Oldtimr

That is what I use for rabbits and pheasants.

Erno86

I prefer using a double barreled shotgun having a improved cylinder and modified choke, using 4, 5 or #6 shot; with no close shots or you'll blow the rabbit up.

Keep an eye out for the black eye of a snowshoe in a bush, with snowfall on the ground.

George Foster

A 20ga shotgun using #6's or a 22LR using hollowpoints is all you will ever need for rabbits. Also you have native pheasants to hunt a 20ga using #6's is all you need for pheasants, in fact #7-1/2's work very well for stocked pheasants.

Smellydog

Hi. I'm a new guy but just wanted to add that I use to hunt rabbit with my 30/30 and head shots don't waste the meat.
i also use to make reduce loads with gas checked cast bullets. Worked well.
I have also loaded 308 to subsonic levels for rabbit hunting.

​​​​​​SD.

Oldtimr

Ridiculous!

Bocajnala

It's not.

Many many many many people have used their "deer rifles" in the same way. Many many many many people work with reduced loads and experiment with such things.

I've shot ground hogs with a .458 win mag.

Sorry if that bothers you.

-Jake

mrbb

there is a saying, that goes like this
JUST CAUSE YOU CAN< DOESN"T MEAN YOU SHOULD
and this would apply IMO of using any large caliber center fire caliber on small game
its just not needed NOR honestly all that safe IMO, nor cost effective either!

can it be done, sure, should it be done, IMO, NO

but IMO, its not that smart to be using large caliber rifles son small animals, not just over kill, but again, falling back to safety issue's
promoting it, doesn;t help those that know little about BOTH guns and or safety
I'm sure we all did dumb things, but that doesn;t make them right either!
and sorry if this offends anyone

Bocajnala

Being wrong isn't offensive, it's just wrong.

But in all seriousness: Where do you draw the line on what's allowed for rabbits? Is a .22lr ok? How about a .22 mag? .222? .223? . .22-250?

Under certain conditions those all seem reasonable to me... How about a .243? Or one of the 6mm? Are those reasonable? Again: depends on the conditions.

An unsafe person is unsafe with a .22 or a .338. the item in their hand doesn't make them safe or not.

I believe I recommended a .22lr or a shotgun in my initial post, and that's what I would use and recommend.

But that doesn't mean that somebody using something else is wrong.

If some one was using a .32 Cal front stuffer at 1800 fps everyone would be fine with it. But a .30cal at 2200 is dangerous ... A .22 at 2,200 fps is fine but a .22 at 3200 is dangerous.

That logic makes no sense. The Hunter is safe or unsafe. Not the tool.

-Jake

mrbb

I will have to dis agree with you
safety matter more than just the shooter, the distance some larger caliber rifles can travel is many times over what smaller rifles will carry like say a 22 long to a 22-250, where talking different in MILES not yards too
the odds of a HIGHER speed caliber going thru, finding a rock and possibly veering off into unwanted area's, is MUCH higher with higher velocity rounds and with more foot lbs of energy
odds are again, also if a front stuffer was shooting(and I find that over kill too in 32 cal size size), I wouldn;t be firing shotgun slugs are rabbits or squirrels either)
odds are the bullets will be more softer than many of the other calibers you listed
NOT saying you cannot use softer heads on other calibers, just saying, most guys doing the front stuffer for things like this are being rather traditionalist and ain;t using heavy metal jacketed bullets!, that well, are more prone to travel
lets face it NOT all hunters are experts with guns, ammo, or safety!
excitement effects many in many ways, so judgement calls can happen in seconds and well, mistakes can be made
WHY risk having an over powerful caliber rifle to do the job one of a MUCH smaller, size and less likely to OVER travel
as they say, there is a better tool for the job, and it can make life easier, safer, and BETTER for all, keeping costs done , back to all NOT being expert shots, MEAT loss
I sold thousands of guns litterally, trained hundreds of shooters and had tens of thousands hunters and shooters thru my store I spent tons of time talking with, shooting with and being about
and trust me, MOST have NO business shooting large caliber rifles at small game IMO and from ALL my yrs of experience

again, can it be done, and safely done, YES< I will not say it cannot,
but that doesn;t make it right in my eyes at all
nor should be recommend on forums, where , face it, idiots can read and think GREAT I don;t need a 22 my "x" CALIBER DEER RILE WILL WORK JUST FINE

I have had bullets shot near me, over me under me, around, me f, and even rained down on me
from accident's, folks that didn;t look past there targets in the field before
the less out there with rifles the better in small game season IMO!
just MY 2 cents,
and YES a 22 and small calibers can kill me too, so don;t think I don;t know this, its not all big calibers that only do so
but again, larger calibers have more potential to travel farther by DESIGN, and that you cannot compare to smaller calibers better suited for small game

and I too never said WRONG about it, just wouldn;t suggest it, nor tell folks its OK to do so!

Bocajnala

I suppose your distance argument has some merit...sorta ... Maybe.... But not really

Everything bolded has nothing to do with the firearm choice. And is a problem with a pellet gun or a .50bmg.

So, yes... It's more of a problem with a more "powerful" rifle. But the rifle still ISN'T the problem. It just isn't.

And again: where do you draw the line? I can kill any deer on the planet with a .30-30. and I can apply literally every argument you just made to anything bigger than a .30-30. plus, there are lots more hunters in the woods during peak deer season days than there ever are for small game. So.... It must be wrong to use a .30-378 on deer. For every reason you just listed.

At this point you either have to agree that everything over a .30-30 is wrong for deer. Or admit that there has to be some wiggle room in your opinion on small game choices .....

-Jake

-Jake