday I picked her up and off we drove to see our good friends Mark and Emma Vining at Newbottle farm in Oxfordshire. Arriving just before 1900hrs we both unpacked the car and moved into Marks static caravan before having some food and a quick relaxing can of beer to settle in. Mark arrived at the caravan at 2100 hrs with his Daystate mark 3 and lamp and off we went for a quick hours mooch on his fields looking for bunnies. The first bunny was spotted within 50 metres of leaving the caravan. It was at between 35 to 40 metres out in the field and was very jumpy in the dimmed red lamp light so needed to be shot at that range. I was the first to shoot and took a standing shot at the bunny impacting with that hollow thud which usually means a missed kill zone, (dam). As soon as the pellet impacted the bunny disappeared where it was sat though in the grass which made me think that it was over dead as a doe doe. While we were searching for that shot bunny I spotted another one about 45 metres out in the field with my lamp. I said to Mark come on we can shoot this one then come back and find the one I shot after we have shot this one. This one let us both stalk to approx 30 metres from it before Mark shot it dropping it instantly with his .177. Nice shooting mark buddy. On returning back to where my rabbit was when I shot it we found a rabbit hole meaning that the bunny had gone straight to ground and lost forever. Next we had a little walk around one of Marks new fields where we saw about another 4 rabbits at various ranges with only one within a shootable range. I tried again but misjudged the range and watched as my pellet impacted in the grass low in front of the rabbits head (double dam). That was it for the night lads and we went to Marks house for beer and wine with LJ and Emma. This morning I was up at 0700 hrs and all camo-ed up and ready for a bit of woody bashing. After a quick check zero I set up in a static location 30 metres from a huge sittee tree next to Marks drive. Sat at the bottom of the tree I was harder to be spotted as I had a nice ivy and branch back drop helping me blend in to my surroundings. The first woody arrived within 10 minutes and was dropped with a clinical head shot falling straight out the tree hitting a few branches on its way down before hitting the ground with a hollow thud. At this point I broke cover and set the shot woody up as a decoy on the grass next to the sittee tree. Within another 15 minutes another 2 woodys landed in the settee tree looking down at the pigeon in the grass. I could only see one of the woodys cleanly though and had to take a heart shot on it. The second stage on the r10s trigger was released and down it came with a second hollow thud on the floor to be added straight away to my decoy pattern. After another 10 minutes or so another woody landed in the same sittee tree straining its neck trying to see what was happening down on the grass in the decoy pattern. This one was in a nice clear position in the tree and was dispatched with a nice head shot dropping without even twitch. That was it and LJ took the photos for me. Owen arrives soon and we are off out again soon. More to follow Si Edited March 26, 2011 by zini 1 Quote Link to post
zini 1,939 Posted March 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 The shot woodys and the decoy pattern. Si Quote Link to post
rossy08 33 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 looks like you had a fun day there pal..cant beat free decoys and dinner can you... gutting when the bunnys get to ground ant it....have trouble at plunger with this,cant shoot anything near a headge as there full off holes and i do mean full....you will see on sunday pal... ps... dont have to bring you dive bottle if you dont want mate....can just use myn..save you driving all the way up hear with it...up to you though pal... atb Andy Quote Link to post
pianoman 3,584 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Hi Si. Cracking post and read from you here mate. You need a kill or twenty after the fruitless night's lamping on my permission. I'm going over there now to chat with Ian and have a wander around, do a bit of shooting and a stalk for woodies and see what's been going on with poachers and net/ferreters. Though to be honest, I think they are staying within the forestry around my place. Andy's coming over tomorrow so, we might get something more positive for our sport. That R10 of yours is such a precise and powerful shooting engine, it's amazing that a rabbit can be hit and still get away down a hole from it. Great success with the pidgeon decoys though. I've got that wonderful spring onion/pan fried breast aroma now!!! Keep going pal and enjoy the rest of your weekend. See what you tally up today and tomorrow! Cheers Si Simon Quote Link to post
lighthunter 81 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 good write up si,top shooting as always buddy, Quote Link to post
davyt63 1,842 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 hi Si well done buddy and also mark nice shooting buddy regards Davy Quote Link to post
Stillers 3 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Newbottle is about 10mins away from me! Have taken my mountain bike through the woods plenty of times. Good write up again, Si. Quote Link to post
boroboyoli 0 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Great read, unlucky with the bunny better luck next time. Atb Oli Quote Link to post
rossi_j 99 Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Nice shooting I spose you and mark have to get a head start on owen to be in with a chance Nice pics, those trousers look like they have seen a few washes lol Best of luck with the rest of your national pest control foray .atb. .ste. Quote Link to post
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