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Crazy.kayaker
12-23-2008, 10:01 PM
Hello all you winter rabbit hunters I have a question for you. I've been out and other then nearly killing myself when I saw a bunny I've been unable to find any rabbits or prints of them. I'm hoping you can tell me what to look for as I went to a few places I saw bunnies in the summer and fall and can't find any prints or any sign of them is there something special I have to look for? Or is it still just walk though the brush and trees and see if you can scare one up? I have a pair of snowshoes I've been using so I don't sink knee deep in the white stuff around Kamloops so I'm not stuck to roads.

C.K

spreerider
12-23-2008, 10:22 PM
I am from the island but when we went rabbit hunting when i was a kid we always found logging roads near fields and walked them in the morning or evening, they always cross open spaces in the same path so once you find where they are crossing.
they seem to stay close to cover but still close to the open, mostly we found them in grassy slashes close to the thick stuff.
I hope this can help you out.

Will
12-23-2008, 11:35 PM
Plenty of bunnies around the loops.
look for thier trails in the snow....tracks are easy to find. Bunnies are tough to spot though...often it's the little black eyes you'll spot ! Move slowly & they will freeze if not alarmed.
They stick close to thier holes and disappear quick like if need be. Just walk snowed in roads....they are everywhere. But once you find a good spot, keep it to yourself.

The last hour of daylight is Primetime...at least for me.:smile:

Crazy.kayaker
12-23-2008, 11:55 PM
Plenty of bunnies around the loops.
look for thier trails in the snow....tracks are easy to find. Bunnies are tough to spot though...often it's the little black eyes you'll spot ! Move slowly & they will freeze if not alarmed.
They stick close to thier holes and disappear quick like if need be. Just walk snowed in roads....they are everywhere. But once you find a good spot, keep it to yourself.

The last hour of daylight is Primetime...at least for me.:smile:

Thanks I guess I need to try a few different roads then and I only saw that one rabbit cause it ran in front of a GREEN tree (shocked we still have any green trees still)

KevinB
12-24-2008, 10:38 AM
Where have you been going CK? If you aren't seeing many tracks, then try a different spot. If you see a fair # of tracks the morning after a fresh snowfall, that's a better sign.

Usually they set up for the day near the base of a tree with low-hanging branches, and sometimes under brush piles etc.

If I'm hunting alone, I usually zig-zag my way through an area, keeping an eye out for fresh tracks of one running - that mean's I've kicked one up, and if the snow is fresh and not too covered by other tracks yet, I start going after it slowly. Usually I'll bump it up a few more times, if I'm going slow enough I might even get a glimpse of it as it zooms off. They usually don't go that far each time. Eventually you may catch up with it enough to see it sitting still and get a shot. Usually they're pretty close, so head shots with a .22 work well.

If there are a lot of them around, you can have good luck just finding an old overgrown track or skid trail through the area and walking it slowly.

Keep in mind that they will usually head in a general counter-clockwise direction after the first few times you bump them up, if the cover is there. I don't know why that is, but it can help you sometimes.

And contrary to popular belief, snowshoe hares don't dig holes or burrows, like rabbits do, but they will tuck in under logs and such.

Crazy.kayaker
12-24-2008, 11:40 AM
I am hunting up between Lac De Bois and McQeen but all the tracks I saw a month ago are under the snow and my 4 trips up there for rabbits have come back with out seeing any sign of a single rabbit.

I've also gone up Jamieson once but haven't gotten up again but I did see in that one trip, 2 cougars, 1 Wolf, 1 Coyote, 1 Rabbit (long story about why rabbits still alive) short story is I missed and gun got snow in it hunt ended.

If someone here lives in kamloops and wants a partner to go rabbit hunting let me know I don't need much heads up to go either as I'm on Disability.

The guns I have for rabbit hunting are: .22 lever and a single shot shotgun (SSS) with a pump here friday or monday depends on when it gets processed at Postal.

rishu_pepper
12-24-2008, 11:53 AM
The guns I have for rabbit hunting are: .22 lever and a single shot shotgun (SSS) with a pump here friday or monday depends on when it gets processed at Postal.

