Easter Bunny Shoot
- Thread starter Death from Afar
- Start date
Death from Afar
New member
There is no game season for any animals in New Zealand except for waterfowl. Any other mammal that can be hunted- which does not include protected birds and mammals ranging from native birds to marine mammals- can be legally hunted at any time of the year. No permit is required. Hunting licences are required for waterfowl. Most farmers will cheerfully let you shoot rabbits all year round.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
The rice farmers in Costa Rica will darned near provide room and board for folks who'd shoot those nasty whitewing doves that eat the crop. In Texas, guys pay pretty big money for a good dove-hunting lease. 
Art
Art
Prairie dogs and slaves, same thing.
Our concerned activist thinks that killing coyotes and Native Americans is essentially the same thing. Love to see how the descendants of slaves would feel hearing that this guy believes that enslavement is no worse than pest control.
His britches are all twisted up in knots over our evnvironmental abuses - he should see how the commies treated their environment. Wanna talk waste and pollution and poverty and slavery and murder and deforestation all in one word? Communism. But he reserves a special distain for Americans, and apparently New Zealanders, who are, of course, the same thing.
Here's another point. We didn't steal this nation, our Founding Fathers presented us with a legacy of democratic federalism, which is so far the greatest political system ever devised.
The white man was technologicaly more efficient, true, but North America was not a paradise before 1492. Read the history of the Native Americans, they weren't singing kumbaya with the buffalo, some tribes slaughtered entire herds by driving them off cliffs, taking what they could carry and leaving the rest to rot. There was warfare, and slavery and human sacrifice, and abuse of the environment conducted by the natives long before the white man set foot on this or other continents. They were, after all, humans.
LC, human is not a 4 letter word.
His premise begs the question: Does LC believe the world and the continent would be better off if the white man had never landed on the Americas or New Zealand?
By they way, Counselor, killing varmints isn't murder, its pest control. If your knickname reflects your place in the legal profession, you should be able to discern the difference.
Our concerned activist thinks that killing coyotes and Native Americans is essentially the same thing. Love to see how the descendants of slaves would feel hearing that this guy believes that enslavement is no worse than pest control.
His britches are all twisted up in knots over our evnvironmental abuses - he should see how the commies treated their environment. Wanna talk waste and pollution and poverty and slavery and murder and deforestation all in one word? Communism. But he reserves a special distain for Americans, and apparently New Zealanders, who are, of course, the same thing.
Here's another point. We didn't steal this nation, our Founding Fathers presented us with a legacy of democratic federalism, which is so far the greatest political system ever devised.
The white man was technologicaly more efficient, true, but North America was not a paradise before 1492. Read the history of the Native Americans, they weren't singing kumbaya with the buffalo, some tribes slaughtered entire herds by driving them off cliffs, taking what they could carry and leaving the rest to rot. There was warfare, and slavery and human sacrifice, and abuse of the environment conducted by the natives long before the white man set foot on this or other continents. They were, after all, humans.
LC, human is not a 4 letter word.
His premise begs the question: Does LC believe the world and the continent would be better off if the white man had never landed on the Americas or New Zealand?
By they way, Counselor, killing varmints isn't murder, its pest control. If your knickname reflects your place in the legal profession, you should be able to discern the difference.
Interesting debate here. I for one, AM OFFENDED by DFA...
You haven't bought me a plane ticket and a case of .22 ammo yet!!!
Trying to compare the rabbit population to the carrier pigeon (which I am sure have LC) is not a fair comparison. As far as I know, the carrier pigeon wasn't decimating hillsides and destroying farms. (someone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Carrier pigeons were decimated for no other reason that sport. I mean, come on! 4-bore and larger shot cannons blasting a dozen birds from the sky just for "sport"??? We could say the same about the Bison slaughters of the 1800's...
Rabbits in NZ are a pest. Let's keep this in mind.
Perhaps, LC, you own a nice house in suburbia, with a lovely manicured lawn in the good part of town. Perhaps you own a nice car, have a nice job, a lovely wife, kids in school and a couple dogs. You are an upstanding citizen of your township. Good! We ALL aspire to that!
