Rabbit hunting

[obsessed1]

Alright A/O bunny hunters I need all your tips/ tricks/ tactics.
Scenario:
I have a heavy bush acreage( don't worry it's large enough to shoot on) the last few years I have been cultivating a good rabbit population. I have a long driveway that has 1m of clear/ light undergrowth( mostly just wild rose and sparse hip/ shoulder might regrowth willows. The bush is mostly older poplar with spruce/ pine mixed in. Lots of standing dead, lots of deadfall.
I have been snaring ( on nearby crown land ) for years and can/ will begin to snare on my own land but I would love to hunt them as well.
I have never had success hunting rabbits. Only tried once or twice. I hear things like walk trails and look under trees and such but haven't had any success myself.
I hope to be able to go out for a nice weekend walk on my land and harvest a few bunnys for the pot. Any tips would be nice. Thanks

[obsessed1]

I should say I have trails all over the place all through my bush and along the driveway but only see rabbits once in a while, while driving in/out. We have three outdoor dogs that sleep on the porch yet in fresh snow there are rabbit tracks out in the open yard and around the shop. I haven't hunted/ snared on my place and have monitored the population ( based on amount of tracks/trails) for the last few years. It would seem like I have a shwack of rabbits now:-)

[obsessed1]

No one??

[catnthehat]

I haven’t actively hunted rabbits fir many years but when I did it was either with a friend who had beagles or in the early evening along game or snowmobile trails in tight cover.
If I want rabbits these days I snare them .
Cat

[3blade]

I usually target them spring and fall when the color change makes it easy.

The occasional winter hunt (initiated by cabin fever) is moving very, very slow through a ravine and looking for eyes. Might take 2-3 hours to cover a few hundred yards but I know they are in there. Still only get one about every third hunt but it’s good to be outside.

Snaring is way better if you can do it without the coyotes getting them.

[fishnguy]

Speckle55 might chime in. I personally have never seen anyone having more success in bunny hunting than he does.

I snared plenty, but shot only one so far, lol. The few that I saw were either gone by the time I reacted or gone before I could find them in the scope. Yes, I am not very good at it, haha.

[Velvet]

I do like to take them when the dogs get them running on a pheasant hunt. Shot lots under trees while on a deer hunt/looking for grouse mid day. They only put a little space between you and stop, if you can keep a shooting path once you see them they will stop with in .22 distance most times.

I would plant a cheap small leafy garden in the open where you can sit and watch. they will visit multiple times a day and you will know there near by at all times when you visit. Walk a dog around the other side and wait with a .410 while you call the dog? just some ideas

[obsessed1]

So when walking through say old bush with some open paths but lots of low brush( dead fall, and snow covered underbrush) how far out are you scanning. I went out this aft and walked some trails slow with the 10x binos looking at all the low hidy hole spots I though a bunny might hide in but no luck. I tried to target most recent trails ( had 1" snow fall last night) there were tracks everywhere. I set a bunch of snares on the most well traveled paths at natural choke points. I've been snaring bunny for 6-7 years now so catching them won't be an issue. But man I'd love to go out with the kids for a walk and shoot one or two

[Red Bullets]

In my experience if you are walking and stalking the best is to walk the edge of a bush. Walking game trails and bushwhacking in winter the hares will just hunker down and it will seem like there are none. Hares like to sun along south facing bush lines or sunny brushy slopes.
If you find lots of active runs in an area, my tip would be just to sit still over a vantage point if possible. I have walked through bush that had lots of sign and did not see many unless I flushed them and yet when I sat down for a half hour the hares came alive and I saw several moving around within eye shot.

[shooter12]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

So when walking through say old bush with some open paths but lots of low brush( dead fall, and snow covered underbrush) how far out are you scanning. I went out this aft and walked some trails slow with the 10x binos looking at all the low hidy hole spots I though a bunny might hide in but no luck. I tried to target most recent trails ( had 1" snow fall last night) there were tracks everywhere. I set a bunch of snares on the most well traveled paths at natural choke points. I've been snaring bunny for 6-7 years now so catching them won't be an issue. But man I'd love to go out with the kids for a walk and shoot one or two

it should not be a problem at all with a hunting dog to lift them up and shoot as you walk.
Let your dogs loose and see what will happen.

