# Rabbit Hunting?



## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Here we are allowed to hunt Cottontails from October 1- February 15, allowed 6 per day and 12 in possession.

There is a few around here but for the most part have to drive an hour North of here. My wife already says I bring too much meat in. One Rabbit makes a meal if fried or baked but can be made into Sausage. 

I'm considering buying Trained Dogs, would like two but one will work. It would be another House Pet.

Thoughts and ideas? Use to be able to hunt them just setting but last years don't see them like that here anymore.

big rockpile


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)




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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Hunted cotton tails and snow shoe hares for years with out a dog. We'd just walk slow along fence lines and other cover watching for that tell tale shiney black eye. Made cover for them by building brush piles too. Could pretty much count on getting one from the brush pile when we would kick some of the stuff in the pile.

We and most every one else didn't want any thing to do with them till we had got a real good killing frost to kill off the fleas.

My brother got a hunting dog in the 1970's a springer. Hunted birds, rabbits what you wanted she knew no birds when you let them fly. 

 Al


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## Bob M. (Nov 5, 2018)

My idea of rabbit hunting is feeding them until they get fat, grab them out of their cage, wringing their necks and eating them. I know, not really all that sportsman like of me...but well they're good tasting.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

big rockpile said:


> Thoughts and ideas?


Rabbit hunting is a lot more work than deer hunting.
You'd never be able to keep up with the dogs.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

alleyyooper said:


> Hunted cotton tails and snow shoe hares for years with out a dog. We'd just walk slow along fence lines and other cover watching for that tell tale shiney black eye. Made cover for them by building brush piles too. Could pretty much count on getting one from the brush pile when we would kick some of the stuff in the pile.
> 
> We and most every one else didn't want any thing to do with them till we had got a real good killing frost to kill off the fleas.
> 
> ...


Slep on it and decided to drive there just set by a Ditch or Brush Pile with .22 shoot couple Rabbits and come home.

Around here there isn't any Rabbit just Squirrels.



Bob M. said:


> My idea of rabbit hunting is feeding them until they get fat, grab them out of their cage, wringing their necks and eating them. I know, not really all that sportsman like of me...but well they're good tasting.


Had Rabbits but had Dogs rip the Shed open even though the Door was open, got to my Rabbits.

big rockpile


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

*"Rabbit hunting is a lot more work than deer hunting"*

(1. You don't have to keep up with the dog if you do it right. you walk into an area set the dog to hunting and once the dog jumps the rabbit the rabbit runs a circle back to where it was jumped and your supposed to be there. If you have a real good hunting dog she will retreive the rabbit for you, my brothers dog did.

(2. Rabbits weigh way less than a deer to get out of the woods also.

(3 is far easier to skin a rabbit than a deer also.

(4. far easier to butcher a rabbit also. A rabbit will fit in a 2 guart bowl once butchered too.

(5. you can put a whole cut up rabbit on a cookie sheet and put in the oven to bake.

 Al


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

alleyyooper said:


> *"Rabbit hunting is a lot more work than deer hunting"*
> 
> (1. You don't have to keep up with the dog if you do it right. you walk into an area set the dog to hunting and once the dog jumps the rabbit the rabbit runs a circle back to where it was jumped and your supposed to be there. If you have a real good hunting dog she will retreive the rabbit for you, my brothers dog did.
> 
> ...


That's the way my Dogs did. Hour hunting, limit of 6. Best I ever did was limit in 15 minutes.

Limit out one time in an hour after Dogs went through. I was using .22 set watching a ditch with Groundhog holes. Guys took their Dogs through there I went behind them killing.

big rockpile


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Hunting with dogs is my favorite way to enjoy the outdoors. Bringing in too much meat is not an issue. Most forms of dog hunting are basically catch and release hunting. Hearing a good race and seeing good dog work is far more rewarding than pulling the trigger. If you enjoy those things you will value the availability of the game to the extent that killing it is almost saddening, depending on the population cycle. You will hear no race from a dead rabbit. 

Because hunting with dogs allows you to walk around, carry on conversations for most of the time (until they bring him around) it is a good atmosphere for camaraderie. Killing stuff, to a true houndsman, is generally reserved for having friends along. Makes for an excellent opportunity to introduce youth to hunting, as well. No boring, bone chilling sessions spent whispering in a blind watching empty woods. You get to move, talk in a normal voice, and there is generally non stop action.

