We took off yesterday with the side by side and a handful of guns. Lee, who is like a brother, and I are so crippled up, we can't hardly walk. Lee has been battling cancer and all the residue of cancer treatments and their negative effects to the body.

Me, I am waiting for 3 surgeries to get done to try and get back to some normality in my own life. One of the surgeries being a total knee, so my mobility was almost none. We were certainly a pair to draw to.

We have probably shot more cottontails than coyotes have killed over the years and this time of year is always our favorite hunting. Big game season is just a primer for the rest of the winter chasing cottontails.

I took a Beretta CX-4 Storm, A Colt SAA first generation in 44-40, A Whitney Kennedy SRC in 44-40, a Whitney Kennedy SRC in 45-60 and a Heckler and Koch P-7 M13.

Neither of us walked much at all. I was able to get at least one rabbit with each gun. It is hard to reconcile with the aging and conditions that contribute to your inability to be as mobile as you were just a few years ago...

Awesome story and pics

Damn!

You guys did good!




Travis

Very Cool!

I was on the western slope of the Lost River Range this week (cow hunt) and ran into a BUNCH of rabbits. Pygmies, cotton tails Jacks and even saw 7-8 big Snowshoe Hares.

Really considering going back just to bust rabbits.

Almost everything was a drive by shooting. By the time we got out of the side by side, most of the rabbits were gone. In the old days, we would have had close to 30 bunnies...

Your Pard is packing my favorite rifle.

I'm a big fan of staying in the truck.




Travis

I was going to start a post about rabbits two days ago,but couldn't get my wife to download the pictures(I'm not smart enough)!Maybe now that you've started the post,I'll get'm done. Looks like you boys had a good time. memtb

Problem with it is it just isn't as fast as my lightning...

Thanks again for sharing

Hunting by big timber this year I saw dozens of rabbits every day deer hunting. It was weird the number of rabbits I kicked up.

Another very cool gun.

Those are the days to live for, great job.

When you cook them up I'd like to see your preferred method, guys that thump a bunch of rabbits usually get the most creative and tasty results.

Thanks John

Shrap, Thanks for sharing. Nice looking guns, especially the lightning!

One word of caution, rabbit fever is supposedly making a comeback and confirmed cases have been reported in Wyoming. I have yet to hear of any in Montana or Idaho but be careful when handling/cleaning bunnies.

Yeah,

I would just HATE to have to slum that Lightning.

I kinda like chasing bunnies:




BTW Shrap,

What kinda guy shoots rabbits with combat handguns? Sheesh!

It isn't just shooting the rabbits, it is about shooting them in the head. Anyone that just shoots cottontails and doesn't eat them, isn't any better than a poacher...

Delicious Cottontails!

Normally I don't shoot them. Only when I am hungry.

I agree to both parts. I only shoot cotton tails to eat. Jacks are another story.

Head shooting bunnies!?!

Nevah been dun befo!

Model 29:

Ok I think I am getting rabbit fever! Only one cure!




So this is one of those fluke shots. A pard and I came back to the truck after yet another unsuccessful coyote set, and saw a rabbit way out there. I told my bud that I was going to "shoot that jack in the head". Used my Glock .45. I used his big old Jack ears as a guide and dropped him. My buddy was saying all sorts of things about being a show off.

I walked out and lasered back to the truck. 63 yards, and sure enough, right in the grape. Needless to say I acted like it was no biggie, which I was quite surprised about the luck shot.

We saw a few more Jacks that day, but I did not shoot at them. If (when) I missed a couple of rabbits at 15-20 yards, it would take the steam out of the lucky one. My buddy still believes I can do that kind of shooting any time I want. Why spoil it with the truth?

Hey Shrap, you know shooting bunnies that are not on the run is no better than shooting grouse in a tree...


One must wear a expensive vest with a spaz dog, a custom fit shotgun and have an air of pretentiousness, while wing shooting.


Or just use a rifle :

Had fried rabbit the last two nights for supper! Did so good on them before hunting season, now that its over I think I might go back for more.....

I musta missed the memo too....

Nothing wrong with eating jacks. There's a lot more to them and they're just as good.

You guys know how to have fun and that's what I'm all about! Take care Shrap, hope all goes well with the sergery.

Son of a gun can sure grow a beard fast.

This is a pretty good year for rabbits in Colorado too. Best I've seen it in years. One of my sons and I went out a couple weeks ago and had no trouble shooting our limits in short order.

We used a few to make Shenandoah Valley rabbit casserole, a recipe I got from a Marlin magazine ad back in the 70's or 80's. That's been my favorite recipe for rabbits ever since.

Shenandoah Valley rabbit casserole

Here's the recipe:

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/d2po7cp/shenandoah-valley-rabbit-casserole.html

Ingwe,

I was making fun of a poster on here on only shows up to agitate, especially for political reasons. He took Shrap to task for not wing shooting birds. I don't have anything polite to say about the person, so I will leave it at that.

Personally I cannot recall the last time I did not use a rifle or handgun on a grouse. Shooting from the bottom to top, out of the trees.

Yep paddler is on the stupid side of the idiot gauge.

That's it! Laurrapin good!

Oops, you must have missed the whole story...

