Rabbits with a .22?
#2
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 27
RE: Rabbits with a .22?
Rabbits with a 22 is certainly fun -- one was to learn is plain old beat the bush - in other words get out and walk and not completly on the trail. I find late in the evening is a good time to see them (last hour before sun set till dark) bright really sunny is bad. You got to do a lot of in through the bush, jumping on fallen tree tops and a lot of looking about. I realy enjoy when the rabbits turn white and no snow (Newfoundland , Canada) on the ground and you see these white snow balls with ears. Another thing to watch is if you shoot a rabbit and it don' t move means you never hit it and don' t let you pride get you into thinking you hit it because you didn' t so shoot it again and again untill it moves- hopefully upside down. Yes I have shot at a rabbit more than once before I hit it. Remember it not the number of shots that count its the number of hits that you take home. Some times doing the loop after the rabbit can drive you crazy but once you get the hang of it then it can be fun. If you find a good area then the better you know that area you get to learn the best way to drive them. I remember hunting one area the is wooded area that was 150 across going to a point 400 feet out into a pit and as several of us flushed the area the rabbit came out into the open one way or another -- we won several times that day and a few other days in the same area. -- just my thought
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Minneola, Central Florida, USA
Posts: 246
RE: Rabbits with a .22?
I concur that evening is good, so is morning. When the sun is really low on the horizon the shape of the rabbit will " pop" out of the surrounding grasses. Country lanes, field borders, big clearing in the woods are all good spaces to hunt.
I don' t flush rabbits, they don' t stop until they get into more deep cover and I can' t hit them on the fly with the 22. Just be patient and try to train your eyes to see the ears or eyes in the grass.
Out west you can hunt jackrabbits with a whistle and a 22. Once they start running, just blow the whistle really loud. The dumb bunny stops dead in his tracks and sticks his head up to look around. That is all it takes....
Chubber
I don' t flush rabbits, they don' t stop until they get into more deep cover and I can' t hit them on the fly with the 22. Just be patient and try to train your eyes to see the ears or eyes in the grass.
Out west you can hunt jackrabbits with a whistle and a 22. Once they start running, just blow the whistle really loud. The dumb bunny stops dead in his tracks and sticks his head up to look around. That is all it takes....
Chubber
#5
Fork Horn
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 116
RE: Rabbits with a .22?
Stompin' brush piles works well if you' ve got a shot gun. But if you' re gonna plink em' then it works better to still hunt. My uncle had a .22 - .410 over under combo gun. It was pretty handy. I will agree that the morning and afternoon are the best times to hunt, but they are still present in the daytime if you really want them. Look for their eyes and ears. And they tend to sit in the sun. I you do jump one and it bolts, sit tight for a few minuets. They usually just dart for a few yards and then slow up. Often the will run a big circle. I have seen rabbits driven by begals cirle three or four time on the same path. Above all just be patient and good luck!
ak
ak
#6
RE: Rabbits with a .22?
Yeah i agree with everyone, the best way to get rabbits is work the bush and check out rosefields, corn (at least the edges) pretty much any type of field. I got a few in the woods with a shot gun but that was an more open area so i think i was lucking, I am still working on getting a rabbit with a bow but i only have one arrow left so it' ll have to wait for awhile.[:' (]