This is a typical write up of one of my pest control trips. I don't do wasps and ants, just rabbits, pigeons, crows, rats.

This blog contains pictures of dead rabbits but they are not particularly gory. The rabbits are doing a great deal of damage to the field and dyke and have to be controlled.

Yesterday saw the return of the Sako, after more than two weeks to get the barrel shortened and then refitted as it was in too much and the bolt would not close !!

Anyhow, picked it up and went straight up to the 50m range. She was off to the left but a few rounds later I was putting a mag of five rounds onto the white dot sticker for patching targets, sorted !

Here is the new look.

Sako Finnfire .22lr, barrel shortened from 21" to 16"

Today it was back up to Heartbreak Ridge the field with the ridge of boulders that offers two shooting positions.

Looking towards the Ridge the pirate is at firing point red and good old Frankenstein's monster is at pink :)

I followed the same MO as last time parked up and then moved slowly to the ridge to engage rabbits in the red zone from firing point red. I'm going to have to organise a comfy position here as this time I sat on a rock resting elbow on knee and took this bunny at 48m.
No obvious entry or exit.

I then moved to pink position and went prone, no bipod as I leave that on the HMR now.

Scanning with the LRF showed some movement in a gully at 63m, young ones playing about however another bunny entered from left at 45m and was duly despatched.
The round went right through and I saw it hit the dirt behind !

I sat tight for a few mins the young ones at 63m still not presenting a decent shot, a decent sized doh emerged at 55m and was bowled over with a similar shot to the one I made with the HMR last week face on, doon the throat! The surface damage a lot less with the sub HP .22, but devastating further into the target.

A decent few days, 6 feral pigeon on Sunday with the Ultra, three with the HMR Monday and three today with the Sako  :)

Now We Have Wheels !

Whilst out shooting on farmland I know only too well how easy it is to get your vehicle stuck and have to call the farmer to tow you out, quite embarrassing.

People who know me will also know that I have no real interest in cars, except for making sure they are equipped to be useful, e.g. tow bar and roof bars. There is one vehicle that I have always liked though, the Land Rover Defender. I had the privelige of driving various Land Roverss in the 1990's, even driving one over to Germany and back.
Here's a 101 that I used to take home but I was in the back of it once when the driver had a wee accident.

It rolled several times, end to end. 

Here's what we crawled out of:

I digress.

I decided to get myself a Defender 90, something I could drive the fields with, get timber from otherwise inaccessible places.

It's a 1993 Defender 90 with a 2.5 litre 200TDi engine.

Right away there was a list of jobs. So far I have changed the alternator and PAS belts, replaced the window regulator, the fuel tank, rear right indicator, removed the top fog lamps which were on a roof bar and not connected anyway, tied down the batttery in wired in a trip and isolator for the winch, got the diff light working...

There's more stuff to do, but I have alos been out shooting with it. I took the air rifle and the .17 HMR and got two bunnies. I missed with the air rifle and got two with the HMR.

Oh and we have taken it offroad too, we went to Experience 4x4 near Inverness. We did the adventure course a few times then went into the Zone for some serious stuff.

Here's some Adventure footage.

Now then, where's that job list...