jonmyrlebailey

a. Is the cottontail the best-eating species?
(I believe swamp rabbits are also true rabbits while jack rabbits are true hares.)
b. How can you tell if the rabbit is safe for human consumption?
c. Can they be hunted without hounds?
d. What kind of guns or other weapons do you like for bunnies?
(Oklahoma allows shotgun, muzzle-loader, rifle, archery, falconry and air gun during rabbit seasons.)
e. Without beagles, how are bunnies hunted?

jrbsr

If you have railroads, along the rr edges are a lot of bushy areas and bunnies love brushy areas.

Just walk on the rr track and keep looking.

Early in the morning just before daylight is a good time.

If you see one and it runs just whistle about 5 seconds it usably makes them stop.

If not just stay still, in a little bit they will circle back to where they started.

Some of the best rabbit hunting I have ever had is along rr tracks.

And cotton tail rabbits are the best eating rabbits.

Good Luck.

jrbsr

Oldtimr

In addition if you are out with the boys having a cold one talking abut hunting, I wouldn't be calling them "bunny rabbits".

Bocajnala

Cottontail is my favorite eating small game. Delicious.

I've never had the pleasure of hunting over dogs. Hopefully someday.

Kicking lots of brush. Field edges, old fence rows, etc.
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my grandpa says he used to hunt them with a .22 by walking slowly and watching for them. I've never had any luck doing that. But if you have a high rabbit population maybe that would work.

-Jake

jonmyrlebailey

I would not dare say "bunnies" or "bunny rabbits" in the context of "hunting" in the presence of anti-hunters or PETA types. I was saying it here to be facetious. Some hunting videos and hunting writers like to use the cutesy phrase "bunnies over beagles". The only 'cold one' I'd have while hunting or handling guns is a "virgin" beverage of some type like canteen water.

I will have to check out the legality of hunting or shooting near train tracks.

Oldtimr

I would be careful hunting on rail road tracks. When I was a kid we hunted groundhogs along tracks. However things have changed and the railroads are enforcing trespass on their right a ways. They even tried to close a public boat ramp on the Susquehanna river several years ago because the tracks had to be crossed to get to the ramp. It got real ugly and the railroad backed down.

Bocajnala

Here too. Used to use a pull off by the tracks to park and access a chunk of public land and they started ticketing vehicles that were there.

Oh well. It's their property.

Everything's changing.

-Jake

flags

Cottontails are the best eating. Jackrabbits are the most fun. Snowshoes are the hardest to hunt. At least that is my experience.

Bocajnala

When I went to Wyoming for antelope we all packed .22s hoping to get into some jack rabbits.

Unfortunately we never saw a single one. I guess some years they're everywhere and other years are slim pickings.

-Jake

flags

Jackrabbits are cyclic. They increase in numbers and then crash. You probably were there a year after the crash. They rebuild the population quickly. When the population is strong you can kick out over 100 in a day of walking the sagebrush. Lot of fun rolling them with a 22. When I was growing up in CO there was no closed season or bag limit on than and I used to go out and shoot them with my 7mm Mag after letting them get out at least 100 yards. If you can hit jackrabbits on the run with your deer rifle then hitting deer becomes easy. I also used to go up into the high country to shoot marmots with my 7mm. I'd only shoot them at ranges over 300 yards. Made long shots on deer and elk easy.

But that was back in my misbegotten cowboy youth growing up in CO before the state got ruined by liberal transplants from CA. If you tried that stuff now they would probably get their panties in a twist despite it being legal.