Jackrabbit around Saskatoon

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Shane Derocher

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Meadow Lake, SK
Hello everyone, I'm going to be moving south for work soon and I'm wondering if anyone hunts jackrabbits around Saskatoon? If so which rifle/shotgun do you use? Nothing too explosive as I wouldn't mind trying to BBQ a few of them. I've seen quite a few when I lived in the city before I imagine it's fairly easy to find farmers willing to let me hunt their land around there. Any advice is greatly appreciated
 
Well I don't live in MJ anymore, but I found a 222 to be about near perfect. Suspect the 22 Hornet/223/204 would do equally well. And in certain times of the year with some ground cover, a full choke 12 gauge and heavy shot (BB or larger) was okay if the distance was not too great. This was well before the 17 HMR and in the smaller bores, the 17 Remington was also very good for this task. Head shots only for all.

Ahem, a rarely hunted/pressured jack, after an intial disturbance and short run, will almost always stop, stand up on back legs, turn it's head for one final back look at what disturbed it out to the edge of it's comfortable home territory range.
And much like a NATO spec' hand grenade fuze timing, a good rifleman hunter has about 3-5 seconds for just one good standing still head shot.

done like dinner!
 
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Keep in mind the area immediately around the city (swmz ) is a shotgun only zone meaning shotgun archery muzzle loader and rimfire only. Having said that, head shots on jacks with a 22 are the way to go.
 
Awesome, I do have a full choke shotgun and a .22. I'm really just looking for an excuse to buy a .17 caliber rimfire. I've tried both HMR and WSM kinda leaning towards the latter for making the longer shots. Or buy a new pump 12 gauge, decisions
 
^Savagelh, myself I often found the often frugal mere 22 Long Rifle owner who hunted jacks, rarely spent adequate funds for more energetic ammunition, or were poor varminters (bad long range shots) from the get go.
Resulting in gut shots or just only glancing blows to the head!!
Needless suffering often stops at least with the 22 Magnum/17 HMR, and the rimfire magnum hunter best be picky about his longer shots on hares.

my 2 bits only
 
I used to hunt jackrabbits around here ( 100 KM E of Saskatoon) all the time. They are completely absent from this region now. I haven't seen one in probably three years. I still see a few when hunting upland birds south of Saskatoon, near Outlook and farther south.
I like .22 magnum, .22 hornet, and .222 for jacks. A .223 with stout bullets that don't easily blow up would also be a good choice. Jacks are good eating.
 
So centerfire is only off the table during actual hunting seasons? Might have to pick out a nice pistol caliber lever gun. I'm excited to be a lot closer to actual gun stores it should make it easier to find cheap ammo
 
Longwalker said:
I used to hunt jackrabbits around here ( 100 KM E of Saskatoon) all the time. They are completely absent from this region now. I haven't seen one in probably three years. I still see a few when hunting upland birds south of Saskatoon, near Outlook and farther south.
I like .22 magnum, .22 hornet, and .222 for jacks. A .223 with stout bullets that don't easily blow up would also be a good choice. Jacks are good eating.
Click to expand...

I've been back in SK for 6 years now and finally saw 3 jackrabbits in a field about a month ago. My dad thinks it's been 10+ years since he saw a jackrabbit.

Years ago we used to hunt down around Outlook way for jackrabbits.... hundreds of them.

I always got laughed at as every time I shot a jackrabbit I would cut the back legs off...voila...instant hand warmers! :)
 
Ahem, a rarely hunted/pressured jack, after an intial disturbance and short run, will almost always stop, stand up on back legs, turn it's head for one final back look at what disturbed it out to the edge of it's comfortable home territory range.
And much like a NATO spec' hand grenade fuze timing, a good rifleman hunter has about 3-5 seconds for just one good standing still head shot.

done like dinner![/QUOTE]

We`ve been doing exactly this in southern Manitoba for years.
DF
 
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