Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game How is the cottontail hunting this fall..

Rabbits, a pack of beagles, a 20 gauge and a kid is a good time. Brings back a lot of fond memories. My neck of the woods have changed dramatically since I was a kid. The farms, brushy woodlots, grown up fence rows have been bulldozed into swanky subdivisions. The habitat is gone. Most of those few family farms that are left are now cattle pastures. There's no habitat, food and protection from predators is hard to find for rabbits and quail.

Rabbits are still scarce but i saw one last night . I trapped 17 coons this year in hopes to help the rabbit numbers. When the coons are gone the fox and coyotes come around . At least the bunnies have been leaving my little oak trees alone.

My teenage son and I spent half a day tracking them through fresh snow in the sage of Western Colorado.

They are sparse, but enough to keep it interesting.

The kid missed two with his 22lr.

We had fun.

If we'd of had shottys, 4 or 5 would have likely been in the bag.

We have walked a few up, ran the beagle dogs on a few more.

Rabbit numbers aren’t what they use to be here is the general consensus, however there’s enough around to keep a guy kicking brushpiles every now and then.

It’s nice to hunt with the bird guns once in a while since our grouse and quail are long gone.

No cottontails here, but the varying hares are about to explode any time now. A hundred miles NE and they are thick. It is incredible when conditions collide and the numbers blow up.

Made a quick trip to Iowa and MI a month ago. Cottontails everywhere we went. Saw dozens in just a few days but we were too busy looking for those gaudy ringnecks!