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Hunting >> Hunting in Australia, NZ & the South Pacific

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NitroXAdministrator
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Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread
      #370709 - 25/10/22 07:58 PM

Quote:

I do have a question about the hares/rabbits, however. Are they hares or rabbits? Are they native to Oz? Do you guys eat them? We about lived off rabbits and squirrels when I was a kid with the occasional quail and rare deer....and fish.

The red fox, are they native or did some soul import them?




I'm amazed anyone has not heard of the Australian rabbit plagues. If you want to see masses of rabbits search those three words.

Rabbits were introduced to Australia with British colonists. Escaped and spread by the millions. In the 1950s they literally covered the land in places. In the 1960s or 70s myxomatosis was introduced and killed off huge numbers of rabbits. In the 1989s or 90s calici virus was introduced.

I throw diseased rabbits away. I give big ones and small ones to the dogs. Medium sized ones in good condition I keep.

Hares are far rarer. Introduced I am guessing for sport. Coursing hares by horse I would guess. I used to enjoy hunting them in the vineyards. I think farm usdof herbicides has reduced hares by destroying weedy verges, fence lines etc where they nest. I used to know my hares movements intimately and where they would be and when.

Hares are good eating. Some local fools just throw them away.

Foxes were introduced for fox hunting sport by horse. They are plentiful and very common. Fine shooting sport though most are shot by spotlight. As are rabbits and hares. Before antis destroyed the fur industry, some shooters made good money spotlighting foxes for the fur industry. Foxes and feral cats are regarded as the chief culprits of marsupial and ground nesting birds extinction or near extinction. Most foxes shot today are wasted. The furs not skinned. A waste if good. We should be tanning them and making them into huge rugs and bed throws.

I attend when I can farm fox drives. Ten to thirty walkers and blockers. Shotguns. Walking twenty or thirty kms in a day, five or so drives. Four to five days.mup to 200 or more foxes culled. Unfortunately they do these shoots in February and March when the foxs are young and stupid. But they have summer fur as well. No furs at all are kept. If they were winter furs 200 furs a year would make several really grand carpets like I saw in Czech.

I hear foxes regularly at night on the farm. Even have heard them at night and seen one on the street once at my city house. Were less than a km from the hills and a railway line and creek nearby where they might live, lurk or travel.

There are no game or wildlife laws protecting rabbits, hares or foxes. Except general cruelty laws. Maybe a state game permit if one is not a farmer. They are regarded as pests. The govt would like them exterminated.

I find them great fun. They are 95% of my hunting. Depending on how the diseases arecworking in thecseason they can be plentiful and I can shoot rabbits from the back garden. Other times more work. I used to have a huge local hunting area but unfortunately property ownership changes meant new owners "no access to any one!" About 50 years I hunted there. Neighbours for generations owned it. We own a block in the middle of it, so they are neighbours.....

Rabbits, hares and foxes are shot and hunted. Most by RFs. Shotguns. Foxes by the same or .17, more likely .22 centrefires. Walked up with dogs or not. Foxes whistled in imitating a squeaking rabbit. Trapped. The teeth spring traps still used by not legal. Or other traps less effective. Spotlighting is very common. Horse fox hunting is ridiculously no longer legal. Drives bag big numbers. I would say rabbits, plus foxes represent by far the most hunting in Australia.

Gentlemen, please add your rabbit, hare and fox hunting and shooting photos and stories.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
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Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: NitroX]
      #370710 - 25/10/22 08:13 PM

I've copied Mick's / 264s post here as well.

***

Heres the Krico 17HMR I picked up in Bendigo. came with a 8x56 Seadler scope.
Set up as a match rifle so not my usual style. Handles very well.
Have put it to use on the bunnies and picked up a couple of bonus foxes Impressed with rifle and cal, performance.
heres some pics, cheers Mick


140m first fox with HMR



http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=370708&page=0&vc=1#Post370708

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
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Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: NitroX]
      #370711 - 25/10/22 09:45 PM











"Jugged Hare", Hunting the Hares of the Barossa Vineyards

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
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Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: NitroX]
      #370713 - 25/10/22 09:55 PM

A bit of crop protectioyn -thread



Some crop protection. Rabbits cause a lot of damage to my oaten hay crop, so need some thinning out.




Blitzen guarding the rabbits. He thinks they are his, but I think otherwise. I used my Mauser M03 in .222 Remington. Shots varied from 50 metres to about a 150 metres.

