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View Full Version : Wanting to hunt rabbits. Which guns better?



Crazy.kayaker
08-11-2008, 09:42 AM
I want to hunt rabbits, but I don't have the skills yet to tell the differences easily as pictures on the internet don't do a living rabbit justice when it comes to spotting the rabbits you can hunt so if someone is willing to help me learn the differences please let me know. I know a place 30 minutes away from Kamloops where you can hunt them if it's the right rabbit.

I'm also wondering which is better a .22 or a shotgun? Also which round for each firearm works best? I have Yellow Jacket for my .22 would that be too much or should I use something different. The shot gun would be a single barrel 12 gage full choke most likely. I would think something like #7 shot would work best or would I need something heavier? The rabbits I've seen have all been under 50 Yards away.

Any help either opinion or actual hands on help would be much appreciated. I've had rabbit before and it is a meat I'd like very much to try in other recipes.

C.K

Steeleco
08-11-2008, 09:50 AM
I've not hunted lots of rabbits, but the ones I have I used my .22 I'd have to guess the range on a good .22 would be further than a shotty??

rishu_pepper
08-11-2008, 10:44 AM
Snowshoe hares opened so you're good to go with that; both Eastern cottontail and European rabbit (assuming they're there) are schedule C so you can take as many as you want. Yeah you're pretty much good to go for anything with a couple of long ears :biggrin:

Providing it's a close-range shot (you say they are under 50 yards), likely around 25 yards, a more open choke like IC or LM would serve you well, using #5's. A .22 would be more difficult if they're not sitting still for ya, but if it's accurate enough at under 50 yards, it's good too. Use premium hunting ammo like Velocitors or Stingers.

Please PM me with some info on where this is, I'd like some rabbit stew as well :biggrin: Wouldn't mind hunting with ya either :cool:

Derp
08-11-2008, 01:22 PM
i've nailed my first snow shoe hare this weekend, with my 12ga #5 shot at about 30yds. Shot high, and had 1 shot hit the head and one hit the neck and one hit the rib area. Very fun!

Hint. Hunt early mornings or late afternoons, but you probably know this..

lucky07
08-11-2008, 01:24 PM
12 gauge number 6 is what I use. stomp every friggin bush you see that look like prime bugs bunny habitat. They will hide and sit there til your long gone. Unless your hunting with a dog sometimes you gotta flush em yourself. Even the smallest lump of dirt and branches can hide a rabbit.

Ian F.
08-11-2008, 02:01 PM
You really need to know what kind of "rabbit" it is first to answer the question.

Cottontails are quick darting critters that only give you a brief shot, grouse on the ground, so a shotgun is the best choice with 7 1/2 or larger, gauge whatever you feel comfy with.

Snowshoes can be like cottontails in the bush or they can be a still hunted. So if you are kickin them up, shotgun, if you are still hunting .22, BUT! if you are hunting with others use the shotgun, much much much safer!

Jacks (European Hare) usually are rifle quarry and usually centerfire .22's, spot them in fields and make the shot.

Cottontail tastes just like chicken thigh meat unless they've been eating something strong. Snowshoes are good until they get into the evergreens (winter) but are stronger then cottontails. I've only eaten a few jacks and they where a little tougher then cottontails, and slightly stronger but still quite tastey.

In general rabbits like cover, lots of cover and you "kick" them out by kicking or stomping on the brush, or through thick cover. They can bust out and you never see or hear them, look for natural travel lanes ahead of time as often they head in known directions. 2 or 3 guys working cover is way more productive then solo, and a dog that holds tight is an asset. Doesn't need to be a hound, it's just another critter to scare up the rabbits.

If you get one, make sure not to spil the bladder or guts and if you do wash it off really quick! Also, strip all the fat off as there are glands in the fat that can taint the meat.

I grew up in SOuthern Ontario and chasing Cottontails at christmas is definetly one of the things I miss..

Best of luck,

Ian

rishu_pepper
08-11-2008, 02:06 PM
Can someone suggest a rabbit/hare populated area that's accessible within 2-3 hours of L. Mainland? Want to bag one but not much ideas on where to go...

lucky07
08-11-2008, 02:09 PM
Come to Kelowna ... hundreds of em down enterprise ... don't even need a gun lol just bring a stick. You could literally never miss a shot with a .22 that's how close you can get to em.

