Hey Cloverleaf.....Can you talk some more rabbits?

[Jar Head]

Howdy,
I have been in Wisconsin for a year now and I am very interested in rabbit hunting. I will be doing this without a dog for what it is worth. I have been told to concentrate on brush piles & hold my ground if I jump one as the rabbit will come full circle.
I have heard various thoughts on what to hunt with, I am leaning towards my 1100 with a trap load like 7-1/2. Would I be better served with one of my .22's? What is your thought on this?
Any recipe would be appriciated also, never dined on rabbit.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Teknys]

The last time I hunted rabbits is when I went to high school in Wisconsin.
If I wanted a snack I'd take the SKB 12ga and if I wanted an enjoyable afternoon I took the 22. Like most critters, if they are not too spooky they will jump and stop a little ways out and you can shoot them with a 22. Later in season after dogs and hunters have been in the woods they usually won't stop with in sight.
Full moon evenings in the late fall with snow can be a blast shooting rabbits there.

 

[cloverleaf]

Teknys has given you some good advice. Rabbits survive in part by knowing there home turf better than the stuff trying to eat them. Brush piles are good as are old farm places, or if you can find one a working farm with Grain bins and shelter belts. trouble with them is rabbits will duck in a brush pile and sta there. They have every thing they need in there and can sit for a long time. Shelter belts always worked best for me. Work down the outside edge and those rabbits will some times just move over a row or two in the trees and wait for you to go past. A partner working the shelter belt from the other side can work great but you have to be very carefule to estabilh shooting zones before you start NEVER towards eachother. (I know it should go without saying- but we never know who is reading here) You might be able to catch one if you keep an eye out over your shoulder as he "shows you his tail" going the other way. Snow is your friend, one rabbit will leave a ton of tracks, but you can follow them some times.

What else.... some folks say that rabbits like the "hollow" that forms when snow drifts around a tree, to hide in. Ive seen more sitting out of the wind behind a clump of dirt in a plowed field if the sun is out.

Last tip....my Dad took me rabbit hunting from the truck a lot. (The wheelchair didnt work to good in the snow :lol: ) and he would always tell me "look for the eye". He always said it was easier to see that round ,black, shinny thing in snow or horizontal and vertical cover than any other part of the rabbit. Honestly, he was way better at it than I ever was but the logic is sound.
hope that helps- CL

 

[Jar Head]

Thanks for the tips fellas! I think this will be a good time for me and my son.

Regards,
Chris

 

[DrMike]

Go get 'em, Chris! You'll have a great time, especially as you are sharing it with your boy.

 

[SJB358]

Jumping brush piles with a 12 or 20 gauge with 6's works well. Try not to shoot them close and you will get plenty of good meat. Lots of fun. Had a blast hunting rabbits when I was home this Winter.

 

[ridgewalker]

So glad to hear someone is taking their kid out rabbit hunting. I started in TX when I got my first .22 at 6 years old. It made a great impression on me for the rest of my life (or rather until now when in my mid 60s).

In TX I use to walk the dirt roads watching the bushes along the edges and looking, like has been said already, for the black eyes. They are a give away. I also did this in college using an S&W .38 Special with wad cutters.

Today in CO I wait until after a snow and the sun comes out. Vitamin D from the sun is very important to rabbits (according to the DOW). They sit on the south side of brush and rock outcroppings soaking up the rays. I look for them, set up and shoot them with a little scoped CZ 452 in .22LR. I usually have to go by myself since everyone I know still works. My wife hates it that I am in the woods alone. Oh well, there are much worse places to croak.

Also we have a lot of rabbits that share prairie dog holes out on the plains. I will shoot them at longer ranges mostly with a .22 Win Mag also a scoped CZ.

Enjoy being out with that son! There is no greater fun than teaching a kid to enjoy the out-of-doors.