7 years

[Paula]

I read on here someone said that rabbits are in a 7 yr cycle. this is the 7th yr and thats why we are not seeing any. sounded weird when i heard that but what do i know. I was out to dinner last night and someone at table said same thing. so i guess there is something to that and thats why we aren't seeing that many this year

[Dave]

How do we know when the 7 year cycle begins and ends?

[Paula]

um . . . by my success lol

[Dave]

um . . . by my success lol

Is that your scientific study?

[Paula]

i am going to have to say yes Dave, it is

[Dave]

i am going to have to say yes Dave, it is

I have heard about a 10 year cycle too. Just what it means I don't know. Could it mean 7 to 10 years of lots of rabbits and then 7 to 10 years of no rabbits?

[Paula]

maybe it has to do with the females life span? i think it might be 5-8 yrs.

[Skillet]

Paula, I've heard the 7 yr thing too. But, I am seeing a lot more rabbits this yr than last.

[hunter49]

Who knows when they are born & when they are 7 or 10 yrs old? They are not all the same age . That is like saying all the fish in a lake bite or stop biteing at the same time . I can't beleive it happens. I think you got to be in the right place at the right time or find where they are at . jmo.

[13BVET]

My experience has been as to whether the dogs have been through an area or not. If there has been pressure by dogs in an area, the odds of me (or even other people with dogs, I've noticed), finding any rabbits, are virtually non-existent. Now, right across the road from me, there's a little field, where, obviously, no dogs can run, and there are rabbits out on the road all the time. Go figure.

[shawnhu]

Perhaps early season rabbits can be found, providing that the dogs aren't running them all year long.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3375.htm

POPULATION UPS AND DOWNS

Cottontail numbers, like most animal populations, run in cycles of highs and lows. The population builds up to a very high level, then disease, strife and poor reproduction down to a low level. This low may continue for two or three years before a slow increase begins to bring numbers back to another high. Peak populations usually occur at intervals of about 10 years. Within this 10 year cycle, there may be local areas having highs and lows opposite to the overall state cycle. Also, some areas may hold a continued high or low for several years and not seem to go through the cycle change. Optimum food and cover and balance between the number produced and the number harvested by hunter, predator or disease may hold the population stable. Drastic changes in numbers grow to a high in August. The with peak of reproduction past, the rabbits begin to disappear. By the first of November, their numbers may be cut one-third or more, with another third lost by the beginning of the next breeding season. Thus, while some rabbits may live four or five years, the average life expectancy for young rabbits that survive to leave the nest is only about 11 months.

I have read 7 and read 10. It is generally stated the cycle is between peaks in population. so 5 on the way up and five on the way down...or 3.5 &3.5 depending on the article...lol.

I think there may be cycles but cover, food and mortality would be causing it. I hunted an overgorwn apple orchard as a kid and you couldn't bring enough shells with you. it was great until the hardwood saplings came and grew. then the canopy started to close. I was back home a couple years ago and went there. no underbrush at all and no rabbits. The habitat totally changed.

[Doewhacker]

I seem to see this same thing from all over the state, small game numbers in general are really low.

Good read Culver, thanks.

[13BVET]

Perhaps early season rabbits can be found, providing that the dogs aren't running them all year long.

Actually, the dogs are usually on them as soon as the season starts at Stewart. The smart ones have gone underground, and only come out at night.

[Dave]

Guy's what is ideal rabbit habitat. I have meadow of about 5 acres and have never seen a rabbit or ground hog. I cut about 2 acres ever two weeks during the growing season. So that area is nice grass see plenty of deer but no small game.

Dave

[13BVET]

Guy's what is ideal rabbit habitat. I have meadow of about 5 acres and have never seen a rabbit or ground hog. I cut about 2 acres ever two weeks during the growing season. So that area is nice grass see plenty of deer but no small game.

Dave

Thick briar patches, downfalls. Any thick cover that they can hide in.

[shawnhu]

Dave,

I used to see Rabbits infested where I used to go to school in Suffolk. They pretty much need fields, and cover, which 13BVET has stated. Used to see 10-20 rabbit every night out on the football fields at night.

[Doc]

Guy's what is ideal rabbit habitat. I have meadow of about 5 acres and have never seen a rabbit or ground hog.

Ok now say "rabbit habitat" three times real fast ..... lol.

[Doc]

I'm pretty sure that predation has to be factored into that cycle too. And I'm also pretty sure that the studies that all led to the length of these cycles were probably done decades ago. So I have to wonder how any conclusions arrived at years ago have been impacted by the general statewide rise in coyote population, and the continued un-checked population of hawks.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I know it was in print so I dont know if I can find it on the web.....I remember reading an article that talked about the cycle and also linked observations in the studies to predator populations. I believe they concluded the predator populations were on a similiar cycle but off the highs and lows by a couple years. Made sense since the cycle of the predators would follow any increase or decrease in the food supply. That said.....I don't think I have seen the coyote populations take a downturn

[Doc]

I know it was in print so I dont know if I can find it on the web.....I remember reading an article that talked about the cycle and also linked observations in the studies to predator populations. I believe they concluded the predator populations were on a similiar cycle but off the highs and lows by a couple years. Made sense since the cycle of the predators would follow any increase or decrease in the food supply. That said.....I don't think I have seen the coyote populations take a downturn

I haven't seen the hawks taking any downturns either. They must be on the up-swing side of the cycle. I can hardly drive anywhere anymore without seeing them perched on a power line or up in a big old dead tree.

[GreeneHunter]

I used too see alot of rabbits in the backyard , then I setup my first Trail Cam for a test run and this is why I dont see rabbits in the bacyard anymore !!!

[Paula]

Paula, I've heard the 7 yr thing too. But, I am seeing a lot more rabbits this yr than last.

I know they are out there somewhere, i have seen the tracks. Maybe the other places i go are not to places who knows. but sooner or later i will get one of the wabbits

[Pygmy]

The populations of both predators and prey species tend to be cyclic, and sometimes disease or other factors can affect populations dramatically...

HOWEVER...Year in and year out, small game populations depend mostly on three things...

Habitat....Habitat, and most importantly , HABITAT.

If the food, nesting cover, and ESCAPE COVER is present, the critters will be there..

I have hunted rabbits and other small game for fifty years. Things have changed over the years. In the 60s and 70s, there was a lot of cover due to farming practices, soil bank, etc. etc. and you could go out and walk around and kill rabbits and other small game.

These days, due to modern farming practices, land use changes, forest growth progression and other factors, there are fewer places where small game has sufficient cover and habitat to escape predators.

Still, there are places out there. You may have to sit down on the ground or lie on your belly to see the rabbit when the beagle brings him around, but the rabbits are still there, wherever there is cover.. Multiflower rose and other real dense, difficult to hunt areas are the places where the bunnies are. You need to do your homework and seek those areas out. Rabbits are there, it is just different from what it used to be.

I have a close friend who hunts 1 beagle.. Things have changed here in Steuben County as much as they have elsewhere in the state. Still he manages to shoot from 30 to 40 or sometimes even 50 rabbits per year. Not a single rabbit is shot on the jump, either..We won't shoot one unless it is ahead of the dog.

[Paula]

seems like thats alot of rabbits. so maybe i am impatient, do i just stand there while chester does his thing and he will run them to me or do i kinda move along with him?