S12

[Speckle55]

say have you ever walked down those deadfall it works and read the tracks

look for beds in snow n lots of rabbit poop

dense trees small spruce/willow watch

they don't mined being elevated when bedded in those areas

listen for those warning thumps

look for the eyes n shape

move your body up and down to get as many angles

of the same area as u walk/always looking 30yds ahead

fresh snow, track one down then 2 then 3 etc etc

patience persistence perseverance

here is a good quote

The difference between a Master n a Beginner

the Master has failed more than the beginner has tried

Food for Thought

David

[fishnguy]

Haha. Thanks, David. I always read it and think ok, easy enough. Next time I will get them. But nope, lol. For me it is much easier to find elk, moose, deer, etc than a bunny. The very very few I found, I was not fast enough to shoot, except for one I spotted sitting by the tree pretending it wasn’t there.

[newguy]

Great thread! I need all the help in the world trying to get my first AB rabbit...

[Just4hugh]

Originally Posted by newguy

Great thread! I need all the help in the world trying to get my first AB rabbit...

Been searching for rabbits the whole season too. They're more elusive than you'd think!!

[aragor764]

I shot one this year by pure luck! I have seen 3 this year so far, they sure would be nice to hunt, i love me some rabbit stew.

[jungleboy]

I used to hunt Rabbits in the 80s with a friend , one of us would get on top of a brush pile or some dead fall and jump up and down. The rabbits would run out and give us an opportunity for a shot. It didn't always work but we got our fair share for the pot.

[kilgoretrout]

Not sure of your terrain but we use to post a guy at one end of a brush lot and have the other one or two guys push the patch or hillside..... the bunnies would come hopping along and stop intermittently looking back when they became easy targets for the guy on post ..... we did this with bows but should work just as well with a small caliber......

[obsessed1]

Pretty much a 10-12 acre patch of thick bush with deep ravine/ creek along one edge. My driveway and road border two other edges. Ground is quite "Hilly" with lots of high and low spots +-5-7 feet. Kinda makes me think of old war zones where the ground is full of old dig ins/ fox holes. We got 2" of snow last night and there were tracks all over. I'll try a few tactics shared and see if I can get something for the pot. Thanks Guys

[Just4hugh]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

Pretty much a 10-12 acre patch of thick bush with deep ravine/ creek along one edge. My driveway and road border two other edges. Ground is quite "Hilly" with lots of high and low spots +-5-7 feet. Kinda makes me think of old war zones where the ground is full of old dig ins/ fox holes. We got 2" of snow last night and there were tracks all over. I'll try a few tactics shared and see if I can get something for the pot. Thanks Guys

Good luck! Keep us updated!

[fishnguy]

Yeah, good luck man! Let us know how it works out.

[hippietrekker]

Hare hunting has quickly become one of my favorite hunts, after deer season I go quite often and have a few great spots that I am successful in nearly every time I go out. I'm planning on doing more scouting and hunting this winter to open up more crown land.
There has been a lot of great advice put here, and from the sounds of it, with time you will certainly have a nice stew on the table from some shot rabbits.
My 2 cents (some of which is a reiteration of what has been said): walk slow and scan constantly, I tend to not look very far ahead in thick cover, maybe 20 feet at most - look behind yourself; squat and change your perspective often, you'll see far more rabbits this way; hunt cold, sunny days - the rabbits will be out sunning themselves; when you spot one, don't stop moving, varying hares rely on their camouflage and stopping makes them nervous, I usually sway and bob until I'm ready to make the shot; they like to bed up against spruce trees, or in areas with thick overhead cover; look for their eyes and ear tips - seeing the first one on any given day is usually the biggest challenge, after that you know what you're looking for - I have a completely fabricated theory that I call 'rabbit math' in that, for every 1 rabbit I do (or don't) see, I've over looked 5 (provided I am hunting in prime habitat), they can be a challenge to spot but it's a thrill doing it.

Rabbit hunting, more accurately stated hare hunting, is a lot of fun. I've introduced a number of friends to it over the past few years and having someone else along is a lot of fun. Good luck, you'll have one soon!
I'm heading out this Monday myself looking for a few, can't wait!

[newguy]

I know where they are north of the #3 highway in the CNP. Snaring will be the best