Except your back lawn is in shambles, torn up, barren splotches of land. Your front lawn is no better. All your neighbors are concerned. Your dog just broke his foot for the third time on a tunnel hole.
GOPHERS have overrun your home! GOPHERS!!!
What would you do? Introduce a non-native species to eradicate them?
I can tell you exactly what I have done: I gassed em, hosed em, pellet-gunned em, called in the professional exterminators, and complained to my association.
And don't tell me we just need more native species! I have 60# coyotes that run through my neighborhood that blast bunnies, housepets, dogs, and cats that go outside (RIP Nero, 16# of loving feline stupidity killed on my front lawn).
I live in Anaheim Hills, CA. Zip is 92807. Track of 480 condo's. Go ahead and google-earth it. My backyard is 6 FEET wide, ten FEET long and has a dozen (kid you not) gopher holes in it. I have rabbits that have torn what's left of my lawn to shreds. I have three deer that live in my neighborhood and at least two dozen coyotees that are stupidly well fed (30+ inches at the shoulder!)
Sometimes the answer IS to whack the snot out of nature.
I do not feel bad putting a pellet through the head of a rabbit or a gopher. I feel bad for the kid that broke his foot playing on the lawn the other day and the dog that dislocated his leg at the elbow.
Unlike the carrier pigeon, man IS smart enough today to recognize the environmental disasters he has caused. Today, we actually try to fix it. And today, I believe, we will do our best not to eradicate a species.
1. Bison have returned from near extinction to numbers great enough to justify limited hunting.
2. California Condors have been breeding outside of captivity and are making a slow rebound.
3. California Big Horn Sheep, for the first time in I don't know how long, have been actively hunted - 9 (NINE) tags were issued and 9 sheep were harvested.
The bunny populus in NZ need to be trimmed. They are not a native species. And they are not in danger of decimation. IF they WERE a native species I am sure that steps would be taken by the people of NZ to protect it.
As for me, I intend to vanquish every damn gopher I see in my backyard. And while smaller than NZ by some considerable amount, I will still see it through.
You haven't bought me a plane ticket and a case of .22 ammo yet!!!
Trying to compare the rabbit population to the carrier pigeon (which I am sure have LC) is not a fair comparison. As far as I know, the carrier pigeon wasn't decimating hillsides and destroying farms. (someone please feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Carrier pigeons were decimated for no other reason that sport. I mean, come on! 4-bore and larger shot cannons blasting a dozen birds from the sky just for "sport"??? We could say the same about the Bison slaughters of the 1800's...
Rabbits in NZ are a pest. Let's keep this in mind.
Perhaps, LC, you own a nice house in suburbia, with a lovely manicured lawn in the good part of town. Perhaps you own a nice car, have a nice job, a lovely wife, kids in school and a couple dogs. You are an upstanding citizen of your township. Good! We ALL aspire to that!
Except your back lawn is in shambles, torn up, barren splotches of land. Your front lawn is no better. All your neighbors are concerned. Your dog just broke his foot for the third time on a tunnel hole.
GOPHERS have overrun your home! GOPHERS!!!
What would you do? Introduce a non-native species to eradicate them?
I can tell you exactly what I have done: I gassed em, hosed em, pellet-gunned em, called in the professional exterminators, and complained to my association.
And don't tell me we just need more native species! I have 60# coyotes that run through my neighborhood that blast bunnies, housepets, dogs, and cats that go outside (RIP Nero, 16# of loving feline stupidity killed on my front lawn).
I live in Anaheim Hills, CA. Zip is 92807. Track of 480 condo's. Go ahead and google-earth it. My backyard is 6 FEET wide, ten FEET long and has a dozen (kid you not) gopher holes in it. I have rabbits that have torn what's left of my lawn to shreds. I have three deer that live in my neighborhood and at least two dozen coyotees that are stupidly well fed (30+ inches at the shoulder!)
Sometimes the answer IS to whack the snot out of nature.
I do not feel bad putting a pellet through the head of a rabbit or a gopher. I feel bad for the kid that broke his foot playing on the lawn the other day and the dog that dislocated his leg at the elbow.
