Shooting Until the Cows Come Home! - By Simon Everett

Shooting until the cows come home!

Blending into the background as much as possible.

Looking across the fields it is especially in the spring and autumn ground as cover, face pressed close to always pleasing to see a few when the dew lies heavy on the grass the sward so the leaves of the grass brown spots close to the hedges. and there is nearly always a chill in the tickle your nose. By moving smoothly If you see those brown spots move, or air. and slowly it is possible to crawl within even stand up and become brown VStalking through dry grass it is also easy range of grazing bunnies so you shapes, so much the better, it is easier to remain less conspicuous, can get off a well considered and infinitely better to stalk a rabbit than a crawling absolutely flat to the ground, accurate shot. fresh molehill, but I have to confess to using just a thistle or slight bump in the Empty fields, those left for having sneaked into range of the odd molehill in the past, and I probably will again, hence the observation for movement, before embarking on a strategic manoeuvre.

My favourite time to shoot rabbits is in the late, evening sunshine, from when the shadows start to lengthen through to when you can no longer see to shoot effectively. I much prefer the evening to the morning, the ground is dry for one thing, so lying in the grass for hours doesn’t leave you soaked to the skin and the warmth of the day has been stored in the earth. Early morning forays It is often possible to crawl within range as well. invariably involve getting wet,

conservation crops, are an easy proposition. Once the stock has been turned out your job is made a whole lot harder. Irrespective of how carefully you move, how low you keep your profile, cows are always inquisitive, especially when they have just been turned out. Dairy cows are less of a problem than suckler cows, because they are used to human interaction, being fetched in twice a day for milking. Beef cows though are a completely different proposition and you need to have your wits about you and be confident around stock, especially if, like I had, there is a bull running with them.

I made my way up the hill from the gate to the brow, where the field flattens off and over the crest rabbits sit out along the hedgerow. On any normal day you can make this approach stealthily, unseen until you break the skyline, but by dropping to the ground and belly crawling the last few yards the crest can be reached without alerting the rabbits at all. With the cows in the field this is impossible. From the moment you open the gate, their eyes are on you and you have to behave very differently.

Initial eye contact is all well and good, but then you need to simply ignore them. If you shout at them the rabbits will hear you and dart for cover anyway and the cows will think it is a

A bull running with the cows, with calves at foot showing great interest. game. I lie down and keep still, this last thing you want is the entire herd confuses the creatures and they will galloping all over the field frightening come over, gently trying to work out every rabbit on the parish. what it is you are doing, but not seeing In this particular field the cows are you as a threat. Invariably they will quite protective and have been known to surround you, as they would a predator, charge walkers. They are Belgian Blue which makes life a bit awkward as to crosses mostly, big, muscled cows with taking a shot, but the positive is that any an attitude problem and a strong desire rabbits will not see you either. You can to protect their calves, which were only use this time to inch your way closer to a few weeks old. I had to play it very the feeding area. Once within range just cool, just like Delboy and by being relax and put your face down. patient I managed to get a couple of

Invariably, after a few minutes, you nice clean shots without spooking the will hear the sniffing from an cows. I got up and walked to my rabbits outstretched nose and possibly the so as to get them paunched and hanging tugging of a rasping tongue, exploring as soon as possible. The cattle were now your feet or sleeve. The rule is to only placated and I managed to shoot the move very slowly and smoothly, sudden length of the other hedge without an movements will cause consternation audience, ending the evening with a amongst the cows and their calves and handful of fully grown rabbits in the flight mode is likely to kick in. The excellent condition.