Favorite Shotgun For Rabbits

Ithaca 37 16ga. for me.

Orig. posted by TimSr:

So sad now that so few rabbits exist.
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You are right TimSr.

Rabbit hunting is nothing like it used to be. The yote 'boom' in Ohio has made quick work of our rabbit population. And has been working hard on the turkey and deer as well. Just no natural predator here for them and nobody traps anymore. The neighbor and I declared war on them a few years back. But just hunting them doesn't seem to be the answer. It helps, as we have killed many and destroyed many dens around here but more needs to be done as far as trapping goes to help get a handle on things.
 
During my teenage years a 1970 Winchester 1200 was my choice for Saturday small game hunts with my cousin and his grandfather. The 1200 was the only shotgun on the market at that time with choke tubes. My Lyman Easy loader was set up for a 12 gauge 1 1/8 ounce load in Winchester AA cases. I only loaded two sizes of high antimony shot, #7 1/2 and #4. For rabbits. I simply loaded up 1 1/8th ounces of #4 shot. The IC Winchoke tube was chosen for most of the thick cover areas we hunted hunted with the hounds. The larger shot was usually found under the skin opposite the entry point or gave complete penetration - No chewing lead with rabbit and dumplings later. The same load worked quite well on squirrels with the Full Winchoke tube in place.

Not a bad combination even today!
 
Since all of the ranchers in the area of our family's ranch have moved to using dogs for sheep/goat protection, the rabbit pop has dropped a great deal. When I was a lad, there were always jacks around. Now they are a pretty rare sight.

I once got a jack and dove with my Win 1400... It was just like a sporting clays setup I had practiced the week before.
 
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