Rabbit/Squirrel hunt

[vossman]

A friend and I went up to the north end of Divide yesterday to find some rabbit. We walked several miles but nothing, saw a few tracks but didn't see anything. Didn't even hear a squirrel which would have been an OK alternative meat source
Snow was pretty deep, 8+ inches so we figured that was the reason they weren't out. Scenery was great and it was a nice winter day, good exercise too.
Anyone got any tips on finding the bunnies?

V

[Colorado Osprey]

You can be 10 feet from them and they will play "I'm a rock!" Look closely at your surroundings. If you saw tracks you saw rabbits too, just didn't recognize the.

[SideShow Bob]

Anyone got any tips on finding the bunnies?

V

Come over to my neighborhood, the bunnies are everywhere here.
every spring I get 5 - 10 of the little ones trapped in my window wells. Needless to say, they get euthanized and disposed of........

[GilpinGuy]

I'm interested in rabbit "hunting". There are tons of them around my house. I've even found them in my crawl space. The local story goes that there was a guy raising them up the road in the 50's and 60's and all of his rabbits escaped one night. Not sure if that's true or even if it matters 50 years later, but there are tons of them around.

Do guys usually shoot them with a .22 or a shotgun? Either/or? I could safely sit on my deck and pick them off if I wanted to.

[Colorado Osprey]

We use 22 pistols with SP only. No Hollow Points and head shots only. It's more of a competition with those i hunt with.

[denverco]

I hunt snowshoe hares up near Jefferson in the wintertime. You can make a pretty good stew with 2 or 3.

[Wulf202]

If they run a good shrill whistle will make them pause long enough for a clean shot

[cofi]

We use 22 pistols with SP only. No Hollow Points and head shots only. It's more of a competition with those i hunt with.
Why no hp?

[belizejet]

Got two over in Dome Rock the other day.

[Colorado Osprey]

Why no hp?

Cause its gross... too messy

[cap'n cook]

i just open my front door and shoot one lol. during the day its a little harder, but at night i can just open the front door, shine my flashlight and usually see 3 or 4 just sittin there. i usually use my model 60. i shot one the other day with my 12 ga with some #2 steel shot because thats what i had. and was surprised. it did more damage to the bone, but less damage to the meat than the .22. they are tasty little suckers deep fried or wrapped with bacon and bbq'd

[Buckaroobonsai]

The messier the better for me. Here's the biggest cottontail rabbit I ever saw. It was the size of a basketball, and was sitting about 200 yards away watching it's final sunset. My Savage 11 Trophy Hunter .22-250 made sure of that. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAjDuiVlIUk&feature=youtu.be

[Delvehound]

In bad weather they're usually hunkered down, but on the plus side you know where they're at. So, it's easier to scare them out, they run a ways, then stop, turn 90° to look at you, that's your chance. In good weather they're all over, I once was walking around hunting looking for them and stopped to look around, one took off like a shot not 7 ft from me. Anyway I use a 22 maxi mag, HP. I only do head shots on the bunnies "lights out". I usually get 8 or 9 when I go out, but I do private property, not public... Never had luck with public...

I agree, if you saw tracks, they were there, staring at you. Either that or the coyote just came thru.

[trlcavscout]

You all do eat what you shoot right? Except prairie dogs of course.

[rbeau30]

I hunt snowshoe hares up near Jefferson in the wintertime. You can make a pretty good stew with 2 or 3.


Recipe or it didn't happen.

[Buckaroobonsai]

Not much left after my .22-250 hits 'em.

[Coffee]


You all do eat what you shoot right? Except prairie dogs of course.

[denverco]

Recipe or it didn't happen.
I like this one. Emeril is the man!!!!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/stewed-rabbit-recipe.html

[cap'n cook]

A friend and I went up to the north end of Divide yesterday to find some rabbit. We walked several miles but nothing, saw a few tracks but didn't see anything. Didn't even hear a squirrel which would have been an OK alternative meat source
Snow was pretty deep, 8+ inches so we figured that was the reason they weren't out. Scenery was great and it was a nice winter day, good exercise too.
Anyone got any tips on finding the bunnies?

V

open my front door and shine a flashlight and theres a bunny sitting in the same spot every night LOL. except i killed him last night with my pellet gun so hopefully one of his buddies takes up his routine.

do any of you guys eat wild rabbit when its not in winter months? i ate a bunch of them this winter, but i stopped eating them like a month ago when it started warming up. ive read and always been told its safe in the winter because the freeze kills the sick ones, but not so in the summer.

[baglock1]

do any of you guys eat wild rabbit when its not in winter months? i ate a bunch of them this winter, but i stopped eating them like a month ago when it started warming up. ive read and always been told its safe in the winter because the freeze kills the sick ones, but not so in the summer.

The rule I always heard when I was a kid was if the month had an "r" in it, rabbit was safe for the plate. So based on that, Sept-Apr should be good to go. With that said however, I doubt I'd trust that logic unless I heard it from a more reputable source that as an old wife's tale. As I recall, the only times I ate wild rabbit (it's probably been ~30 years since) were in the Jan-Feb time frame.

I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts as well.

[davsel]

Growing up in Texas, the main reason we shot them in the winter was to lessen the fleas and ticks.
We would wait until after a good hard freeze before starting wabbit-season.

