How do I lamp rabbits?

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Co1

Co1

Well-Known Member
Never done this before, but have some warrens a need to hit harder and the change in the clocks mean lamping is the only option for now. So, how is it done!! Will be on foot with 2 of us; one in the lamp and one on the rifle.
 
If its only a couple of specific warrens you best bet will be set up by them for the night (or as long as you can). Ideally you would want night vision though as you could sit and watch and pick em off as they come out.
If you need them sorting proper do you know anyone with some ferrets that can clear the warren for you?
 
Airgun? .22lr ? You have the moon on the way up so not the greatest, I use my .22 lr with a white light or red light on top....My good friend Chris like me shoots on his own and walks (just our foxing) and spotting torch...
The.22 is set for 50 yds so I will walk once in the dusk and pick off what I can then do a second lap or different field in the dark...

The trick we have found is not to keep hitting them with the light so do different areas, Chris shoots hundreds of acres and paddocks for lots of people single handed with a ruck sack...

Like all stalking use the wind...

A second person is good for carrying the rabbits!


Tim.243
 
They will soon learn that a light means bye bye, so you will have a short time that you can blat them before they become " supersonic" at disapearing when the lamp comes on, so look to get yourself some night vision, one of the cheapest is the photon range if you can afford it, or check out the nightvision forums where you can get all the info to build yourself a night vision system for very little money, in the meantime i would go with a small spotlight mounted on the scope rather than flooding the whole area with light
best of luck
Ray
 
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Don’t just shoot at eye shine!! Make sure you know your surroundings, and if you can’t I.D your target 100% don’t shoot!
 
I lamp quite a bit especially this time of year sometimes with a mate and often alone. Usually we use the same method. Use the wind and then its either walk round the plot using a pistol grip lamp to spot the quarry and then gentle walk up to within range and then use a small lamp on top of the scope for the shooting usually off sticks. If two of us my mate uses the big lamp. If alone I have it on a lanyard round my neck. Secondly as might suit you I get set up for the evening in one spot by the warren, I use the same method big lamp small lamp and shoot. One night I was all set up to find no big lamp in the bag and flat batteries in the scope light, very fed up at my poor planning, but managed a decent bag using another small led torch in my left hand and shooting with the gun on its bipod. Knowing the ground it very important and as said target identification. Have the light on as little as possible. I also drop the farmers a text to say I will be there it can save them a trip out to see whats going on.
 
I have used a basic old style photon with a IR torch set up on a camera pan and tilt seated on a wooden rest in the truck plugged into a little 12 v tv screen I could pan around and it was very effective in finding them
i had the same photon on the rimmy to shoot with a decent IR attached

using an external battery pack on the spotter it will last all night, you can pick the old photon scopes up at a reasonable cost as well for a cheap set up you will be surprised what you see and for bunny bashing it’s works a treat and you won’t be chucking illumination around which can really spook rabbits

enjoy your bunny bashing

phil
 
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Co1 said:
Cheers, that helps (well, perhaps not fursty!). Rifle is 22lr.
Click to expand...

Sorry! Was in one of those moods.
Honestly though....if the mission brief is to hit the numbers hard rather than taking a few for sport then it has to night vision or you will always struggle to get the same results in a timely fashion
 
Use NV. They become lamp shy very quickly. Also vary the times that you head out. later the better as they are away from the warrens and will be out in the open.
Good luck.
 
How did folk ever manage to keep rabbits down before night vison??

They don't get lamp shy that quickly esp if ur careful wot ur shooting at and not missing them.
Also try not to shoot into larger groups if u can. so ur not educating too many live rabbits,

The new led torches are great as they can fit on top of ur scope and are just so handy and light weight, but I do think old fashioned lamps are better.
I think the led's provide too focused a beam, whereas with an old school lamp u could just hold the rabbits/foxes in the very edge of the beam. I have a variable power 1 which was really handy when there actually was rabbits about here.
I usually had it turned right down most of the time for shooting and then turn it up for spotting quickly further afield, u won't want a massively bright lamp if u can help it for rabbits as ur only shooting out too 60 odd meter.
Mixing it up with filters, full moons so u don't need a lamp and dawn/dusk and daylight.

If u go for a small scope mounted lamp (or NV for that matter) I always have a 2nd torch/nv for spotting so I'm not swinging the rifle about

if I'm going for a big night I latterly started dragging a kids sleight with me to save carrying the rabbits but been a long time since they're have been enough rabbits to justify it
 
countrryboy said:
How did folk ever manage to keep rabbits down before night vison??