Cool, you got a pump? What is it?

Crazy.kayaker
12-24-2008, 12:08 PM
It's an Ithaca M37 Featherlight (older style pump handle) with two barrels one is a 30" Full Choke and the other is a 26" Imp Cyl. for the price I got it was a steal of a deal. But I still want a nice SxS in 16(?) or 20(?) gauge once I can afford one again.

KevinB
12-24-2008, 03:21 PM
[quote=Crazy.kayaker;383099]I am hunting up between Lac De Bois and McQeen but all the tracks I saw a month ago are under the snow and my 4 trips up there for rabbits have come back with out seeing any sign of a single rabbit. quote]


I go up on the south side of Bleeker Lake (It's up on the way to Roche Lk). I usually see a bunny or two in there. There's a little old overgrown road that follows along the south side of the lake, that's good to walk in on. You can find it all in Google Maps.

Your lever .22 would be great, if it has open sights. All that snow and the crawling around chasing bunnies doesn't mix well with a scope :wink:

Crazy.kayaker
12-24-2008, 07:01 PM
I'll have to try bleeker lake area and my .22 lever is open sights. I live on the north side of kamloops so I tend to enjoy the norther area more but I keep forgetting about all the great terrain south of me. I tried a new place further up quite a distance and had quite a bit of success finding rabbit sign had one hiding but couldn't get it out after 15 minutes gave up and yes I saw him/her run in to the hole. Also had to change my shotgun load from a #8 to a winchester rifled slug as I had to scare a wolf away that may or may not have been stalking me with my .22 about 3 feet at the shoulder BIG SUCKER!!


Why do I always see the predator and not the prey?!?! Too slow or late right?

C.K

NewInWestsyde
12-25-2008, 07:01 PM
I am up in westsyde myself and am interested in going out this winter.New at this as this is my first year out hunting ..(got core in sept and out a few times for bucks...no sucess here) Main problem being mode of transportation is F-150 POS in a 2wd. how for realistically can i get up jamison or such this time o year till i'm looking for a rope out??/

Crazy.kayaker
12-25-2008, 07:34 PM
I am up in westsyde myself and am interested in going out this winter.New at this as this is my first year out hunting ..(got core in sept and out a few times for bucks...no sucess here) Main problem being mode of transportation is F-150 POS in a 2wd. how for realistically can i get up jamison or such this time o year till i'm looking for a rope out??/

I got a 2wd Mazda and I go up Jamieson all the time (granted it usually is plowed and used more in years past). A set of chains are in the works for the near future but at this time I just have a come-along and an assortment of tow straps I find in the spring from snowmobiler's I found one that's a 3 inch wide heavy canvas type strap about 20 feet long with looped ends. But Jamieson isn't the only place the fuzzies live. A PM will be sent to you shortly about going hunting for some rabbits.

KevinB
12-27-2008, 11:11 AM
Just be careful on the hill around 13k - it can ice up badly at times, going up is okay, but coming down can be nasty, especially if you forget and start down it going too fast. The last time I came down there you could see where someone had done exactly that and had taken out part of their truck against the rock wall.

Good luck with the bunnies, if you found somewhere with lots of tracks you're doing fine.

Crazy.kayaker
12-27-2008, 11:25 AM
The 13K hill on Jamieson can be nasty. I always come to a stop then crawl down in neutral (clutch in but stick in 1st gear) and on the brake. As for the rabbit sign I never see the rabbit till it's slipping down a hole in the snow the ends up under large log(s). Guess I need to find some other place again and just wait till I have a second hunter along.

Singleshotneeded
03-08-2009, 12:33 AM
:-) Hey guys, I've only ever hunted snowies in August and early September, before hunting season for big game begins here in
the Okanagan. We've got a great spot here outside Kelowna.
My question is how do they taste in late winter? I heard they
don't taste nearly as good because of what they're eating in winter?