For many people, hunting rabbits is cruel and unusual punishment. For others, however, hunting rabbits is an age old sport that requires patience and skill. This article will speak to the latter while paying no mind to the former, realizing that the rabbit hunt is as old a tradition in America as hunting other animals and acknowledging that, while hunting may not be necessary in any modern context, it is a heck of a lot of fun.
Most people choose to hunt rabbits with a dog. This is because using a dog can help bring the rabbit out into the open or can help draw the hunter towards the area in which the rabbits are more prolific. A dog can also serve as a great companion to hunting, enabling the hunter to actually have someone to talk to instead of the cold steel of the Remington rifle. Still, some people choose to hunt without a furry friend, making for a different hunting experience.
When people hunt for rabbits without a dog, it is important to learn the traits and factors involved with rabbits. The hunter must virtually become the rabbit; learning the rabbits pathways and food stops are vitally important to a successful rabbit hunt, so thinking like a rabbit is integral to the success of the hunt. Of course, thinking like a rabbit may tell you that killing these furry little friends for sport isn’t such a great idea. If that happens, ignore those facts and focus in on your goal of bagging a fluffy bunny.
An ideal time to hunt bunnies is in the first warm days of spring. Here, bunnies will likely be soaking up the sun and having a great time in open fields. This is a great time to break out your rifle and start bagging some rabbits. The time is ideal because, in relation to the winter, the rabbits you seek will be more out in the open and more prone to be visible to the naked eye. In winter, rabbits tend to smartly utilize brush cover and brambles to cover their tracks from nosy bloodhounds.
It is important to realize that rabbits tend to run from side to side. This, of course, does not mean that you should not actively watch the rabbit while firing madly into the open field. What it does mean is that a hunter can actively track the path of the rabbit by watching for repeated steps in terms of the tracking. A rabbit will only run in a short line for a short time, changing pace and darting back and forth in jagged hops until it reaches its safe cover. Knowing this, follow the rabbit with your tracking skills and nail it before it hops down the rabbit hole and back to Wonderland.
Many hunters make the mistake of moving too quickly and making too much noise when hunting rabbits. Just ask Elmer Fudd about the best options for hunting rabbits and he will tell you that the best technique for hunting “wabbits” is to slowly stalk the prey before firing off shot after shot from your alarmingly huge elephant gun. The honest truth about hunting bunnies is that the technique must fall somewhere in the middle. Charging into the middle of a known rabbit field with your guns blazing will likely not catch you any rabbits, but you do need to be somewhat assertive to bag a bunny.
The overall best technique for hunting rabbits is what is known as the “stop and go” technique. This technique is exactly what it sounds like; the essence of the stop and go technique is in utilizing tip-toe style movements and stalking the rabbit through watching it, moving towards it and moving further towards it. As you can pattern the rabbits’ movements, you can eventually squeeze off a shot and throw poor Cottontail in the trunk to impress all of your friends. If you miss, however, be careful. Some rabbits actually bite.
I My first time deer hunting was well after magrraie. A friend of my husband invited us to go with, my husband politely refused and said that if I wanted i could go, just do it, so I did and have been hooked. I have harvested a few on my own and with a cousin and with my daughter. My husband has gone out with us but does not want to shoot the deer so I do. I enjoy the time in the woods, with and without family and friends. I also enjoy trapping, running my hounds, hunting with my JR’s(terriers), compittion hunting and shooting. These are things that I was not allowed to do growing up, as Mother always said these thing were not ment for a real lady. Hunting was a gentlemans sport and the ladies were meant to clean and cook the bounty. I don’t hold with this and have taught my daughter that she could do what ever she wanted with her life and yes, she hunt right out there with me. Thanks to my husband’s friend, guys like my cousin in WI, and the few other men in the world who believe that women can enjoy hunting and spending time in the woods. I have had to fight my family and most of the redneck jerks around here who think they know where a woman belongs
Rabbiting (also rabbit hunting and cottontail hunting) is the sport of hunting rabbits , often using ferrets or dogs to track the prey and various trapping and shooting methods to catch them.