Unlike the carrier pigeon, man IS smart enough today to recognize the environmental disasters he has caused. Today, we actually try to fix it. And today, I believe, we will do our best not to eradicate a species.
1. Bison have returned from near extinction to numbers great enough to justify limited hunting.
2. California Condors have been breeding outside of captivity and are making a slow rebound.
3. California Big Horn Sheep, for the first time in I don't know how long, have been actively hunted - 9 (NINE) tags were issued and 9 sheep were harvested.
The bunny populus in NZ need to be trimmed. They are not a native species. And they are not in danger of decimation. IF they WERE a native species I am sure that steps would be taken by the people of NZ to protect it.
As for me, I intend to vanquish every damn gopher I see in my backyard. And while smaller than NZ by some considerable amount, I will still see it through.
chemist308
New member
Easter Bunny Shoot??!! LMAO!
That's awesome. I've always held the opinion that PA should move rabbit season to start on Good Friday Then again I've also always believed that groundhog day was actually opening day for groundhog--"Now here comes our resident celebrity, Punxatawney phil...Does he see his shadow?--" BOOM! 
That's awesome. I've always held the opinion that PA should move rabbit season to start on Good Friday
Then again I've also always believed that groundhog day was actually opening day for groundhog--"Now here comes our resident celebrity, Punxatawney phil...Does he see his shadow?--" BOOM! LC,
You have stated twice now that coyotes are rare in N.A.
The fact that you do not know that coyotes are more numerous and widespead now than they EVER were tells me something. The fact that you don't know the basic ecological principals for why this is the case tells me even more? Want to make a guess what its telling me.
So you don't care about scientific studies, I guess you know better. I've studied wildlife biology at a major state university for four years, worked on major wolf and grizzly bear studies (the bear study was 4 times larger than any large carnivore study previously conducted), studied under and worked for the worlds leading wolf biologist, worked for and studied under the leading researching on grizzly bears, spend countless hours talking with experts on mountain lions, bears, coyotes, and bobcats. I guess you know more though because you've walked around in the woods and didn't see anything.
Since you seem to know so much about wildlife biology and virtually every scientist and biologist in the country must be full of **** because they all think coyotes are quite numerous I encourage you to set the record straight. Write an article for the Journal of Wildlife Management. (A man of "wisdom" would be aware of this publication I would think). I can see your article now:
Introduction: Peta and I say there are few coyotes in N.A.
Methods: I walk around in the woods located at XYZville, colorado and look for critters.
Results: I don't see any coyotes.
Discussion: There are obviously very few coyotes in N.A. because I didn't see any in XYZville, colarado.
Literature Cited: www.peta.com
I'm sure your article would be published and the scientific community would be humbled by your breakthrough scientific methods and findings. You'd be the next Aldo Leupold of wildlife biology.
And yes, I am still waiting to hear about how you go about insuring your meat came from a cow that was humanly raised.............
DFA:
Please PM me, I have something I would to ask you about.
You have stated twice now that coyotes are rare in N.A.
The fact that you do not know that coyotes are more numerous and widespead now than they EVER were tells me something. The fact that you don't know the basic ecological principals for why this is the case tells me even more? Want to make a guess what its telling me.
So you don't care about scientific studies, I guess you know better. I've studied wildlife biology at a major state university for four years, worked on major wolf and grizzly bear studies (the bear study was 4 times larger than any large carnivore study previously conducted), studied under and worked for the worlds leading wolf biologist, worked for and studied under the leading researching on grizzly bears, spend countless hours talking with experts on mountain lions, bears, coyotes, and bobcats. I guess you know more though because you've walked around in the woods and didn't see anything.
Since you seem to know so much about wildlife biology and virtually every scientist and biologist in the country must be full of **** because they all think coyotes are quite numerous I encourage you to set the record straight. Write an article for the Journal of Wildlife Management. (A man of "wisdom" would be aware of this publication I would think). I can see your article now:
Introduction: Peta and I say there are few coyotes in N.A.
Methods: I walk around in the woods located at XYZville, colorado and look for critters.
Results: I don't see any coyotes.
