Rabbit hunting W/O Dogs

[BKhunter]

Went rabbit hunting this weekend at my buddies farm. We don't have dogs so we just walked the property trying to spot some bunnies walking by thick bushes, blow downs and the edges of fields. We pushed up one bunny and it made our day eventful, but we swung and missed. Can anyone lend any tips or tactics when rabbit without dogs?

[Water Rat]

If you have brush piles , jump up an down on them .  Be ready.....they come flying out.

[Lawdwaz]

Good boots?

 

 

 

Seriously, kudos to you for getting off your ass and getting at it.  I think in this region you'd really need a dog to put a few in the pot unless you want to hunt my backyard. 

 

Running bunnies with a beagle is so much fun!  You or a buddy should grab a short legged beagle and commit to the hunt.  Great house pets but they can be a little loud and hard headed...............

[Pygmy]

I love bunny hunting with beagles...

However, if you have the right kind of cover, you can do well without dogs, and I have to admit, the shooting is great..Every rabbit is going Mach IV, and it is a LOT of fun to tumble a rabbit going full bore..

As water rat said, brushpiles are prime...The rabbits come flying out of them like they are shot are shot out of a cannon.. In any case, SOMEONE has to get into the thick stuff and kick them out..

You aren't going to kill very many without a dog unless you are willing to thrash the brush...

[pistolp71]

I hunt rabbits without dogs quite a bit once February comes. Usually the more people the better. You gotta get in that thick stuff and push to other guys position ahead.  Just like when chased by a dog, they will often circle. A good pair of brush pants is key, but we are all usually bleeding somehow at the end of the day. Nothing like rabbit hunting in the snow.

[Terry]

I got these two yesterday morning. The hardest part is finding some hunting ground that has a good population of rabbits. Once you do that what I like to do is look for their tracks and scat to pinpoint where one may be hiding. Usually I just get right in the brush and start shaking it with my boot or snowshoe. You'll know your doing it right when your bleeding pretty good from all the thorns. When you flush one out let him get a little farther out before shooting or your pattern will be too tight. Another option is to shoot them in the head with a .22 pistol after spotting them in the brush.

If you find where one is using a den, wait till a warm sunny day following a cold spell and you will catch him sunning himself in some thick cover not far from the den.

Wear pants that you won't care about getting ripped. Also if you miss, they like to run a circle and often head right back to where they started.

Last year:

Edited January 12, 2015 by Terry

[wildcat junkie]

If you find where one is using a den, wait till a warm sunny day following a cold spell and you will catch him sunning himself in some thick cover not far from the den.

 

I always had my best luck on calm cold sunny mornings. Hunt south facing edges like the northern edge of a powerline or southern side of a fencerow. Thin cover/thick cover transitions.

 

Bunnies will seek out the sunniest spots to soak up sun to warm up after a fridgid night.

 

Thick fencerows need 3 people. One guy takes his turn busting the brush while shooters take either side. 1st guy to get a shot takes his turn as dog.

 

BTW: Love the "mixed bag" picture. Can't beat a agme bag full of Gray Squirrels/Cottontails.

Edited January 13, 2015 by wildcat junkie

[Pygmy]

Think of it as a mini deer drive....

One guy busts the nastiest thick cover while a couple of others watch..

Great fun and good eatin' !! Low brass sixes and open chokes...All heavy loads do is grind up good eating meat..

[wildcat junkie]

Think of it as a mini deer drive....

One guy busts the nastiest thick cover while a couple of others watch..

Great fun and good eatin' !! Low brass sixes and open chokes...All heavy loads do is grind up good eating meat..

Best gun I ever used for jump shooting rabbit was a 12ga M58 Remington W/a 26" skeet barrel. The choke was just ahead of the gas port. It would spead 1 1/4oz of #7 1/2s 30" @ 20yds yet it was so even it would still have sufficient coverage @ 30.

 

I hand loaded Winchester hulls. Low brass & AA hulls got 1 1/4oz of #7 1/2. High brass, buckshot & rifled slug hulls I would pick up in the field & at the range got 1 3/8oz #6. I stuffed a load of 7 1/2s in the chamber, then the heavy #6 load farthest up the tube W/another 7 1/2 behind it..

