For years I've hunted rabbits by walking through thick cover busting brush piles without much success. On many of these outings, I've seen lots of bunny tracks & droppings (probably made at night) but no bunnies. For all you experienced rabbit hunters, am I correct to assume that they are in their holes? What effect does weather have in getting them to bust into the open for a shot? Thanks for the input.

Yeah you would be most likely correct they are in a hole. I hunt with beagles and some times its loaded with rabbit sign, and you hunt it thoroughly only to come up with nothing cause they are in a hole. Sometimes rabbits aren't in the thickest of cover. So don't over look other hiding spots. I've jumped rabbits in the smallest of tufts of grass, or a couple sticks together, with heavy cover nearby. Deer hunting this year, crossing a field about 15 yards from a thick fencerow, one was sitting under a little grass and busted loose as I almost walked on it and it startled me cause I wasn't expecting one there with that good cover 15 yards away.

I'm by far no expert in rabbit hunting but have been out a few hundred times in my life, never with a dog. The thick stuff is always great to push, but Id have to say ive had more luck on the smaller brush piles and downed trees with grass growing tall around them. With the thick stuff, I feel that they can sneak away on a face paced hop rather than bust out with there white tail flashing. When you hit the smaller stuff, they have no choice to bust out at full speed to get away. I have to say Ive pulled 80% of my bunnies out of stuff no bigger than a small car. Im sure there are a lot of bunnies in the big thick knarley stuff but they no they can sit tight and not worry. The smaller stuff they have no choice because they know that they'll be seen. Id concentrate on the smaller downed trees, brush piled and thick patches of grass. If you give them enough of a kick and work slow, if there are bunnies in there they'll eventually get out of there at full speed. Id stick to the thick big stuff when you run out of the smalller stuff. Again, this is my 2 cents and I am by far no expert but have done a lot of bunny hunting in my day. Good Luck!

Thanks for the input. The last couple days i've been skunked have been quite cold (17deg). I'd be willing to bet that they would be more active on warmer days.

When the temps are that cold it really helps if the sun is out. They'll sit in the sun to get warm like most animals. With those temps on a cloudy day they will most likely be in a hole. Two weeks ago I hunted a small patch of woods when the sun hadn't quite hit it yet and came up with a little barking on a cold scent. After the sun was laying in there, maybe 1/2 hour to an hour later I went through again and got 3 rabbits up. It was in the low 20's that day.

I normally hunt with dogs, but I kick up the majority of the rabbits and then let the dogs track. One of my honey holes is an old fence row that is over grown with hay and some light briars. I normally get at least 2-3 every time i hit it. Check those fence rows... Good luck