Most rabbits killed with one lurcher on nights lamping now let's be truthful lads about this one

[nothernlite 18,028]

No grouse shooting for a couple years there with this covid has put a dent on a few places with keepers spending all there time killing rabbits putting new rabbit fencing up drop boxes in a place aye had they had 8000 in 3 months in drop doxes place is dead of rabbits now thermals and there rifles have killed thousands as well

Edited March 25, 2022 by nothernlite

[OldPhil 5,364]

18 hours ago, nothernlite said:

No grouse shooting for a couple years there with this covid has put a dent on a few places with keepers spending all there time killing rabbits putting new rabbit fencing up drop boxes in a place aye had they had 8000 in 3 months in drop doxes place is dead of rabbits now thermals and there rifles have killed thousands as well

Aye,.. the Drop Boxes are a tad, too  efficient.

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by OldPhil

[Daniel cain 42,892]

3 hours ago, mackem said:

We had permission near Aviemore that was saturated with rabbits back then also, lots of places in the Highlands and Islands were infested. 

Have some good memories of that place and surrounding areas... beautiful part of the world

[D Lloyd 2,790]

6 hours ago, OldPhil said:

That's terrible to hear Dave

All the years it took, to breed good honest dogs for the rabbiting game, and now , we don't have enough rabbits to use them properly...Its the same for the Coursing lads....by dint of selective breeding, they have produced a superlative type of hare killer, and now, there is talk, of putting men in the Prison if they are caught, running the hares...

Feck me,.. it is a wee bit severe,...I was rabbiting on an estate last season and there was a hare shoot/drive going on...

As I left, after the day's work, I could see the guns standing together and behind them, was a line of orange fur that seemed to go, on forever and ever..... Each to their own, I suppose, but it just doesn't seem right...

As for wonderful Caithness,..it was, as you say, a veritable rabbit Shangri-La,...but, you know what,.. I've seen similar places up and down the UK , and enjoyed hunting in them far more...

But, great days , eh....never to be forgotten...

 

 

World has gone crazy Phil you can shoot hare if they run off and die a slow death that's fine but catch one with a dog and dispatch it quickly and risk jail crazy . To say some one could get jail for doing some lurcher work but week after week you here of pervirts walking out of court no jail time at all crazy .

[tatsblisters 7,954]

21 hours ago, D Lloyd said:

You not rong I lived in Caithness for 7 years had a lot of fun came back to Wales 6 years ago with number up there being low in most parts went back up last September and all the spots were dead I mean not one single rabbit any were went on to Orkney then few other islands and it was a few about but I'd not kill any number were that love there vet recognised vhd2 in 2017 in pet rabbits on Orkney very sad . man and dog would take years a live time to take theses places down that disease can do it in weeks.

I got permission on a estate up there not long before I moved back it was infested with rabbits watched them all summer thinking I'll have some fun in winter went for a drive round it in August to see how it was looking not been round for month or two it was dead spoke to keep he sed it was vhb wiped it clean they still not come back yet 

Did you happen to go on Sanday mate the son in law owns a bit of land up their and we were thinking of going up again last time was ten year's ago and their was pockets of good rabbit numbers though we are only going up for a break not a full on hunting holiday.

[levigsp 938]

20 hours ago, Gypsydog94 said:

Hare shooters are the worse of the shooting community in my opinion. And the majority hide behind the excuse of its to keep coursing lads off. They can’t admit that they enjoy blasting hares as the jog past not even at full stretch. 

I really don't see what the issue is! it just seems that a lot of lurcher people dont like shooters and vice versa.  I used to hunt on an estate in Hampshire, Harley mount.               From October to March 2 days a week it was the norm for 5 or 6 lads to walk it and catch as many hares as they wished, only thing was no entry into the woods. The estate was heavily keepered and shot for pheasant and partridges. I had great days there coursing both hares and deer.

In march of every season we had hare drives the to thin the hare numbers out and 3 days would normally produce 6-700 hares. Now without those hare being shot neither the shoot or the farmers could cope and this was done without and detrimental effect on the dog men.

Sadly this is all over and was before the ban, because of idiots driving the fields, knocking over fallow and putting various dogs on said deer!! very sporting indeed. Lord Yarbrough is an out and out dog man and yet his Lincolnshire estates suffered the same fate for same reason.                                                                                                 When I was catch rabbits for a living it was not always possible to use dogs, so i shot them.                                                                                                                             According to the way some people think I should have stayed at home.

there is a huge difference between sport and work.

I have and always will love Hare coursing and go and watch in other countries, but driven hare shoots are also very adrenaline packed and in my book you are either a natural born hunter or not.

[OldPhil 5,364]

Yeah, as I say, it's each to their own,...its a personal choice and we must always follow our own paths..

Now, what I really do like, is watching the guys catching up the Hares, in the Long Nets.

