Thread: What little pesties did you bowl over today?

Enjoyable bunny shoot last night on a site not too far from Christchurch. Land is dead flat and we covered many square ks in the truck spotlighting. I was driver/spotlighter in mate's VX Cruiser, while 2 other boys were on 223s. Very pleasant wander - and challenging. Bunnies - 85% of them hares - were very skittery and it was hard for boys to get the seconds needed for clean shot. But they did well and we popped 31 - very few got away. Took 60+ off same block few weeks back so its well under control until the spring breed. A good little shoot and happy boys returned to Chch..

Near full moon last night and I'm watching these days for correlation between lunar cycle and bunny quietness. No clear pattern as yet - anyone else know of patterns there?

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Enjoyable bunny shoot last night on a site not too far from Christchurch. Land is dead flat and we covered many square ks in the truck spotlighting. I was driver/spotlighter in mate's VX Cruiser, while 2 other boys were on 223s. Very pleasant wander - and challenging. Bunnies - 85% of them hares - were very skittery and it was hard for boys to get the seconds needed for clean shot. But they did well and we popped 31 - very few got away. Took 60+ off same block few weeks back so its well under control until the spring breed. A good little shoot and happy boys returned to Chch..

Near full moon last night and I'm watching these days for correlation between lunar cycle and bunny quietness. No clear pattern as yet - anyone else know of patterns there?

I've found around here with full moon the rabbits are more mobile. They won't hold well under a light, white, red or green.

With the cheapest thermal scope I could find and a second hand 10/22 it seems to work. Only 23 all up, these ones I could drive the buggy past to pick up. @Tikka7mm08

Had another mission last weekend at the farm with the boys.
544 rabbits 165 wallaby, 7 cats, 5 ferrets 1 possum between us.
Wind made it a bit of a struggle as the animals were sitting very tight in the scrub sheltering.
22s came into their own again in the scrub, whereas the larger centrefires were far superior in the open with the wind.

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Enjoyable bunny shoot last night on a site not too far from Christchurch. Land is dead flat and we covered many square ks in the truck spotlighting. I was driver/spotlighter in mate's VX Cruiser, while 2 other boys were on 223s. Very pleasant wander - and challenging. Bunnies - 85% of them hares - were very skittery and it was hard for boys to get the seconds needed for clean shot. But they did well and we popped 31 - very few got away. Took 60+ off same block few weeks back so its well under control until the spring breed. A good little shoot and happy boys returned to Chch..

Near full moon last night and I'm watching these days for correlation between lunar cycle and bunny quietness. No clear pattern as yet - anyone else know of patterns there?

I always shy clear of a full moon when spotlighting rabbits as I also have had problems holding animals with a spotlight during a full moon.

I didn't check before going deer hunting yesterday and when I put the spotlight on I saw a red moon then it disappeared behind cloud and it got very dark so the spotlight worked well on the deer.

Generally I give a full moon a miss if I bother to do my homework.

First kill with recently restored 1910 production Winchester 1885 takedown 22 magnum



Hopefully first of many kills with this

I got this rifle in rough condition 2020
Got it all going and tried it with some .25 RF ammo
But barrel was in a very poor condition
Just recently I bored out the barrel and machines an off set liner to bring the case down on to the firing pin
Chambered 22 wmr And shooting about 2 moa with the only ammo I have on hand at the moment

Out for a day of pest control for the Taeri Gorge Railway, beautiful start to the day in the world's best office



Tools of the trade



Managed to get 33 of these



And one of these made its way home for dinner




#BestJobIEverHad

Out for day two in the Gorge, today's tally was another 64 goats, and 3 more pigs (one of which came home to hang out with her sister)

Lovely time of year to be shooting in Central Otago, very dry atm with 8mm of rain for the whole of March, rabbits seem to thrive on the conditions.
Just under 30 shot this evening.

Very enjoyable outing in north Canterbury last night. This is a site on which we have shot over 1000 bunnies in an evening more than once, but those days are gone. Delightful farm to wander and conditions were perfect with a fairly still autumn evening. Had to cover a fair bit of ground spotlighting from the truck, with the boys on 223s and @gadgetman on 12g. In about 3.5 leisurely hours we popped 55 - almost everything we went for. Mostly hares but included 12 rabbits, one ferret - and one black bunny. I popped about half a dozen then swapped into driving - piloting the VX Cruiser around the flats and downs country.

Some good effective shooting from the boys, and everyone headed homewards with a smile. Looking forward to going back after our next shoot in Tekapo/McKenzie country in 2 weeks time. That'll be interesting..

Regarding lunar influence on bunny behaviour, last night was about a 40% moon and they were much calmer than on a recent full moon shoot when they were very flighty. This evidence starting to bear out our general thoughts and from 7mm Rem etc above. We'll watch every shoot from now to confirm..

animals have never held well in spotlight during full moon,the theory used to be they didnt get as dazzled....

Mmmm...my suspicion has been rabbits have better low light vision than us and can spot us well in a full moon which makes them react and run. Here's a comment from Eyeque -an eye examination corporation? for us humans:

"Compared to humans, rabbits have more rods than cones in their retinas. This means rabbits can see better than we can in the dark but are limited to two-color vision. For example, they can distinguish between green and blue but cannot see red."

Interesting - certainly they have not been troubled when boys have worn orange Hi-Viz vests out shooting. Didn't find they could not see red torch light, but they would still be picking pick up on light intensity if not red colour.

On bunnies and full moons, in my experience it is more difficult to approach them when the moon is full and bright. Guess they can just see my human shaped body much more clearly on these nights. Very dark nights that are slightly windy are good, the wind noise masks my footsteps and the only light there is is from my headlamp. Red light has been particularly effective.

Originally Posted by Ronin007

Out for day two in the Gorge, today's tally was another 64 goats, and 3 more pigs (one of which came home to hang out with her sister)

Well done, I am jealous! I sometimes get goats further down at the Taieri mouth doc area. The gorge doc area seems slightly more difficult to access by foot in comparison.

from the north

Few furry pests from the start of the year in residential North Shore, Auckland caught in the trap then dispatched with a .177. 7 in about 2 weeks, 4 of which were over 3 days. Have just noticed another mother and joey in the tree so will need to get back on to them again.