Rabbit Hunting NW Virginia
 

I’m looking for places to hunt rabbits, clubs etc. I need to get my 8 month old Bassett on some. We’ve been out around here in areas that should have rabbits but the population has dropped.
Ive even thought about buying rabbits but trying to find a rabbit fast enough to survive in the wild has been difficult.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Dave

I've read this year rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHVD) is bad and the Rabbit population is way down. We get a similar virus here, the rabbit population dies off and slowly comes back until the population level gets to the point the virus transmits through the population quickly, and the cycle rpeats.
If you want to do the Rabbit population a favor hunt Fox, I've been doing this for years. A Beagle is a perfect dog to help you find dens. Or turn them into a thicket, unharvested Cornfield or such and let it flush. Flushing is often unproductive, setting up on an in-use den your dog has found for you is usually rewarding. Or hunting a stubble field at dusk.
My Beagle never needed much training after the first few times she flushed a Rabbit she was really into it. The only trouble I ever had with her is getting her to come back. Once they get on the scent listening to commands is the last thing on their minds.

first off welcome to the site
second, just so you know, releasing domestic rabbits into the wild can be illegal, so make sure you know before you do so!
as for places to hunt, I would suggest maybe contacting your local game warden in your area, that or try doing a simple online search for what you want and where
, that might get you what you want as well!

Thanks for the news and advice. I have traps set and I’m catching everything but foxes and coyotes so far. Get this I actually caught a cottontail in a leg hold trap and when I checked my traps the rabbit had been eaten.

having a rabbit eaten out of a trap isn;t that uncommon,a s what you did was make it easier on a predator to get it, as it was stuck in your trap
and there really isn;t anything you can do, but maybe try and check traps more often, but even that doesn't mean you will get there first

also keep in mind, predators are smart and if they got a meal at the trap once they will most likely come back looking again and again, as they will; relate to things, there smarter than many think they are,!

many trappers end up moving things to try and avoid this!
so food for thought!

Yep
 

I wish that rabbit didn’t get in the trap because it messed the set up ad I needed to do a redo. The rabbit didn’t have a good day. What’s the chance a rabbit would step on a 5” trap in that large field. I also had coyote urine and gland there also. Bunny should have stayed away.

I have no idea what the law is about traps where you are, here you are required to check them twice a day. Which is a bummer because you spread your scent all over. And the last thing you need is to be reported by an animal rights type.
The best luck I've had is to find the dens. Map them and visit periodically to see which are occupied. Set up a quarter-mile away. The reason being it has been my experience older Fox are smart, natural selection the young and stupid die first. The smart and alert ones know when you are closer than a quarter of a mile. You set up and hope they make a mistake. Fox are rare in Yote country. Dens are usually (but not always) where the soil drains well. If you go walking with your Dog he will find them a lot faster than you will. For Yotes I look for scat, for Fox I look for dens. Check out the fence lines, Fox and yotes favor some kind of cover in daylight, and fence lines are sometimes the only cover around. I've seen beaten paths right along a fence line where the Fox are traveling to and from the Den. Open stubble fields are for night hunting. When the grass is wet they favor hunting the ditches by the farm roads. They will, but they prefer not, to get soaking wet. If there are hay rolls around check them out, they often turn them into Fox hotels. They are also partial to culverts and drainage pipes. Check out the season for Fox, Yotes are usually all year.

ell don't forget rabbits are on the menu for a lot of things and when being chased they go where ever, middle of field or ??
just never know when there on the run where they might end up!

Coyote and fox are open season here and checking traps are once a day.