Some Bunnies Have All The Luck

Determined to improve his rabbiting skills, Ed Wills joins a ferreting expedition and, after a shaky start, finds a more relaxed approach pays dividends

I surveyed the locked gate in front of me and looked at my watch — 8.45am. Plenty of time, I thought, and turned up BBC Radio Norfolk to listen to another caller’s solution to Brexit.

Simon Whitehead had invited me on an early-season ferreting excursion near Norfolk Showground and we had arranged to meet at 9am. I settled in and watched two swallows catching their breakfast, wondering why they weren’t over the Mediterranean right now.

My watch clicked to the hour and I rang Simon. “Right, where are you?” he asked. I gave my best description of the view in front of me: “Tents, rubbish, a couple of sleeping bags…” The showground had played host to the Sundown Festival the weekend before. “You must be round the other side, I’ll direct you,” he said.

After a short drive Simon was waving me through into a field. He introduced me to Steve Nice, a local carpenter who was going to be the second Gun for the day. I tentatively asked him what his shooting skill on rabbits was like and he replied: “Fairly good, why do you ask?”

I admitted I had a history of missing bolting bunnies under pressure (Cronies at the coneys, 28 March 2018) and as hard as I try I can’t seem to get on top of them.

Simon overheard this and chipped in: “It’s all about lead and taking your time. Don’t rush the shot and just enjoy yourself.” With those words ringing in my ears, I found myself staring at a hawthorn hedgerow, eyeing each leaf for the slightest movement. To my right lay a road with a 3m gap in which to shoot any rabbit that fled that way.