Shrapnel,

I took these pictures three days ago and intended to post them. We have about 3 1/2 acres of yard and this is what most of it looks like. These tracks were accumulated over seven days (last snow). Should be able to harvest 10-15 and never leave the yard.
- memtb

They are here in my yard. Six or 8 in back and three or four out front.

Cookie is rather fond of them and I'll be in deep stuff if I ait them out. This one is named the Doug Fir Bunny.

It is obvious this may be the biggest year for rabbits in a long time. All that 7 year cycle stuff is good for bedtime stories and superstitious people that believe in that...

There's good and bad in my job.
On the bad side I do rabbit control for a roading project and we're not allowed to shoot on site so I have to poison them and gas the burrows.
On the good side I do rabbit and bird control for our local airport and we're allowed to shoot anything any time there.
There's Rabbits, Mallards, Pheasants, Geese, Paradise Ducks, even the odd Swan. All of them have to be shot with a suppressed .22 rifle.
We did one rabbit control job locally where we were night shooting on an old wild life safari park with the big high fences.
We walked through one gate and shone the spotlight onto a hill face covered in rabbits. I shot through a box of .22 shells without moving more than ten feet. I'd empty a mag, drop it and pop in a new one then shine the light back where I'd just dropped 5 or 6 rabbits and there'd be another 5 or 6 sitting there.
We walked one hill and ended up groping our way back to the gate along the fence because it was too dangerous to walk in the open because of all the BIG burrows. We went back in day light and I got a photo of myself waist deep in a burrow. I stood looking at a bare eroded face about 4 feet high and maybe 8 feet across and there were 10 holes burrowed into it.
We suggested on that job they get in touch with the council and get a team in to shoot, gas and poison because at our rates they'd spend $10000 and still have rabbits every where.

Maarty, What you need is some coyotes,foxes,wolves,and some cats! Of course,introducing animals not indigenous can open a "whole new can of worms"! Much like the introduction of rabbits! I guess you just can't win.Maybe you just need to get a lot more .22's,and make the best of a bad situation! memtb

I wouldn't complain about most of those being introduced, it'd give me something else to charge people for shooting lol.
I love getting paid for doing what I enjoy

Kinda miss rabbit huntin, doesn't seem to be an abundance in this area.

Usta go as a kid and sometimes only take 3 bullets and try to come home with three rabbits.

Big year for cottontails in western Colorado for sure. I can hardly get out of the driveway without running over one.

I suppose you just shot those rabbits sitting there on the ground, without waiting for them to flush- very unsporting of you. And those clothes? How uncivilized. Paddler would have a conniption.

Guilty on all accounts. I have always been an opportunist and that has been good for me...

I don't know about That! Shraps' about the best dressed bunny hunter I've ever seen, at least here in Montana. No clashing colors and always the appropriate accouterments for the work at hand, coolest foogin' blasters as usual. Havn't seen an HK P7 in years.

Just got in.

17 Jacks with my rifle, 5 with a new (to me) .45 handgun.


LOTS of them running when I was withing 75 yards. Very skittish. Must have heard that Shrap was out and about.

pics after a while.

I would looooove to get into a pile of jacks.





Travis

I doubt I shot at anywhere close to 1 in 5. Conservatively saw 90-110+. You shoot at one, and four more would be hauling Hare through the sage.

I could have cheated and used a shotgun for the closer ones flying through the brush, but rifle/handgun shooting them is too much fun. Had one running directly away from me. Hammered him. Noted the skid/trail o blood was long.

measured 8 paces/yards before he came to a stop..

My mannnnn! Exactly how its supposed to be done!


Had an uncle in Pennsylvania that was a devout ruffed grouse hunter with his little Chas. Daly SxS 20 ga.....he counted " flushes" etc.
Ran into a gaggle a few years back and all i had with me was a 4" Colt diamondback in .22

I couldn't remember back then if the limit was three or five, so I split the difference and shot four with the Colt.

Told my uncle about it...I think that was the heart attack that killed him....

Thanks! Just printed that off...gotta try it!

So... ummm.... what's your schedule lookin' like the next few weeks, Mackay.





Travis

I was looking to see how far he is away myself. Jack rabbits are made for blasting, I could warm up a barrel or two chasing them through sagebrush...

There might be a couple left....

Road trip.

Good to see that Smith Mackay.



Travis

Outstanding shoot there Mackay!!!!!

A road trip to slay jacks is never a bad idea!


I am liking the big Smith more than anticipated.

I wish that the Jack's would make a comeback here in Wyo. When I first moved to Kemmerer,WY. in 1985, there seemed to be thousands. Now, at least in this area,they're scarce as hen's teeth. Seems that they virtually disappeared in the early 90's. memtb

We don't have all that many around here but the numbers are up this year.



Rode by this goofball at about 20 yards on my horse.


Buddy was riding about 50 yards away and laughed when I took a pic.



I get a kick out them but could also see were they could be a pest.


Does anyone want to trap beaver?

You can't shoot the one rabbit up there but damn the beavers need to die!

Plenty for rabbit fricassee.

Shotguns! some sport, you need centerfires, no 22's and shoot them on the run...

Good luck with that, we kick 'em up in the briar and multi-flora rose patches were you need a shot pattern.