As for actual hunting ... no clue where to go. srry

Crazy.kayaker
08-11-2008, 03:50 PM
Come to Kelowna ... hundreds of em down enterprise ... don't even need a gun lol just bring a stick. You could literally never miss a shot with a .22 that's how close you can get to em.

As for actual hunting ... no clue where to go. srry

Get a croquet mallet and a peddle bike and run the cute but soon to be dead bunnies down they'd never hear you coming. JK. I've almost took out a mullie with the handle bars of my Mountain bike a few years ago and even talked to them as I passed them. The Kelowna branch of hunters need to do something about all those rabbits. Catch and release won't work. Catch and eat would ;)

sparkes3
08-11-2008, 05:05 PM
rishu i have seen lots of rabbits on the hurley river road between pemberton and gold bridge i just dont know how many there are up there this year

oddsix
08-11-2008, 05:37 PM
.375 H&h:d

Crazy.kayaker
08-11-2008, 10:33 PM
.375 H&h:d

I would like to be able to eat said rabbit and not point out parts of it 100 yards from where I shot it.

Went up looking for rabbits. Saw 3 but was making lots of noise in the truck but I did get with in 10 feet of 2 of the rabbits one was on the other side of a log. I could just see his/her ears and the other rabbit I didn't shoot as the truck and my brother were in the direction of the bullet would travel after the round had exited the rabbit (6-8 feet away gave its presence away by hopping once when hiding in a bush). I wish I had of parked a little further forward.

Anyways I almost got a rabbit but I'm sure I'll get a good friendly style bashing over this but I'll be up again soon and the rabbits will be MINE.

rishu_pepper
08-11-2008, 11:13 PM
Anyways I almost got a rabbit but I'm sure I'll get a good friendly style bashing over this but I'll be up again soon and the rabbits will be MINE.

Save some for me when we go, eh? :biggrin: We'll cook up a good ol' feast with them bunnies, hopefully!

sneg
08-12-2008, 10:41 AM
12ga #6 shot works best for me for rabbits .you do not have to worry if it still or starts running.there are plenty of rabbits around LM.just find some quite road which is passing thru berry bushes

Mr. Friendly
08-12-2008, 06:00 PM
what is the best terrain to find rabbit in, exactly? all the one's we saw hopping were in area's that had been previously logged with 6ft renewed tree growth that's side by side. not exactly something you can stomp around in to drum up the bunnies.

I'd not trust either of our dogs either (remember...either, either, LOL!) as they like to bolt when they see something. :(

Crazy.kayaker
08-13-2008, 11:26 PM
I'd say any terrain brother. We've seen them in a clear cut area, A pine forest and around a small seasonal swamp. so open and covered terrain along with dry and wet terrain. Darn swamp rabbit just had to get between me and the truck with Mr. Friendly sitting in it. As for the dogs well the Chinese Crested would smell the rabbit out and chase the sucker till the end of the world.

Pete
08-14-2008, 04:57 AM
The authorities are in the process of charging 2 people who were hunting rabbits with a stick in DT kelowna. If you want to go out early, to Heaven that is, just get caught within the city limits of Kelowna pointing anything, rifile, shotgun, arrow, stick, slingshot etc. at one of those bunnies and let one of those bunny huggers see you. Those folks are crazy

Crazy.kayaker
08-14-2008, 02:44 PM
I'm a bunny hugger....I want to let my stomach hug a bunny

Mr. Friendly
08-14-2008, 03:04 PM
yeh...the Crested would chase it to the end of the world. and she'd not come back either! LOL

ruger#1
08-14-2008, 04:09 PM
I don't use a gun when hunting rabbits, I use a snare, find a major run that the rabbits use and set one up. You will get a rabbit for sure. If i do hunt them its between mid Oct and Nov with a twenty two, when they are white and the ground is brown or green. Grouse and rabbit stew yum.

Mr. Friendly
08-14-2008, 09:02 PM
Grouse and rabbit stew yum.
ZOMG, cross contamination!!! :eek:

j/k! :D

tikkat3
08-15-2008, 12:20 AM
Get a croquet mallet and a peddle bike and run the cute but soon to be dead bunnies down they'd never hear you coming. JK. I've almost took out a mullie with the handle bars of my Mountain bike a few years ago and even talked to them as I passed them. The Kelowna branch of hunters need to do something about all those rabbits. Catch and release won't work. Catch and eat would ;)

I was in Kelowna about 2 weeks ago and was totally blown away by the hordes of rabbits on the streets there. I saw about 20 of em within 2 blocks behind the tim hortons on the main drag there.