Discussion: There are obviously very few coyotes in N.A. because I didn't see any in XYZville, colarado.
Literature Cited: www.peta.com
I'm sure your article would be published and the scientific community would be humbled by your breakthrough scientific methods and findings. You'd be the next Aldo Leupold of wildlife biology.
And yes, I am still waiting to hear about how you go about insuring your meat came from a cow that was humanly raised.............
DFA:
Please PM me, I have something I would to ask you about.
Superhornet
New member
rnovi-----------you mean Passenger Pigeon ???
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
If no hunters existed, the mortality rate among quail and doves is roughly 80% each year. As I understand it, the Passenger Pigeon ran more toward 90% each year.
The demise was due to two factors: First, deforestation that created what we now call "farmland". (Where do you think all that early-American walnut furniture came from?) Ohio, Indiana, that general area. Next, market hunters who would go to roost-trees at night and club the birds in vast numbers--wagonloads--for sale to hotels and other restaurants for commercial sale for food. Thus loss of habitat coupled with over-harvest led to extinction.
Bison: The near-extinction was due in large part to official U.S. Government policy: Destroy the commissary of the Plains Indians. In essence, starve the Indians into submission. This paralleled the slaughter of Plains Indians' horses in such places as Palo Duro Canyon in Texas; that act greatly reduced mobility.
In neither species was any sort of controlled sport hunting involved. "Controlled" as we have it today, with laws brought about almost exclusively by the sport hunters themselves.
Art
"Those who don't know history will presume to lecture to those who do."
The demise was due to two factors: First, deforestation that created what we now call "farmland". (Where do you think all that early-American walnut furniture came from?) Ohio, Indiana, that general area. Next, market hunters who would go to roost-trees at night and club the birds in vast numbers--wagonloads--for sale to hotels and other restaurants for commercial sale for food. Thus loss of habitat coupled with over-harvest led to extinction.
Bison: The near-extinction was due in large part to official U.S. Government policy: Destroy the commissary of the Plains Indians. In essence, starve the Indians into submission. This paralleled the slaughter of Plains Indians' horses in such places as Palo Duro Canyon in Texas; that act greatly reduced mobility.
In neither species was any sort of controlled sport hunting involved. "Controlled" as we have it today, with laws brought about almost exclusively by the sport hunters themselves.
Art
"Those who don't know history will presume to lecture to those who do."
mikejonestkd
New member
Sign me up for next time
Death from afar,
I can offer my services and rifle to the cause, As long as the rabbits are put to good use then there should be no problem ethically.
Death from afar,
I can offer my services and rifle to the cause, As long as the rabbits are put to good use then there should be no problem ethically.
kingudaroad
New member
I think it's very amusing that someone who not only has no interest in hunting, and even feels that hunting is unethical would choose to post his ideas in a forum titled HUNTING.
I know you tried to welcome his opinion Art, but it seems a little trollish to me.
I bet if there was a forum titled "Redneck Hunting", he would be lurking around there also.
I know you tried to welcome his opinion Art, but it seems a little trollish to me.
I bet if there was a forum titled "Redneck Hunting", he would be lurking around there also.
NedreckSavant
New member
Sometimes the answer IS to whack the snot out of nature.
My new favorite quote...
I am seriously going to have to give some thought to vacationing to n.z. sometime...I remember letting my friends drive my big lifted truck while I hung on for dear life in the back, and thinking to myself, I sure wish I had a gun and thousands of things to shoot at. Has anyone else also given thought to the skills that shooting moving targets gives you? Unless you plan upon being a peaceable man your entire life...but what about the nimble zomies?!
Seriously though, I had some qualms about varmint hunting and leaving the carcass of something you really don't want to eat, but it seems that by 'recycling' your 'used' bunnies into dogfood, everything is as it should be, and the cycle continues. If anything, they have a better reason to hunt than most of us.
And who picks up the thousands of bunnies? the shooters or your 'squires'?
And finally, I'd only wish for one thing at a bunny hunt like that...a street sweeper!
My new favorite quote...
