Rabbit Casserole

Last weeks rabbits were skinned, gutted and boned, so I had a look at a few of my Recipes that I keep in my little black book and found one for Rustic Rabbit Stew.

1 Rabbit (Boned)
4 large Carrots (Chopped)
Small Bag New Potatoes (Halved)
1/2 Bag Frozen Peas
Large Onion (Chopped)
2 Chicken Stock Cubes
Mixed Herbs
Salt and Pepper

I used a fish pan to cook mine, everything in at the same time, top up with water to cover and cook at 120-150°c for around 2 hours or until cooked to your liking.

As easy as that, and heres my finished casserole

As the weeks go by, i'll share a few of my recipes for any game we catch. If your stuck for a recipe for any game, drop me an e-mail/message on here and i'll see what I have.

Happy Eating

The season starts again!

Well I was very lucky to get a phonecall late last night to accompany a mate on a bit of his land, always happy to help I duly accepted. I was out for a curry and ale this evening but it wasnt going to be a late one.......who was I kidding 4am this morning I led my head on my pillow and at 8am my alarm went off (thank god it was a late start) I was still a little worse for wear but I soon woke up after a strong coffee.
9.30am and Brian was at the door and loading the van with ferrets, nets and a shovel.

Once we got there the dogs started marking a few holes, so we net up and entered the ferrets. The dogs were great, well behaved and listening for any movement....we didnt have to wait to long!!

There was a noise like a Jamaican steel band, and when we lifted the corrugated steel we could see why, 2 holes that a rabbit was trying to leave and failing!!

The dogs were marking holes and thankfully each time we entered a ferret, we were duly rewarded with a rabbit.

But as can be seen here, sometimes the little buggers get away..........mainly because both dogs were on the opposite side marking a rabbity rumbling underground!

As ever, a few digs were on the cards, there always seems to be a lot of stop ends when fence line ferreting, thankfully the ferret kept hold till I got to it!














And here he is, still not wanting to let go! Not bad for his first outing.

My favourite tools, I never leave home without them

Heres one of the escapees that never made it, thankfully Brin managed to catch it before it found another hole.

And heres one that Smudge caught, it was Smudge's first day out ferreting, and he did fantastically, it was great to see the dogs and ferrets working as a team, especially when they dont normally work together.

Here was one that the ferret had chased out and the dogs caught out in the field. We left a few holes unnetted so as to give the dogs a chance at a run.

 And heres the end of day shot, 6 rabbits in total with 3 of the blighters escaping to fight another day.
Well done to all 3 dogs today, the Collie cross having left earlier to go and retrieve wood pigeons for its owner..........the lucky bugger!!

My 2 Females, Lightning and Snowy. Snowy was on deaths door just 3 weeks ago, and a visit to the vets and a few doses of Penicilin later and she's back on the mend.
Snowys sister died 2 months ago and I thought this might have been the start of Snowy's demise, but she's proved to be a fighter and did well today.




So hopefully a bit of lamping this week with the dogs and rifles will start this season off with a proper bang.

Happy Hunting

Nearly there now!!

Well the season will soon be starting again, a lot of time during this very long close season has been spent visiting shows, mooching round the old hunting grounds and finding new places to exercise the ferrets!!

This weekend myself and Dave went too a couple of places just for a mooch, we took the air rifles (just in case) but we were just seeing if the breeding had been successful!

I wasnt overly disapointed, there were a few rabbits to be seen, and within the next 2 weeks we plan to try a lamping session to see if there numbers increase at night.

Just one I managed to spot out of the corner of my eye

 Only small I know, but even the little ones do there fair share of damage!!









So heres to the next few weeks, and hopefully a batch of new photos and stories to share with you all!

Happy Hunting

4x4 idea that caters for everyones tastes!!

A new idea to secure the back of your 4x4 pickups and make them more user friendly has just been started by a good friend of mine, I hope to have mine sorted and photo's up on this site soon!!

For now though, here is a link to his website

And a link to his Facebook page

His Blogger page

and finally his twitter page

Hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to like his facebook page.

Thanks for your time, happy hunting.

