Rabbit hunting techniques?

How do you hunt your bunny rabbits?

  • Crash around the bush and flush the buggers out.

    Votes: 78 52.3%

  • Make like Elmer Fudd being vewy vewy quiwet.

    Votes: 50 33.6%

  • Bunnies? Their soft fur scares me.

    Votes: 6 4.0%

  • I don't hunt rabbits, they hunt me.

    Votes: 15 10.1%
  • Total voters
    149
i flush them and shoot with a shotgun (i use a more open choke for a better spread ) or i walk till i find one and shoot it with the .22,bow,slingbow,slingshot with heavy bands and .45 lead balls (what ever im in the mood for)
 
On clear sunny days, cottontails can usually be found basking or grazing on the south side of hills or riversides.

I've had the best luck in mixed forest. Their first instinct is to stop moving so that they are not spotted. Failing that, they will bolt, sometimes only after nearly getting stepped on.

Kicking up brushpiles & whatnot is usually productive. Usually best with a partner to take the shot while you're flushing the critter out.

Briars & thickets are good too. It's nearly impossible to be the flusher & the shooter at the same time, so a partner is best. Place your shooter on the opposite side of the thicket whilst you plow in, call any flushes, and wait for the report.

Obviously when shooting with a partner, brief on fields of fire, and who's shooting & who's flushing. Best to walk line abreast in more open forest. Thicker forest may require the flusher/shooter method.

Since I was 16 I've been blasting bunnies at my friends farm. If I put a notch in my mossberg for every bunny slain, I probably wouldn't have a stock left :D

My preference is #5 or #6 shot with an improved or modified choke (depending on vegetation density). I've tried #7 1/2, but most pellets fail to penetrate adequately. Moving up to #4 or #2 shot is effective, to be sure, but it also bruises a lot of the meat.

For years I hounded the old man to come out with us, and he always had excuses. Finally, one day was perfect, fresh snowfall, clear skies, -10C. I told him no excuses, you're coming with us. Wouldn't you know it, the old bugger outshot the two of us.

Happy hunting!
 
In good rabbit (snowshoe hare) years, me and bunch of friends/relatives would walk in a line through mixed forest regrowth (5-10 years after the cut) spaced about 15-20 yards apart. It was deadly. We had days when we shot so many that we spent hours in the evening in the garage cleaning them up.

Snowshoe predator evasion behaviour is to sneak around and to the back of the predator if they are not detected... but when there's a long string of hunters walking in a line they have nowhere to go. We'd kick every brush pile, every snow covered young conifer, and deadfalls we came across and these were pure gold mines as many other posters have pointed out.

I know how to kill the little buggers but I have yet to find a receipe that makes them pleasant to eat!
 
Went out to the spot where I saw all the sign last weekend. Got there at 7AM (sunrise was 7:59 today) had a coffee until it was light enough to see and set out into the new growth pine.

Took a couple of hours to get the first one, but after that it was like shooting fish in a barrel. I would have stayed to get my daily bag limit of 10 but I had told the wife I would be home around 12-1 and it was already 1:00 and of course no cell service where I was.

5 1/2 hrs walking.......8 Rabbits, twas a good day. Unfortunately 2 were turned into Coyote bait as they had some internal nodules that didn't look to appealing (see other Rabbit thread).

As for a breakdown on how they were spotted/hunted:

3 were spotted running through the trees and then stalked. They obviously heard me coming. (Consider this crashing around bush)

2 were kick and flush from under logs/juniper bush (also 2 got away on me, or rather hid better than I could see after they were flushed).

The remaining 3 I snuck up on, 1 must have been sleeping and heard me (all I spotted was its ears at first), 1 was sitting under a fir tree not going anywhere fast and the last one was sitting in a small clearing trying to make like snow.

Will upload a pic tomorrow, just spent most of the night gutting, skinning and butchering.
 
Jay said:
Dogs...

Cheers
Jay
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Don't forget I have two, only thing is I would have to tie them to a tree while we were looking or we might as well sit at home and drink Beer:rolleyes: they would have them chased out of the country before we had the chance of shooting one. But if we found a place we could spot them from 100 to 200 yds away we could Sniper them instead.:sniper:
Cheers
 
Unfortunately you will have to deal with the crappy cell phone pics since my f**king card reader wont work.

