410 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



You may take it for granted that the same rabbits 

 will not thrive on the same soil for over two seasons 

 if there are a good many of them ; let us suppose 

 enough to shoot several hundred in a day. 



It is true you may kill your rabbits down very 

 close for a year or two, and trust to the survivors 

 replenishing your stock ; but by this course, though 

 you give the ground a rest, you may, if the breeding 

 seasons are unfavourably cold, have no sport for a 

 longer period than you desire. 



By far the most successful method is to shoot, 

 ferret, and net every rabbit you can, and, when you 

 have done with them, to hire a man or two to catch 

 any that remain (there will always be some left) 

 at so much a couple. You will easily find a local 

 rabbit- catcher to do this if your terms are liberal, and 

 it will recompense you well to be liberal in the matter.* 



Next purchase from a distance, or catch and turn 

 down from another part of your estate, a new stock 

 of rabbits ; obtain them in the proportion of about 

 ten does to one buck. You can always calculate on 

 bucks coming in from somewhere if you have a super- 

 fluity of does ; for they will swim rivers, climb walls 

 and fences, and burrow many yards to reach the 

 ladies, whose presence they soon discover, and who 



* The fact of killing all your rabbits means that, instead of 

 leaving a breeding stock throughout the winter (when they may 

 cause damage to trees, or perhaps require feeding by hand), you dispose 

 of it towards the expense of purchasing fresh blood to turn down 

 in the spring. 