 

I picked up every Win plastic hull I found in the woods or @ the range. No paper base wad to soak up water & the same internal volume no matter what the original load.

[LI OUTDOORSMAN]

If you have any water on the property its a good idea to check all cattail and thick brush piles near it. For some reason they seem to like those the best. On our place I can almost guarantee you will flush a bunny or two from certain piles bordering the pond.

[Pygmy]

I hunted bunnies over the years with a number of guns, a 12 gauge M59 Win choked IC, a couple of 16 gauge guns choked mod ( too tight) 2 different 28 gauges and 3 different .410s.

However, the gun I have used the most is a 20 gauge SKB side/side

choked IC/mod with 25"bbls. For years I used reloads with Win casings and 7/8 oz. of #6 shot...Lately I have just bought cheap promo loads of 7/8 oz of #6 shot and they seem to work fine. I have used 7 1/2 shot and it kills well, but puts more pellets in the meat than I like. It is light, lightning fast, and kills rabbits very efficiently. Most of my rabbits have been killed with the IC barrel, probably over 90%...Sometimes for a long shot (over 30 yards) I switch to the mod barrel...

I like your choice of a skeet choke ...If more hunters used more open chokes they would shoot a LOT better on upland game..

A hunting buddy of mine used a 12 gauge Browning A5 with a short barrel, a Cutts Compensator and a spreader tube for EVERYTHING, including waterfowl, and he was deadly...

[The_Real_TCIII]

After jumping on a pile, if nothing comes out, stand there for a minute or two. You'd be surprised sometimes they'll get nervous and shoot out

[wildcat junkie]

I hunted bunnies over the years with a number of guns, a 12 gauge M59 Win choked IC, a couple of 16 gauge guns choked mod ( too tight) 2 different 28 gauges and 3 different .410s.

However, the gun I have used the most is a 20 gauge SKB side/side

choked IC/mod with 25"bbls. For years I used reloads with Win casings and 7/8 oz. of #6 shot...Lately I have just bought cheap promo loads of 7/8 oz of #6 shot and they seem to work fine. I have used 7 1/2 shot and it kills well, but puts more pellets in the meat than I like. It is light, lightning fast, and kills rabbits very efficiently. Most of my rabbits have been killed with the IC barrel, probably over 90%...Sometimes for a long shot (over 30 yards) I switch to the mod barrel...

I like your choice of a skeet choke ...If more hunters used more open chokes they would shoot a LOT better on upland game..

A hunting buddy of mine used a 12 gauge Browning A5 with a short barrel, a Cutts Compensator and a spreader tube for EVERYTHING, including waterfowl, and he was deadly...

That skeet choked barrel was the only barrel that I liked #7 1/2s in. It spread so quick & evenly, it didn't shoot up the meat W/the larger shot count of #7 1/2s.

 

In my 12 ga muzzle loader dbl barrel I used #6s. It was choked mod/full, but patterned more like IC/mod. Over dogs I like to dbl barrel W/ICmod barrel  for some of the longer shots.

[Terry]

I really like my 20ga 870. It's lightweight and reliable.

[growalot]

brush piles...I started building them all over our place years ago and we have dozens of rabbits but where I kick them out the most are the single huge ragusa rose bushes I have left here and there on our place...I'll pick a spot and then mow around it to keep it in check...great view blocker all year round and they hold all kids of birds and rabbits...deer browse them year round as well .

[pistolp71]

I use a 20 gauge 7/8 oz handload mix of 7 1/2 x 6 with a skeet choke. And usually a .22 pistol for the ones that hold up tight right next to you. A couple of guys I hunt with use .410. It doesn't take much to kill a rabbit.

 

I agree sunny mornings usually are pretty good.

[thphm]

Think of it as a mini deer drive....

One guy busts the nastiest thick cover while a couple of others watch..

 

 

We did it for years this way and always filled our bags.

[thphm]

brush piles...I started building them all over our place years ago and we have dozens of rabbits

 

 

We have been doing this and it works.( After we got rid of the fox that we were over run with, that would kill everything the could catch). This is the first year in the 12 that we are hear full time that rabbits have been coming out to eat every night or early morning.