Harewood House (Yorkshire Game Fair)

The event was going to be great, I had read the attendees and even though a few of the regular faces
 were missing I honestly thought it could still be the show of the year!
I realised after about half an hour of wandering round, I was totally wrong!!

 The setting is fantastic, with Red Kites circling round overhead all through the day, and beautiful gardens to wander round.

But that isn't why I'd come today, today was for a Game fair!!

As usual one of the attendees was the excellent Helicopter ride, I did this once at the Welsh Show and decided there and then that that was the last time ever......If god had wanted me to fly he would have given me wings and a much smaller arse!!!

The BASC stand had yet another fantastic clay pigeon shoot, I had a 40 bird shoot with David and failed miserably!! It was much easier when someone stood behind and told me what too do, but I have been bitten by the bug and signed up for some training locally. So can't wait to start that!!





Now as I only took a few photo's I can't really show you the size of the event, but this link will show you what was there
Yorkshire Show Event List

It was well attended, the stalls that I would class as worthy Game Fair stalls were great, but I feel that not enough are attending and therefore the chance of a bargain are few and far between.

My overall rating of this show would be 6/10, and I think i'm only being this generous because the people I attended with helped to make it seem better than it was.

Happy Hunting

Selby Game and Country Fair 2011

It was a cloudy morning but the weather was to warm up nicely, lets hope so cos it was bloody freezing!!

As we walked around the show it was becoming apparent that the show was more car boot than game! Rides and cheep tack stalls were scattered everywhere, the food prices again were extortionate! This seems to be the way of game fairs though these days, no longer are they just a way for like minded people to meet up but a way of squeezing every penny that you are carrying out of your wallet!!

In the main ring was a motorcycle show?? but it was enjoyable, the guy with the mike and the riders bouncing of each other with banter. Here we see the biker ramping over him!!

 and then jumping up onto the vehicle!

Whilst walking round me and David decided to get a bit competitive, well, as competitive as you can get with an ex champ clay shooter!!!!

Davids first shot was as I was expecting....a hit.....but his eye wasn't there and he got 8 out of 10

My first time ever at clay shooting, I'm being shown the basics and how to keep ones eye looking down the bead below the dropping clay

 My first shot was a hit, but this my second was a miss.....beginners luck maybe!!

My total score was 7 out of 10

We walked round again later and couldn't resist a second turn......David scoring 10/10 and me getting 9/10......I was well pleased!!

Carlton Towers, the siting of the show is a very grand place,  a 19th century Victorian Gothic Revival house, located in the village of Carlton. The original part of the house dates back to the 17th century, with 200 acres of parkland to explore it is one big area!

Here we see Mr Pearson tieing a purse net in the net making competition on the East Coast Ferret Rescue stand. This was were many members of the Rabbiters site met up for tea, coffee and a bloody good chat!!!

At the end of the day a charity auction in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust was held, items that had been donated of the rabbiters site and from some of the stalls that were attending the show!!

It was a really good end with a large amount of money being raised, one of the prized items a Hand Made Knife from J.E.S!!






All in all a good show for catching up and if you take all the crap away that shouldn't be allowed there in the first place, then a good country fair..........now lets see where the next one is!!

Happy Hunting

End of the season

Well it came sooner than expected, I've had a few days out for a mooch but way to many pregnant Doe's to warrant any control.
It doesn't seem right spoiling next years rabbiting stock, so the next few months will be spent catching up with friends at all the shows happening around the country.

So this week was Kelmarsh Fair, a cracking show and it meant a trip over to a friends in Lincolnshire. Which also meant a mooch and BEER!!!!!!

As can be seen in this picture the local Crow problem is huge, with a large amount of crops in this area the amount of wood pigeon was phenomonal aswell!!

So like I said, a bit of a mooch and a quick look round to see if we could find anything of interest.

Then one of the terriers disapeared.........barking like mad!!

and then the Lurchers went running off very sharpish

Could we find them.....No!!!

Could we find what they had chased.......No!!!!


Eventually they came back, out of breath and stinking of fox.........never mind....Next time!!

And to end the weekend just a few drinks and the usual drunken chat!!

The show was fantastic, and with a great bunch of lads the Craik was even better.......Heres to the next Show!!



Happy Hunting