Wondering ...
 

I was wondering if anybody hunts rabbits anymore? I haven't seen anything posted about the Cotton Tail for a long time.

We have often talked about it here in southern KY, but have not gotten around to it. Too many other things get in the way, like deer, quail, and pheasant, I guess. I grew up on cottontails. It should would be fun to get back into it. Don't you have some beagles that you run on rabbits, Mike?

Dave

Robin Lewis and I have hired guides in northern New Hampshire and hunted snowshoe hare behind their dogs.
First time it was with Swedish Hounds which are much like beagles but with considerably longer legs. The guide said "While the other guides' dogs are floundering around in deep snow, my dogs will be hunting."
I was using my IJ Skeeter .410 and Robin used his AAHE 16.

The second time we used a different guide who had beagles and we were ALL floundering around in deep snow.





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We hunt Snowshoe Hares here in New Hampshire, which is not a rabbit but a hare. Our population of cottontail rabbits is endangered and only occurs in the southern part of the state. Spent many winter days chasing them in Pittsburg, NH with my buddies beagles. We have had a problem in the last several years with coyotes killing beagles as they run the hares, picking them off when they are on large loops. One of the problems is that January to March is there breeding season for the coyotes, and the males are very protective of there territories. We have been told by Fish and Game that this is partially the reason for the dog/coyote conflict here.

S till get out for Snowshoe up here in the UP of MI. Numbers have been way down for a long while but are starting to rebound. This spring while birding up at Whitefish Point they were everywhere. Many think that the Fishers were the cause of this decline as I feel they also have an impact on the grouse up here.

For years while grouse hunting I ran into an old guy running his beagles. He had a model 12 with not one spec of blueing left. We had many a pleasant chat on a sunny November afternoon. Sadly, I have not encountered him in a few years now. I miss seeing him and his beagles and sharing the cover with an old time rabbit hunter.

The only sound more intoxicating on a chilly morning than a pack of beagles running a rabbit is the sound of an elk bugling. I love hunting rabbits. I posted a story of one of the hunts here a while back. A fresh snow, a pack of dogs and a small bore Parker man I'm looking forward to winter already......well not quite:)

My first real hunting experience was behind a couple of beagles chasing bunnies with my Dad and his buddy using a Stevens 311 20. Don't have the beagles anymore but managed to keep the 311. Rich is correct about the sound of those hounds working a bunny but the sound of a Canada goose on a foggy morning on the marsh brings back some great memories.

Now that I found out my better half loves rabbit, I'll be potting some on my trip to South Dakota and during my local upland hunts. She grew up in the Ukraine eating rabbits fixed many different ways and boy can she fry up a mean bunny.

In recent years I have seen 2 Fischers in the UP while grouse hunting.

I do if they are in range of my garden. So far this spring I shot six rabbits and three ground hogs. Planning on starting on squirrels soon. They steal pecans. There appears to be a big crop of bushy tails again this year.

Dave, I sold my two dogs last fall. My schedule wasn't permitting me to work them as much as they deserved. They were out of the Greenbay Shooter line and were the best beagles I ever had. I miss it.

Last time I hunted rabbits was up here about 20yrs ago during a very high peak in the hare population. A friend and I went out and in 60minutes took 62 hare with a pair of Winchester 62A pumps. We quit when we ran out of ammo. Art was definitely set for trapping bait for the winter. His aged lab retrieved every one of them and could not possibly have been a happier dog. I'm pretty sure that was his last hunt of any kind.

I hunted rabbits a lot as a kid in Michigan. My favorite memory is of hunting on snowshoes by the full moon on a crystal clear night at about -15F and listening to my beagle, hot on a trail, and hearing him "come of age" as his usual juvenile yelps turned to the classic deep beagle yowl in a matter of 30seconds. Who could ever forget that?!

One of my favorite snowshoe hare hunts was with Robin Lewis about five years ago around Berlin, NH in February. The snow was about three feet deep but was hard crusted and we didn't need snowshoes, just walked on top. But every so often we would break through and wallow a bit before regaining our footing. The thing that made it so memorable was that Robin was shooting his AAHE 16 gauge with F/F chokes. He smacked a few bunnies with that fantastic gun too.





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We used to see hundreds of bunnies over time in the back and side yards and in the borders of the woodlots here in suburban VA (25 miles from downtown DC) when we first moved here 33 years ago. Also noticed the abundance of red foxes, which of course preyed on the bunnies, and the cycles of life (e.g., fewer foxes, more bunnies and of course the reverse) came and went pretty much on que.

Lately in the last 2-3 years we have noticed the shrinking fox sightings in early morning and of an evening just before dusk. We haven't seen a rabbit (literally) in the last 2-3 years, but we can hear them being killed by the foxes or owls at night in the woods, so we know they are still around (we have always had 2 or 3 owls in close proximity to the house). Also noticed the recent uptick in hawk sightings; we have a gorgeous Cooper's hawk which has taken up habitat in our side woodlot. (No doubt they are doing their part to depress the bunny population).

The only thing we haven't seen peek out of the woods yet is a coyote, but I'm convinced its just a matter of time. (Remember, they got a game trail cam shot of one in Rock Creek Park in downtown DC a few years ago.). We have sighted them at our Izaak Walton League conservation farm in Poolesville MD, about 45 minutes from here. The "canid nerds" tell me that coyote will kill foxes, so it makes sense that they may be affecting the food chain beginning with the bunnies the foxes kill and so on.

