Who else loves hunting rabbits?

I'm going to try and find a few tomorrow, but it's supposed to be pretty windy and kinda cold. My assumption is that they'll be all tucked away to keep as warm as possible, so i'll be looking for the most sheltered spots i can find.

That's one thing i've never really heard people talk about for small game though, what do you look for in weather? Nice sunny days? before/after a storm? overcast but warm?

I've heard all kinds of advice for what deer behavior is during, before and after certain weather events, temps and pressures.
 
Sometimes it is not hunting but pick the one you want ( orange glow is from the yard light )
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dand883 said:
I'm going to try and find a few tomorrow, but it's supposed to be pretty windy and kinda cold. My assumption is that they'll be all tucked away to keep as warm as possible, so i'll be looking for the most sheltered spots i can find.

That's one thing i've never really heard people talk about for small game though, what do you look for in weather? Nice sunny days? before/after a storm? overcast but warm?

I've heard all kinds of advice for what deer behavior is during, before and after certain weather events, temps and pressures.
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The ground condition for quieter foot approach is much more important I think so myself.
I always wear a neck warmer because it's really rude bump into a tree and rewarded with a branch full of snow falls down your uncovered neck.
They prefer the heavy pine and spruce cover, they seek out these places to hide from owls and hawks as well as coyotes and lynx.
Just like deer hunting if you disturb them from a long rest in winter you will see a little melted spot in the snow just like deer beds.
This is an encouraging sign because it means you are the first predator probably in last eight hours to disturb them.

Yes they seem to be more active in feeding just before a deteriorating weather system is inbound.
However thier known territory isn't very large in the first place. So they don't travel very far in my opinion.
 
dand883 said:
That's one thing i've never really heard people talk about for small game though, what do you look for in weather? Nice sunny days? before/after a storm? overcast but warm?

I've heard all kinds of advice for what deer behavior is during, before and after certain weather events, temps and pressures.
Click to expand...

Likewise with grouse in late November when there’s snow on the ground, I find on sunny days after a stretch of bad weather you’ll likely catch them out in the sun on the edge of the road or trail in the morning or evenings catching a few last moments of warmth. At least that’s been my experience last year.
 
I grew up hunting snowshoe hares on the farm; first with the .410, and then with the 22. Also had a snare line that I ran from December through February with 4-6 sets, that I would move every couple of weeks. My uncle was a big fan of rabbit stew, so I would always get him a few in the summer and fall. The 28 ga works too. Usually use the 7 1/2 shot in either gauge. Always have fun!
Sunny and overcast days, didn't seem to matter as much as just before or after a storm. And yes, hunting when the snow was fresh and fluffy was definitely better than in really crunchy snow or very cold days. The thick, dark timber holds lots and walking slowly down old roads and trails is good, where there is grass and clover/alfalfa are good bets, as are the willow/tamarack swamps along the edges to the dark timber. Go slow and watch for the black eyes, noses and tips of their ears. Sitting off to the downwind side of good rabbit runs will usually net you some too.
My hunting partner of the past 20 years is allergic to rabbits so we didn't hunt them, and my wife had a pet jackrabbit as a child so has been reluctant about me bringing home any. Have concentrated more on the ruffies over the past 20 years.
Would like to do some hunting with my recurve. The few times I had it along for them, didn't see any.
 
Got out for the afternoon this past saturday. We'd had a bit of snow in our normal area, so we tried going closer to the coast where it was a bit warmer and not as much white on the ground.

It ended up being -5 and very windy, picked out a few likely looking areas, a clearcut with lots of thick stuff growing up, mostly planted spruce with a few pine and other mixed in. Unfortunately i think it was an area that was probably spray after they planted the softwoods. There were very few of the alders, birch and such that i would normally expect between the spruce and pines, but very little of them and there didn't seem to be the grasses and such under foot when you did hit a little more open spot.
Needless to to say, the three of us didn't see a rabbit the whole time, and only one spot near a little pond with some grass around it even had any sign of poop or trails, so we gave up and headed off to our second spot.

The second spot was better for rabbit sign, which was encouraging, but we didn't get to see any to get a shot off. It was along a wooded point that had a beach along one side, mostly spruce trees on the rocky/swampy soil with lots of swampy/mossy soiled open areas with waist high small bushes. There were little rabbit tunnels ##### crossing the deer trail we were following back and forth from the taller trees into the thicker bushes. If we were setting out snares it would have been a perfect area, but when walking through looking for them with a shotgun we didn't get a glimpse of any.

Normally when i go looking for rabbits it's entirely within the thick stuff. Are these trails where they come out to the taller trees at night, or should i have been looking back in the woods a bit farther for them during the day when we were there?
 
