Experience

[Jef66 0]

Ok, I finally got a decent rifle and a couple of permissions nearby me. What i'm lacking is experience. If there is anyone kind/daft enuff to take me out or pass on some tips and advise in the rugby area i'd be grateful [hell i'll even get the first round in]

[mad al 146]

What an honest thread , not many folk would come up with that statement. As for advice I'm sure there's folk near you who'd be more that happy to oblige J

 

Put up a bit more detail of the type of permission and what you intend to shoot there etc, type of terrain/cover, that sort of stuff

[Jef66 0]

Thanks Al, don't see any point in pretending to be a great hunter when i'm not. Not going to get any better if i'm not honest and ask for help/advice. that'll just leave me bumbling about on my own and tryin to learn from my own mistakes.... a slow and tiresome method.

 

The main permission is a beef finishing setup, pretty much open meadow/grazing with a few hedgelines. Theres some rabbit and also woodies, rooks etc. I'm hoping to get up to bascote later this week and have a look around, there's a mix of beef farming and crops, the main problem there is craploads of feral pigeons and woodies.

[cometa300s 20]

sounds like you have some good permition there mate.

 

hope you all the best of luck mate

[victor 10]

first thing is first, now this may be a dumb question but is your rifle zeroed in?

[Jef66 0]

Fair question. I been shooting for a fair while both in the military and some civilian shooting. Rifles zeroed and putting out decent sized groups at 30m. I can shoot straight and consistently.

 

What i'm lacking is practical experience in spotting quarry and where to find it, stalking and selecting a good ambush site. Never lamped before either [gettin a lamp in a coupla weeks I hope] etc.

[cometa300s 20]

all the above will come with experience mate weather it is with some body hlping you or just getting out there doing it your self.

 

spotting is quite easy rabbits (droppings on the floor of runs through the grass or acctually finding a warren ect) birds (look for shapes in the trees or movement or disturbace this will have to come with experience and a keen eye tho and make sure you identify you quarry. you dont want to be killing nonlegal quarry) hope this helps a little bit and good luck

[hiho 5]

just look round before you go shooting if you see rabbits in the middle of the day you could easily see 3x (proberly more) as many under the lamp helps if your shooting out a vehicle because you can cover more ground.

for the ferral pigeons you should be able to walk pretty close to them to shoot

for woodies youl need to make a hide or wear decent camo

rooks and crows you iver shoot out the trees or you bait them in with a dead rabbit half gutted and you hidden within range.

 

Hope this helps

[Jef66 0]

Thanks Cometa and HiHo, went out last nite near sundown, found another warren [the first one was sadly too close to the main road at the top of the permission] Got a better idea of how much care to take when approaching one [yes, I spooked a bunny ] Took a decent headtorch with me, mainly so I wouldn't have to stumble about over cow crap and muddy tussocks in the dark, tried lighting up the hedgeline after dark, and voila ! more n enuff little rabbity eyes lit up. I'll be buying a lamp soon as my next payment clears... seen a nice compact deben LED one I like.

 

A lot of the permission is very sparse on cover, tho there is a little pond with some trees around it in the middle of the main meadow that might well be a good pigeon ambush, especially once the leaves fall and its easier to see into the branches.

 

 

This was taken from the top corner, near the main road. the little blob of trees about 1/2 way thro is the pond. Its not at all easy to approach tho, being very open.

[commando 0]

Hi Jef.

What were you in mate? You know waiting around in the forces is second nature, So waiting for the bunnies to pop there heads up will be easy.

 

Just make yourself comfortable.

 

And then, Watch and shoot, Watch anmd shoot.

 

ATB

 

Commando

[jazz_11 5]

mate in a field lik that stay in the hedge row. thats best and get some camo, im no expert just a novice myself but it seems to work for us mate...

[cometa300s 20]

if you see the pigeons roosting in the trees mate, wack a hide up and wait in ambush

 

all the best mate liam

[Jef66 0]

Commando, I was in 3 Royal Anglian.... years ago I got out in '89, bunny huntin would be a lot easier if I still had my beloved SLR or a Gimpy

 

Jazz almost all the hedgelines have a wire fence too, and on the wrong side... tis a pain in the arse to be honest. I'm gonna take a looky down towards the bottom of the permission durin the week, hopefully there'll be some more cover for lurkin in the smaller field where the beef cows aren't kept [lol the dozy things follow me about en masse like puppies when i'm wanderin about at times]

 

 

I reckon once the leaves fall liam it'll be a hell of a lot easier to identify where the woodies are plotted up, then a day out sittin quietly should hopefully produce a nice pile of dead ones.... hehe the girlfriends ferrets love woodie

[cometa300s 20]

hope you all the best mate

 

p.s. make some scran(food)lol haha