If you want meat from rabbits, get some box traps. If you want an addictive hobby that will fill your days with outdoor experiences, get some rabbit beagles. Personally, I have coyote hounds. It's like rabbit hunting on steroids. Nothing quite like seeing a young hound making it all come together, or a young hunter. Any form of hunting with dogs is very rewarding on so many more levels than most other forms of hunting. But it definitely costs much more to get that reward. If you quantify your reward in terms of ounces of meat per dollar spent, don't do it. Also, if you want to brag about big bucks, don't do it. Male rabbits are pretty uniform, only another die hard rabbit hunter will get excited about a large male specimen that represents a tiny fraction of the entire population.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

I never will forget one instance while rabbit hunting with my friend that has beagles. We were hunting a farm in the late muzzleloader season. There was a guy there deer hunting, it was kind of middle of the day so he was mainly just loafing by his truck parked in the middle of a brushy field. He knew we were going to be there, and decided to hunt there, "in case we stirred up a big buck" . It had taken us a while to get there, we were already carrying more rabbits in our game vests than we really wanted to skin when we got back. (But we always skinned everything, and froze or even canned rabbit meat) 

We jumped one of those rabbits, a rabbit hunter will know what I am talking about, he was a good runner. He was pulling out all the tricks, and even running big loops in open fields, putting on a real show. He would make a big loop, and then do some trickery in the fence row and buy enough time for a rest break, and then do it again. Scenting conditions were near perfect, dogs were packing well, it sounded and looked beautiful. One of those times that just made you happy to be alive. My friend's dad videoed some of that race, and that is a treasured memory.


This old coot with a muzzleloader was screaming every time the rabbit came close to one of us. "Shoot it, don't let it get away, it's coming right for you, why didn't you shoot it, it's right there, kill it." He just absolutely didn't understand. We could have killed that rabbit at any time. I believe one of us saw it setting before it was jumped. That rabbit finally got tired and went in a hole, and we were happy. We all hoped that that rabbit passed on his genes so that some rabbit hunter, somewhere, would get a race like that again. But the guy was truly upset. He even went and told his story at the gas station. "Worst bunch of rabbit hunters you ever seen". Of course he was telling people that had hunted with us before, that actually could comprehend more than one facet of experiencing the outdoors, and the whole thing became kind of a running joke.

But I remember that incident, and use it to understand the mentality of people that don't hunt with dogs. Not saying there is anything wrong with that mentality, it's just not my thing.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

barnbilder said:


> Hunting with dogs is my favorite way to enjoy the outdoors. Bringing in too much meat is not an issue. Most forms of dog hunting are basically catch and release hunting. Hearing a good race and seeing good dog work is far more rewarding than pulling the trigger. If you enjoy those things you will value the availability of the game to the extent that killing it is almost saddening, depending on the population cycle. You will hear no race from a dead rabbit.
> 
> Because hunting with dogs allows you to walk around, carry on conversations for most of the time (until they bring him around) it is a good atmosphere for camaraderie. Killing stuff, to a true houndsman, is generally reserved for having friends along. Makes for an excellent opportunity to introduce youth to hunting, as well. No boring, bone chilling sessions spent whispering in a blind watching empty woods. You get to move, talk in a normal voice, and there is generally non stop action.
> 
> If you want meat from rabbits, get some box traps. If you want an addictive hobby that will fill your days with outdoor experiences, get some rabbit beagles. Personally, I have coyote hounds. It's like rabbit hunting on steroids. Nothing quite like seeing a young hound making it all come together, or a young hunter. Any form of hunting with dogs is very rewarding on so many more levels than most other forms of hunting. But it definitely costs much more to get that reward. If you quantify your reward in terms of ounces of meat per dollar spent, don't do it. Also, if you want to brag about big bucks, don't do it. Male rabbits are pretty uniform, only another die hard rabbit hunter will get excited about a large male specimen that represents a tiny fraction of the entire population.


Well here it is only for meat and the Rabbits are too far away to set Traps. Around here Coyote Hunters are Lower than Snakes.

big rockpile


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

barnbilder said:


> I never will forget one instance while rabbit hunting with my friend that has beagles. We were hunting a farm in the late muzzleloader season. There was a guy there deer hunting, it was kind of middle of the day so he was mainly just loafing by his truck parked in the middle of a brushy field. He knew we were going to be there, and decided to hunt there, "in case we stirred up a big buck" . It had taken us a while to get there, we were already carrying more rabbits in our game vests than we really wanted to skin when we got back. (But we always skinned everything, and froze or even canned rabbit meat)
> 
> We jumped one of those rabbits, a rabbit hunter will know what I am talking about, he was a good runner. He was pulling out all the tricks, and even running big loops in open fields, putting on a real show. He would make a big loop, and then do some trickery in the fence row and buy enough time for a rest break, and then do it again. Scenting conditions were near perfect, dogs were packing well, it sounded and looked beautiful. One of those times that just made you happy to be alive. My friend's dad videoed some of that race, and that is a treasured memory.
> 
> ...


One time had my Dogs shot and killed by Deer Hunters, I sued them and won, still had to go buy more Dogs.