They don't get lamp shy that quickly esp if ur careful wot ur shooting at and not missing them.
Also try not to shoot into larger groups if u can. so ur not educating too many live rabbits,

The new led torches are great as they can fit on top of ur scope and are just so handy and light weight, but I do think old fashioned lamps are better.
I think the led's provide too focused a beam, whereas with an old school lamp u could just hold the rabbits/foxes in the very edge of the beam. I have a variable power 1 which was really handy when there actually was rabbits about here.
I usually had it turned right down most of the time for shooting and then turn it up for spotting quickly further afield, u won't want a massively bright lamp if u can help it for rabbits as ur only shooting out too 60 odd meter.
Mixing it up with filters, full moons so u don't need a lamp and dawn/dusk and daylight.

If u go for a small scope mounted lamp (or NV for that matter) I always have a 2nd torch/nv for spotting so I'm not swinging the rifle about

if I'm going for a big night I latterly started dragging a kids sleight with me to save carrying the rabbits but been a long time since they're have been enough rabbits to justify it
Click to expand...

Cheers countryboy, that's really helpful. I would have assumed the brighter the better without reading that.
 
I can always remember the 1st time I went lamping foxes as a kid with my future head keeper, spied a fox and he told me to put the lamp on it, me not knowing any better just shone the lamp smack on the fox and it took off like a scolded cat. Can still remeer the b@llocking I got ;) He took foxing very seriously
We got it a few nights later, not lamp shy, just didn't appreciate 1million candle power suddenly shone in its eye, just by holding it just in the very outside of the beam just enough to get a 100% id and see the shot.

The only thing i'll say about dim torches is u need to know ur ground so u know ur back stops, that's why it was quite handy with a dimmer switch on the back, u can turn it up to spot rabbit a long way off and safe back stops and route to approach.

Plus with a rabbit u can't really mistake it for any other animal

Best way is just to get out and experiment, possibly even stay away from the main warrenthe now and practice around some smaller warrens until u fine tune wot ur doing sour not educating the big warrens while ur getting ur confidence/skill up
 
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countrryboy said:
How did folk ever manage to keep rabbits down before night vison??

They don't get lamp shy that quickly esp if ur careful wot ur shooting at and not missing them.
Also try not to shoot into larger groups if u can. so ur not educating too many live rabbits,

The new led torches are great as they can fit on top of ur scope and are just so handy and light weight, but I do think old fashioned lamps are better.
I think the led's provide too focused a beam, whereas with an old school lamp u could just hold the rabbits/foxes in the very edge of the beam. I have a variable power 1 which was really handy when there actually was rabbits about here.
I usually had it turned right down most of the time for shooting and then turn it up for spotting quickly further afield, u won't want a massively bright lamp if u can help it for rabbits as ur only shooting out too 60 odd meter.
Mixing it up with filters, full moons so u don't need a lamp and dawn/dusk and daylight.

If u go for a small scope mounted lamp (or NV for that matter) I always have a 2nd torch/nv for spotting so I'm not swinging the rifle about

if I'm going for a big night I latterly started dragging a kids sleight with me to save carrying the rabbits but been a long time since they're have been enough rabbits to justify it
Click to expand...

Very good points, we tend to turn to tech stuff to easily these days, ( see my other post) I remember lamping rabbits many years ago using a 12 volt lead acid car battery and having a very succesfull night, when we packed it in we headed to the local bar for a couple of pints, to wait on my wife picking us up, it was so long ago that the rifles were propped against the bar ( in covers) and we sold enough rabbits to cover the beers, when the wife arrived she asked if I had been standing against the bar since I came in, and of course I said yes , why do you ask, it turnd out I had been sitting on the battery and the acid had eaten the arse out of my trousers and no one had uttered a word, so off came the jacket and tied it round my waist till I finished my pint
them were the days
Cheers
Ray
 
Get an led torch that you can twist the head to alter from a flood been to a spot so you can in effect adjust the brightness and how far you can see with it. Mount it using one of these Adjustable Laser Illuminator Mount - Scope & Weaver Rail Gun Mounts and then you can adjust the beam to be dead on the rabbits head or off to the side so it is only just in the light. This is good as if you then move onto NV you can swap out the red/green/white LED unit for an infra red one and you now have a good invisible light source for your NV unit too.
 
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