[denverco]

Growing up in Texas, the main reason we shot them in the winter was to lessen the fleas and ticks.
We would wait until after a good hard freeze before starting wabbit-season.
Freezing temperatures will usually kill any sick or infected rabbits. So yes, wait till the freeze.

[davsel]

In bad weather they're usually hunkered down, but on the plus side you know where they're at. So, it's easier to scare them out, they run a ways, then stop, turn 90° to look at you, that's your chance. In good weather they're all over, I once was walking around hunting looking for them and stopped to look around, one took off like a shot not 7 ft from me. Anyway I use a 22 maxi mag, HP. I only do head shots on the bunnies "lights out". I usually get 8 or 9 when I go out, but I do private property, not public... Never had luck with public...

I agree, if you saw tracks, they were there, staring at you. Either that or the coyote just came thru.

I was taught to stop often. A rabbit's first instinct is to freeze and make like a rock. When you stop, the rabbit often thinks it's been spotted and will run a few yards, then stop and make like a rock again. Then you take the shot.

[cap'n cook]

I was taught to stop often. A rabbit's first instinct is to freeze and make like a rock. When you stop, the rabbit often thinks it's been spotted and will run a few yards, then stop and make like a rock again. Then you take the shot.

i love this characteristic of rabbits.

[GilpinGuy]

Thread revival!

Is it too late to pick off a few rabbits? I mean as far as the fleas, ticks, or other pests. Hasn't been too cold lately. I never hunted them before but would like to try cooking a couple up and maybe end up raising them for meat if the family likes it.

And, ahem, they've been pestering my birds on the property, so they have to go.

[buffalobo]

Official season on rabbits is closed.

sent from my electronic ball and chain

[rondog]

Thread revival!

Is it too late to pick off a few rabbits? I mean as far as the fleas, ticks, or other pests. Hasn't been too cold lately. I never hunted them before but would like to try cooking a couple up and maybe end up raising them for meat if the family likes it.

And, ahem, they've been pestering my birds on the property, so they have to go.

There's several markets that sell commercial rabbit meat, Google it. A friend of mine long ago in OK raised his own rabbits just for the meat, he ate tons of 'em. Can't say I've ever tried it myself, not that I can recall.

[Irving]

Rabbit is delicious! Or at least the one I ate.

[buffalobo]

Rabbit is delicious! Or at least the one I ate.
Rabbit is delicious, at least the hundreds I have eaten have been. Prefer wild to commercially raised.

sent from my electronic ball and chain

[ray1970]

I used to love rabbit gumbo. Been a long time since I've had it.

[Hummer]

I've hunted and enjoyed eating rabbits and hares, mostly roasted over the campfire or fried, which is a bit tough but very tasty. I rarely shoot them around our homes because we enjoy watching them. Just like we don't shoot the home covey of Gambel's Quail. But, we consider them part of the farm pantry--available if the SHTF, or whenever the need might arise. We surely have a few dozen roaming the farm and enjoy watching their antics. We have to fence off the newly planted garden but otherwise they are rarely a problem.

Right now, the cottontails are highly active, in breeding mode and constantly moving, fighting, males jockeying for breeding females, and females excavating nest holes. The rabbits also attract predators here including Bald and Golden Eagle, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks, Great Horned Owls, coyote and fox, all of which makes our place rich with wildlife.

In CO we have the Nuttall's or Mountain Cottontail. The subspecies in the mountains is a bit smaller than the race in the eastern plains and lowland areas of the Grand Valley which have longer ears.

We once had a domestic type rabbit show up. Fun to watch but it ate everything we didn't want it to, bulbs, veggies, flowers and seeds I trapped it and gave it to friends who promised to keep it in a pen.


Snapped this photo a few days ago from the front window. We've got bunnies!


http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g292/COHummer/Animals/Bunny-Fest_zps7i0vmxeh.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/COHummer/media/Animals/Bunny-Fest_zps7i0vmxeh.jpg.html)


Big mama and a newly emerged baby bunny.

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g292/COHummer/Animals/Mama--baby-bunnies.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/COHummer/media/Animals/Mama--baby-bunnies.jpg.html)



Rival males fighting. I call this photo, "Kung Fu Rabbit".


http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g292/COHummer/Animals/BunnyFight.jpg (http://s59.photobucket.com/user/COHummer/media/Animals/BunnyFight.jpg.html)




BTW, GilpinGuy, I have never seen these wild rabbits act aggressively toward wild birds that feed right next to them. They are always gentle except between rival male rabbits. FYI, You can identify tularemia in rabbits by the presence of white spots on the liver. Don't eat those. Wear gloves when you clean them.

[hunterhawk]

nice pics! i took care of some rabbits I thought were being a problem last year with my garden turns out it was actually rats, mice, and squirrels... never had any problems with the rabbits!
growing up in michigan I hunted and ate a lot of rabbits gumbo style...delicious

[TRnCO]

I'm half tempted to whack a few rabbits around my place after I hooked up to my trailer Friday to go get a couple loads of firewood and found trailer wires hanging down. Cut completely in two spots and nearly all the way through in another. I just completely rewired it last summer.
Co-worker had rabbits chew wiring under the hood of her jeep, twice, before she figured out that it was a rabbit, and not mice.

[rondog]

We've had bunnies around our house for years, I don't mind them, I enjoy watching them, and they've never been a problem. They're as welcome here as the Goldfinches. Squirrels, however.....