I've been rabbiting on the big long, Hampshire hedgerows, and frequently watched the team of beaters pushing Hares to the waiting nets...Its quite an operation , and the lads at the other end can be seen rushing about, gently removing the Hares and placing them in wee boxes. They need to be careful, or the hares are easily damaged, and as their prime aim is to relocate the animals, they have to be firm but gentle.

Great feeling to watch dozens of hares passing by at close range...but, you have to keep your own cur dogs on a tight leash, or chaos will surely ensue   We are there to control rabbits, not feck the day up!

Our own rabbit nets have a smaller mesh size, than the ones used for Hares, but they still tangle up ok.

I've taken a fair few when out at night with the webs, but, I have not re-located  them....

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by OldPhil

[D Lloyd 2,790]

2 hours ago, tatsblisters said:

Did you happen to go on Sanday mate the son in law owns a bit of land up their and we were thinking of going up again last time was ten year's ago and their was pockets of good rabbit numbers though we are only going up for a break not a full on hunting holiday.

Yes I was there mate it's nothing like it was vhd as hammer it very sad to see there are a few small pockets that got lucky so hopefully it might bounces back in a summer or two.

[Leo Sayer 1,706]

On 24/03/2022 at 18:55, levigsp said:

one or two from the dim distant past.

His retirement night

all had white shoulder's                   motley crew 

 

The top picture and the lad on the right stood up  is my old mate holding his old minshaw dog, before he moved on to a different type of half cross. Also I have that same pic in my album against the broken Landy and a old Talbot sunbeam on right hand side , but only two dogs in the pic and a hare strung up next to the red deer. Small world hey 

[Penda 3,219]

4 hours ago, Leo Sayer said:

The top picture and the lad on the right stood up  is my old mate holding his old minshaw dog, before he moved on to a different type of half cross. Also I have that same pic in my album against the broken Landy and a old Talbot sunbeam on right hand side , but only two dogs in the pic and a hare strung up next to the red deer. Small world hey 

May be you and levi have crossed paths at some point leo 

[Penda 3,219]

Standing here alone with you

Wondering what it is I'm supposed to do 

[levigsp 938]

6 hours ago, OldPhil said:

Yeah, as I say, it's each to their own,...its a personal choice and we must always follow our own paths..

Now, what I really do like, is watching the guys catching up the Hares, in the Long Nets.

I've been rabbiting on the big long, Hampshire hedgerows, and frequently watched the team of beaters pushing Hares to the waiting nets...Its quite an operation , and the lads at the other end can be seen rushing about, gently removing the Hares and placing them in wee boxes. They need to be careful, or the hares are easily damaged, and as their prime aim is to relocate the animals, they have to be firm but gentle.

Great feeling to watch dozens of hares passing by at close range...but, you have to keep your own cur dogs on a tight leash, or chaos will surely ensue   We are there to control rabbits, not feck the day up!

Our own rabbit nets have a smaller mesh size, than the ones used for Hares, but they still tangle up ok.

I've taken a fair few when out at night with the webs, but, I have not re-located  them....

Brings back fond memories, If they are in the net long enough to build up momentum from a jump, they seem to reach extraordinary heights aided by the lines, and the noise would rival a banshee on fire. i could tell an amusing tale of a true rogue pegging for hares one night in derbyshire.

on a similar theme  my Grandfather used to get his workers to catch up hares on his estate in prewar Poland, they were shipped from Gdansk in the baltic to Suffolk for release on various estates.

[levigsp 938]

5 hours ago, Leo Sayer said:

The top picture and the lad on the right stood up  is my old mate holding his old minshaw dog, before he moved on to a different type of half cross. Also I have that same pic in my album against the broken Landy and a old Talbot sunbeam on right hand side , but only two dogs in the pic and a hare strung up next to the red deer. Small world hey 

Over the course of a month that same or similar scene was photographed with similar numbers of rabbit and various other bits of game with that lad and various mates in the picture, some of them from Cumbria other Lincolnshire. In one of the photos there is a heap of dead foxes to the right and behind the old landi bone shaker.

I never heard how he got on with his half-bred, but that minshaw bred dog was one of the best game produces I've seen, a testament to breed and conditioning.

Edited March 26, 2022 by levigsp

[chartpolski 20,418]

To be still in the game in your 80's is some acheivment !

My respect

Cheers.

[Penda 3,219]

28 minutes ago, levigsp said:

Over the course of a month that same or similar scene was photographed with similar numbers of rabbit and various other bits of game with that lad and various mates in the picture, some off them from Cumbria other Lincolnshire. In one of the photos there is a heap of dead foxes to the right and behind the old landi bone shaker.

I never heard how he got on with his half-bred, but that minshaw bred dog was one of the best game produces I've seen, a testament to breed and conditioning.

I salute a mush