Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Banner Year For Rabbits

You guys have lots of fun stuff to do out there. Rivers are high and muddy, the lake is up and muddy it's been so warm no ducks now I have to look at a thread like this,,, as poobs would say,,, your starting to pissee me off... grin

On my last trip, as I said, i killed 20 in an hour and let 4 times that many walk, then, just for the hell of it counted 31 more in my headlights on the two mile drive out of the property.


Last time I saw them like this was the late 70s. my best friend came to visit from Arkansas ( where they use shotguns and beagles...) He was quite an accomplished shot so I gave him my 4" Colt Diamondback, told him " Head shots only" cause I wanted to eat them, and turned him loose. he was back in 1.5 hours with 31 rabbits...all head shot with the handgun.

I have killed hundreds and hundreds of rabbits and never once, used a dog. This is the best example of hunting a person can find anywhere. If you go elk hunting, you hunt much the same, spotting and getting to where you can make a calculated shot to the head.

Once you pull the trigger, it isn't over like elk hunting, you just put your game in the bag and keep on hunting. Also not like elk hunting you can do it day after day, all winter...

We have a few more rabbits this year but nothing like that. My son and I went out the back and shot 2 the other day in about 15 minutes. We only have a few acres in the back yard though but it is prime rabbit land. We planted a lot of spruce trees , pines and have a lot of Red Dogwood,, and grass. I think the reason is cause I trapped 23 coons this summer. I'm sure coons get a lot of baby rabbits in the nest in summer. I also chase the hawk out of the oak tree in the back so it won't kill my chickens. Shrapnel, what do you think made the rabbit numbers go up so much? Hawk die off, coyotes get mange? We use shotguns most of the time. When we use 22's the rabbits run like crazy and dont stop. When we use shotguns they run 10' and sit there and look at you every time. We ate them last night. They were so good I can't believe it. I put them in the Dutch oven, with flower on them, put some onions and beacon in there too. After browning them we put in Red Wine Viniger and chicken broth. It was better than out home grown chickens and that is saying a lot.

i, sounds like a great way to cook the little guys.. Our numbers are up also.. I was taking a ride this am, and pulled into a stack yard looking to pop a jack or coyote.. At least a dozen cottonbunnies sat sunning themselves in the warm afternoon.. I will be back!! Some will come home with me..

What would I do to live out west. There are years you can walk miles and not kick up a rabbit. Was a time we could go up to northern WIs. and get a few snowshoes. Not anymore. I have not seen a snowshoe in 8 or 9 years. Pheasants are rare as hens teeth too. Was a time ya could go and kick up some roosters. Not anymore. If ya see one it is planted by the DNR. Grouse up north, that we still have. Turkeys too. I would not be surprised if turkey also came by and ate baby rabbits and also will eat pheasant eggs if they find them. A chicken will eat a baby mouse , I know. No reason all these turkeys won't kill baby rabbits and pheasant eggs.

I don't believe in the 7 year cycle theory. I have hunted rabbits for decades and never seen any sign of that being true. Certainly there are up years and down years, but as far as the cycle goes, I haven't witnessed anything that would confirm a 7 year cycle.

Predators are a serious component in the equation, as well as harsh living conditions that will impact rabbit mortality by disease, parasites and weather. I believe that all the variables are so unpredictable in the final determination of the survival numbers, that a year like this will usually be accompanied by years on either side with high numbers before a real decline will affect the rabbits.

This is not a cycle as much as residual effect from all the variables that can cause high/low rabbit numbers that have no bearing on a time basis as much as conditions...

Nice shooting Shrap.
A guy needs to get out in that open country more, the Flathead is nice but sometimes all the trees get a little tight on view.
Those the Crazies in the background?

Did I mention we did find some sign of rabbits....

Are people in general frowned upon for using a beagle or three in the Western states?

You're nearly overrun with rabbits!
Are you gearing up for a boom in coyote numbers following the bunny explosion?

I am not patient enough to call coyotes and wait for them. Rabbits are shootable as soon as you get there and you don't have to be quiet about it. The best coyote callers won't get 50 in a morning either. Shooting from a helicopter may change the coyote take, and I would certainly be willing to try that...

I just don't see how beagles could help when you have this kind of success. Shooting running rabbits with a shotgun is like shooting grouse that fly. Shot on the ground, you can head shoot them and eat what's left without picking shot out of your food. You can see this load of rabbits are head shot and lots left for the frying pan...

A lot of it is the fun of watching the dogs do what comes naturally, less about bringing home lots of game.

Just different strokes for different folks.

Might have already been asked, whats the limit on cottontails?

We could have gotten 100 more and still not shot over our limit. We don't hunt to watch dogs, we hunt to shoot rabbits...

In your part of the world, hunting rabbits the way you do, works very well...

But, where I live, you would do good to get 1 or 2 rabbits a day. Using dogs, we sometimes strike out... but sometimes we get a limit (8 per person), and get to hear/watch the dogs run.

I guess running dogs is just something you have to grow up with, to enjoy.

Fun Times, with a possible bad prediction, if that's the case here, I'll be doing double duty keeping the. 'long-eared trimmers' shot outta Wifeys garden come this Spring and Summer.

I'm with Shrap and don't really buy into the 7 year cycle thing...but concurrent with that usually after a high numbers year, things crash back down to almost zero.....and Im hoping Im wrong about that, cause I'll be looking forward to next fall....BTW: Bunnies in the crock pot right now, with a sherry/ portabello mushroom sauce for supper!

In the infamous words of our buddy ET:

YOU LUDICROUS-TURBO SUKKK!!!

It's not so much that it is frowned upon as it is just a totally different activity out here.

A dog is totally unnecessary as evidenced by shrapnel's pictures.

I know out east you may find four rabbits in four miles so dogs help. But it's not that sort of activity out here.



Travis