James Morris – A weekend of work

A rabbit hunt can be quite rewarding, fun and good practice for when you’re out after something a bit bigger. Even better is to be paid for your efforts. Rabbits and Hares are pretty good at breeding and left unchecked can build in numbers very quickly. On the home farm we used to be overrun with Rabbits before RCD (Rabbit Calicivirus Disease) was introduced which has had a dramatic effect on the population. These days there is an immunity to RCD building up in the population of rabbits, so their numbers have started to lift in many areas including on the home farm. Now is the time to act, before the numbers explode. In three nights I managed to shoot 140 rabbits and hares (50/50 split) sneaking about on my own on a motorbike. I have a Nightforce spotlight which clips on top of the scope on my Ruger 10/22 which works perfectly without having to rely on others working the light for you. I wear my Hunters Element Aspiring Jacket which is fantastic at keeping the drizzle and wind off me and has enough pockets for everything I need. I put a spare magazine in the chest pocket, several boxes of 22 bullets in my left pocket and my knife and spare batteries for my torch in my right. Perfect. I have built a box and a rest on the front of my motorbike and I have a fish crate on the back. I sneak about shooting until I have the fish crate filled, then I gut them and leave them to cool spread out on the ground while I look for others. At the end of the night I pick up a trailer and go pick them all up. I then chill the lot and first thing Monday morning I head of down to Canterbury Pet Food LTD where I receive a pretty penny for my weekends efforts. It is good fun, very rewarding and a job all at once!