Hunting Rabbits (edit, Hares) in the Snow?

Maritime Storm said:
Dan, this was one of those rare years where they were white and the woods weren't. Up until the 27th down here in Moncton was about the best time to chase them. To use an old Cape Breton expression, they stode out like Cauliflowers in the Coal Bin.
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Yeah, i think that was the only reason i managed to get as many as i did, normally i just end up hiking.
 
The Missus and I love to watch cooking shows. Last night on the Oprah network (yes, it really exists), the ladies Anna and Kristina were in the UK. They made Hare Stew. Anna (the blonde one) went out with an English chap and took 3 hares. Looked to me like a bolt-action scoped CZ, and get this, it had a silencer on it! She was a great shot.

I looked for a video of the segment but do see it. Too bad- she is a babe.

Here's the recipe though: http://www.annaandkristina.com/rabbit/

WS
 
I'm used to the big prairie Jacks but now learning something about snowshoe bush bunnies, ol' jacks meant checking each bump in field and not much for bush these little guys are sneakier than a one-eyed fox...
 
Haven't had much luck since the snow flied. The only one we have seen (since the snow), the wife saw the ears and then it bolted. Best day I had this year was 6 (my buddy got 10).
 
I'm having some difficulty figuring out what the heck is happening. Went out Friday morning - temps around -15 and a touch breezy but not bad in the woods. Well established trails abound, tracks are in the 12 - 24-hour-old range. Saw nothing. Went back out that evening, no change. Went out the next morning. -8C, barometer falling, overcast. I marched through 30 acres of bush and could not find a single fresh track. Any ideas?
 
I was able to get out for a bit on saturday, and we had fresh snow fall throughout the day friday, so i was more or less looking in areas i had seen rabbits before and checking for tracks, and hoping to find some new areas that had tracks as well.
Overall the day was a success, some of the good spots had lots of tracks, some droppings, and we saw two, but they took off before we had a chance at them, we found some other spots to look a little more closely at next year before the snow falls, but there was one area i couldn't quite figure out.
It was along a hill on the side of the road, mostly fir/spruce trees with a few other mixed in that were quite tall, ranging anywhere from 2" to 6" thick, so they were quite all trees, but there wasn't a whole lot of thick cover on the ground. Other than a few dead branches to break off it wasn't a problem to walk in between the trees. There were lots of big rocks spread around, and the normal deadfalls here and there, but none of the tracks seemed to suggest that they were spending any amout of time under the deafalls or any of the big rocks. To me this wouldn't seem to make an ideal spot for them, but there were tracks crisscrossing all over the area, but not concentrated to one clump of small bushes, or anything like that.
It will likely be the last trip out for me this winter though, the snow we got was about the limit of what i could make it through with my truck. I might have to find some other places closer to a plowed road now.
 
looch said:
I'm having some difficulty figuring out what the heck is happening. Went out Friday morning - temps around -15 and a touch breezy but not bad in the woods. Well established trails abound, tracks are in the 12 - 24-hour-old range. Saw nothing. Went back out that evening, no change. Went out the next morning. -8C, barometer falling, overcast. I marched through 30 acres of bush and could not find a single fresh track. Any ideas?
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Some days are good. The rest are a crap shoot. A few weeks ago I got 9 hares out of a 300m by 300m area in well under 2 hours. I went back a week later, spent the whole day there - still tons of fresh tracks everywhere - and only got 2 of them, both of which were so well-hidden under logs/brush that I was very lucky to have spotted them. I had to send my daughter down into a labyrinth of deadfall to retrieve one of them, it was in so deep.

It's just the way it goes. I consider myself a pretty experienced and capable hare hunter, but I can't claim that I have completely figured them out.

One thing I do use, with about 70% accuracy, is the solunar calendar. Sometimes it is just plain wrong, but more often it is a pretty good indicator.

Also, more often than not, sunny days are good.
 
ironsighter said:
Some days are good. The rest are a crap shoot. A few weeks ago I got 9 hares out of a 300m by 300m area in well under 2 hours. I went back a week later, spent the whole day there - still tons of fresh tracks everywhere - and only got 2 of them, both of which were so well-hidden under logs/brush that I was very lucky to have spotted them. I had to send my daughter down into a labyrinth of deadfall to retrieve one of them, it was in so deep.

