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Nitro: I'd like to see that article!! Are hares still a problem in Australia? Wasn't some disease introduced to decrease the numbers?

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Myxomatosis was introduced to combat the rabbit plague. It does not affect hares.

Hare numbers however have decreased due to the use of chemical sprays and herbicides and other factors. Grassy cover along fence lines and similar places in paddocks has been reduced in farms and these areas provide cover for hares and their "nests". Hares do not burrow, so are more susceptible to predation from cats, dogs and foxes.

In vineyards they can be a nuisance. In young plantings they can "ring bark" young vines killing them by eating off the bark in a "ring". They also can nip irrigation dripper lines looking for water, making a hole and damaging hoses.

I shoot a few each year, but never try to shoot them all out.

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Paati: A SAKO 9.3x62 Battue? Very neat kivaari!

Nitro, thanks for the info. We have the same problem with ringing on new plantings here. We have not yet experienced much trouble from "rabbits" on our plantation as the snowshoes on our ground are located up higher in the thick timber. The foresters tell me they are devastating in some plantings, though.

As for hunting them hard...ditto me. We have a couple spots where we shoot some, but we don't hunt them very hard because they don't cause us much trouble and there aren't too many of them to-boot. I wouldn't hesitate to make war on them if there was a reason, but so far there hasn't been.

Like my son and his favorite "secret" trout stream; there are two big holes he won't take more than three out of. Saving some for next year!