Bunny Hunting(advice)

[nipperlud]

Any Tips on hunting rabbit with no dogs and what heads do you use on wood shafts? and do you use flu flu's...going to give it a try...

[Nantahala Nut]

That's a tough one with a trad bow. With a shotgun I just got in there and busted  brush but you won't be able to shoot. You could have a buddy hit the brush and you stay out where you can shoot and then switch off.
Sometimes you can catch them in the open early in the morning.

[Shadowhnter]

Hunt early and late when day light is low. Move extremely slow and quiet, working into the wind when possible, and a bit of a stiff wind is helpful. Poor and cold windy weather conditions are the best (with the exception being rain, rain sucks). Not that they smell well, but they can hear exceedingly well and hunting in a stiff wind cover noise, and very cold temps makes em want to sit. Hunt the edges of thick heavy low ground cover, and hope for the best. Snow in small to moderate amounts is a huge bonus if its fresh and not crunchy.

My favorite way, is to find a large bulldozer pile or brush pile surrounded by thick ground level brush, and using any dog that likes to hunt at all. Dont matter what kind or if trained or not. Let them start nosing around the pile and eventually they get after the bunnies in there. Watch close for small areas of openings, that the rabbits use as an escape route to avoid the dog. Stand in position, and wait. Rarely the bunnies are moving fast, but instead hop slowly around as the dog works the pile. It requires the knowledge of how the bunnies will react, so watching carefully you can establish a pattern.

 I know you said hunting without a dog, but even many common house dogs work for this. Otherwise refer to paragraph 1.

[Pine]

Look inside brush and look for a shining black marble . That's an eye and sometimes that's all you see .
Use something like an Ace Hexhead and fluflu is optional .
You are shooting into the ground so you don't need to slow down the arrow .

What I did, was ride around and find farms with the biggest messiest groves in the area.  If they had new trees wrapped at the ground to protect them from rabbits, better.   show the farmer your harmless wood blunts and simple stick bow and beg.  When hunting walk very softly and stop often and simply wait.  My bowhunting farmer friend commented that we should bring stools, because we sit more than we walk.  I get more bunnies when they are making their move without me pushing them.   If you use a dog, train it to stop, hold, and return.   The best hunting dog that I ever had was a very aggressive Basset hound.  She would retrieve out of water, pointed pheasants, and would run anything if she heard me shout the approval 'get 'em".  She would spin on a dime and come running back if she heard the loud whoop whistle.  Dogs like that are super rare.   My best buddy dog, pointed rabbits, he knew more about wilderness canoe tripping than most people, but he had one thing.  When we shot at a rabbit and miss, he would attack the arrow, rip the feathers off one at a time and then bring back the arrow.  I could never figure out how he could get a hold of them like that.

[stagetek]

It's fun just after it snows. Walk slow, try to catch them sitting. I use old Bodkin broadheads, or Judo's. No flu-flu's needed.

[YosemiteSam]

Without a dog, I've seen more bunnies sitting still than deer.  I don't hunt coyotes anymore but when I did, I'd have bunnies frolicking all around at about 10-20 yards away.  I just sit where I knew there were some holes & they'd come out for a while.  I've also walked up on a fair number of them while hiking.  Often, they'll keep to a fairly small area around their den so once you find a bunny & its den, you just have to show up for an opportunity to take a shot.

But nothing can beat the nose & skill of a good rabbit dog & a shotgun.  My old mutt (recently died) was an amazing bunny buster in her day.  Hunting rabbits with her was among my favorite ways to spend a couple hours after work.  We nearly cleaned out a 200-acre parcel surrounded by farmland of all cottontails and jackrabbits.  It took about 5 years for the bunnies to come back after that season.

[swampcrawler]

As you can tell from the above responses, it really depends on the terrain available to you.

Sometimes sitting in ambush is best.

Sometimes you almost have to have a dog or friend to run them out of the Briars.

By far my favorite method is to find  an area where a land owner or the management guys on public land have cleared walking/ATV/Tractor trails through the middle of young growth lines or big brier patches. Stalk down those trails right after daylight and right before dark. They like to come out and sit on the edges of the trails and clearings to eat the grasses.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Shooting at a still Rabbit is easier than a running one.  Sneak slowly and catch them sitting.  You will see much less than stomping bushes but your shot ratio will he higher.

