Hunting rabbits?

I see them all over the neighborhood running around late at night. Easy to spot, but can't hunt them here.

Where I hunt (a 60 acre farm couple of hours away) I haven't really seen any. Guess I should try look for tracks
 
Found em!

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Here in NE Alberta they tend to prefer heavy bush with lots of overheard cover to keep them safer from owls. The thicker the cover, the more they are apt to use it as a safer place to hide.

It's much harder hunting them alone as they can avoid the lone hunter more readily, by merely keeping some distance between you and them and they likely to run in a wide circle to stay away from your gun while keeping to their home range. If you are lucky enough to push them towards the edge of more open clearings, near their territory boundary, sometimes you will have a chance for a quick shot when they hesistate before moving.
This can vary a lot, because if they have been pressured more frequently they tend to just outright run at the first sign of danger. Deeper and softer snow makes movement harder but helps somewhat to silence the hunter's approach, and betrays thier sign more readily. Take the shots as they come, but only shoot if it's safe to do so, then keep shooting until you see them flip and their little yellowish feet turn skywards. Easily seen against the white snow backdrop. Number 7 1/2 shot works just fine with more open chokes the better choice. Any 22 LR that you can hit with will do just fine too. Better to keep to head shots. Shooting distances tend to be very close in dense forest, less then 20 yards is normal, about ten yards or even less, more often then not.

It's just common sense in this thicker cover to always be careful and protect your eyes from whipping branches. Neck warmers are invaluable not only to keep you warm, but to prevent the damn snow fall from the tree branches from going down your neck!
 
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Oh yeah, me an Brutus there spent some quality time workin' on our "serial Killer" status among the Cold Lake varying hare population.

I like my .22, do a lot of walk slowly, stand and look, pretty soon you develop an eye for them. Watch at the bases of trees and on their trails.

For a good rule of thumb,have you ever seen a video of someone crowd surfing at a concert? If you are in bush that will not hold you up if you dive across it, you probably are not in thick enough bush. Seriously! Get into the ugliest nastiest brush that you can find, go deep, get dirty! :)
It's where they live! You won't find them where they don't.

Cheers
Trev
 
look for trails... easy to see in fresh snow
- look for downed popular trees... they nibble on the green bark

taste better than chicken !!!
 
trevj said:
If you are in bush that will not hold you up if you dive across it, you probably are not in thick enough bush. Seriously! Get into the ugliest nastiest brush that you can find, go deep, get dirty! :)
It's where they live! You won't find them where they don't.

Cheers
Trev
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My experience hunting snowshoe hares ages ago in Cold Lake, AB (Medley, actually) matched this description of habitat perfectly, however I have much more experience here in interior BC and I have found hares in lots of different habitat here. Sometimes it is very much like what Trev described, but much more often I find them in more human-friendly habitat, with shooting ranges anywhere from 5 yards to over 80 yards. .22WMR is my choice. Head/neck shots only.

It really depends a lot on the species and the area. Hard to give advice when we don't know where you are and what species you are trying to hunt.

Now that every other season closed (and I only got 1 deer), I'll be heading out for hares pretty-much every weekend from now till end of Apr.
 
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Predator numbers way up here. Six weeks ago the black bears were still kicking about. After the cold really set in, the coyotes came out to play. And about the time of the deer rut, now the wolves own the woodlands.

All the little forest critters seem to be in a constant state of code red hereabouts.
 
Haven't hunted rabbits in years because the coyotes cleaned them all out. Not likely rabbits or the methodology in hunting them has changed much. First find thick bush, reforestration pines are perfect, or whatever is local as long as it has rabbits in it. If you have snow walk around and see where there trails are coming in and out of that thick bush and put a man at each of those trails, where he can see a bit and shoot. On the opposite side of that bush put a beagle in on a track or you or a friend or all three depending on bush size. The rabbits will flush out the opposite end on there trails and your fellow hunters should get action. Keep in mind rabbits run in a circle if the dog puts one up and its missed hold tight the dog will bring it back around to you.

I am speaking of snowshoe rabbits here, jacks are a whole different story.

This was a Saturday morning tradition for us many years ago. I won't tell you how many rabbits 4 guys and a beagle could get on a Saturday as most fellas these days would not believe it.
 
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Rabbits aren't all the same. I've hunted snowshoe hare, white tailed jack rabbit, and cottontail, and they all have quite different habits. In winter tracks are the best indication of rabbit opportunities, but be aware that many of the tracks you will see were made at night when they are feeling more secure in wide open spaces. They will be nearby, but daytime resting areas are usually in heavy cover for snowshoe hare and cottontails, and some in sort of grassy / brushy break or field edge in the more open prairie land that jacks live in. Finding what they are eating helps quite a bit too. Look for gnawed saplings for the first two, Jacks feed on other foods too, so it's not so simple.
 
mrgoat said:
Haven't hunted rabbits in years because the coyotes cleaned them all out. Not likely rabbits or the methodology in hunting them has changed much. First find thick bush, reforestration pines are perfect, or whatever is local as long as it has rabbits in it. If you have snow walk around and see where there trails are coming in and out of that thick bush and put a man at each of those trails, where he can see a bit and shoot. On the opposite side of that bush put a beagle in on a track or you or a friend or all three depending on bush size. The rabbits will flush out the opposite end on there trails and your fellow hunters should get action. Keep in mind rabbits run in a circle if the dog puts one up and its missed hold tight the dog will bring it back around to you.

I am speaking of snowshoe rabbits here, jacks are a whole different story.

This was a Saturday morning tradition for us many years ago. I won't tell you how many rabbits 4 guys and a beagle could get on a Saturday as most fellas these days would not believe it.
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You should consider yourself very lucky that you have this history of tradition.
Since Trevor left for further west of here, it's nearly impossible to interest anyone in the same.

When you hunt them alone, there is a slender chance you might see one trying to out circle you.
Lots of runners way out there and very few hiders in close.
 
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