Firearm for Rabbit Hunting
 

So I'm going to be rabbit hunting this upcoming winter, and the guy teaching me has a very "if it's not illegal or stupid, figure it out yourself" kind of thinking-not a bad thing, just not helpful here.

We, later I, won't be using dogs, and we'll be going through the VT woods looking for cottontails and snowshoe hare. I'm looking for two things from the animal: some meat, and relatively intact pelt. I got it in my head that I want to tan them and make one of those bomber hats with the canvas outer and the fur inner. I've currently got a .30-30, and I'm going between that and getting a 12 ga shotgun to use. Would a 150 grain reduced load, like the Rem managed recoil, to the head of the rabbit do the job without making something nasty of the meat? Or would the 12 ga with #6 shot be better/how much impact would it have on the pelt?

Thanks!

I'd recommend a .22lr to the head.

But sometimes you have to use what you have.

I don't suppose that I would go buy a 12ga with saving pelts in mind. Rabbits have delicate fur and it rips and tears up pretty easily

-Jake

This is just my opinion...it may be worth what you pay for it.

If you want to save the pelt don't use the shotgun.
And,
you would be way over gunned if you use the 30-30.

A head shot with a .22 is all you need. If you don't have a .22 I would get a semiautomatic or a lever action

a 30/30 is way too powerful for rabbits and can even be dangerous,as bullet ricochet could be a worry, as that's a lot of bullet and FPS and FT LB s of energy your firing at the ground, un known to rocks or under rabbit!

SO, I second the option of getting a nice accurate 22, or .22 mag, and take head shots when SAFE to do so,a s even a 22 will go right thru a rabbit and can hit things !

a shotgun will work for getting more rabbits,a s odds of finding a sitting one will be a LOT harder hen you think in range that is!

but a shotgun will also make a mess of hides at times IMO

A 30-30 for rabbits! that isn't even a consideration, take your shotgun, rabbits run and shooting on the ground at a running rabbit is not a good thing to do, it is one thing of you limit yourself to sitting rabbits and head shooting them and quite another to be throwing lead at them on the run with a rifle. It sounds to me like you need a new person to teach you because if this one will not help you make good decisions you don't need him.

you also might want to look and make sure its even legal to use on small game?
,

I saw a rabbit hit by a 30-30, it was literally blown to smithereens. I was ground hog hunting with a guy I worked with and he saw a rabbit sitting and shot it. There as not enough left to make soup with. I reamed him out and walked away and left him in the field and never hunted with him again.

The squirrel in my profile picture was shot with a .44 magnum.


Not saying that's a good choice. But it can be done. Successfully.

-Jake

Consider a 45/410 Taurus Judge.
fun revolver.
But I hunted bunnies using a 12 ga , #6 and didn't blow one up.
JW

Back when I hunted rabbits I used 12 gauge #4 shot most of the time.

That is what I use for rabbits and pheasants.

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.

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.

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.

Ridiculous!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

And to be clear.. I'm not recommending a .30-30 for rabbit. I'm just saying it's not wrong to use one if somebody chooses to.

Back to the OP:

​​​​​

yes, any .30-30 load to the head will do the job, probably without much damage to most of the fur. And yes a 12ga would be better. But will do more damage.

-Jake

let me ask you this, as a honest question
WHY do you think they limit rifle caliber size, or type of gun used in many urban area's where populations are higher with humans and more houses and such?
there have been many studies done, and most show , things carry less as far thru game and less likely to hit a NON desired target
same reason many indoor shooting ranges have limits on size(yes there targets are ONLY designed to handle"X" size)
but that still shows the different in what it takes to stop larger faster more powerful bullets
I fully agree a gun is ONLY a tool but that brings it back to the right tool for the job being asked, NO reason to have over kill, you use a high power impact tool to tighten bolts, you stand a GOOD chance of snapping there heads off
or strip treads and so on
so, again,
I wouldn;t give a NEW shooter a 50BMG to learn to shoot with'
I wouldn't tell one to use one to shoot small game, EVNE thought IT can be done
I have shot MANY very small things with my 50 bmgs, from up close to far away
but I wasn;t using it to hunt with on small game, even though I could hit them!
even with low recoil rounds , hunting heads and so on, its WAY Over kill and can travel WAY pasty many targets, MAYBE a new be, wouldn;t think it would
and this is MY larger concern, MOST hunters are super avid shooters and experts on firearms and bullets
if you were honest, you would know that its honestly a smaller percentage of folks that take.MAKE the effort to become well versed on guns and bullets and shooting
the average guy shoots seldom,
so STATING< a 30/30 or a .308 is OK to be using to shoot rabbits, is just plain silly and IMO< leading to possible dangerous conditions for OTHERS or the shooter
all the more so if,a LESS than experienced reader reads the tread and thinks, WELL IT Was stated "X" it is OK to do so
we live in a very strange world anymore where most folks LEARN things, or THINK they are learning things by reading stuff online and NEVER verifying if its GOOD info or BAD
so I don't condone posting things of such
I couldn;t tell you how many things I heard shooters/hunters say in my gun shop over the yrs I had it, that was shocking, that they THINK they knew was OK
so, I maybe see tings from different side of things, based on HOW many folks I dealt with on a daily basis, and tried my best to correct so they would be safer for ALL

