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corndog-44
10-06-2007, 09:36 PM
I learned the cottontail hunting technique while growing up on the farm. When I hunt cottontails I always use a .22 rifle.

First locate a form with fresh sign like rabbit droppings and tracks. If the rabbit is not in the form it will seldom move far from it. Walk around the form in ever widening circles. Look for the rabbits in clumps of brush, around bases of trees, in tall grass or in any dense cover. Continue walking until you cover the entire area within a 100-150-foot radius of the cottontail's form. Follow any fresh tracks you encounter cause he may be moving to a different area.

Anyone here with a different hunting technique?

FVR
10-06-2007, 10:01 PM
I grew up in NJ and could not use a 22. I used a bow, same tactic. When it snowed it made it alot easier, but typically I would sneak up on brushpiles and thickets and peer in. If they ran, wait as they usually would come around.

Shotgun hunting was a bit different as you just kicked them up and shoot them.

I liked the bowhunting as I could do it in areas that gun hunting was just not possible.

I've killed alot of rabbits in my time, most of them with a bow.

wareagle69
10-07-2007, 07:43 AM
first i find a parking spot then i walk for what seems like a long time then i slowly approach the counter and sneak up on the butcher so he can't pretend he didn't see me then i quickly pounce and order my rabbit(what's on the spit?) same technique works with cattle and pigs...

FVR
10-07-2007, 01:05 PM
LOL. My wife says the same thing. I wake up early and grab my pole and venture down to the stream and try and catch a few 12" trout.

She wakes up late and goes to the grocery store and buys an 18" by 7" piece of salmon and chuckles when I come home.

Rampager98
10-07-2007, 06:45 PM
I just put my Redtailed Hawk in a nearby tree and work the field in a similar pattern as is mentioned above.

sam30248
10-07-2007, 09:01 PM
i just set my rabbit boxes in a few good spots

trax
10-09-2007, 02:34 PM
Rabbit runs (their trails) are easy to spot. Early morning is the best time, or just before sunset. If you whistle, long and slow, the rabbit will sit up and freeze on the spot. I think that maybe they think it's hawk's wings and predators see movement before they see color or shape, so the rabbit holds still hoping not to be noticed.

carcajou garou
10-09-2007, 02:47 PM
You whistle too:D

LadyTrapper
10-09-2007, 04:06 PM
We whistle at our rabbits as well. It's a winter tradition to hunt rabbit with hounds. Our beagle has never barked since birth, so we tie bells on him. The rabbits run in circles and will eventually cross your path on the run and will not sit up for a whistle, so the weapon of choice is usually a shotgun.
Jumping on brushpiles is also popular while still hunting and we whistle at them with great success.

MMonette
04-28-2008, 10:39 AM
We whistle at our rabbits as well. It's a winter tradition to hunt rabbit with hounds. Our beagle has never barked since birth, so we tie bells on him. The rabbits run in circles and will eventually cross your path on the run and will not sit up for a whistle, so the weapon of choice is usually a shotgun.
Jumping on brushpiles is also popular while still hunting and we whistle at them with great success.

We have a beagle too.....not sure what happend to him though. He hunts by tring to steal MY food and cant follow a sent to save his life. We think its cause he was along alot when he was young

Ridge Wolf
04-28-2008, 10:47 AM
So... question. Does this technique work for all rabbits and not just cottontails? I have never hunt a rabbit in this fashion... The only method I am familiar with is with snares along their trails. I have been on a snipe hunt though... Didn't look like a rabbit to me.