I am seriously going to have to give some thought to vacationing to n.z. sometime...I remember letting my friends drive my big lifted truck while I hung on for dear life in the back, and thinking to myself, I sure wish I had a gun and thousands of things to shoot at. Has anyone else also given thought to the skills that shooting moving targets gives you? Unless you plan upon being a peaceable man your entire life...but what about the nimble zomies?!
Seriously though, I had some qualms about varmint hunting and leaving the carcass of something you really don't want to eat, but it seems that by 'recycling' your 'used' bunnies into dogfood, everything is as it should be, and the cycle continues. If anything, they have a better reason to hunt than most of us.
And who picks up the thousands of bunnies? the shooters or your 'squires'?
And finally, I'd only wish for one thing at a bunny hunt like that...a street sweeper!
psycho nut
New member
If I could afford it I would love to come down there and help you out. And who does pick up all of the rabbits, there's a lot of 'em.
And who does pick up all of the rabbits, there's a lot of 'em.Lead you are truly an ignoramus and have no idea how ecosystem work
Maybe you should step on a plane and come down here to Australia or New Zealand and find out the destruction to the native wildlife and the natural land
take the Bilby for one of many examples:
Introducing foreign predators is the dumbest thing ive read on this forum
they cute animals are on the brink of extinction because of ignorance like yours,
Wake up and see people like DFA are the real greenies
And if us hunters dont stick together this will be the only rabbit shooting available to us:
lol
Maybe you should step on a plane and come down here to Australia or New Zealand and find out the destruction to the native wildlife and the natural land
take the Bilby for one of many examples:
Introducing foreign predators is the dumbest thing ive read on this forum
they cute animals are on the brink of extinction because of ignorance like yours,
Wake up and see people like DFA are the real greenies
And if us hunters dont stick together this will be the only rabbit shooting available to us:
lol
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
kingudaroad, I guess my problem comes from my engineering background and training:FIRST: Learn the facts as best as I can. (Doesnt' mean perfection; e.g., 80% vs. 70%; I wouldn't argue either way.)
THEN: Draw conclusions and form opinions.
By the time you get to be my age, the majority of conclusions come from direct observation, not from what other people have said. Those other people just may not have a clue what they're talking about. Ergo, a leadcounsel's sincere but mistaken opinions.
Sincerity, repetition and db level do not combine to create Truth.
Art
Death from Afar
New member
Wow, I didnt realise that this thread would spark so much interest.
Firstly, my mate Grant posted some pictures on his web blog ( which is mainly right wing political stuff, but if you scroll down about 1/3 of the way you will see the rabbits) Oddly, Grant is a defence lawyer (!!) which means that he should be my naturall enemy, but hes a top man. ( just bought one of the new laminated 870's, nice)
http://www.nzpundit.com/
OK, so how does the whole thing work? Well, the shoot lasts for 24 hours. At the start of the day the areas on which you are shooting are drawn by ballot. This is the one bit you have no control over- if you get a good block you will shoot well, get a bad one and you may only get 200 rabbits, which would be a real blow. So, to an extent its luck of the draw.
Our team was mainly Army dudes, or lawyers. A few guys had done the hard yards in Iraq and Afghanistan , so were pretty switched on.
There then tends to be a bit of a "gumball Rally" as everyone races out to their assigned areas, where you meet with the Farmer, and get the lay of the land. A good recce is invaluable. During the day most of the shooting tends to be on foot, with the dead rabbits put in piles for collecting later on. ATV's and Quads are great at this stage.
At night, everyone is shooting from pimped out "mad Max" type vehicles- 4WD trucks being the vehicle of choice. A key bit of gear is the "cage" on the back, which is noramlly welded steel which gives the shooters something to hang on to, a place to stash ammo, spare magazines, thermos, cigars and all the other shooting gear. We worked on 5 men per vehicle ( one of teams key rules is - no chicks) a driver, a spotlighter, 2 shooters, and a picker upper, normally armed with a portbale spotlight and a .22 if a finishing shot is needed. Everyone rotates through the roles, because weirdly driving and working the light is as much fun as shooting- chasing a rabbit a 60 miles and hour across fields with everyone blazing away is so much fun it should be illegal. Probably is in some states.
