Hitting rabbits?

[Jeeps84]

I want to hunt rabits with my bow and was wondering if a juddo would be fine? plus do you have to hit them in the head,if not and i shoot it in the ribbs will it run off and just be hurt. If theres a chance in a lot getting wounded i will just stick to a gun. any advise will help. thanks.

Jeeps

[Broken Arrow 1]

You can pretty much hit them anywhere and they will expire quickly a judo will work but I like to use old B/H's .

[wingnut]

I like an old BH or a second for rabbits.  They can be hard too kill sometimes.

I bought a 100 MA3 seconds a few years ago and bob them back 3/8 of an inch with a dremal.  Then sharpen the blades.  Between trama and cut, they do the job on all small game.

I mount them on cheap shafts and flu flus.  Usually take about 50 to elk camp every year for everyones use.

Mike

[Rob DiStefano]

from first hand experience, i agree with james and mike.  imo, forget the judo or blunt and go with a sharp broadhead.  wabbits is tough li'l buggers.

[AkDan]

htm rubber blunts to the head..rocks their worlds!  If you dont think that is enough...try a 357 case, with the large htm rubber blunt slid over the top...shoot for their heads and you wont regret it!

as for wounding...everytime you hunt there is a chance...head shots are kill or miss...but dont look at the ears you'll miss every time you can take that to the bank LOL!

[vtmtnman]

I like hex heads for all small game.I shot one back in Dec with a hex head and it did the job.I wouldn't hesitate to use some old BH's though.

[DVSHUNTER]

I've killed em with just about everything from feild points to the cut end of a wood arrow, from rubber blunt to broadhead. I like the judo or blunt head best. Just hit em anywhere in the eye.

[Arwin]

I'm leaning more towards old broadheads after seeing how tough rabbits and squirrels can be over the last few years.  
 In the same breath I killed many squirrels and a few bunnies with a washer/nut combo on the end of a cedar shaft.
 I'm really going to up the weight of my arrows for small game. I'm starting to think the light weight of a bunny or squirrel somehow lessens the impact of an average weight arrow.
 Sounds funny but I think it has to do with small critters getting pushed out of the way vs. impact of a more solid objects like raccoon sized animals and up. I could be full of BS but it seems like a good theory.

[Hud]

Blunts, hex heads and similar heads work good. Killing is by shock to head, spine, front quarters. Broadheads should be reasonably sharp, otherwise they may push rather than cut. Same reason field points are bad choice, they have minimal shock value and are non-cutting. Pick a small spot to aim at, not the whole rabbit.

[Spectre]

I like to use an old broadhead as well. Jackrabbits are particularly tough little fellers, I have had them run off with a judo-tipped arra through the boiler room. Just cut a hole in them.

[Chuck Hoopes]

Ive been hunting them w/a bow and beagles for 15-20yrs- a 50-100 days a year.  Broadheads are the best, but not always practical.  Mostly I use Blunts with flanges. I make  them by hacksawing an to a depth of 3/8" and bending metal back so that it is at, or close to right angles from the shaft.  This causes the arrow to hang up in the rabbit, rather than falling out-- thus it helps to get the rabbit caught up in the brush before it can make it to a hole , woodpile,etc. Truth is you are rarely going stop them dead in their tracks, unless you make a head  or spine hit--most times this is not what happens--and the rabbit has enough life left in him to make it to hole.  If you can't or perfer not to use a Broadhead, fashion something like I described to help hang him up, slow him up, so you can chase him down.--Which often provides a certain amount of halarity to the hunt. i.e - old man diving and running thru the brush, is deemed halarious by some people--I don't know why- it just is.

[AkDan]

whats tons of fun is whatching your buds laugh there tails of while you turn around and try and find the dozen or so arrows that managed to get yanked out of your back quiver on that run...been there  

I still say shootm in the head but I'm also hunting snowshoe hares now not cotton tails or jackrabbits.

[Corn Stalker]

Is everyone still hunting rabbits? I have been trying to jump shoot them on the run like I am using a scattrergun. Hitting a running rabbit is hard enough for me let alone trying to hit them in the head. Lots of fun though.

[wingnut]

Dan,

Dang with snowshoes, I go with my deer or elk arrows.  They are big and tough to bring down.

I do love a good snowshoe hare stew though.  Goes great in the dutch oven in camp.


Mike

[AkDan]

Mike, well get up here and I'll show ya how easy they are to head shoot LOL!....I'll miss every one of them high in the ears so if you see a bunch of earless bunnies you know I was there haha.....another good reason for rubber blunts!

Hare stew...do talk man!   I dont have a good recipe so I stopped hunting them.  This thread has the blood pumping I'm getting some shafts tomorrow, hopefully next weekend I can get out.  I need to call you guys, got a bow build ?.....

Corn,
atleast for us, the hares will hold tight to some degree or with enough pursuit you can seem to get up on them close enough for a head shot..which is about all you can see anyways in the alders.  

A good bunny hunt will prove you dont need a short bow!!!

[Gaff]

i was told by somebody once that if you shoot a rabbit behind the shoulder "you just gut shot it "..
so i try to aim for the shoulder/head area. i miss ALOT!!

gaff

[reddogge]

A rabbit has a rib cage and lungs, liver like any other animal.  A shot behind the front leg will catch lungs.

[trapperDave]

[Jeeps84]

I see most of the rabbits hunkered down at about 15 or less yards. so would think i would have a chance at getting one. I think i will try some old razor heads it seams to make sence. With a bear Kodiak 50#. Thank you for all the input. keep it coming. I will let you know if i have any luck.  
         TY Jeeps

[Roy Steele]

I rabbit hunt a few times each year.I use the same set up as deer hunting.But don't take to many running shots.I stalk from down wind and find them setting.I use'ly hunt open feilds beside thickets[feeding areas].ZWICKYS BUT I've shot them with judo's a few times.But you get alot of wounds that they get away with.Broad heads work on rabbits just like deer.
 
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