Rabbit Hunting near Wiarton (Ontario)

Garaldtao said:
I am just on the other side of OS and I am finding a lot of droppings and remains from when coyotes get a hold of one. All signs indicate that there is a healthy population. When the season arrives, I push along the bush line and or along streams or established paths. Hares are creature of habit and will use the same pathway for regular feedings.

FYI... I believe rabbit season in this area do not begin for another month and a half so stay on your family property and when the season begins, if you are hunting on crown land, you can not use anything larger than a 16 gauge to hunt small game in Ontario. Wiarton is a beautiful area... sounds like your aunt and uncle have the right idea. Best of luck.
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Garaldtao said:
Sorry, i mean 10... Too late in the evening. Lol
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Whew you had me going for a second! Lol
 
Garaldtao said:
..... if you are hunting on crown land, you can not use anything larger than a 16 gauge to hunt small game in Ontario.
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Not true. The only firearm restrictions for small game are these:

Firearms
If you are hunting small game in an area where there is an open season for deer, moose, elk, or black bear, you may not possess or use a rifle of greater muzzle energy than 400 foot-pounds or shells loaded with ball or with shot larger than No. 2 shot (non-toxic equivalents include steel shot larger than triple BBB, or bismuth larger than double BB), unless you possess a valid licence to hunt deer, moose, elk or black bear as the case may be. This restriction does not apply south of the French and Mattawa Rivers during an open season for deer that is restricted to the use of bows.
A person hunting small game may not carry or use a rifle of greater calibre than a .275-calibre rifle, except a muzzle-loading gun, in the geographic areas of Brant, Chatham-Kent, Durham, Elgin, Essex, Haldimand, Halton, Hamilton, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Niagara, Norfolk, Northumberland, Oxford, Peel, Perth, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington or York.

So, don't hunt bunnies with your .308 and you'll be fine. :)
 
cdn1canhunt said:
If you like to eat rabbit bring your shotgun..... If you like to hunt rabbits ....a .22 semi auto ia about the most fun hunt a guy can have!
Good luck!
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If you like to eat lead, bring your shotgun..... If you can shoot worth a damn, bring a bolt-action .22WMR and shoot them in the head.

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ironsighter said:
If you like to eat lead, bring your shotgun..... If you can shoot worth a damn, bring a bolt-action .22WMR and shoot them in the head.

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After cleaning all them rabbits, you didn't find that the smell impregnated everything? I cleaned about 30 in one shot, and ugh! My gut churns just thinking about it.
 
Papaclaude said:
After cleaning all them rabbits, you didn't find that the smell impregnated everything? I cleaned about 30 in one shot, and ugh! My gut churns just thinking about it.
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That hasn't been my experience at all. There certainly are some very stinky snowshoe hares out there, and I know that the stinky ones taste much stronger than the others (nearly unpleasant). However, I'm talking maybe 3 or 4 percent of the hundreds that I have shot. I know as soon as I start skinning it whether it is a stinker or not. I still don't know why this is, but I have two theories; 1) disease, 2) bucks, in rut. I don't even know if #2 exists, but I tend to find stinky ones in groups, during specific times of the year (rather than randomly).

Also, I wear gloves when I clean any animal, so my hands don't get stinky no matter what.
 
Sometimes with a gut shot rabbit the stench...well call me crazy but it gets in you some how and when you fart it smells like rabbit guts. Call me crazy, but we swear by it, rabbit gut farts...lol
 
ironsighter said:
That hasn't been my experience at all. There certainly are some very stinky snowshoe hares out there, and I know that the stinky ones taste much stronger than the others (nearly unpleasant). However, I'm talking maybe 3 or 4 percent of the hundreds that I have shot. I know as soon as I start skinning it whether it is a stinker or not. I still don't know why this is, but I have two theories; 1) disease, 2) bucks, in rut. I don't even know if #2 exists, but I tend to find stinky ones in groups, during specific times of the year (rather than randomly).

Also, I wear gloves when I clean any animal, so my hands don't get stinky no matter what.
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It's been so long since I've cleaned one, I can't remember if it was some or all that stunk. I always assumed they all did, but I could be wrong. As far as the strong taste goes, when , I used to snare a lot of them, and they tasted really strong because they had not bled out. Also, they were tough as nails, but a recipe my grandmother gave me was OK. You take a brick that weighs about the same as your rabbit. You bring a pot of water to a boil, with salt, pepper, an onion and a 1/2 clove of garlic. You place the rabbit and the brick in the pot, and simmer until the brick is soft. Then you throw away the rabbit and eat the brick.