well even this I might have to disagree with, as if the OP was wanting a gun to shoot rabbits with so they can make a hat or??use the pelts, a 30/30 wouldn;t be a great pick, I almost MIGHT (LOL) say its a WRONG, pick for this task NO??
even with reduced recoil loads, its stands a LOT larger chance of a poor shot happening and RUINING a the whole pelt
same thing, I wouldn;t suggest telling someone to use a 20 lb sledge hammer to hammer in roofing nails, even though it can be done? LOL
more likely to make a mess of roof IMO, and god help you if you hit a finger by accident HAHA!

The OP is either going to use his 30-30 or not. If he uses the 30-30, it should only take him a few rabbits to figure out if that setup is going to work well for him or not. Best case scenario, he doesn't have to buy another gun. Worst case scenario, it will take a lot of rabbits to make a stew. :D

Again- where do you draw the line on what it's ok for somebody else to hunt with? If it's legal-it's legal. I've used options on both sides of the spectrum successfully for deer. And will continue to.

You're logic is exactly the same logic that libs use to try to justify gun control. An ar15 has more chance of doing more damage than a single shot 20 gauge. And since somebody somewhere may make a bad decision- we shouldn't allow ARs at all.

See how that works? It's the exact same reasoning. And I don't accept it.

So where do you draw the line on deciding what someone else should use? Again... Should anything larger than a .30-30 be allowed for deer? Because every point you made applies to that scenario. Anything bigger is overkill, has a higher risk of an "accident" and risks ruining meat.

I'm not going to use a .30-30 for rabbit. At least not any time soon. But could some one else? Absolutely.

-Jake

-Jake

again I will disagree with you and YOUR logic, trying to says its mine

I am not trying to compare things to gun control and a AR being more deadly due to it holds more rounds!
that is nothing to do with this, or even a very comparable comparison

the difference is again, in HOW far the projectile can travel is my point
you want to debat if a 30/30 should be max, over larger calibers on deer
NO, again, NOT even the same league again, a deer is a BIG game animal not SMALL game
most all 30 cal rifle calibers are fairly close in power and speeds
BUt comparing a 308-30/30 to say a .22 rim fire, is a HUGE difference
in speed, and power and well, distance the bullet is capable to travel
which again brings me back to why they use lower risk weapons when hunting in more urban area/with less back stops and more people about!
due to the calibers they allow are less likely to travel
you can try and tell me a BAD hunter making BAD decisions will be the same with either type of rifle(22-308)
and yes and no is that answer
there both capable of killing for sure

so recommending a 30/30 or a 308 for small game is NOT a very good suggestion, like iot or not its a fact, based again on the balistics of the calibers, one will go farther and capable of doing mroe dmage period!
1 round in gun or 100, I don;t care, its CALIBER
and again why many places DO have legal size on weapons allowed to be used, in BOTH directions, larger and smaller calibers rules!

we BOTH agreed already it can be done and done safely if all things go right!
but again, the larger population of hunters are NOT gun experts, or shooting experts
so, IMO again, it wouldn;t be a smart caliber to be hunting rabbits with for the AVERAGE hunter!

its also a FACT, a 12 gauge with bird shot will NOT travel as far as any rifle you listed, and will loose energy FAST,m
so stating it will ruin a rabbit is NOT a fact nor even true, pending where and HOW its shot!
velocity and energy can make a huge difference in how and what damage is done to something shot!


and I do hope your taking this as a friendly conversation and no disrespect meant here, as that is how I mean this!!
as well as I hope anyone reading this learns some things and not just taking it as a arguments here! as I am not taking it or meaning it that way at all!

I made a good decision and grabbed a 16 gauge instead. Super windy here still. 50mph gusts through the night probably won't see any rabbits anyway

-Jake