Rabbits.....

BadMedicine

Moderator
OK, I lied, they're hairs, but this time of year, They're the best to shoot:)
My brother is in town for Thanksgiving and we went out to see if we could hunt up a couple dogs in the early hour. Didn't find any, so we decided to do a little brush busting looking for some Snow-shoe Hairs. Alot of you probably know that these rabbits turn white in the winter to match the snow around them. Funny thing is, is that the actuall turning of the hair color has nothing to do with the cold climate, or the snow on the ground, it is triggered by hours of sunlight. This year we have only had a few small snows, all of which have melted so the Hairs are white, and the forest isn't, so they stick out like a sore thumb. The bad part is, is that they know that there is no snow on the ground and they can be seen, so they're trying to stay out of sight.
There was 4 of us today and we spread out about 20 yards apart and do a drive like technique. This bunnies like to circle around real wid, and usually will come hopping up in front of somebody beside you if you scared them up. We baged 7 all together, a fair amount of meat, each one weighs between 2-4 lbs live weight. I only shot two of those. My first one I heard and then saw it stop right behind some brush, I was hunting with my ruger .22 semiauto pistol, and carry our 6mm on a sling (still kinda hoping to find a dog, thee's alot in that area.) It stop behind some brush about 20 feet away. First two shot deflected, third one found his nose:) Second bunny I got my dad spooked up and it stopped right by him. It was between me and him, only about 8 feet from him, but he couldn't see it cuz of the deep brush. He took a step towards the rabbit and it ran out from between us and was hoping into the brush, I shot him right between the ears in the back of the head and he cart-wheeled. It was a smooth shot, I was pretty excited about the shot:D
We got them all cleaned up and ready to cook. I guess we'll have to make up a batch of the famous "SnowShoe-Chaladas."
 
BadMedicine:

I've nailed several cottontails with my Glock 19 with an Advantage Arms .22lr conversion kit over the past couple of weeks.

I also nailed some cottontails in an abandoned racetrack with a slingshot and some 5/8 steel shot. Can't use firearms on Boeing land.

But no snowshoes. Do you remeber where I can find them near Seattle?
 
hmmm.

I don't think I remember seeing any in Washington. We used to se them once in a long while while deer or elk hunting in Idaho, but none in Washinton. Probably the further North you go the better, I don't think they'd live too well in the wetness of the Pudget Sounmd region.
 
Well, we've got a lot of hares over here in near Cordova, rains a lot more here than Seattle. They stick to the brushy areas rather than field or forest. My friend and I just bagged 8 in an afternoon of hunting in head-high spruce saplings. Nice white, .22 targets against a dark background.
 
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