Seriously, though, I remember when I was about 12, we decided to cook a rabbit à la Robin Hood. We were out checking our snares and found one that had just died and was not frozen yet, so we cleaned it and made a fire. We spit roasted that puppy, over a very flavourful spruce and balsam fire. This was a Saturday, IIRC. I took my first bite around 3:00 p.m., and after 3 days of chewing, I was able to swallow it. My buddies had the same experience. ANd tasty, wheehoo - gamy , unbled rabbit, cooked over a tarry fire. Mmmmmmm - finger-lickin' good as the colonel would say. Brings back fond memories.
 
ironsighter said:
If you like to eat lead, bring your shotgun..... If you can shoot worth a damn, bring a bolt-action .22WMR and shoot them in the head.

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Nice shooting!
Yep both action works good too! I always used a semi auto cause when my beagle moved them. They are quick little targets. But as Boomer my beagle got bit older and slowed down a bit a I got a bit wiser and stood still. The snowshoes would just hop a few yards and stop and wait........Easy one shot kills

Never bothered with a WMR ......I found a hollow tip .22 rimfire did more than enough to damage to a white bunny!
 
Another super fun way to hunt them is with a muzzleloader. I used a 45 cal. Kentucky rifle, with a round ball and 22 gr. of fffG. You have to make head shots, but they weren't running shots.
 
A great way to soften up tough rabbit is to soak in buttermilk overnight.

I found the best way to cook them was to debone 2 or 3, then cut into 1" cubes,.. Boil rabbit meat just till it turns colour, drain and fry in butter , salt and pepper.

Not many things on this planet taste better than cottontail or snowshoe cooked that way. Imo
 
cdn1canhunt said:
Nice shooting!
Yep both action works good too! I always used a semi auto cause when my beagle moved them. They are quick little targets. But as Boomer my beagle got bit older and slowed down a bit a I got a bit wiser and stood still. The snowshoes would just hop a few yards and stop and wait........Easy one shot kills

Never bothered with a WMR ......I found a hollow tip .22 rimfire did more than enough to damage to a white bunny!
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.17hmr for the win
 
cdn1canhunt said:
Nice shooting!
Yep both action works good too! I always used a semi auto cause when my beagle moved them. They are quick little targets. But as Boomer my beagle got bit older and slowed down a bit a I got a bit wiser and stood still. The snowshoes would just hop a few yards and stop and wait........Easy one shot kills

Never bothered with a WMR ......I found a hollow tip .22 rimfire did more than enough to damage to a white bunny!
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Thanks!

I just like the ballistics of WMR way more than LR. I sometimes reach out to 80 yards or beyond for hares, which is still point blank range. No hold-over or thought required, just point and shoot and no matter what there is going to be at least 150 ft/lbs of energy erasing that bunny's deep thoughts. They are easier to skin when then have half (or more) of their head missing. It typically just pulls right off as you pull their little sweater off.
 
jrcarbine said:
.17hmr for the win
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I considered HMR, but when there's a rush on ammo there's always WMR left for far longer than HMR. Plus, if I ever meet a grumpy wolf or cougar in the middle of January while hunting hares, I'll much rather be throwing 30 or 40 grainers at it than 17.

Head/neck shots only, regardless of what rimfire one chooses. This talk of gut-shot rabbit ... well, should never happen.
 
cdn1canhunt said:
A great way to soften up tough rabbit is to soak in buttermilk overnight.

I found the best way to cook them was to debone 2 or 3, then cut into 1" cubes,.. Boil rabbit meat just till it turns colour, drain and fry in butter , salt and pepper.

Not many things on this planet taste better than cottontail or snowshoe cooked that way. Imo
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I agree that it is all in the way it is prepped and cooked. A good brine can work wonders on hare meat.

Some of my favourite recipes are Hank Shaw's. I highly recommend trying some of these out! http://honest-food.net/wild-game/rabbit-hare-squirrel-recipes/
 
I have a few hundred acres of family property just south east of wiarton snd see tracks and droppings but very few rabbits but I'm not usually there early morning
Sounds like your family has property right beside me ☺
If anyone anyone wants a deer hunting partner for November let me know
It's my first time and I have nobody to go with to teach me some tips and tricks
 
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