[Roadkill]

We got 5 on Saturday,  find a farm/ ranch with junk yards-pallets, brush, old equipment, irrigation pipes and such.  You might find evening hunts will allow sitting and letting them come out to feed, or early to watch them heading for cover.  On really cold days, await yhe warmer mid morning.  They will sit in the sun to warm up.  Use binos to locate, but approach in a diagonal, not directly to them.  The bunnies use escape routes, look for them and keep an eye on them as you move.  Look behind you often.  If you have 2 hunters, you have many options.  We split up and then work towards a stander, taking turns pushing , or work sage on a decreasing parallel Path to force rabbits out and as they circle, they bump into the other hunter.  If you can shoot for eyes/head. A high miss will often freeze them or turn them towards you as they run from the last dangerous event they had-the arrow on their sid.  Look for pink ears.  Walk slooowly, look more than walk after you find scat and track in abundance.
Game shears only, no need for a knife.  I have a string on my camper's rear hatch. Pull skin back on each rear leg, then tie one to the string. Cut off both front feet and head, then pull the skin off like a sock.  Then scissor the rib cage to the diagram, turn scissors half way to right and slide up to pelvic girdle.  Snip carefully. Snip tail, an d carefully pull the anus free. Pull gut out, check the liver for spots or growth as you go, all the way to the diagram, pull it to expose heart and lungs. All the guts are now out, except Pull kidneys , cut off 2 hinds=done. Yeah, I love to hunt rabbits, started in the creek next to Hoyt's shop in the 1950's, and have not stopped.  I will not hunt golf courses as the rabbits there are subjected to pesticides,herbicides and fertilizers.  I give many to disadvantaged folks.

I like hex blunts for rabbits, on any old fairly straight shaft. You're going to break/lose some for sure.

[oldskool]

I use hex heads. Go slow and look for the eyes. They usually sit with their nose into the wind. If they run snap shoot

[Longtoke]

Even if dont get any, figuring out where they are is important too, they creatures of habit and would keep a relative routine.

If they are pressured much they will get real spooky and will be harder and harder to get up on.


Finding farm fence rows and junk piles is a great piece of advice.

One of the big reason I use blunts instead of blades for bunnies is that I hunt around a lot of farms and it makes it safer for the livestock and equipment in case you get a stray arrow or deflected shot.

[Archer Dave]

This is a good timely post. I have been walking my homestead and seeing trails everywhere. I took a few cotton tails that had been getting into the garden, but would like to actually hunt some in their territory.

Was thinking about setting some traps, but I would like to get a few with my bow too.

When there is deep snow what do you do about your arrows? I think any arrow shot right now might be lost.

[gordydog]

We have great success in brushy thick fencelines where a rabbit doesn't want to run out into an open field. Have someone slowly make a push to you as you stand motionless on a heavy rabbit trail in snow camo. You can watch rabbits stop several times as they move towards you, many times stopping a few feet away. We like to use big HTM rubber blunts so you can find them in snow easy by the big plow mark they make. If you lose an arrow it is much cheaper than a judo, which work great too.  Really deep new snow is great because they tend to stay on those well worn trails.

[degabe]

We track them on a fresh snow and watch for them sitting in tall grass or under a bit of brush. Sitting targets are easier to hit. If you see one sitting he also knows where you are so do not look away. If you do he will be in over drive in a heart beat.

[two4hooking]

Originally posted by Cyclic-Rivers:
Shooting at a still Rabbit is easier than a running one.  Sneak slowly and catch them sitting.  You will see much less than stomping bushes but your shot ratio will he higher.

  If you don't spook them too bad they may take one jump in cover...sneak up and look for the eye with binos.

 

Or, just maybe, you can do it the African method.  Hire a bunch of the local natives,(area farm kids), and have them and their dogs go knocking and banging through an especially thick grove and run the rabbits out into a disced bean field. Do not shoot towards grove, but you will get an idea of the lead required after a few shots.

[old_goat2]

Closer the shot, the more I like a broadhead, stick them to the ground! Shoot them at distance, five to ten or more yards and then you get a clean passthrough and that messes up your feathers! Like VPA blunts for farther shots! Personal choice on the flu flu thing, I don't like them that much for ground shots!
 

[Roadkill]

Darn, Goat, you need to give your bunnies a class on cammo.  That white bunny shines like a diamond in a mule's ass.  I wish we had some of them closer than a 5 hour drive, as I love to hunt those hares.