Rabbit Hunting

black_bear

black_bear

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Manitoba
I am having trouble finding rabbits, I've gone out for the last 2 years kicking brush piles and walking through the really thick stuff, and glassing fields but I can never find rabbits. I always go walking and kicking brush piles in areas with lots of tracks but never happen to see any. What time are they most active? I am wondering if sitting on the edge of thick bush and an open field in the early morning with a .22 would work..... BTW, I do not have a rabbit dog or access to a rabbit dog.

Any Suggestions?
 
Haven't hunted them for a few years but always did well in new growth coniferous forest areas..... never had any luck till it got a little colder in late November or early December.

Shot one on October 1rst, one year and it was full of fleas. :eek:
 
try fence lines in farmers feild mornign and dusk. always a good idea. also keep an eye out for lynx, owls and other raptors. they go were the bunnies are. usually a good sign of high bunny pop.
 
If you find the tracks they will be there. I am not sure what type of rabbits you are talking about but with cottontails if you can hide a softball in a brush pile you can hide a cottontail. I know you said you do not have a rabbit dog but if you have any dog that is not gun shy and will stay with you take it along, the more noise and activity that is out there the better chance of kicking them up. Be causious though of a dog that ranges ahead, they will kick up the bunnies before you get close enough for a shot. If you are solo and have no chance of getting a dog they like to move early morning and before dark, stay close to where they move and keep your eyes open. I personally would sight your 22 in with low velocity rounds, CB longs will take out a rabbit hit in the head at 25 yards no problem and they have almost no report.

Good luck finding some bunnies
 
I was primarily talking about cottontails but also on the lookout for jacks, I think I will try waiting out in the morning and if that doesn't work then back to kicking brush piles.....

BTW, I usually cut down a few trees for firewood every time out at the cabin, would trimming the branches off and making it into an artificial brush pile work? Also, I've caught cottontails in snares b/f, so I am guessing that the reason they are not seen too much during the day is b/c they are mostly nocturnal?

Thanks.
 
If you make brush piles make them large enough to hold the bunnies but not so big that you cannot get on top of it to scare them out. This may not make sense right now but pay attention to the size of pile the cottontails stay in now and use that as a guide. By far the best way to get them moving is with a friend or two, you may be kicking them out and not even knowing it because of the size of the pile or the direction you are looking at the time. If you have two people you alternate who jumps and who watches.
 
One thing that I've noticed is that rabbits and grouse can be especially active on overcast, drizzly days or before the onset of a storm. If it looks like good day for duck hunting, you might also be pleasantly surprised to jump some rabbits. Presumably they'd be holed up if it were bright and sunny....

Good luck,

Frank
 
i dunno about the rest of u guys but i dont even bother goin out for any rabbits until theres a good snow;) eaiser to see and find where they are and they spook easier as well so ya dont need to beat brush piles as much.
 
Yes, good point, but the snow is finally coming, we just need it to stay! BTW, is it possible to track rabbits if you find some tracks that look fresh, or is this a waste of time? I remember one time I found some rabbit tracks by my cabin, and they looked pretty old, and they led up to this board leaning against a tree and I said 'what the heck' and kicked it just incase, and to my surprise a big snowshoe hare bolted out from under there. Is it normal for them to spend some time in one spot for a period of time? As Beadwindow mentioned, it was a sunny, nice day, too.....
 
Maybe you're too stealthy when you're out walking. If I'm out for bunnies, I purposely make as much noise as I can, cracking sticks and thumping the ground. I don't use a dog so only my noise flushes them out.
 
I just kicked one out last night, but hunting deer with the 6.5x55mm mauser I thought I would make a mess so I did not take it for the pot. Nice big snowshoe, the ears and feet are turning now, not long before you will see white bunnies.
 
How many species of Rabbits are there in Canada .... anybody know?

It's the Varying Hare & the Eastern Cottontail in the East ... what's out west? Any difference in meat quality between the species ... or are they all about the same .....
 
+1 for waiting for the cold aside from waiting until you can more easily see tracks and the color contrast. the less food the more active they will have to be to find food
 
I'd like to start rabbit hunting out by my place, but I'm a first timer and have a couple questions.

Alberta hunting regs state that:
Porcupine, rabbit, hare, skunk, raccoon and woodchuck may be hunted, but not trapped*, without a licence throughout the province, at all times of the year.
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and also that:
It is unlawful, with the following exceptions, to allow the pelt of any furbearing animal to be wasted:
It is not legally necessary to salvage pelts of 1) furbearing animals taken in accordance with regulations authorizing control of problem wildlife, or 2) coyotes harvested, by residents, outside of public lands in the Green Area.
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Does this mean that you must preserve the pelt of a rabbit shot for the pot?

Also, does anyone have a website with illustrated instructions for gutting / skinning a rabbit?

Thanks,
 
I always find "rabbits" magically appear right at that almost dark time. They move most in that period when predators eyes have not fully adapted to the dark or the light depending on PM or AM.

I used to snare 10 -20 aday (caught at night frozen by morning)and only once or twice in 2 years did I see a live hare in daylight on my snare line!
 
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