How to kill a rabbit.

J

jstem

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I live in southern Oregon and would really like to get into some rabbit hunting, but have no experience in varmint hunting. i read that winter (or begining of winter) is the best time to find some jacks, is this true. i will be hunting with no dogs but a very accurate 17hmr. any tips? also, to any oregonians out there i have heard christmas valley is the place to go. is this true? and where are some other good locations.

-Thanks
-Ryan
 
I don't like to hunt rabbits until after a few good nights of hard freezes. That is what my Dad taught me, said it kills the parasites. Don't know if that is true because obviously the rabbit isn't freezing! If you are going to use the 17 HMR head shoot them only, I really prefer the .22lr with solids. If you got a shotgun, use anything from #6 shot to #8.

Just look for a place with a lot of tracks if there is snow on the ground. Then look for them sunning themselves behind brush. I usually find them behind sage brush but don't know if you have much of that in South OR.
 
the best time for finding jacks around here was 15 to 20 years ago. they were everywhere, you could look in any direction and see a dozen or so when you were hunting. the roads were covered with road kills. i can go out today and not see a single jack and you almost never see a road kill. this is in the phx az area. lots of cottontails around golf courses tho i'm thinking of getting a custom made golf club in .22 caliber. if someone can tell me where you can find them around here i would appreciate it also.
 
Thanks taylorce1. i have heard that Tularemia is the reason to wait for the freeze. i read once that after the first freeze Tularemia dies off, shortly after i read it can be contracted at any time of year simply by breathing near the hide while skinning the infected animal. but the cases in amereica remain pretty low and cooking the animal (properly) will (so i've read) kill it off, so i'm not worried about that. all the same i think i'll do my rabbit hunting just into the winter.
 
uhm.. Yall eat Jack rabbits?? Hell I feed them to the Dogs. I however, like a tasty cottontail if the 223 hasent blowed the fuf completly off it. I have never heard of anyone eating jackrabbit, at least , not since we have walked upright.
 
I thought the spring was the best time to hunt. When all that nice fresh grass is out. I go right before dark. I think the moon has a difference from what side of the brush they come out of. I use air rifles for all my small game hunts.
 
armedtotheteeth, that's one I don't even eat...LOL We used to just walk around with nothing better to do and pop em when they rocketed from a cactus bunch with either a .22 or a single shot 20 ga I used to have.
 
uhm.. Yall eat Jack rabbits??
Click to expand...

No because I haven't hunted them in recent years. Nothing wrong with them in a Stew. I do prefer cotton tails as well over jacks. But a young jack taken in the spring eats just as well as old fluffy tail.

I've fed a lot to dogs as well, we had them destroying our alfalfa field one winter. Usually shot over 50 a night with a spotlight.
 
If you are going to eat jackrabbits, you find the young ones to eat in March or April.

I hunted Christmas Valley years ago, and you find a lot of squirrels and jacks around alfalfa fields. I moved to WA about 10 years ago, so it's been a while.

If you want good jackrabbit hunting, you'll have to wait a few years. They're on the low point of their 7-year cycle right now.
 
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