Reply With QuoteWhen I had three spaniels to feed they never complained. I used to skin and clean the tiny ones and boil them up whole and the dogs would crunch them up in no time
Adrian
Just read a thead on shooting pregnant does, but how do shooters feel on shooting youngans?
Personally me & my brother-in-law ( who is my main shooting partner) dont like the idea of shooting youngans but we have a shoot that is heaving with bunnies and the landowner needs them to be brought down for safety reasons as this is on a private airfield/pilot training, the bunnies are burrowing into runways & if a wheel was to drop into burrer well dont need to say what could happen, so we have to shoot all we see, we do feel a little guilty but it needs to be done. How do others fell.
When I had three spaniels to feed they never complained. I used to skin and clean the tiny ones and boil them up whole and the dogs would crunch them up in no time
Adrian
If you are shooting for a pest control purpose, the land owner has granted you permission to remove the problem. Not to pick and choose what you shoot at. By the sounds of your shoot, there is a very clear reason they want the rabbit population removed and I would have no hesitation in shooting young and old alike.
Other shoots may be different where the land owner just wants the numbers controlling. And this is where the fine line comes in. Do you shoot the young as well, running the risk of removing all the population and drying up your shoot. Or leave them and run the risk of losing your shoot through not being effective. Tricky one eh?
My shoots are clear and consice from the landowner, remove them all. And because I have been effective on some of his fields (he has land all over the place), i have been granted permission on other areas and with other landowners. Word gets around if you do the job well.
CG
Registered User
CG has it spot on. If you pest control and start picking and choosing. The job does'nt get done. They all cause the same problems you just have to switch off from sentiment. Being a gardener this comes really easy especially when you see your hard work under constant destruction. If you start leaving lots of bunnies especially this time of year you run the risk of loosing all your shoots when the word gets out you are not fulfilling your obligations.
Phil
been watching watership down? they're not like children or anything... it's just rabbits
We do kill all bunnies that come in to our sites but it still don't make you feel good, not like killing a 3/4 grown one, like you all say we're there to give a service & all bunnies must go.
Chris..
Registered User
Hi angling_man
I have exactly same situation as you - airfield clearance.
Ask any pilot who's needed physio after landing through bunny scrape holes or paid the repair bill for undercarriage damage.
Shame to have to knock off the little scuts (and no pennies from the butcher for them) but it has to be done. After all, if you don't they'll be producing more in a couple of months time.
Biggles
tlhIngan maH. taHja
It seems there are two breeds of hunters out there.
One will take on clearance and do what it says on the tin.
If you are instructed by the landowner to clear the site then that should be your objective.
If your not happy with that then it is absolutely fine. You dont have to do it and if feel uncomfortable with it, get another shooter in to help.
You take out the three qtr rabbits for the pot/butcher and he/she can clear the rest
The other likes to feel they are working sympathetically with nature and will cream the flock so to speak. There are very clear advantages in this approach and it helps support the local eco system.
But it really does come down to what is required. If an airstrip needs clearing to prevent an accident then what is the problem ?????? As Nike says - Just Do It.
If you feel this goes against your ethics then fine but doesnt mean the job cant get done.
Personally, I prefer to manage a warren and let the landowner and rabbit population live in a sort of balance. The eco system is maintained and everyone gets a fair crack at life.
Nature on the other hand is no respecter of Sportsmanship or sentimentallity. It is brutal from the day of conception to the day you go to meet your maker however peacful or otherwise that may be.
I would rather take an animal with a head shot and lights out so that it has no idea what hit it rather than gassing or being caught by a fox or falling to mixxy.......
Steyr
In a battle of wits I refuse to engage with an unarmed person.
To one shot one kill, you need to seek the S. Kill only comes from Skill
Captain Mainwaring
IIRC it's the 'does' that do the digging. So if rabbit holes are a danger......
If you could 'sex' the young ones by sight, you could be a bit selective.
Don't allow yourself to think rabbits have an intellect, they are one of the most stupid creatures on Earth. If you have a moral issue, get some help. [I'm thinking another shooter BTW, not Psychiatrist.]
...
To be good, one must do good.
Hi all glad to see that most of us seem to feel the same way on this, that is we need to clear the site of a good number but we do need to keep the eco balance so to speak, we want to keep the shoot going but also keep the owner happy, all being well taking down a good number of bunnies will keep all concerned happy.
We can then be selective on the bunny age we take.
Chris..
There seems to be a lot of fuss at the moment about whether to kill young bunnies or not. As has been pointed out, they're not really children. Just cause they're cute shouldn't make any difference. You could end up having a policy whereby you only shoot the ugly ones, or the guilty ones, or the ones with spots...
They're animals. That's it, end of story. They don't have life stories or emotions or grieving next of kin.
When I got into this game I had to think long and hard about whether I could really kill a living creature - it goes against the Disney education I've had in life. Then I realised that the Disney education was a fraud. That's why we have a hypocritical society that weeps over the killing of foxes and the culling of hedgehogs whilst eating their bacon sandwiches.
Everything on this planet was meant to either eat, or be eaten. Death and killing is all part of nature.
The only justification I can think of for not shooting baby bunnies is because you want to leave them to get bigger before you kill them for the pot, and that's a rational, not an emotional decision.
Any other reason is born of the same kind of sentimentality that breeds antis. You don't want to go down that road.
Interesting thread. I do have a few (lucky me) places where I'm instructed to clear as many rabbits as I can. Two are golf courses. I do feel a tad guilty shooting the young ones, however my dogs love them, and my ferrets think they are a special treat.
Its the harse reality of pest contol. If you say you're going to do it, as your agreement to get access and permission, then you need to honour that.
Just my tuppence worth.
LHunter
A reality of pest control forsure. Like anything though, if you don't like the taste of something, don't eat it. Mind over matter really. Nothing wrong there and someone else will do it if you don't so its a matter of putting the mind in the right place.
Thanks to all who reply,
This is an intresting thread i've put on & we all seem to have the same appinion on this if it has to be done it has to be done, it's intresting though to see what we all think.
I think this thread will bring more replies & look forward to reading them, like all who look at this thread will do.
Chris..
Registered User
Call yourself a pest controler
there are rabbits, they breed faster than you can shoot them.
Get on and do your job - either that or sell your guns, buy some sandals, grow a beard and start hugging trees
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