Crazy.kayaker
08-15-2008, 11:58 AM
What is the city doing about all the bunnies? Closing the road and gonna say shotguns only and have fun? If only they would, but stupid bunny lovers go nutz about protecting them then suddenly they are blaming everyone for the damage the bunnies start causing in their gardens then the real problem starts showing up as there will be bob cat, lynx, cougars, foxes, wolves and such patrolling the roads for their next meal be it bunny cat dog or infant or grown adult, then we will see what they say about the cuddly little bunnies.

Crazy.kayaker
08-24-2008, 06:33 PM
Well I went out rabbit hunting today. I had some interesting encounters with other wild life though.

On my trip up I saw a Cinnamon and a Black bear eating berries which was cool but the rest were of the encounters of the CLOSE KIND.

I did see one rabbit but a hawk killed it. I saw it run across the road in to a stand of young trees on the edge of a clear cut, so I stopped and got my gun and started to load it well I was putting in the 3rd and last round in the rabbit made a break for it less the 20 feet later a hawk that must have been stalking the rabbit made the kill then flew away with it totally ignoring me. The rabbit wasn't that big but looked PD big in the claws of that hawk. Took a few minutes to get above the tree tops.

Next encounter caused much adrenaline to hit my blood stream. I was beating the bush in the same clear cut as the one the hawk got the rabbit as where one lives others must be near by too. After something like 5-10 minutes of working my way in I walk in to a small clearing and on the other side just over 50 Yards away sat a black bear eating berries with his/her back to me. Luckily the bear was up wind of me and I got away unnoticed and unharmed but I was juicing on adrenaline till I got back to the truck.

My last encounter almost took a fatal turn. I picked a different new growth forest to beat the bush for rabbits when I heard some snorting and breaking branches. Less the 4 yards away was a 3 point buck with velvet that was challenging me as it was snorting and pawing the ground. Pretty much begged the deer to let me leave as I didn't want to shoot it in the head at that distance with a .22 hollow point though I had a round in the pipe and it was cocked and aimed for the area between the eyes. Took a few minutes to get away as every step back I took the deer matched with one forward. This happened less the 5 minutes from the truck so I booted it back and decided that I didn't want to try for a third close encounter of either a bear or deer.

The bears I saw on the way up had since left/moved to riper berry patches.

I also had a cow that must have thought she was a race horse as she chased after the truck for about a 1/2 Km even stopped once to see if it would go away just waited on the far side of the ditch for me to start moving again. After the encounter with the deer well I was securing my .22 a different cow came up and started to lick the area just above the driver side headlights dumb animal.

Next time I go rabbit hunting I'm bring up my 12 gage and some 00 and 000 buckshot just in case I'm not so lucky again. I hope when the deer and bear are in season I have half the luck finding animals as I did today.

Crazy.kayaker

johnes50
08-24-2008, 08:46 PM
We used to use a shotgun and a .22. And swap off after a couple of shots. When the bunny takes off you try and get it with the shotgun. If it stops out of range the guy with the .22 geats a shot. Lots of fun. #6 shot works good.

rishu_pepper
08-24-2008, 09:58 PM
LOL at our luck, eh Adam? Well, at least you know where to go once Sept 10 rolls around! :biggrin:

Crazy.kayaker
09-14-2008, 10:09 PM
Went hunting today and made my first kill. Actually went hunting twice but that's a different story. Anyways I have No pictures due to my camera being broken but I caught a Rabbit despite me actually hunting Grouse. Do to probably the most noobie mistake I made Rabbit Dog Food instead of Roast of Rabbit (GRRRRRRRR). If you want the other hunting story let me know but I will warn you I didn't get anything.

C.K

BigBanger
09-14-2008, 11:06 PM
Sounds great , Awesome story , thanks

Iron Glove
09-15-2008, 10:26 AM
Can someone suggest a rabbit/hare populated area that's accessible within 2-3 hours of L. Mainland? Want to bag one but not much ideas on where to go...

Try the logging roads off the Coq. heading towards Tulameen. Rabbitt mountain ( aptly named but no, not after rabbits ) is usually good. Might scare up some grouse too.