Thread: Rabbit City

Getting £1.50 at my local game dealers head shot gutted and in the fur. Shame NZ dose not have a similar setup.

Squeeze gutted Leaving liver, heart and kidneys in for inspection I suppose

Originally Posted by Sideshow

Getting £1.50 at my local game dealers head shot gutted and in the fur. Shame NZ dose not have a similar setup.

yes it would be a good idea - locally processed rabbit and venison - some dollars for the hunter but would we get todays little precious buggers to eat it -their labrador would- but kids bought up on a diet of maccas and chips maye not - when my mother and father had their butcher shop in Gisborne years ago Dad tried selling rabbit dont quote me but I think it was from China - could not sell it despite the fact that it was cheaper than chicken - he had similar luck with turkeys - would not sell --pet food may be a better bet

Already a big demand in NZ particularly for higher end resturants - https://www.premiumgame.co.nz/

yeah that's good -- lets hope it grows - if I was a lot younger I might have looked at it - I was registered to supply wild shot venison but that lapsed some years ago - and our local deer processing plant closed

Originally Posted by slk12

Has anyone got any spots/contacts they're willing to pass on to me for rabbit shooting please? Keen to get some runs on the board with the new Ruger. Just moved to Lincoln for uni, so I don't have any contacts or much experience in the area.

Cheers, Sean

I would head into the country, in the direction of Leeston, obviously sans gear, and knock on some doors. I worked for the council in that area, and there are definitely rabbits and possums around.

DOC is about to poison that area. They reckon it's past shooting...

Originally Posted by Tahr

Yeah. The best deal seems to be Reloaders Supplies. $30/100. Ive got 250 and will get some more. I think my mate @Brian has about a thousand. They are what he and our other wallaby mate use solely on wallaby and bunnies and the odd deer and they are just fine. Good cheap option.

16 months later and @Brian has just bought another 1,000.
We have just come back from a 563 wallaby trip but no bunny shooting.

Just staying around Queensbury tonight. Just counted 30 rabbits from one spot. No rifle and too many houses around

Originally Posted by Tahr

16 months later and @Brian has just bought another 1,000.
We have just come back from a 563 wallaby trip but no bunny shooting.

It’s a big cost to some of these farms, you can see why poison is used. Was working down there last week and the bunny numbers were unreal.

Originally Posted by Stag

It’s a big cost to some of these farms, you can see why poison is used. Was working down there last week and the bunny numbers were unreal.

Unfortunately poison isn't the whole answer either though, one bad application and the little buggers learn to avoid it. Happened up our way, the material for some reason didn't do the job and the kill rate was way under spec. Subsequent application returned even less, still have a problem out those ways. Shooting is troublesome as very flat open ground, close to busy roads, sensitive areas and housing and there aren't many other options left after that.

1080 does a real job on the wallaby. Reduces them to pretty much zero. Trouble is they don't do big enough adjoining areas at the same time so they soon re-populate. And they only seem to do the the outer edges to stop their spread so killing a few thousand with 1080 just makes room for another few thousand to move in.

Same with shooting. If neighbours aren't cooperating those who are shooting are just making room for a new influx.

Yep, the "island theory" - an island of control in a sea of pests...

Originally Posted by Tahr

We shot 450 altogether. As you say, could get thousands. The contractor got 350 off a lucerne paddock in 2 nights.

Send the contractor “Rabbits Galore” that’s the way to control them. Used to shoot that area when living in Masterton.
That farm I had in Kinloch, owner unfortunately passed away, I couldn’t reload fast enough to start with, up to 30 in an afternoon. Went from a .22 to a 17 hmr to a 204 as the became less in numbers and the range increased. Last day after about 3 years of regular shooting, I saw none
They’ll be back now, but new owner, no access