Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game Anybody else not seeing any rabbits?

Seems the rabbits around here have been on the low swing of the cycle for the last 5 years, anybody else not seeing any?

I dunno maybe the guys around here are giving their beagles PEDs.

Have a pal in Clearfield Co. He said they are really scare in his area.. Have to check with a couple other contacts I have.. If I remember..

I'm not a rabbit hunter but I see very few around while deer hunting these days. I'm pretty sure the coyotes have really taken a toll.

Got a bunch in town, but haven't seen seen one, in years, where I deer and squirrel hunt.

Numbers are down here as well. Trappers are a dying/dead breed, too many predators equal few rabbits.

I was out for an early morning hunt this morn, with fresh snow very few cottontail tracks. May ride up the creek this evening last winter they were thick up there..

Plenty of em in my AO this year...
We also have an overabundance of Squirrels....seems like there's two or three in every tree on my place....
I don't hunt em but I may have to start..maybe I better head over to the cooking forum for some recipes....

No population problems in SW Ohio. My buddy runs beagles mostly in Lancaster County and is having a great season on the bunnies.

FG, pretty much any rabbit recipe will work on squirrels.

Been years since I've seen any where I can hunt, or even traks in the snow.

My yard is well supplied, though.

Took a ride up the creek last evening.. Not agodd evening windy cold, cloudy but I did see three bunny sitting near the hay stacks. So we have some.

Field, Fox squirrels?

Probably because of the drought, but this year has been terrible so far. I've killed 13 squirrels and 1 rabbit for 2-1/2 months of the season. Stayed in the woods 5 hours today and saw NOTHING. Not even birds hopping around, just me and the trees.

Friends of mine in Wva have beagles, we usually jump more deer than rabbits.

I see very few in the areas I hunt. A few at our farm around the barn and sheds but not out in the woods or along the creek. Too many raptors, fox, and coyotes I think. Lots of owls this year, more than I usually see.

Only have seen 1 set of tracks this year in my area. Plenty of fox/coyote tracks though. However, in central WY this year we saw quite a few.

Quite a few in IA this year but not as many as last year-which was a banner year. That was also my experience in north-central WY this year. Last year they were under every bush.

...how many do you see dead on the road anymore? When I was a a kid in Connecticut dead rabbits were everywhere. I rarely went hunting and didn't come home with a couple. Used to see them in the backyard all the time at my parents and now rarely see one.

Here in NH the rabbit hunting was great till 1993...once the coyote moved in and the birds of prey came back I have not seen a cottontail since...and rarely a snowshoe.

Same with woodchucks, grouse and anything else that lives on the ground including deer.

Until State F&G departments declare total war on coyote and free roaming dogs and cats you will never see small game again in New England...

Bob

Farm chemicals.See or hear many whip poor will's,crickets,frogs or lightning bugs?

haven't jumped a rabbit in a few years while in the woods hunting, see one at night occasionally along the road while driving .

Set of tracks in the (rare) snow yesterday morning across my driveway. I live in the middle of a big city but have squirrels and rabbits galore. We hunt rabbits from January to the end of February in the rural counties surrounding Charlotte and probably average running a half dozen or so rabbits per hunt.

Does not matter the time of day, in town or on the prairie if you look around every place you think a rabbit should be holding , there is usually one if not two there. My main spot is drifted in and hard to get to right now. but I am gonna make a dent in the population in a couple of draws when I get the chance........
One bunny was huddled up by my front door as I left for church this morning.

I dont see them much on public land. I do however love rabbit hunt'n . I have about 2.5 ac. in my back yard that I made rabbit habitat. SO far so good. Brush, spruce trees, high grass, piles of branches everywhere. After 10 yrs it has gotten better every year. This year there are so many rabbit track I thought I was back in the 70's. Although we only got 2 this yr I could get more and will push to shoot more rabbits cause yesterday I noticed fox tracks . This morning , more fox tracks. Wont be long I will see rabbit hair all over so I get them or the fox will. Three yrs ago I declared war on the coons for getting into my chicken coop. I trapped 18 , the next yr , 23 , and last summer, 18. That is 59 coons in 3 yrs . Now I have more rabbits with good brush. I love eating rabbit. It is bette than my home brewed chickens.

[b][/b] My house is on the hillside overlooking a valley. On the hillside there were always plenty of quail and cottontails. Not today, it's a rare sight to find any. I may have taken care of the problem though. From mid December (2016) to mid January (2017) I killed two coyote and four bobcats from my backyard patio!

Very scarce here in ks have been declining for the last 10 years.There is 3 red tails to 1 cottontail plus way too many farm chemicals.

I have seen 1 cottontail all season, and that is counting the dozens upon dozens of times I have been out in the woods deer/squirrel hunting. The arrival of coyote in this region is where I am placing the blame.

Plan on trying to hit those nasty pests hard once squirrel season is through, but they are just so darn hard to hunt in a heavily wooded region, IMO.

I hunt central NY and I use to run rabbits almost nonstop with my two beagles. But over the last seven years the rabbit population has drastically declined where I hunt. I am not sure why - the 10 year cycle, predators, poor habitat. Take your pick.

My brother, my daughter and I went out this afternoon with my two beagle pups and my brother's two beagles. We did not run a rabbit and saw hardly any tracks in the snow. Very disappointing.