1st one (1 of the shot went right through his eye):
IMG00224-20111219-0938.jpg


First 5 taken from 9-11:
IMG00225-20111219-1128.jpg


All 8 on the back of the truck with my M6 Scout with which they were dispatched:
IMG00229-20111219-1246.jpg



Saw 1 grouse while I was out as well......first one I have seen since the snow fell. Unfortunately Grouse ended Nov 30th or it would have been in the picture as well.....LOL
 
Nice work CyaN1de ! You really did well on the bunnies:) You must have a sweet spot, cause I've never found that many around here in one day! Maybe I'm just not very good at it:) How high out of the valley were you? What kinda cover did you have the best luck in? Hope to see more of your success this winter.
 
leveractionjunkie said:
Nice work CyaN1de ! You really did well on the bunnies:) You must have a sweet spot, cause I've never found that many around here in one day! Maybe I'm just not very good at it:) How high out of the valley were you? What kinda cover did you have the best luck in? Hope to see more of your success this winter.
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HAH....just realised you are from K-town too.

Not sure the elevation up where I was.

FSR had older "new growth" pine on either side with old growth in behind it about 100 yards or so. One side had a small (very small) raveen in it with scrub brush and fallen trees between the new and the old.

Found most in the tighter new pine though (2-4' apart).

Just happened to spot all the tracks the weekend previous and took one out in about 8 minutes at last light so I figured if ther was one, there had to be more in there. One bunny couldn't have made all the tracks and scat itself LOL.
 
Right on CyaN1de, thanks for the description. I have never had much success with these little hares. I go out a few times every winter but never get more than a few each winter.

It's good to see your success, gets me motivated for this winter. Gonna try more replanted cuts this year than the old swamps I've been hunting.

Cheers and Merry Christmas.
 
CyaN1de said:
Reason I asked is that I found a spot that was absolutely littered with rabbit tracks/droppings/etc.

Went for a walk and had 1 within 5 mins while just crashing through the new growth pine (shoulder shot with a 410, only got the hind quarters and the loins......dogs got the front end) I was thinking of going back there for more and wanted to know what methods others use.

Now, after hitting one, what are the chances others will show themselves after the initial gunshot? Slim to none? Should I go to the other side of the road and let the 1st area "relax" for a bit?

Snow galore where these Snowshoe are so they blend in pretty well and I am not very good at picking fly sh1t out of pepper yet. :D
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Just keep hunting and shooting till you get youre limit. Rabbits arent gun shy, they will stay in their form till kicked up. Good luck on youre next venture!...:)
 
7mmlefty said:
Just keep hunting and shooting till you get youre limit. Rabbits arent gun shy, they will stay in their form till kicked up. Good luck on youre next venture!...:)
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Shot at one on the run this weekend (straight away from me) and missed, the bugger stopped about 10' after that and waited for the reload :owned: The one to his right though took off like a shot at the second report, or it may have been just as I was going to fetch the carcass, found out this weekend that they have no clue what the sound is.

leveractionjunkie: send me a PM if you want to go out one day....Saturdays are best for me after the new year.

Richard
 
Some days I take my dog for a run south of Winnipeg along brunkild dike. Easily scurry up 2 dozen white critters over a 4km length. Always wondered if I could bring my 17hmr and harvest a few.
 
7mmlefty said:
Just keep hunting and shooting till you get youre limit. Rabbits arent gun shy, they will stay in their form till kicked up. Good luck on youre next venture!...:)
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Rabbits got LIMITS in Ontario??!!

Next you are going to tell me there is a "Rabbit Hunting Season" and you need a license, right?

Open season all year in my neck of the woods! No license & no limit!:D
 
Lex said:
Rabbits got LIMITS in Ontario??!!

Next you are going to tell me there is a "Rabbit Hunting Season" and you need a license, right?

Open season all year in my neck of the woods! No license & no limit!:D
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One can pretty much use the old British Empire map of Rupert's Land to deliniate the provinces that require rabbit licences/seasons and or limits of some kind, to those that do not, in present day Canada. During these past times, any land north and west of the Manitoba-Ontario border was considered wild frontier.
 
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