Thread: When men were men

Not quite deer stalking days as I was 10 years too late for that. I spent a few years as a rabbiter though, Always wanted to put some of my experience down on paper so to speak. It went to about 80 pages but heres the opening few.
Working title is

A Rabbitters Tale

2009
I was travelling across the USA, in a Dodge pickup, we planned to travel
from Abilene Tx on up to Miles City MT in one haul. I was with a guy
that trained dogs, we had 25 dogs and 3 horses on board a goose neck
trailer we were hauling.
I didn’t know it at the time but we were pretty much following the
journey from the movie “Lonesome Dove”.
We didn’t have near as many adventures as Gus and his partner’s but we
had a few!
The trip ended up taking about 33 hrs due to having flats on the trailer
and having to get off the Interstate and have the blowout repaired at the
nearest town.
To pass the time and get to know one another we traded stories, by the
time we got to Montana we were about all talked out, but Dave reckoned
I should write a book. So here it is
This story started in January 1979.
Along with a group of 18 or so other trainees. We became the 11th
induction of the APDC (Agricultural Pest Destruction Council). This was
a government funded authority that subsidised the rated farmers at a $ for
$ subsidy.
I was a thin, young, good keen man, (and yeah, I had read all those
books) excited by the offer of my first ever job and they were going to
pay me to shoot rabbits!
2
An Introduction
After a bum numbing bus trip to Wellington from the Taranaki, we found
our way via train out to Trentham a bit more exciting.
We were billeted in the Central Institute of Technology campus.
After introductions by the senior people running the trainee scheme an
outline of what was expected from us, was given.
Over the course of two years. We would:-
Visit and stay on a selection of 'rabbit boards'
Complete a report specific to that region. Of about but not limited to 50
pages
Obtain a pass rate of 65% in a course of correspondence run by the
technical correspondence institute (TCI) for agricultural pest destruction.
Obtain licenses to apply chemicals for poisons for pest eradication.
Collect, press and preserve for identification 200 plant species.
Bugger I thought to myself, more learning! Can’t we just get on and kill
bunnies.
3
My remaining memory of that week, was a trip to a clay bird range.
A great education on the effect of bullets was demonstrated.
This guy shot plastic coke bottles full of water (plastic milk bottles hadn't
been invented yet)
First came a .22 .......... Pop! ... thunk! and a little dribble of water
A brief explanation on penetration followed.
Next up was a 12-gauge shotty....... Bang!....whack! the coke bottle was
riddled with dozens of little holes, the top flew off, and the bottled
skittled away spinning on its side.
That’s more like it I thought.
A brief description on the scattering effects of a shotgun followed.
Next up was a .270 This is going to be frekin awesome!! I was thinking.
WHOOMPH
..........nothing!
He'd missed!!
We all tried to hide our smirks while the instructor explained his rifle was
sighted in for 300yds.
Next shot and the bottle vaporised ...... all that was left was a damp patch
and a bit of plastic.
4
There was no need to explain the devastation a high velocity centre fire
rifle round can inflict.
Clay birds
The next part was a bit more hands on and we all got to try our luck at
traditional Down the Line clay bird shooting, from the 18 yard line.
Craig prowled up and down the line, like an army sergeant.
We were given Remington 1100's to shoot with....... I liked the 1100 and
had used one briefly when I had gone on a night shoot with a local
rabbiter before signing on.
By the time we had done 25 birds it was pretty obvious who the good
shooters were.
There was one guy that hadn't missed and was quick off the mark as well,
Craig decided they should have a shoot off.
They went on for about 10 clays stepping back a yard after every clay and
then he tried to up the stakes by making it one shot only.
Young Steve just kept on nailing them, then Craig missed and a cheer
went up from us all.
" Where did you learn to shoot like that? " Questioned Craig
" I've been shooting black birds on my dad's vineyard all summer" came
the reply and a wry smile

Ok. Another instalment of my privilege to spend time with an old school meat hunter.
Ian Mitchell AKA Mitch was a meat hunter in Fiordland, particularly Lake Hauroko and around the Tarries, The puketois, the Akas. He also did possums in the puketois, the Akas and in the Eastern Hutt. He also worked for Reg Elward (I think) in the Ruahines as a shooter/gutter and for Joe Keely out of Opotiki.
He told me that the meat hunters and chopper crews used to have massive piss ups at a pub in Te Anau. The barman used to mop up the slops off the bar and ring the cloth into a bucket. At the end of the night the last men standing used to drink the contents of the bucket.
That’s hard!!