Oh, yeah - forgot to mention - a few years ago a pair of bald eagles built a nest overlooking a small recreational lake house development about a 1/4 mile from my house. Looked out one day and one of them was standing in the middle of our back yard, chowing down some type of tasty morsel - made for quite a yard sculpture!

I was using my grandfathers ancient flat bearpaw shoes, with no toe curl, and the snow was very crusty that night in 1966. I did my share of stumbling and falling I can tell you! I actually got one shot at a bunny; I turned quickly and shot and fell flat on my back, glad that I was alone.Those shoes were awful and have not seen the snow since! But not so awful that I didn't varnish them up like new and hang them on my bedroom wall here.

Coyotes are everywhere. I've seen them within 200ft of my house here and ran over one 215miles north of Fairbanks a number of years ago. They are everywhere in Alaska except north of the Brooks Range. They kill foxes, and a lot of dogs, and the wolves kill them, but they still seem to be expanding their range.

Just had a Bald Eagle fly down the lake here about twenty minutes ago being harassed by an Osprey. The eagles are murder on the loon chicks... pretty sad.

Coyotes will definitely kill and eat Red Foxes and the Gray Foxes are becoming more prevalent around here while the reds are diminishing. Reason for this is that the Gray Foxes are pretty decent tree climbers.





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I would love to go on a rabbit with one of our members and write it up for the Parker Pages. We have plenty of coyotes in Kentucky. A couple years ago I shot one from my living room as he was approaching a pup tied up outside in the yard.

What started my interest in Parkers was a friend who had a DHE 410, skeet in skeet out behind a bunch of pool sticks in his den. It was in 1972 and i asked what a valuable gun like that was doing out of a safe, he had given his dads safe to me and asked that i take it use it and keep it for him. I hunted rabbits and shot skeet with it until he got a safe 18 yrs. later.I couldn't afford it when it was sold at auction but he sent me a nice check, saying if it wasn't for me he would never have known it's worth.

Richard, the first pair of snow shoes I had as a mid-teenager were flat bear paws. They were absolutely worthless for anything but decoration. I've had several different styles since then and none were as bad as those flat bear paws. Been using Alaskan trail type (10x56) for decades now and consider them the best.

They do hunt rabbits in Mississippi. Most private land that has lots of rabbit is leased to hunting clubs for deer and turkeys, but when deer season is over many welcome friends with beagles. I go once a year, when a friend has combination rabbit hunt and dinner on the grounds. We start around 8 in the morning and stop for lunch served in the field with cookers making gumbo, there is smoked duck, venison,wild turkey and a bon fire if needed.We pull up a folding chair and discuss the morning hunt. This group will point out each others short comings at the drop of a hat. It is great fun.

Daniel that sounds like a great time. What part Mississippi are you in?

I thoroughly enjoyed hunting cotton tail rabbits here in upstate NY.

I used my Ithaca Lefever .410 double with 26" barrels choked Mod and Full that I bought in September of 1968 for $150.00 from Pearson's Gun Shop in Auburn NY. Usually 1/2 ounce #4's in the Mod right barrel and 3/4 ounce #4's in the left Full choke barrel.

Early on I had two beagles back to back: Boomer and Barney followed by my black and white English Springer Spaniel Teddy Rough Rider Roosevelt. Named him after handling TR's F grade Fox then owned by Tom Kidd.

Spent many days hunting bunnies with my older brother Tom who owned 250 plus acres near Cape Vincent NY (where Lake Ontario becomes the St. Lawrence River). He also had a black and white Springer Black Jack.

Great dogs for working rabbit cover with the added bonus of some Ruffed Grouse. Teddy got so he would retrieve rabbits back to me, no matter who shot them. Occasionally, the rabbits were still alive.

Maybe not the magic of upland bird hunting, or ducks over decoy's or you name it but those days will live in my memory forever.

And by the way, and as many of you know, rabbits are great table fare.

Nrotheast Mississippi

Another Upstate NY rabbit hunter here. It's been a while since I've done it, but it was part of my early hunting experiences. I used a Remington pump 20 ga, don't remember the model number, and my dad hunted with one of his Parkers or sometimes an old Hollis and Sheath percussion hammer gun.

We had a beagle, Gypsy, who was an excellent dry-ground hunter, but did not do well on snow. She would also chase pheasants the same as if they were rabbits. I too love the sound of a beagle baying on a rabbit and spent many an afternoon after school out with her. I earned my Boy Scouts cooking merit badge by cooking a rabbit stew on a winter camping trip. There were lots of rabbits and pheasants around back in those days (late '70s - early 80's). Still a few rabbits around but pheasants are scarce.

rabbits are fun to hunt as a boy we hunted rabbits a lot i went all day with a fellow who had good dogs but we only jumped one cotton tail...the coyote s around here keep them thinned out... my dad used a model 42 winchester 410 pump i used a stevens 410 ga double barrel....charlie

Saw a coyote tonight after dog training at McKee-Beschers WMA, Poolesville, MD (around corner from Izaack Walton League that Kevin referred to).