Thread: What little pesties did you bowl over today?

The little ones are cutie I was told by Station owner

Originally Posted by EmpireSafaris

The little ones are cutie I was told by Station owner

I agree. That's a very cute rifle and scope setup.

Originally Posted by Shearer

A couple of hours this afternoon with the 17HMR. It can be pretty brutal.
Attachment 236384
This one was odd. I shot a rabbit at about 30m. There was a puff of fur, and it vanished out of sight behind the little hump it had been partialy obscured by. When I went over I found this????
Attachment 236385
WTF??? Looked around and couldn't see any other part of it. Eventually found it about 5m away in some broom bushes down hill from where I had shot it and it had dropped it's guts.

That happens quite a bit withe 17 her, they take of but have been disemboweled.

Delightful shoot saturday afternoon/evening in north Canterbury. Team visited a site we've been shooting for 16 years - very picturesque 5500 acres up against high country here. Used to shoot bunnies on this site by the 10s of thousands but last few years much much quieter, and the continuous rain of recent La Nina weather patterns meant too much grass growth to even shoot last year.

This afternoon however was very different. Boys all so pleased to go back to this special part of Canterbury, and we drove over a good part of it during afternoon, enjoying the very beautiful scenery. Only shot 3-4 in the arvo, but great to be there again in perfect weather conditions, and no long grass!

Got into the serious business of the shooting just on dark, and while not many bunnies these days, there was still enough to have fun. Took my 95 year old Savage SxS 12 guage to give it a run, and it was quite busy during the night. Lethal old girl and kicks like a mule - but deadly on bunnies/possums. Other boys on 223s. We had a good time wandering the landscape spotlighting, and signed out with 55 varmints - mostly hares - but including 6 possums.

Mmmm.... thoroughly enjoyable start to the new season. Smiles all round - the boys love this place. Why we shoot..

Like @mudgripz, spent the evening out on a dairy farm spotlighting. Took my daughter out after she has been asking for awhile. Expecting thunder storms but weather was great. Managed to shoot 7 hares and 1 possum with the .204. My shooting was crap though so a couple got away...or did I let them go because my daughter was there-- I have no excuses as wobbling everywhere. Daughter wanted to have a look at a shot hare and saw them with all sorts of massive injuries including no head but didn't bother her. Really cool evening out.. Didn't take any animal photo's. Torch from Piercing the Darkness is awesome.

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Delightful shoot saturday afternoon/evening in north Canterbury. Team visited a site we've been shooting for 16 years - very picturesque 5500 acres up against high country here. Used to shoot bunnies on this site by the 10s of thousands but last few years much much quieter, and the continuous rain of recent La Nina weather patterns meant too much grass growth to even shoot last year.

This afternoon however was very different. Boys all so pleased to go back to this special part of Canterbury, and we drove over a good part of it during afternoon, enjoying the very beautiful scenery. Only shot 3-4 in the arvo, but great to be there again in perfect weather conditions, and no long grass!

Got into the serious business of the shooting just on dark, and while not many bunnies these days, there was still enough to have fun. Took my 95 year old Savage SxS 12 guage to give it a run, and it was quite busy during the night. Lethal old girl and kicks like a mule - but deadly on bunnies/possums. Other boys on 223s. We had a good time wandering the landscape spotlighting, and signed out with 55 varmints - mostly hares - but including 6 possums.

Mmmm.... thoroughly enjoyable start to the new season. Smiles all round - the boys love this place. Why we shoot..

@mudgripz
Great story thankyou. Really enjoyed reading it.
Very much aligned with my own thoughts about the simple and deep pleasures of being out and about with an accurate rifle in hand taking shots of opportunity. Almost always I am on foot as I enjoy walking and like being quiet enough to sneak up on varmints unsuspected. For me it's not so much the tally, although I try for the landowners sake, but appreciating the opportunity to use and enjoy a cherished rifle shooting my own handloads while wandering a green and pleasant land. All good stuff.

Went out last night with the clip on nv. Only shot 3 possums and saw bugger all more. Dont know if fireworks going off all over the place made them a bit shy...

Took my just 10 year old out for his first goat yesterday arvo.

Cracking day to wander around a nice farm with binos and the 223.

He shot his first goat, and we ended up with a mixed bag of pests incl hares, turkeys, magpies and geese and a couple of goats.

He loved it and wants the little Billie's head boiled and proudly displayed in his bedroom.

Sent from my CPH2197 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by GWH

Took my just 10 year old out for his first goat yesterday arvo.

Cracking day to wander around a nice farm with binos and the 223.

He shot his first goat, and we ended up with a mixed bag of pests incl hares, turkeys, magpies and geese and a couple of goats.

He loved it and wants the little Billie's head boiled and proudly displayed in his bedroom.

Sent from my CPH2197 using Tapatalk

Thats cool.

A good hunting team developing there.Well done father n son.

Originally Posted by GWH

Took my just 10 year old out for his first goat yesterday arvo.

Cracking day to wander around a nice farm with binos and the 223.

He shot his first goat, and we ended up with a mixed bag of pests incl hares, turkeys, magpies and geese and a couple of goats.

He loved it and wants the little Billie's head boiled and proudly displayed in his bedroom.

Sent from my CPH2197 using Tapatalk

Very cool. Dad doing a great thing showing his lad the ropes. Another young hunter in the making by the looks.

Took my two boys out for an armed walk on Sunday with the 17hmr. I bagged a bunny at 50m it was a tiny wee thing and the things the 17 did to it are... unspeakable.

Next we spotted a bunny about 100m away, and I let my older boy have a crack at it and he nailed it. A few minutes later we saw a little head bob up next to some rushes then disappear. My oldest reckoned he saw where it went, so i said go for it and he had another 100m kill.

Shortly after we saw a bunny racing off in the distance, I lost track of it, so did my youngest. But the older one is like I can see it, so I handed him the rifle and he asked for the range finder. 180m apparently. He asked me what the drop would be. Stelok said first circle on the BDC reticule was 200m, so I told him top of the first circle down. He let rip and claimed a kill. Now it had started raining and there was a bit of rain - so I was a bit dubious by this stage. So off he runs to get said bunny, off and off and off ... then finally at 180m he stops and picks up a dead bunny... head shot.

So now the little effer thinks he's a better shot than dad. He's probably right!

Unfortunately the heavens opened and we got totally drenched so had to call things off. Youngen is 11, older one is 14:

Sounds like your 14 yr old is a very competent shot. Perhaps you could take some pride in tutoring him well. And in having your rifle well set up.
I bet he can't wait to get out again after nailing those bunnies. He deserves it after shooting that well ( and better than Dad )
Cheers

Oh absolutely, it's Rossi (aka CBC) with a Nikon 2-7x32 scope and a DPT can. He was pulling his shots a bit so I got him to focus on the squeeze and he came right.

Originally Posted by GWH

Took my just 10 year old out for his first goat yesterday arvo.

Cracking day to wander around a nice farm with binos and the 223.

He shot his first goat, and we ended up with a mixed bag of pests incl hares, turkeys, magpies and geese and a couple of goats.

He loved it and wants the little Billie's head boiled and proudly displayed in his bedroom.

Sent from my CPH2197 using Tapatalk

You'll be buggered from having to tell him to 'smile' so much for the photos.