I went out last Thursday didn't see any - going to go back next week (after deer shotgun controlled hunt) is over - we usually see a few running in the distance to far to get a shot out - patience is key - found out to have a good hunt just wear weather appropriate clothing (warm boots) and Costco is your friend here for under garments.
 
dand883 said:
I'm going to try and find a few tomorrow, but it's supposed to be pretty windy and kinda cold. My assumption is that they'll be all tucked away to keep as warm as possible, so i'll be looking for the most sheltered spots i can find.
That's one thing i've never really heard people talk about for small game though, what do you look for in weather? Nice sunny days? before/after a storm? overcast but warm?
I've heard all kinds of advice for what deer behavior is during, before and after certain weather events, temps and pressures.
Click to expand...

For Snowshoe hare... when things work out, I will check the forecast for very early AM snow flurries, eg 4am. Get out at daylight, walk around, look for and follow the tracks. Tracks will go under a tree, and back out the other side.
Eventually you will find tracks going under a tree with no exit. Take a look - headshot - the first hare for the stew. As the day progresses I just stalk and spot, look for the brown eyes, look for subtle movement like repositioning of a hind foot.
They are decent to eat this time of year, but later in the season the flavour is less desireable.
Some decent sized hare in my area...

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dand883 said:
Normally when i go looking for rabbits it's entirely within the thick stuff. Are these trails where they come out to the taller trees at night, or should i have been looking back in the woods a bit farther for them during the day when we were there?
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Not sure where you are hunting...
As for Snowshoe hare, my preference is thick hemlocks with swamp nearby. The snow weighs down the lower branches to the ground, and they sit in these hemlock shelters.
As for cottontail, I look for brush piles with tracks nearby, hunt them from about 50yds, in either the first or last 1 hour of legal shooting.
 
Buck_Up said:
Not sure where you are hunting...
As for Snowshoe hare, my preference is thick hemlocks with swamp nearby. The snow weighs down the lower branches to the ground, and they sit in these hemlock shelters.
As for cottontail, I look for brush piles with tracks nearby, hunt them from about 50yds, in either the first or last 1 hour of legal shooting.
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That particular day was near the coast, the area went from sandy beech, to super thick waist high bushy stuff in the swampy parts, to older, but smaller spruce trees on rocky areas.
 
I’ll never forget the look on my sons face when I cooked his first rabbit. He was 12 years old. Couldn’t believe how good it was.
 
Oven roast your rabbit marinaded in ketchup.
It's very good because it has sugar and a myriad of very acceptable spices. The only downside to this it does not refrigerate very well with leftovers. I think the sugar content is the culprit here.
 
Brutus said:
Oven roast your rabbit marinaded in ketchup.
It's very good because it has sugar and a myriad of very acceptable spices. The only downside to this it does not refrigerate very well with leftovers. I think the sugar content is the culprit here.
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Mmmmmmmmmmmm
 
Today I got out to discover a lonely coyote had also recently discovered my hunting spot a few hours before myself. However I did get one running rabbit that I had to shoot in mid leap or I would have come home empty handed.
Thankfully the 28 gauge was up to it.
Number 6 Winchester lead at nine or ten yards. Uhm. It was kind of messy but that's the chance you take with movers.
 
i cut my teeth on rabbits with a 22lr single shot , one that u pull the cocker back..
then moved onto a single barrel 12g , all spotlighting on back of the ute, we were 14 onwards kind of thing...

now days you see more deer than rabbits on a drive through the country side, the myxo virus hit them and they drop it every so often now days... some small populations are starting to pop up but nothing like the hey day in aus
 
WhelanLad said:
i cut my teeth on rabbits with a 22lr single shot , one that u pull the cocker back..
then moved onto a single barrel 12g , all spotlighting on back of the ute, we were 14 onwards kind of thing...

now days you see more deer than rabbits on a drive through the country side, the myxo virus hit them and they drop it every so often now days... some small populations are starting to pop up but nothing like the hey day in aus
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When i was younger it was normal to see 20 or 30 driving down a any given dirt road right at dusk, but that was before the coyotes we now have on the east coast were here in full force. Now any rabbit who hangs out on the side of the road gets eaten pretty quick.
 
dand883 said:
When i was younger it was normal to see 20 or 30 driving down a any given dirt road right at dusk, but that was before the coyotes we now have on the east coast were here in full force. Now any rabbit who hangs out on the side of the road gets eaten pretty quick.
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I concur. Myself I remember rabbit hunts with three other companions with some good beagles and Cooey shotguns. This was 1980 in Guysborough County and after a long weekend the three of us returned to Dartmouth with a total of 36 once furry little beasts.
Of course it was rabbit pie, rabbit stew and rabbit soup all weekend.
And the forest had a line of consumed buds twigs and tender bark up to hungry rabbit nibble reach.
Of course pre Wile E. mass arrival.
 
I enjoy rabbit hunting (cottontails, in my area) just to have a good reason to poke around outdoors with my son on a sunny winter day. But, I don't want a lot of them so we hunt with a .22 (he's been bugging me to let him take the 20ga. and I may give in one time and let him bag a few). Once in a blue moon I'll try with the recurve - that almost guarantees I won't have to clean any. lol

I'd like to get up home (mid-Ottawa Valley) and go after snowshoes again, just for old times' sake.
 
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