1
Leon found his
heavy barrelled
CZ .22 rimfire
perfect for use
while hunting
during the late
af ternoon and
night when ranges
were within
50 metres.2
A 20 gauge
does not beat
the shooter up and
is livelier to swing
onto fast bunnies.3
An undiseased
rabbit ready
to run.ON THIS
SPREADmistake that quite a few hunters do,
and that is trying to use his light
framed 20 gauge as a 12 gauge by
using heavy loads when they aren’t
necessary, so, of course, it is going
to kick. I have used a number of 20
gauge shotguns over the years and
my present one is the Beretta and it
is a joy to shoot.
Ammunition is far more
obtainable these days and most shot
sizes are easy to acquire. Over the
last 12 months I have used my 20
gauge for the taking of foxes, hares,
quail, ducks, pheasant and, of
course, heaps of rabbits. I will
grudgingly concede that if you are
trap shooting or entering into the
realm of lettered shot you would
probably be better off with a 12
gauge, but for the taking of any of
the aforementioned you would be
hard pressed to notice any
difference in performance.
On my last hunt after rabbits we
were expecting to do well, if the
indicators of previous trips panned
out. We had noticed over those
trips we were getting quite a few
milky does and we had noticed all
of the warrens had been opened up
and were showing lots of recent
activity. As well as that there were
quite a few kittens starting to make
their presence known. We had
access to a number of properties,
all in close proximity to each other,
with the countryside running from
grassy paddocks dotted withWWW.SPORTINGSHOOTER.COM.AU | 35Over the last
10 years I have
taken literally
thousands of
rabbits.”
saltbush to pine tree covered sand
hills, all being good rabbit country.
Firearms we had with us were my
brother’s Savage .17HMR, my 20
gauge under and over and my CZ
heavy barrelled .22 Rimfire with
4x-12 variable scope on it.
Late afternoon saw us on the move
and as we entered the first property
rabbits could be seen out and about
already, feeding. As we cruised from
warren to warren the .22 Rimfire
was able to take care of all the
rabbits we were encountering. As
luck would have it most of the
warrens were situated amongst pine
trees and downed timber with most
shots around the 50 metre mark.
We spent quite a bit of time
thinning the rabbits out, once we
ran out of targets we moved over to
the larger warrens further out in the
open country. As to be expected
these held a lot more rabbits and we
could see them running around
chasing each other, oblivious to our
approach. As we closed to within
100 metres or so the rabbits lost
interest momentarily in chasing
each other and, while some headed
for the warrens, others sat up in
the usual begging pose, well
within the range and capabilities
of the .17HMR.
It was my turn to shoot and as my
brother handed me the Savage2
3