How many hunting trips to get your first bunnie?

[dylan1273]

iam a newbie to bunnie hunting been out 5 times too hunt the bunnie with no luck ! how many trips out does it normally take before you bag your first bunnie? taken all the usual advice about lamping, got too the stage of bunnie in the crosshairs at a distance but dont want too risk missing a clean headshot, and how close can you get to a bunnie before it bolts?

[Redneck]

Sounds like your problem might be fieldcraft rather thanh shooting. Try going out without your gun with teh sole purpose of getting as close as you can to the quarry. Remember noise, movement and smell can all give you away. If you don't have a gun you wont be distracted by wanting to actually shoot. If you havnt had a lot of shooting practice you will need to be a max of 25 yards away from the rabbit to ensure a clean kill. With practice this is quite possible.

If you are out at night remember to cover your face and hands - they stand out very white to the rabbit in teh dark

HTH

[draftsmann]

Best tip would be instead of stalking sit in wait in cover near the warren where you know rabbits will come out into the open. Position yourself so that you know you will be taking shots at known ranges. Arrive well before first light or a good 2-3 hours before sunset, and be still and patient. Save lamping for later.

Not the most challenging rabbit shooting but maximises the chances of your next trip achieving a result.

Adrian

[svenhass]

I got a kill first time, the other 20 trips before were just trial runs

[rellik tibbar]

In reply to your question about how many trips out hunting until your 1st kill ,would depend entirely on the amount of bunnies on your shoot.I mean if you are going out at night and only seeing 1 or 2 bunnies and are just starting out and learning how too stalk its not so easy and will take a bit of trial and error as to how close you can get without them bolting.i guess most people on here started out the same way,some of us have an abundance of rabbits on our shoot which makes it alot easier and they take longer to get used to lights at night and some are not so lucky and have less which makes it harder.you really need to have a good look at your shoot in the day and look for ways of getting closer to where your bunnies are spending the most time.Hedges,rocks,walls,dips in the ground,vegetation e.t.c can give us that bit of an advantage and knowing where they are at night helps.Also once you spot the bunnies in the distance at night kill the light and stalk up in the dark as close as you can get then get into position and once your ready light them up again and take your shot . good luck and hope you have luck soon
(first shoot i got 7 but we do have millions up here)

[gaazzz.t]

first trip, 25-30yards head shot, killed mr bunny outright, from standing too

no hesitation, nothing, text book came into play and i shouldered, breathed and sqeezed the trigger

[Dave Willy]

Gawd knows how many times! Millions! I was about 9 yrs old with my father when I bagged my first.
Ill go with draftsmann, try hiding out by a well used warren for a while.

Good luck,

Dave

[hillbill]

It took me maybe 3 or 4 times going out at first light.The first couple of times i think i was trying to get too close and the bunnies generally bolted before i could get a shot off.Even when i did get mr bunny in the crosshairs my heart was pounding for some reason and i was taking way too long to fire so the rabbits sussed me and scarpered.
The first one i got was from resting on a fence at about 20 metres, clean head shot.Rabbit rolled over and didn't even twitch

Since then i'd say my confidence has gone up and now its a whole lot easier.The rabbits on my shoot though are getting a bit thin on the ground so i've left em alone to do a bit of what bunnies do best.....plenty of woodies about though

[Taff Williams]

A mate gave me my first gun as his misses didn't like having it around. I zeroed it and went out one night, first shot - got Mr bunny in the neck, I was a proud as could be. But it took weeks before the next one, shortly after realising that the scope had taken a bash and come loose! That was the start of the learning curve - and I'm still on it.

Take your time, it will happen when the time is right.

Ogri the trog

[Frankenferret]

Gotta agree with Taff here. No sense worrying about it. It will happen when it happens.

Seventh trip out before my first bunny came foul of my rifle. My Feildcraft was the problem, that and I'm sure the rabbits on my main shoot have had SAS training.

[sparky]

Only advice I can give is how my Father made me do it.

Made me practice and practice my shooting until he thought I was ready then made me go out at least a dozen times without a gun and learn field craft, to see how close I could get to the quarry until it spooks or you know you can take a clean shot etc, yes all this was boring as I was itching to bag my first kill but to be honest I think it paid off in the end, well i know it did.

Pete

[Liam]

i got my first bunny the first time i went out, the place where i shoot most often is also where i go fishing, by a golf course, and because during the summer months i'm fishing nearly every night for Sea Trout (because its more effective) i know the land really well and i know where all the bunnies are, also there is a lot of hills, gorse bushes etc in this golf course, which makes easy cover.

[bobkat98]

I must have been lucky, or it's an easy shoot

First time out I got three and have always got at least on or two on that same shoot.

[Rabbit Sniper]

First time sucess, 7 rabbits mine and 8 my grandad.
But first time hunting the estate in a landrover and RIMFIRE,
35 rabbits.

First time with an UNSILENCED steyr 12 rabbits, all over 50 yards,
I think at longer ranges .177 rifles come into there own.

See how I do first time with the 20g...

[Taff Williams]

Sparky,
It must have seemed tedious while actually doing it but I'm willing to bet that the lessons you learnt during those dozen trips "as a kid without a gun" will stay with you for the rest of your natural.

All the best

Ogri the trog