More vineyard shooting....

kombi1976 · October 05, 2013, 08:12:46 AM

Last night my oldest, Bryn, and I went back out to the vineyard. I've been on holidays for the past 2 weeks and I was determined to get some shooting in. I had the Sportco Martini Hornet with me and I also took my Tikka T3 Lite Stainless 7mm-08 in the hope I could blood it on a hare.

The night didn't go as well as our last hunt out there. The first rabbit I shot was blasted at about 20yds with a 45gr HP from the .22 Hornet leaving a big blood spray on the white panel behind him. It didn't stop him from kicking himself into the burrow next to him. :frown Definitely a kill but frustrating. Then I missed another rabbit in the paddock next to the vineyard. It was an inauspicious start. From there things improved. This one was smacked at the top of the vineyard. He tried to kick his way under the fence but died in the gap.

Then we knocked over another bunny along the same fenceline 2 paddocks west of the vineyard. Unfortunately I missed a second here. Again, silly stuff.

I got the 7mm-08 in readiness and we stumbled on the hares in that paddock but they fled through the fence before I could get a shot at them. We looped back and got into the next paddock only to see one near the fence line going back into the previous paddock. I pulled up fast and dropped it at 120yds through the neck. It was a bit of a lucky shot. The trigger is really light, significantly lighter than the Hornet, and I basically put the crosshairs on it and placed my finger ont he trigger ready to squeeze. But dead is dead and now it's blooded. :D

Our next rabbit popped up in the same paddock. He sat still and was an easy shot. I noticed afterward his eyes looked a little puffy. Not a good sign.

We then left that paddock and circled up toward the stock yards. Halfway a rabbit halted for too long, or just long enough.

We then moved through the cattle yards on the top of the hill and headed down in search of rabbits and hopefully the pair of hares that had fled. In a small furrow at the bottom of the hill a rabbit froze in the hope I wouldn't see it. It was 10yds at most so the scope was on way to high a magnification. I wound it back to 3x, aimed for the head.....and missed! :frown It didn't move though so I aimed full in the body and didn't miss again. But it had slight puffiness to the eyes too.

Our last rabbit for the night was shot from within the vineyard but it was actually in the paddock beside the vineyard. There were cows in all the paddocks and I didn't feel like shimmying over the electric fence hoping desperately that it wasn't on just to get a pic of a dead bunny. So the tally was 7 bunnies and 1 hare. All the rabbits were taken with the Hornet and the hare was, of course, taken with the 7mm-08.

BTW, for those of you unfamiliar with the symptom, the puffy eyes and alacrity of the 2 rabbits suggests they had myxomatosis. For the property owner it's a good thing. Myxo usually wipes them out for between 3 and 6 months. For me it's a killjoy. But I may be wrong.

gitano · October 05, 2013, 09:14:16 AM

Made an evening of memories your boy will not soon forget.

Paul

kombi1976 · October 05, 2013, 09:53:59 AM

Quote from: gitano;128253Made an evening of memories your boy will not soon forget.

Paul

Oh, without doubt. Bryn's favourite thing is Sonic The Hedgehog and he bangs on continually about different Sonic games & characters. Even when we go glassy eyed & stop answering him he continues. Well, this morning he told my wife at length about all the bunnies & hares & how we'd had to move some around because their guts were blown out & it would've looked bad in a photo.
My wife turned to him and said:
"Y'know how you go on and on about Sonic? Well, this is worse."

gitano · October 05, 2013, 10:21:54 AM

Paul

rockinbbar · October 06, 2013, 04:56:24 AM

Looks like fun! I remember those rabbit hunts when I was a kid... :)

RatherBHuntin · October 06, 2013, 05:06:07 AM

Quote from: kombi1976;128256Oh, without doubt. Bryn's favourite thing is Sonic The Hedgehog and he bangs on continually about different Sonic games & characters. Even when we go glassy eyed & stop answering him he continues. Well, this morning he told my wife at length about all the bunnies & hares & how we'd had to move some around because their guts were blown out & it would've looked bad in a photo.
My wife turned to him and said:
"Y'know how you go on and on about Sonic? Well, this is worse."

Too funny. How much longer until he will be able to shoot as well? If he is enjoying it so much now, just imagine when he starts pulling the trigger.

kombi1976 · October 06, 2013, 09:01:05 AM

Unfortunately, due to the stupid nature of our gun laws he can't even legally touch a gun, let alone fire it, until he's 12. Then he can get a Junior Permit and shoot under the supervision of a licenced adult. Otherwise I'd already have him out at the range every time I'm there.

RatherBHuntin · October 06, 2013, 04:37:46 PM

Looks like it won't be too many more years then.

JaDub · October 08, 2013, 03:22:50 PM

Waaay Kool Andy........... and two thumbs up with the boy!

kombi1976 · October 08, 2013, 04:47:10 PM

Thanks, and, yeah, he's a great kid. When I took him out last time he didn't have any gloves so his hands got really cold. Anyone else, adults included, would've complained and whinged but he said "It was silly of me to forget my gloves. My hands are cold but I'll remember next time," and didn't say a word more about it. I never have to ask him twice if he wants to go. He just needs to learn to be quieter but then most kids do and there are plenty of adults who stomp through the bush talking at the top of their voice when they're supposed to be hunting.

gitano · October 09, 2013, 07:53:20 AM

Not whining is a good indication of a strong character - adult or child.

Paul

kombi1976 · October 09, 2013, 08:21:59 AM

It certainly is. He's definitely a "glass half full" kinda person. Not like his grumpy old man.......

gitano · October 09, 2013, 08:28:29 AM

My kids - girls - were pretty easy to parent, and I was a pretty "easy" parent. But... the one thing that my kids learned VERY early on was; not only would whining NOT get them what they wanted, it would actually get them IN trouble. There is a "zero tolerance policy" regarding whining in my house. If you're not bleeding or a there isn't a bone sticking out, "suck it up" and press on. Whining accomplishes nothing and annoys EVERYONE that can hear it.

Paul

kombi1976 · October 09, 2013, 08:36:13 AM

Same thing in our house. The one way to make Daddy even grumpier than he is already is to whinge & whine. And woe betide the individual who is specifically told to stop behaving in a silly way, then falls over, hurts themselves & comes looking for sympathy. Mummy may fall for that but not me. That said our kids are more likely to shed a tear over that than serious injuries. They tend not to whinge about pain in general so I know they're really hurting if they mention it. But we're a tad off topic here......

Ed. I will say that as a teacher I constantly encounter kids who whine as a means to get their own way, often even before they know whether or not they'll enjoy an activity. I breathed a sigh of relief when one student who's opening line every lesson was "But si-irrr!!! I don't get it!" left to enrol another school. She employed that tactic no matter how many times I explained things & wrote our examples with her individually. I understand that some students struggle but as soon as after school detentions began to loom it was amazing how work was completed quickly, quietly & correctly in lessons.

gitano · October 09, 2013, 10:04:42 AM

Quoteafter school detentions began to loom it was amazing how work was completed quickly, quietly & correctly in lessons.

Yup...

Paul