It's just the way it goes. I consider myself a pretty experienced and capable hare hunter, but I can't claim that I have completely figured them out.

One thing I do use, with about 70% accuracy, is the solunar calendar. Sometimes it is just plain wrong, but more often it is a pretty good indicator.

Also, more often than not, sunny days are good.
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Can you elaborate on that one? Which days are good vs bad?
 
dand883 said:
Can you elaborate on that one? Which days are good vs bad?
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Usually the calendar app itself will indicate which days are good and what times of the day are good. I used to use the one included on my Garmin GPS ("Hunt/Fish Calendar"), but then I lost the GPS and haven't replaced it yet, so now I use two different apps on my Android tablet. One is called "SolunarCast" and the other is called "Fishing Times Free". They don't always agree with each other (which is odd because they are both supposed to be based on the phases of the moon and the position of the sun/moon in the sky, etc.)

The one on my Garmin GPS was better than either app, as far as I'm concerned, but none of them is 100% accurate. So much depends on local weather, presence of predators, luck, etc. etc. but as I said I think about 70% of the time it is a pretty good indicator of animal activity. In other words, about 7 out of 10 times that I have limited out (or did really well) on hares, the solunar forecast was "good" or "excellent". I used it all fall for deer as well, and it was right more often than it was wrong.
 
I use something I call the weekday/weather calendar: if it's Saturday or Sunday and the weather is good - barring other commitments - I go hunting :)
 
looch said:
I use something I call the weekday/weather calendar: if it's Saturday or Sunday and the weather is good - barring other commitments - I go hunting :)
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I do exactly the same thing, I just check the solunar calendar every time before I go so I can make a mental note of whether it is correct or not. :)

Over the last few seasons, I have learned that it is OK to be cautiously optimistic if the calendar predicts a good day. ;)

Also, if Saturday appears to be a better day than Sunday, I might choose to hunt Saturday and take the kids skiing on Sunday, rather than the other way around.
 
Used to hunt them in winter on snowshoes with dogs years ago, N/E of Huntsville, ON.

As a means of improving my shooting at running game, instead of the usual shotgun or 22 repeater, I loaded some
"target" loads in 44mag with 8 gr. of Unique & cast "Keith" SWC's and used the deer rifle. Quite succesful on the hares
and boosted confidence greatly in shooting deer ahead of the hounds in the fall.
 
I freaking twisted by left knee about five weeks ago while pushing into a frozen boggy area that I would normally ignore because of the very rough and uneven ground.
Has left me taking it real easy as I want to be able to work. Nice to see that others enjoy this virtually free outdoor pursuit.

Get a few for me Ironsighter!
 
beretta boy said:
Used to hunt them in winter on snowshoes with dogs years ago, N/E of Huntsville, ON.

As a means of improving my shooting at running game, instead of the usual shotgun or 22 repeater, I loaded some
"target" loads in 44mag with 8 gr. of Unique & cast "Keith" SWC's and used the deer rifle. Quite succesful on the hares
and boosted confidence greatly in shooting deer ahead of the hounds in the fall.
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I've been reading about the 30 cal / 10gr of Unique load. Wouldn't mind using it in my 30/30 with a regular deer-load in the tube to be ready for coyote.
 
I'm going out cotton tail hunting this weekend. This has been a great thread full of advice for the novice. Thanks guys.
 
Brutus said:
I freaking twisted by left knee about five weeks ago while pushing into a frozen boggy area that I would normally ignore because of the very rough and uneven ground.
Has left me taking it real easy as I want to be able to work. Nice to see that others enjoy this virtually free outdoor pursuit.

Get a few for me Ironsighter!
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Sorry to hear about your injury. Get well soon.

I had a pretty spectacular wipe-out w/faceplant up at Sun Peaks last weekend and stretched/tweaked nearly every muscle in my neck and upper body (or at least it felt that way). Growing old sucks.

Getting back to normal now so planning to nail a few hares this weekend. I'll definitely tell a few "this one's for Brutus", if I find any.
 
I went out on Sunday and got 6 hares between 9 and noon.

The snow was so deep and fluffy I was almost up to my knees in it even with my snowshoes on. Burning calories like crazy.
 
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