By about 6am you are asking yourslef "why do i do this to myself every year?" but then the sun comes up and its alright. Normally you go back to foot patrols.
The weapons we used are- Ruger 10/22's are a must have. Loaded with subsonic ammo and silencers during the day, and stingers at night, they are great for those long range shots. In our truck one gun ruled them all- the Remington 870. I had an 870 P ( The "hose of death") which was useless outside 10 yards, but ideal for those moving shots at close range, and my 870 wingmaster with a full choke, and there were two other 870 Magnum express. You will see that from the photo- just some of the guns we had were ( from left to right- Remington 1100, a Saiga 12 gauge with red dot, a ruger 10/22, a benelli, another 10/22, the hose of death and i think another 10/22)
We used 32 gram loads of Fiocchi # 4 during the day, and 36 gram loads of #5 at night, which got a bit painfull by the fouth case.
Needless to say, we would be delighted to host any of you chaps over here.
Firstly, my mate Grant posted some pictures on his web blog ( which is mainly right wing political stuff, but if you scroll down about 1/3 of the way you will see the rabbits) Oddly, Grant is a defence lawyer (!!) which means that he should be my naturall enemy, but hes a top man. ( just bought one of the new laminated 870's, nice)
http://www.nzpundit.com/
OK, so how does the whole thing work? Well, the shoot lasts for 24 hours. At the start of the day the areas on which you are shooting are drawn by ballot. This is the one bit you have no control over- if you get a good block you will shoot well, get a bad one and you may only get 200 rabbits, which would be a real blow. So, to an extent its luck of the draw.
Our team was mainly Army dudes, or lawyers. A few guys had done the hard yards in Iraq and Afghanistan , so were pretty switched on.
There then tends to be a bit of a "gumball Rally" as everyone races out to their assigned areas, where you meet with the Farmer, and get the lay of the land. A good recce is invaluable. During the day most of the shooting tends to be on foot, with the dead rabbits put in piles for collecting later on. ATV's and Quads are great at this stage.
At night, everyone is shooting from pimped out "mad Max" type vehicles- 4WD trucks being the vehicle of choice. A key bit of gear is the "cage" on the back, which is noramlly welded steel which gives the shooters something to hang on to, a place to stash ammo, spare magazines, thermos, cigars and all the other shooting gear. We worked on 5 men per vehicle ( one of teams key rules is - no chicks) a driver, a spotlighter, 2 shooters, and a picker upper, normally armed with a portbale spotlight and a .22 if a finishing shot is needed. Everyone rotates through the roles, because weirdly driving and working the light is as much fun as shooting- chasing a rabbit a 60 miles and hour across fields with everyone blazing away is so much fun it should be illegal. Probably is in some states.
By about 6am you are asking yourslef "why do i do this to myself every year?" but then the sun comes up and its alright. Normally you go back to foot patrols.
The weapons we used are- Ruger 10/22's are a must have. Loaded with subsonic ammo and silencers during the day, and stingers at night, they are great for those long range shots. In our truck one gun ruled them all- the Remington 870. I had an 870 P ( The "hose of death") which was useless outside 10 yards, but ideal for those moving shots at close range, and my 870 wingmaster with a full choke, and there were two other 870 Magnum express. You will see that from the photo- just some of the guns we had were ( from left to right- Remington 1100, a Saiga 12 gauge with red dot, a ruger 10/22, a benelli, another 10/22, the hose of death and i think another 10/22)
We used 32 gram loads of Fiocchi # 4 during the day, and 36 gram loads of #5 at night, which got a bit painfull by the fouth case.
Needless to say, we would be delighted to host any of you chaps over here.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
that's a large scale version of what I and some buddies did as kids. We were around 14 years or so.My grandfather had a 1935 Dodge sedan. The headlights were on nacelles, not faired into the fenders. Great for a kid to straddle and hook bootheels into the front bumper.
We'd drive around the pastures with flashlights and .22s, shooting rabbits.
Y'all are just sorta "upscale", way down yonder in Noo Zealand.
"The only difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys."Bedtime, here. Nighty-bye,
Art