Rabbit hunting?

we would toss them in our back pouch and clean at mid day... then go out for a late afternoon hunt and clean when done. this being in warmer climes and no one ever got sick. I would prefer to be able to toss them in a pile in the snow but we don't get that natural out door cooler...
Brent
 
In Utah we usually just clean em at the end of the day. We use everything from .22's to 416 rigby so sometimes they are pre-cleaned. Most of the time its a .22 or a 12 ga. with 1 1/8 or 1 1/4 oz. of 4's or 6's.
 
I regularly go hunting with either the .22, the .17 HMR or a 12 gauge with #3 or #4's in it.

The .22 (Marlin 925T) is good for shooting a block I haven't been on before, or for a while. The rabbits aren't gun shy, sit there sunning themselves and are easy enough to shoot with a bit of care on my part to stay upwind.

The HMR (Savage Stainless - I forget the exact model) is great for those blocks where the rabbits are a bit gunshy so tend to stay further away, or if the wind is against me so they can smell me coming. It's more the snipe and wait type weapon (with a cheap bipod on it and a 5-20 power scope).

The shotgun (Winchester 1300 Defender) is for more awkward country where I can expect them to pop out of the undergrowth at my feet and run like hell. I reload my own shot shells and use #4, 1 1/4 oz lead shot which knocks them over quite effectively.

Also of interest - every Easter we (in New Zealand) have "The Great Easter Bunny Shoot" which is a 24 hour shoot to help land owners in the South deal with rabbits infestation. We have no natural predation here so the numbers largely go unchecked except for human intervetions like shooting or poison baiting.

The Shotgun is my preference there. The weather can be pretty foul at times and a large number of rounds are used (like... 200) between cleaning. The pump action is great because I can easily eject or "assist" the loading of a shell, where a semi auto just jams and is a bit of faffing around clearing it (in the headlights of a pickup, probably in bad weather) while the bunnies get away.

Hope that helps?
Nigel
 
i would use the .22. if 1 i could use that here and 2 as long as i could get a few seconds of one standing still to get a head shot. i just use a 12 ga. with a 1 or 1 1/4 oz load of 6 or 7.5 in an ic choked barrel.
 
How many people rabbit hunt here?
Do you sit and wait for them to pop out or do you invade where they are living and force them out?

What kind of weapon do you use to take down a rabbit?

This past weekend I went with my cousin. I used a New England single shot 20 gauge. We go to fallen trees and big piles of brush that are covered in a foot of snow.

I enjoy it, but it is not easy.
Click to expand...

I first started last year with a 10/22. After many unsuccesful trips, I moved up to a .410 Mossberg. Much more fun. Got 2 my first 15 minutes out. I usually just walk and kick them up.

Hopefully in the next couple years I'll get a nice dog to help.
 
Bunny Nuggets!!!

My brother turned me on to a great recipe for the cottontails we shot (yes I had help - 10 bunnies is the limit per license/per day :D).

Anyway, we filet off the backstrap (tenderloin) cut them up into cubes, roll them in flour, salt, pepper and BAM! (a little seasoning) then drop them in to hot oil! A couple of minutes later and voila! Bunny Nuggets - good as gold!:)

I also like them fried like chicken then smothered in their gravey and slow baked until tender.

I tried some in curry sauce and loved it but my wife and youngest son found out after they ate it and refused to let me make it again (they both don't like eating little bunnies:p )

PS On the last hunt I loaned my rifle to another hunter. When he took too long to take the shot I offered to dispatch the rabbit with a rock - and I did. May be hard to believe but I have four eyewitnesses - two of whom are not related to me! That's goes to show you how many rabbits there are where we hunt.
 
smallgame

Some pics for you.. I stalk, sit, spotlight, walk, wait, whatever the country offers that i hunt on. Rabbit hunting is one of my favourites i was brought up on it.

No shot gunning for me all rifle and ferreting. I use my brno 452 deluxe .22lr, but do some varminting with mt .222 rem and my mates swift.

I am only 27 and i have shot loads of rabbits here in Australia.

Do you have limits on how many you can shoot in the USA, i cant believe it if that is true. You can shoot as many as you want here they are a pest.

They taste great in the pasta sauce though. With my Italian back ground it's the best.

1st photo- shot 27 in two hours leading into the evening Jan 08, all with .22lr head shots.

2nd photo- On one of my favourite properties with my wife, shot 8 that evening i think. Oct 08

3rd photo- Spot the rabbit. Shot was taken while sitting on some burrows waiting for more to pop their heads out. They did got 3 i think, then i moved on. Same weekend as photo 2

Enjoy. :)
 

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I use a 20ga with 71/2 or 8s. I have never had the knack to spot them sitting - my grandfather told me to look for the round eyes. Onetime I stopped and just happened to look down and there was a rabbit afoot or less from my feet; he had flattened out to about the size of a large dinner plate. He finally got spooked enough to bolt.
 
If there was a limit here a rabbit would be our prime minister, we would be run over by them. Im actually going for a shot at my dads work soon want 30 this time.
 
G'day. Farmers in Australia can be fined for not trying to control the number of rabbits on their property. I have property owners that want me to shoot ALL the rabbits on their farm. The only problem is the farm is 2500 km away.:)
 
Right on skulls, they are about to drop poison at my dads work again so i have to go and clean up first. Cant wait..

Are there a heap of rabbits in the USA smallgame
 
Here in melbourne they are all alond the side of the road.. Anywhere there looks like there will be rabbits--- well there is rabbits..

The population has declined since the calicivirus was introduced but there are still plenty around.

In the wild and the suburbs.
 
You got a spare room? Cause I'm coming over LOL.

How big are the rabbits there?
Just like any other rabbit or do you have some big 20lbs rabbits? :p
 
we have what you call cottontails, and hares... There are some species people have for pets they are quite big.

Farm rabbits are usually bigger too, you get them in butcher shops.

The wild buck cotton get to about 5-6kg, maybe 13lb.
 
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