Okay, ive been meaning to start a thread on this for a while...."bagging the odd rabbit or two" after the SHTF with our "essential prepping tool" the humble air rifle...I was out last nite over on the disused railway tracks ...trying to stick to the grass embankment as much as possible..for noise etc...and Im thinking to myself...bloody Elmer Fudd...kill da wabbit etc..the buggers are running out infront of you..from one side to the next ...fast as hell (road runner springs to mind too ) didn't get a chance to even aim !!, they sit in the distance around 50 feet away.....even a ninja would have trouble getting within 25feet of them !! to get an accurate kill shot...its almost comical really ,but then again im not starving. I think some of us...will think its easy to get afew bunnys for food but I reakon stalking them aint easy as youd think.!! if you haven't got permission off a farmer at present then you stick out in the short cut fields where you sometimes see them.....so im gonna try snares soon and see if that's easier ! as preppers I think we get into a "fantasy world " of living off the land after the event and.i know which members are gonna say not me!!! etc...practice is something we shud do with our legal "pea shooters" as the lads at work call them ! as most of you will be surprised at how easy it isn't to bag a bunny with one !!IMO ofcourse.
also guys im talking about rabbits in particular...not pigeons or squirrels..and not "lamping with dogs either"..so how many of you have bagged them with their .22 or .177s... sub 12 pounder air rifles...I try and go out once a week that's depending on what shift im on...im gonna be totally honest and Not bullshit you ...but I haven't even managed to kill ONE with an air rifle !
I prefer the watch and wait syste cos I'm bone idle, I watch for a few days at dawn or dusk s to where the bunnies like to gather either to graze, play or just sunbath, they appear to stay above ground more in the warmer weather.
when I find a place they like to use I arrive early and take up a decent static position and wait for them to come in range, last time I went bunny bashin I got three, time before that only one.
Rabbits learn to be cautious in some areas like around here where there are loads of shooters, but go up weardale where its wick with bunnies but not many people the dozy creatures have almost no fear of humans and you can often get within 20 yards of em before they will move.
Failin that if you cannot hit em with a rifle sell it and buy a ferret and nets.
the gun I go out with now is a BSA lightning .22 with 4x 32 nikko scope....of legal poundage too !
yes NR ive tried the sit and wait thing ..at the spots they seem to bathe in/shit all over.....and wait x 3 ,but they seem to instinctively distance their self 30-50 feet away every time !!...really thinking snares mate ....shooting bunnys in a barrel with a blunderbuss it aint ! I know when/if we bug out the area will be layed out different but haven't had the gun out up that way (yet).....I will get one.....but don't wanna waste a crossbow bolt doing it !! no ...deffo with an air rifle mate.
Add the fact that the rest of the world and his dog will also be after those same bunnies, and I think you've painted a pretty realistic situation there RW.
One alternative might be to set up a rabbit farm in your garden. They breed like..well, you know, eat vegetable scraps, take up little space and can be ready for breeding a couple of months after birth. Obviously you'd need to catch a few to get started, but if that isn't possible, there's always the petshop!
post shtf you'll be too busy to GO hunting, have a rifle with you when your doing other stuff in case you get the odd shot but trapping and snaring expels less energy and leaves you free to do other tasks, your better of getting some rabbits and breeding them.
if you have probs with air gun try snares
Must admit around here the bunnies appear to be very alert but we have lots of hunters and ferreters, I've had times where the buggers appear psychic and they dissapear long before I get in range, luck of the draw I guess.
round here the buggers are stupid, they'll sit in the middle of the road and wait for you to run them over! I see lots of roadkill bunnies, plus pheasants, badgers, foxes and deer!
Im getting some snares.....that's a given, the rifles zeroed in spot on ,I can easily hit cans and bottles from a good distance, its not my aim either....just my basic lack of technique for rabbitting !..every time I come home empty handed i try not to feel defeated, but i am...never mind...the OH is happy tho !!
(25 May 2013, 09:37)NorthernRaider Wrote: [ -> ]Must admit around here the bunnies appear to be very alert but we have lots of hunters and ferreters, I've had times where the buggers appear psychic and they dissapear long before I get in range, luck of the draw I guess.
that's always the case for me when im out for a walk with the boys NR..you see them all over !!! i was at "the tip" last sunday and as i was driving home on the dirt /truck road i saw a bloody pheasant wandering aimlessly by some hedges...only 8 feet or so from the car ...man ...i stopped in disbelief and put the pass window down looking at it thinking ...wish id had air gun in the car !!! i was in a right dilemma to go home and go back and get it..!!! i didn't tho.
I have an old 22. Love it. I have got a dozen rabbits so far but that's over two years. And I'm pretty sure they were all kills of luck. Hence why I said when the shit hits the fan snares and traps. And try (fingers crossed) to keep a few alive and get them to breed in my garden. Ready meals. I will continue to hunt and trap even after that. Can never have too much food when the SHTF.