A welcome call from a farmer up in the Chiltern Hills, saw me heading north to Saunderton this week. Once overrun with rabbits, over ten years I had depleted their numbers to the point that it was no longer financially viable for me to make the twenty mile journey to the farm and I had reduced my visits to once, or twice a year just for the goodwill of keeping the shooting permission.

Meeting Lee at the farm, he said that they were back in force at the twenty five acre field, due to badgers taking over the lower hedgerows, causing the rabbits to migrate to the higher ground. At the other end of the farm is a ten acre high meadow, which once had little grass due to the rabbits. This had been my original quest, decimating the population in the first year, allowing the farmer to reseed the grass for his beef cattle. Lee had begun to see rabbits again along the far hedge line and suggested that I might like to give the meadow a try, before moving on to the twenty five acres. This suited me fine, as we had already spent too much time catching up on past events. After driving to the nearest gate, there was still the little matter of a half mile hike up the steep incline to the hedge.

As I walked along the edge toward a curve in the field, a rabbit cantered out into the open 130 yards away and stopped. In the low light it was barely visible, but after sinking slowly to the ground, with the scope at x12 magnification, there was a clear side on shot. With was no wind and allowing for an inch bullet drop at that range, I aimed at the chest above the front shoulder. Squeezing the trigger broke the silence, watching the rabbit topple to its right and lay still. One for the bag.

I moved closer to the curve, where many years before the council had dumped slabs of tarmac and rubble the other side of the hedge, which had proved a safe haven for a massive rabbit warren, with a meadow full of grass and tasty roots just a few hops away. Settling down in the long grass at the edge, I had a good view of the warren, coming to the conclusion that there were no great numbers of rabbits here, as the grass was still in good condition, with no signs of digging. After half an hour, I was ready to collect my rabbit and try further along, but my patience was rewarded, when two rabbits dashed out into view to sit side by side. The CZ HMR was already cradled ready to shoot and I raised the scope to my eye and shot the one on the left. The second turned and darted for cover, ducking down to get under the wire, the scope following it’s move, my right hand rapidly working the rifle bolt to chamber the next round, which found its mark in the back of the rabbit’s head.

Another twenty minute wait took me to 4 pm with no more sightings, so I moved forward to pick up my harvest, noting that there were few rabbit droppings in the area, my guess being that this was only a recently established colony.

A trio of large healthy rabbits, that will provide some enjoyable meals this winter.