Funny that you bring this up because I haven’t thought about this topic for 40+ years. When I was a little boy my grandpa and I were real close and we’d spend all summer traveling across the country. Grandma and grandpa had decided to buy property in Apache Junction Arizona so we started spending a lot of time there, especially spring and summer. I was always into guns, hunting, fishing and everything outdoor related with my earliest memories of shooting BB guns and archery. I had a bolt action 22 that mom and dad bought me for Christmas when I was 9 and that’s what I toted in the desert around Apache Junction for rabbits. I had read about cottontails screaming and I absolutely dreaded that. I literally stayed awake at nights fearing a bad shot and having to hear them scream. I spent more time practicing with my 22 kicking a ball and hitting it on the move like a fleeing rabbit. Finally the day came that I was comfortable enough with my shooting that I committed myself to giving the rabbits a shot(pun intended). I started out on the desert trail about 7am, the desert in the springtime is magical with everything being a wonderful assault on all your senses. I had only been on the trail for a couple minutes when the first cottontail flushed behind me and to the left. I instinctively swung and fired hitting the cottontail in the head and instantly killing it. I was PROUD of my first shot and decided to collect the rabbit on my way back to grandpa and his truck unless a coyote or something came along in which case I’d use the rabbit as bait for a bigger trophy. Over the next several hours I proceeded to kill 4 more cottontails all with head shots and not a peep out of them. I killed several big jackrabbits and other assorted desert vermin including a decent sized rattler but for some reason it was the scream of a cottontail that worried me. 😂
On my way back to grandpa and the truck I slowly approached the site of my first cottontail kill hoping to see a coyote or bobcat eating it. I crawled over the little rise to peek into the small wash where the dead rabbit was and I couldn’t believe my 12 year old eyes….there were 3 cottontails eating their buddy. I threw my rifle up and set the iron site on one of the little cannibals and it looked up at me with a bloody face…the 3 rabbits looked demonic with the blood of their fallen comrade staining their cute cuddly furry little faces. I killed 1 of the demon cannibals and kept returning to the site hoping for something bigger but that was it. I never worried about them screaming ever again after that surprisingly gruesome encounter…😂
Great story. Thanks.
Never a cottontail but when younger ive made a few whitetails holler.
