Hunting is one of my favorite activities. I love to hunt deer, waterfowls, and ostriches. Apart from that, I find rabbit hunting really exciting too.
How’s that? Well, most people don’t understand how to hunt rabbits. But when they do, they fall in love head over heels with the same activity too.
If you intend to hunt for rabbits, there are several things that you’ve got to understand; even so, before I get to that, here is what you should know.
The Main Thing
Often, deer hunting is the super-bowl of the hunters. But after the deer season closes, most experienced hunters and even the newbies kick in the rabbit hunting season.
This is the next hunting activity that’ll again offer one of the most exciting pastimes during the winter season.
As such, rabbit hunting will offer its own particular draws. It gives a newer perspective and again offers the hunters a new kind of hunting experience.
Rabbit hunting is fun, challenging, and exciting at the same time. From the moment there is the burst of darting fur from the underbrush to the fluid movement of your hunting rifle, rabbit hunting is one of the most adrenaline-spurring activities.
So how do you hunt for the rabbits? The one thing that I can assure you is this. You don’t have to pack your dogs to go after the rabbit. Here are tips that you can rely on if you want to learn how to hunt rabbits.
Rabbit Hunting Tips
Learn the Rabbits Habits
If you must catch a thief, send a thief. If you plan on catching the rabbit, “become” a rabbit, and that’s just it.
The rabbit is a wary and timid animal. It feeds in green vegetation, and like all other preys, it has got it has own defensive tactics.
So when it senses a predator, the rabbit will try to hide from you. It will freeze on its track and possibly try to blend in with the surrounding vegetation.
As such, here is what you must do.
- Depending on where you are, try to flush the rabbit out
- Try making noise from behind if the rabbit is in front of you
- Walking zig-zag can again scare it out of its hiding place
- Master the rabbit’s zig-zag leaps to try and shake you off
NOTE: One most common defensive tactic for the rabbit is its random pattern of movement. Try to master how they run.
Again rabbits tend to be extremely active in the early morning and late evenings. This way, they’ll increase their survival chances. Make sure that you ready your hunting tools for these timelines.
Find the Rabbit’s Habitat
The rabbit has specific areas that it loves to live in. Brambly, brushy areas which are around the rabbit’s feeding areas are the most excellent places.
As such, they form some of the best hunting grounds too. Abandoned barns again will provide the best hideout that the rabbits crave. Apart from that, we’ve got the following areas that a rabbit can hide in too.
- Hollow logs
- Deadfall
- Fence rows
- Brush piles
But because rabbits are warily finding them easily may prove to be difficult. Even so, you can try to make it work by following their favorite foods. These foods include:
- Clover
- Blackberry
- Alfalfa
These are some of the rabbit’s most cottontail favorites. More importantly, here are some of the things that you’ve got to again understand when looking for the rabbit’s habitat.
- Rabbits love sitting around fences
- They love the edges where fields blend into main forests
- If you want to find a rabbits’ habitat go out around dawn or dusk
Wear the Right Gear
Like I mentioned before, the best time to round up the rabbits is in their habitat is to set your hunt at dawn or even dusk.
Even so, these are some of the chilliest moments, especially around winter when the rabbit hunting season kicks in.
As such, you’ve got to learn how to dress up properly. Get the right clothing for this type of hunting experience. To get it right, here is what you’ve got to remember.
- Wear a safety vest
- Have a thick clothing
- Get your boots
- Cover your head
- Get heavy-duty work gloves
NOTE: For some hunters, this may look quite unnecessary; even so, you’ve got to remember that the rabbit’s territory is often teemed with lots of thickets, thorny bushes, and tangled vegetation that could prick, scratch, or stick on your skin.
Get the Right Firearm
There are regulations set around hunting firearms and the type of animals that you’ll want to hunt.
Again, you don’t intend to find the rabbit, flush it rabbit, take the shot just to realize that your pellets shot blanks and that the rabbit disappeared into the thicket – the reason being that you used the wrong firearm.
If you learn how to hunt, you’ll realize that every type of prey has a suitable caliber firearm. This applies even to the rabbits.
Make sure that you’ve got the right firearm for hunting rabbits. If you are going after the rabbits, you won’t want to eradicate your prey completely using excess firepower.
Rather, you want to use something manageable that will leave the meat for you when you finally take the shot.
The best rabbit hunting caliber firearm is the 20-gauge shotgun. Get one of these and especially the one with an improved cylinder choke.
Anything larger than this, and you won’t hit your target, but rather you’ll obliterate the prey. Apart from that, the other popular firearm among rabbit hunters is the .22 rifle.
This rifle is great when shot at a distance. It gives some of the best results and will leave you with fresh and juicy meat.
NOTE: You can try the 12- or the 16-gauge shotgun. However, you will use the 5 to 7.5 shells. If this doesn’t work for you, get a bow and arrows and let the game begin. A crossbow is one of the most popular choices.
Know the Weather
Several rabbit hunters will go out in the winter months. Nonetheless, the one thing that every hunter should understand is that rabbits’ habits will again change as the season progresses, just like that of any other animal.
So know the weather and how it affects the behavior of the rabbits. For instance, if you come out on a frigid day, you’ll have to go after prey right from their hiding holes.
These are the right places where they’ll hide to keep warm. However, if it’s sunny or slightly warmer, the rabbits should be active. So you can always scout the slopes that face the sun for rabbits that are sunning themselves.
Be Patient
Finally, you’ve got to be patient. When it comes to rabbit hunting, you don’t need to rush. Rather, take your time to look around. Be observant of the rabbit droppings, fur, and foot marks too.
Again, you should walk into the wind to manage your scent and the noises that you’re making. This will prevent the rabbits from catching your scent and running away from you.
When you are flushing the rabbit out, you must be keen to watch out for any movements. And if you are zig-zagging through, then you need to pause so often.
Wait, still, and silent to watch any strange movements that could pop up. The trick behind the pausing is this.
When you pause, rabbits will think that you’ve spotted them; as such, they might flush out on their own since they perceived a threat.
Common Questions
With that said, let’s take a look at some of the concerns that new rabbit hunters often have. Take a look!
How do you attract rabbits to hunt?
You can shake on the bushes and shrubs. However, it is recommended that you should zig-zag through and then pause so often. After pausing, you should remain silent for a while.
This will deceive the rabbits that you’ve spotted them and thus force them to flush themselves out.
What is the best time to hunt rabbits?
If you want to hunt rabbits, go after them during dawn and dusk. This is the time when they are less active, and you’ll easily find them in their habitat.
Can you hunt rabbits without dogs?
Yes. Don’t pack the dogs for the rabbit hunt. If you do, the dogs will cause so much anxiety and flush rabbits in all directions. This prevents you from staying focused and having an organized hunt.
Conclusion
Rabbit hunting is exciting. You will love it and possibly get addicted to it. Even so, learning how to hunt rabbits is one of the easiest activities that you can get. With the right hunting tips, you will find it easy to hunt for rabbits from season to season.
Take your time to learn the process, get the tips, find the right partners, and get down to hunting for the juicy rabbits. Use the tips that we’ve given you here.