Had 6 Black and Tan **** Hounds stolen.

big rockpile


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## Bob M. (Nov 5, 2018)

I dont have dogs, but perhaps one of these days I will. My uncle runs em, in michigan and indiana, I know next to nothing about running them though, or raising/training them to run. he runs ***** mostly i believe. I of course said hunting above, but ya....didn't mean hunting, that probably would of been a insult to those who do hunt rabbits, I just want the meat and the fur, and with fur prices, less of the fur. I will have to say I am one of those who , if they could walk to a box whenever, stick my barrel in and pull the trigger and get a deer, rabbit, cow, pig, fish or whatever else out of it, I probably would do exactly that.Not trying to make anyone think I am anything better or more than I am, honestly. I hunt when i do for a purpose really of getting the meat. And with salmon at like $10-$20/lb, I will happily limit out quickly and go home with a smile on my face, or walleye, perch, etc. I suppose there are hunters and gatherers...I sort of prefer the gathering part if i can swing it.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Rabbit hunting is a lot more work than deer hunting.
> You'd never be able to keep up with the dogs.


Buddy invited me out to his Uncle's farm out of state years ago to squirrel and rabbit hunt. Maybe 3 inches of snow on the ground and still falling. I get there and he shows me his new "hunting" dog. A guy at work traded this dog to him for his dirtbike. This flea bitten half toothless mutt with cataracts was supposedly an "A1 tracker."
Anyway, he kept him on a tether while we dropped a half dozen squirrel, and then out of the brush line and across an empty bean field goes a large fat rabbit. Dog goes nuts, my buddy unhooks him and he bolts full bore into the bean field. The rabbit bolts left and down into a low area out of our sight. The dog continues at a full sprint straight ahead, barking; at what I don't know. Likely he was reliving some ancient memory. My buddy starts to whistle and call him back; no response. That dog ran for what seemed like another couple of minutes before he disappeared into a tree line probably 3/4 of a mile or more. We both turned to eachother and sighed "Well...." I said. "He'll come back" my buddy says. "That's what they do."
I smiled and replied "You might have a chance at catching him if you still had that dirt bike."
Three days later he found the dog living at a neighboring farm about 5 miles away.

Off topic, but as I turned away from the field, I walked right on top of a 12 point buck bedded down not 3' in front of me. He stood up, towering over me and just stared at me. No permit and out of season and he knew it. He walked like he owned the place and strolled off and away.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Brother and I were laid off and had been invited to baby sit some cattle for a man and woman. it was winter time so we agreed and took our snowmobiles shot guns and brother took his dog (skunk). Early one morning we get up go out and feed the cattle and fill the water tank back up. go back in the house fix breakfast then grab the guns and dog. 
Ride the snow mobles back to where the cedar swamp was and where they had cut timber about 5 years before. Was really thick stuff to try to walk around in so I told my brother I would ride on down th etrail to a smaller trail and walk in a bit. 

Brother let skunk loose and wasn't long and she was running a rabbit we got 8 rabbits and decided to go back to the house and fix dinner. so I am almost to my sled when a snow shoe runs by so I fired. Didn't think I had hit it but walked its trail for a bit looking as skunk came flying by me only to dissapper in the cedars. 
I walk back to my sled and brother came and parked by me. We started to calling skunk and she wasn't coming. Decided after a bit to just leave a coat there and come back after we had ate. About the time we decided that here comes skunk carrying a snow shoe hare. 

We ride back to the house fixed dinner and checked the cattle then went to cleaning the snow shoes. the one skunk and ran down and brought back I thought I had missed had two #7 1/2 shot pellets in it.

Best dog I have ever hunted behind. Doubt I will ever have the pleasure again despite having some good hunters of my own.

 Al


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

We use to feed cattle, take .22 with us and kill plenty Rabbits.

Back when I was a Kid the Guy Mom was married to Road Hunter, we would kill hundreds of Rabbits and Quail. He kill 33 Quail out of one covey.

We had a Edsil the back floor board would be full even with top of the seat.

big rockpile


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Bob M. said:


> I dont have dogs, but perhaps one of these days I will. My uncle runs em, in michigan and indiana, I know next to nothing about running them though, or raising/training them to run. he runs ***** mostly i believe. I of course said hunting above, but ya....didn't mean hunting, that probably would of been a insult to those who do hunt rabbits, I just want the meat and the fur, and with fur prices, less of the fur. I will have to say I am one of those who , if they could walk to a box whenever, stick my barrel in and pull the trigger and get a deer, rabbit, cow, pig, fish or whatever else out of it, I probably would do exactly that.Not trying to make anyone think I am anything better or more than I am, honestly. I hunt when i do for a purpose really of getting the meat. And with salmon at like $10-$20/lb, I will happily limit out quickly and go home with a smile on my face, or walleye, perch, etc. I suppose there are hunters and gatherers...I sort of prefer the gathering part if i can swing it.


You catch Rabbits in Box Trap, you just reach in, get the Rabbit and break its neck.

big rockpile


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

If rabbit meat is what you want, raise rabbits. Domestic rabbit is pretty easy to raise, compared to good beagles, and much tastier (than the beagles). If you want wild rabbit meat, take a .22 and walk slow where their are rabbits, or set some box traps. If you want an experience, get some beagles. If you don't want to fool with raising, buying, training dogs and all that stuff, find somebody that has a good pack of rabbit beagles and invite them over. A good place is usually only good for two or three hunts a year with several people shooting.


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