Nice story, the late Joe Wilkins, Ripley rifles

[Sid]

I went to the pub tonight ( yippeee ) and during the evening I collared a bloke in there who I don't know very well but has a reputation as a good welder - more codes than James Bond etc etc.

Anyway once I told him I wanted some welding doing on a rifle, we got talking about guns in general and he told me about a bloke he knew called Joe Wilkins who invented a 'pump up gun'

Apparently Mr Wilkins senior wasn't just an excellent engineer, but he was also a bit good at fieldcraft and had a party trick of circling around a rabbit, closing in slowly and then grabbing it with his bare hands. Sounds a bit far fetched, but nice if it's true.

[Rustam Bana]

In some parts of rural India hares are caught in a similarish fashion.

When a hare is spotted in or near a hedge, two blokes start circling it, whilst talking to each other loudly. Eye contact is never made.

The circle gradually closes and when the hare is within a few feet, it is hit with a staff or stone.

BTW, they don't wait to spot the hare but actually track it to where it is.

Rustam

[Craig-P]

An Indian bloke I used to work with a few years back told me of this. He used to bring rabbits in that he'd 'caught' on the way to work. I never believed him to be honest and always thought he'd had snares set up the previous night - I feel like apologising to him now....

[michaeladkins]

Sounds possible, especially with younger rabbits?
I always thought that "tickling trout" was a made up story until i saw it happen in cornwall

Michael

[Sid]

That's brilliant, the guy who told me has a reputation for being a no-bulls*** sort of character.
I forgot to mention that he called it 'snooking' rabbits.

[draftsmann]

I once caught a healthy rabbit with my bare hands. If I hadn't done it myself I would not have believed it.

Adrian

[Rustam Bana]

That will teach you for being such a doubting Thomas.

Any injuries today?

Rustam

[Rustam Bana]

Originally posted by draftsmann
I once caught a healthy rabbit with my bare hands. If I hadn't done it myself I would not have believed it.
Adrian

Maybe we should call you Puss in Boots now onwards.

[draftsmann]

[glen]

I was once talking to a guy who used to work down the pit with him and he said he once saw him carving out a stock on his lunch break with a piece of broken glass

[John@Ripley]

Originally posted by Sid
I went to the pub tonight ( yippeee ) and during the evening I collared a bloke in there who I don't know very well but has a reputation as a good welder - more codes than James Bond etc etc.

Anyway once I told him I wanted some welding doing on a rifle, we got talking about guns in general and he told me about a bloke he knew called Joe Wilkins who invented a 'pump up gun'

Apparently Mr Wilkins senior wasn't just an excellent engineer, but he was also a bit good at fieldcraft and had a party trick of circling around a rabbit, closing in slowly and then grabbing it with his bare hands. Sounds a bit far fetched, but nice if it's true.

Hi Sid I’ve just read this post and found it amusing and had to find out if it was true so I asked Steve.
It is indeed true!, he recalled one occasion being out with his dad, it was brass monkeys, well below the line and snow on the ground. They were following bunny tracks in the snow and Joe spotted one single set leading to some long grass in the distance. Upon getting closer Joe told Steve “there’s no tracks leading out lad, he’s still in there” and after a bit more creeping “ look lad, can you see his breath, its coming up like the steam off a kettle”. Joe got right up on him then pounced like a lion latching onto a gazelle, and grabbed the unfortunate Coney without actually having seen it, just using its rising breath as an indicator to its hideaway. In the ensuing struggle the rabbit kicking for all it’s worth and Joe utterly determined not to let go of his prize, he stumbled on something hidden in the snow (which turned out to be cold hard steel in the form of a railway line) and cracked his head. He picked himself up beaming from ear to ear, blood streaming down his face and proclaimed “That’s ow ya catch em lad”


Steve said the bit about his dad carving stocks with broken glass is staight up as well.
He used to get English walnut from a coffin maker to make pistol grips and the stock for his first Predator, he did the roughing with a spoke shave and finished off with a piece of broken glass. The ‘snooking rabbits’ probably came from local Derbyshire pit slang ‘we snook up on it’.

[stillair1]

Not seen it done above ground, but my mate pulled a full size live one out of a burrow last year. It was touch and go for a minute as to who was winning the struggle.

[Sid]

Excellent I thought it had to be true, Tony ( the welder chap who told me ) is a good bloke and not prone to making stuff up ( unlike the loony with the 80ftlbs HW35 who also goes in the same pub )

Thanks for relaying the tale, true stories like that are priceless...

[David Snook]

I once caught a rat with my bare hands!

David Snook

[POK!]

I saw a mouse/vole? run across the snow when I was about 12. I dived to grab it and it shot up my sleeve and came to rest on my shoulder. After a few seconds it made its way down my back and fell out my jacket, hit the snow digging and was gone in a second.
Good eh? I've got mad mouse catchin' skills and kick boxin' rattlesnake reactions