Another 1st - A rather succesful Hare drive!!

stratts

Well-Known Member
Got invited on a friends annual hare drive on Saturday which was another 1st for me. 14 guns split in 2 teams, 7 walking guns driving the hares to 7 waiting guns on the blind side of a hedge or sitting in a ditch.

Total after only 4 hours shooting and 7 small drives, 57 hares and 3 bunnies!! :eek: I can honestly say I've never seen so many in such a relatively small area and there must be twice that still roaming around!! They shot 42 last year and it has had no affect on the numbers at all which is amazing considering the weather of last year!

I ended up with 5 for 9 shots, with the last drive ruining my numbers coz I missed both barrels twice at 2 that, on reflection with my inexperience were just a bit too far away!! :doh:

The numbers aint right in the 2nd pic as someone had a few in their truck!

Cheers

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Glad you had a good day, but I could never shoot hare in those numbers,, It would take me all my time to shoot one hare, never mind 57.

Much prefered the sporting chance they got against a good lurcher.
 
Glad you had a good day, but I could never shoot hare in those numbers,, It would take me all my time to shoot one hare, never mind 57.

Much prefered the sporting chance they got against a good lurcher.
couldn't agree more, but then we dont have hares in that number ,i can see they'd be a pest ! just not my cup of tea
 
Glad you had a good day, but I could never shoot hare in those numbers,, It would take me all my time to shoot one hare, never mind 57.

Much prefered the sporting chance they got against a good lurcher.

Never had a chance against a GOOD lurcher;) Happy days.. Did you see the hare dodge the eagle on Fieldsports Britain last week ??? worth a look.....
 
Does anyone shoot Hares with a rifle? I have only ever seen 1 wild Hare in Cornwall, they are extremely thin on the ground down here.
 
Nothing like Hare drives to get your blood pumping and arse twitching, especially when the chap next to you keeps swinging their barrel past you loaded with No3 shot :eek:

Done it a couple of times but happy to give it a miss!
 
Does anyone shoot Hares with a rifle? I have only ever seen 1 wild Hare in Cornwall, they are extremely thin on the ground down here.


Yeah,never seen one in Cornwall but a few in Devon,I saw at least 10 in a wood up there on saturday while stalking.........
 
I have nothing against shooting Hares being a dealer,but it does seem a funny time to be doing it seeing as they cannot be offered for sale after the end of February

Martin
 
Apparantly the game dealer these fellas use will take them this month at a reduced rate mate so they must freeze them until selling later on maybe?
 
I love hare, they're fantastic eating, but I've never shot one. I had a couple of shots at one in Scotland once and missed it as it accelerated from a slow lollop to going like a cheetah. That's the only chance I've ever had, I've never seen one on my limited patches in Kent and Sussex.
 
Usually the first 2 weeks of Feb after the game shoots finish.

I've been on days that shoot considerably more than 10X that amount consistently every year.

East of England, especially North Norfolk have some serious hare numbers. It's not everyones cup of tea but, when you have the sort of numbers some estates do then they need to be controlled.

A lot of estates want the numbers down to keep the pikeys off the ground.

It's my understanding that most of them get sent to Europe, Holland, Belgium and Germany.

ATB
Moses
 
I can understand the need to control them when they're around in those sorts of numbers. Down here, however, very few farmers will allow you to shoot them as they're few and far between - which suits me fine as I think they're lovely animals. Doesn't stop the beagles hunting them though...:(
 
I used to enjoy Hare hunts, we have plenty of Brown hares here and I do let folk shoot them on walked up days , as long as they carry and eat them!

As with all game and especially bigger game, knowing your distances is vital. A gready or over confident shot will wound a lot ! I always preferred to have invited guns rather than paying as I could select folk, who knew what they were at.

It was common for us to shoot 70 + a day, but it was always shadowed by the bigger White hare days! Unfortunately W. hare numbers around here are pretty low [for a number of reasons].

As a youngster, I was mad about my lurchers, but never too hooked on running hare [foxes were my thing], I'm always amazed at the amount of stalkers who would run a dog at a hare but not a deer?

Not trying to stir an arguement, but why is it ok for Hare but not deer????
 
Probably because it was a far greater challenge for a dog to catch a hare than a deer (roe) in my part of the country....
 
As BS said the old white hare driven days were not for the faint hearted. Back in the early 90's a party of guns shot 1450 white hares in three days on one Highland estate :eek:. There were so many hares coming through the line that one chap from my party actually decided to try his luck with a spinning rod. He was successful in snagging one as it came passed. :norty:
 
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used to look forward to the hare shoots around here most times we shoot over the 200 mark.you soon learn not to shoot them at the start of the drive not much fun draging 2 or more 10 pound hares about a mile. as the years have gone bye im not sure id want to go hare shooting now i dont even shoot hares with the .22 anymore most of the time i just leave them . and sometimes i just sit and watch them and feel a bit sad at the amount that i have killed over the years. I used to see between 10-30 in some fields but not anymore.
 
and sometimes i just sit and watch them and feel a bit sad at the amount that i have killed over the years. I used to see between 10-30 in some fields but not anymore.
At least you should be proud of conserving the remaining Hares. If more people in Cornwall were as restrained as you are we might see one or two down here again one day!
 
i havent shot hares for some years, but when i used to get out more lamping would get 2/3 on most nights out. i used a .22 rimfire, hares dont seem as easy spooked as rabbits at night and you can get closers, plus i also found that hares arent the brightest of animals, you could shoot one and the others would jump into the hedge. but i could go back 30mins later and shoot another in the same place.
I find most farmers where i shoot these days like the hares left along.
 
Have shot many lamping at night in the Borders, nothing to see 50+ in a couple of hours. Regularly came home with 10, all head shot with my .22 annie. We don't shoot them at home as very uncommon, however in a couple of places where we were v hard on the foxs we have a few but then the dog men get out.

I have shot a few with the .223/6mm BR all effectively sniped at longish range on big fields, head shot only, when a hare is clamped down, its a tiny target and no room for error with a varmit bullet.

Good sport.

D
 
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