None of the kids wanted to come today, so my walk ended up being about 8 ks (5 mile). I took the FN 12g side by side as I really like the way this gun handles and shoulders. As I went into the first paddock, it was a lovely still morning and quail were flying up from around my feet every 50 meters or so. I didnt have shot smaller than 4's and I didnt have anything other than 3/4 and full chokes so I left the quail alone, but made a mental note of where to find them next time. I found myself smiling at the little buggers..... next time with 9's I'll have you.
There were lots of Kangaroos around and I dont normally shoot them. The problem they create is that when they run through the scrub everything else goes to ground. They make so much noise.
the first fox I saw broke cover about 15 meters away, but was immediately obscured by a leafy branch off the left side of a nearby tree, and things were not helped by my none too stealthy crashing through tall dry grass to try and get a shot. That fox was long gone. I only saw one rabbit in that paddock, again with the light breeze that was blowing it was too flighty, and in dead ground before I got a shot.
I went on to a new paddock.
I found 3 teal ducks on a dam and remembered a few weeks ago eating teal duck from a large camp oven where 17 teal ducks were stewed with fruit juice, potato and brandy.... tasty little suckers. But I didnt want to spoil the shooting by making noise, and besides ducks are not in season, so I let them go on their merry way.
In this paddock there were several clumps of African box thorn. It offers rabbits good physical and visual protection. Wherever you see a clump of box thorn you will generally find a rabbit warren. I stalked up on these ones, the dry grass didnt help and the time past 9am was really too late, luckily it was an overcast day and still cool. I saw several white tails as they slipped into burrows, but one was a little slow and as the rear half disappeared behind a tree it was collected by No 4 shot. So I finished him off, but because he was only 8 meters away it destroyed the meat, so I didnt use him.
I saw one more bunny in that paddock, but only as he disappeared into dead ground.
I went back to my normal area, a long creek line with paddocks and scrub about 200 acres in size.
I walked around quietly looking for a late bunny but again they were fairly skittish and I tended to see them as they were making a hasty retreat to cover. I spent a little time walking through the tall grass trying to flush out rabbits, some success with flushing, but not so much in hitting them. I was starting to head back to the vehicle and was exiting a clump of scrub when I saw a flash or red only 3-4 meters away. The fox was hunting me! The noise I had made in the scrub has the interest of this fox. I had only loaded one of the soft loads I made for my daughter (3/4 oz shot and 12.7 grains of red dot or AS30 in my world), I had time to swing and as the fox entered open ground only 5 meters away he wore a subsonic 3/4 ounce of lead in the shoulder. Sadly my phone was on low battery and a picture was impossible but he was a healthy little fox, and being shot dead meant he would not have to die slowly with 1080 poison.
I found fresh pig diggings, from only a few hours before I was there and I walked the creek looking for them, but with all the shooting they were long gone.
Had a great morning walking by myself!