Three nice full sized rabbits, all head shot or upper neck shot. Perfect for the pot, or so I thought. Blitzen thought differently.




Arriving home I left the rabbits hanging in the backyard and commanded Blitzen to "guard" them while I went in for a drink, get a knife and chopping board and then out to get them for dressing. However Blitzen had other ideas, and by the time I got out, all three were buried somewhere in the backyard ... found two of them the next day. He had buried and hid them well. So they were "dressed" for Blitzen's table instead ....

No matter as there are plenty more in the paddocks and vineyards.

I'll be going out to shoot as many as possible in the next few weeks. Perhaps needing to resort to some more drastic measures, such as warren gassing. I prefer to hunt and shoot them instead of course. As I shoot more and more of them, they will become more nocturnal so I will need to get out a hand held spotlight.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
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Reged: 25/12/02
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Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: NitroX]
      #370714 - 25/10/22 09:59 PM

King Baboon's Grandmother's Rabbit recipe

Quote:

I would love to see the recipe of your grandmothers rabbit stew.




OK, here goes le civet de lapin de ma grand-mère :

Ingredients :

- 1 wild rabbit, skinned and gutted (save the liver and, if you can, the blood ; otherwise, pig blood works fine - if no blood available, use dark chocolate - see below)
- 2 medium-sized carrots
- 1 big onion
- 4-6 cloves of garlic
- 100 g bacon in small bits (lardons)
- butter
- 1 bottle of red wine
- 10 cl vinegar
- 10 cl olive oil
- thyme
- laurel
- parsley
- 3 cloves
- salt, pepper, Cayenne hot pepper, nutmeg
- 2 spoons of flour
- brandy, whisky, or any other firewater according to taste.

Chop the rodent into big pieces (hind and forelegs, back, ribcage) and dip it, except the liver, into a marinade composed of the following : wine + vinegar + olive oil + peeled and sliced carrots + sliced onion + garlic + clove + thyme + laurel + parsley + pepper + nutmeg + Cayenne pepper. No salt. Let it soak in the fridge for 2 days.

Take the meat out of the marinade, filter the marinade to separate the liquids from the vegetables.
In a pot, melt the butter and fry the bacon. Once the bacon is fried, take it out and put it aside. fry the meat on all sides, and take it out too. Then fry the vegetables from the marinade. Once the vegetables have been browned, put back the meat and bacon. Pour the flour. Do not stop moving it with a wooden spoon otherwise it will stick and burn. Pour the booze and flame it. Then it's time to add the liquids from the marinade and let it cook gently for a couple of hours. Add salt and rectify the seasoning if needed. 10 minutes before serving, add the liver, and off the fire and at the last moment because it mustn't cook, the blood ; if no blood available, 2 squares of dark chocolate melted in the sauce will give an interesting flavor and unctuosity. Serve with boiled potatoes or fresh pasta.

A bit of crop protection

Le civet de lapin de ma grand-mère recipe

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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mchughcb
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Reged: 21/02/14
Posts: 377
Loc: Victoria, Australia
Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: NitroX]
      #371267 - 09/11/22 09:42 PM

A couple of rabbits, a few hares and plenty of foxes

https://youtu.be/lpPS6OOwJCs


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93x64mm
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Reged: 07/12/11
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Loc: Nth QLD Australia
Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: mchughcb]
      #371269 - 09/11/22 10:45 PM

mchughcb
Don't ever discard the dachshund - tough little buggers!


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DarylS
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Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: 93x64mm]
      #371289 - 10/11/22 04:25 AM

What sized shot for which game, Please?

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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mchughcb
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Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: DarylS]
      #371301 - 10/11/22 07:57 PM

Mainly on the 20gauge triple I use the lead NSI 31gram #0 and in the 12gauge I use the NSI 32Gram #2. I use this for rabbits, hares and foxes. The reason is because I film everything, If I use a heavier cartridge then the camera is pointing at the sky after the shot. I also noticed that I can deliver a faster second or even third shot with the lower weight cartridges. Years ago I would have used 42gram BB loads in the foxes but after years of using the lower weight cartridges accuracy is more important than payload. Also dropping from 42gram BB to 31gram #0 has exactly the same pellet count and the #0 shot is 3.9mm versus 4.23mm in the BB but both provide enough penetration.

Here's my comparison

https://youtu.be/WHZdEmt-WFA


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DarylS
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Re: Rabbit, Hare and Fox hunting thread [Re: mchughcb]
      #371322 - 11/11/22 04:05 AM

Tks for the explanation. I see your point.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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