Thread: A bunny shoot in Tekapo - tough but good..

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Have never seen a site as badly affected by rabbits as this one. Seen bad areas down in Cromwell, Twizel etc, and shot heavily affected areas round Omakau and in north Canterbury. But this block was stripped bare. Photos don't show it but the bunnies had eaten everything and hundreds of acres were just rock fields covered in rabbit holes - holes every 1-2 meters. Whole ground was porous, and hill faces pocked with holes. I gave up trying to shoot with 22 semi immediately - too flighty - and spent whole shoot driving the truck. Very difficult driving at night with one hand on wheel, other one out window searching with torch for shooters in back - trying to weave through all the rocks, and in particular trying to miss all the huge rabbit holes. Like up to one meter wide warren entrances - some very deep. At one point the VX Cruiser suddenly had front left corner pointing up into the night sky - a whole warren complex had subsided under the back wheels!! Bunny damage so pervasive across land areas it looked geological!!!

Was good to nail at least a few hundred for the farmer - will be pleased to do so again.

It wasn't the collapsed warrens that caused the left front to point skywards, it was obviously my massive weight in the right rear.

Very challenging and a change of scenery for us. There was a large green swathe through the middle of the area we were shooting, where there were fewer rocks and it was possible to direct drill. I only discovered this area on foot during my solo wander on our homeward interlude. The rabbits however tended to head for the bony areas, particularly the slopes, where they were perfectly camouflaged with the rocks during the day.

I'll need to do some reloading before the next visit.