Realtree.com

Crazy for Cottontails!

By Steve Hickoff

Crazy for Cottontails!

Whether you're hunting with the best of beagles or flushing them by foot, these tactics will help put more bunnies on the dinner table. -- By Steve Hickoff

You, your family, and your friends always hit the eggs-and-toast diner first. “Rabbit huntin’?” comes the fry cook’s cheerful question. You are indeed, as the deer and autumn wild turkey seasons are just over, or hey, maybe big-game time hasn’t started yet where you live. Plenty of states around the country offer generous seasons on this ever-present rabbit. An eager beagle in the truck box—from Pennsylvania to Missouri, and south to Georgia—says as much.

Platters of omelets, sausages, and flapjacks with plenty of maple syrup. Coffee in big foam cups to go. A dusting of snow. Multiflora rose thickets, and the full cry of that little hound await you. Once afield, cottontails lurk near ground holes, resting in their sun-warmed “forms”; these shallow depressions are like mini-whitetail beds. The beagle gets one moving, following the scent trail, pushing the bunny in its inevitable tight circle, back to where shotguns wait, only your eyes moving. The cottontail freezes on the way in, studies your position, then bolts—“One coming your way,” you shout. A single shot spells success. The dog follows moments after, and if you’re a rabbit hunter, you smile. Life is good.

DOGGING TIPS FOR BUSTING BUNNIES

The Hunting Party: It takes a tight group of friends and family to form a cottontail-chasing team. I’ve fond memories of my dad working on his penciled list, as he phoned names on that sheet of paper for Saturday morning’s rabbit hunt. Groups of six went afield. This core of people varied, but all were safe, ethical sportsmen--and they knew how to hunt with our dogs. Several members and canine buds have passed away since my childhood days, but the memories of those good people, special beagles, and our cottontail hunts live on.

Cottontail Cunning: The first reaction of a hunted bunny is to freeze in place. A good beagle or other fleet-footed hound will unnerve this statue-like quarry into bolting. When that white cotton ball of the rabbit’s tail bounds away, the games have begun. If a member of your hunting party doesn’t get a shot then and there, be patient. Cottontails will circle back to the position where they were jumped, with the dog in full cry right behind in their nose-to-the-ground pursuit. Keep your keen attention out ahead. That black bunny eye might just be staring right at you.

Hunt Likely Cover: Your dog can’t conjure rabbits out of a Realtree hat. Put that canine into likely cover. Brush piles, overgrown ditches, weedy fencelines, hedgerows, untamed fields, and woodsy edges, forgotten woodpiles, and any sheltered draw out of the wind on a stormy day might hold them. I’ve seen beagle-pursued bunnies vault out from underneath rusted appliances and abandoned autos in the woods. Not your classic cover, but action is action.

Um, Just Do It: One of my great childhood pleasures was getting out with my dad as he ran our beagles, conditioning them right before the season. Pick a spot that holds rabbits (such as the previously mentioned habitats), and work that canine bud regularly. You’ll be fitter for it, and that dog will hone his inbred instincts. As a gun-dog man myself, I prefer to condition and train my dogs in places I don’t hunt. It’s a personal decision, but in separating the two, I always have spots for training, and for hunting.

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, son. If your rabbit dog comes from a good line of hunters, chances are you just need to put that puppy into bunnies, and foster that time together. That canine will soon know that you are the one that puts her into the quarry she’s interested in. Build that bond, and don’t overcomplicate matters.

Kids and Kin: Other than squirrel hunting, rabbit hounding also offers much to youth hunters. Cottontails are plentiful, and an uncomplicated pump gun with a handful of No. 6 shot in your blaze-orange vest’s pocket is all you really need. That, and a good dog. That simplicity, combined with steady action, appeals to kids. Family members too can grow closer with this lively form of recreation.

Share the Bounty: After the hunt, our gang would routinely convene somewhere for a hot meal ordered off the tavern’s specials board. Food never tasted better after walking miles in the frosty rabbit covers we hunted. Good conversation was always part of it. Even the dog nestled in the back of the pickup truck would get a fresh bowl of water, and snack from the country kitchen to mix in with his kibble. If you’ve shot a limit that day, and some member of the party hasn’t, pass along a couple bunnies for the stewpot--especially if it’s a youngster along for his first hunt. Many a game cookbook carries fabulous recipes using cottontails. Spread that wealth around. You may be skunked next time out. In the end, it’s all about teamwork, and having fun.

CAN-DO RABBIT TIPS WHEN DOGLESS

Without the help of a noseworthy canine, the trick is to flush rabbits on foot in gun range. Like a billiard player, to do so you have to pick all the angles for your shots. How will the cottontail bound out of the brush? Is there a predictable path it’ll take? Such considerations are made by the dogless rabbit hunter. Here are some others.

Read the Signs: On dogless hunts, your human nose won’t help much. You need to use your eyes. Rabbits leave toothy gnaw marks on saplings, fruit trees, and low-lying shrubs. Note this in places you hunt. Is it fresh? Old? These browse marks map out good hunting spots for you, and your bump-and-shoot buddy. Additionally, bunny droppings covering the ground like scattered black beans do the same. Let the tracks nearby seal the deal. Snow reveals ground sign the best, but mud does too. On cold winter days, pick spots where rabbits might warm themselves in the sun. On hotter days, target cool draws near water, with shady hides.

Bumping-and-Shooting: You bump. You shoot. You’re opting for a game of eyeing up likely cover, then moving into it to spook rabbits. If you’re alone, walk slowly and surely, gun loaded, safety on, ready to target quarry bounding out of the brush. When out with a buddy, you can designate the “bumper” (who stomps cover methodically), and the “shooter” who waits, gun ready, just ahead of the likely path of the moved rabbit. You can take turns bumping and shooting using this approach. Again, designate one shooter, and one guy to do the brush busting. Snap shots, the kind that might be taken while bird hunting thick cover, also work in such situations.

Shhhhhhh: Whisper. Don’t talk loudly, as rabbits are known to veer off in another direction when noting the hunter’s noisy presence. Soft whistles can help hunters indicate their positions as well. Keep an eye on each other as you slowly work through cover. But, if the bunny does vault toward your friend, shout, “Rabbit your way,” to alert him to get ready. It’s akin to the wingshooter saying, “Bird,” which indicates the quarry is flushing in range--for the moment, at least. There’s a time to talk (when you’re trying to move rabbits), and time to be quiet (when you’re not).

See Me?: For safety’s sake, wear blaze orange (a cap and vest) so that you might be seen by other hunting party members without vocally indicating your position. Dress in camouflage pants and shirt beneath that pumpkin-colored garb to break up your pattern. You have to be stealthy to avoid rabbit detection, but also clearly visible to other hunters.

Shooting Savvy: Ignore the white flash bounding behind the animal—that tail’s a lure to make you and other predators miss their mark. Focus your swinging shotgun’s bead just ahead of the moving form. Even then you may miss, but hey, that’s why it’s so much fun. Don’t count shots; count memorable moments.

The Goods: Pump guns, from 12 to 20 gauges for adults, and 20 to 28 gauges for kids, are super. Improved-cylinder or modified choke borings are a must for fleeing bunnies. No. 6 loads, adequate for other small game you may encounter along the way, are about right. Some sharpshooters approach the game with .22 rimfire rifles, spotting the unmoving rabbit, then shooting it as one might a bedded whitetail in another situation (and, um, with a different gun). Walk-up targets bolt fast, so a calm, quick shot is often required.

Mixed Bags: While hunting cottontails, you may also flush gamebirds, see squirrels, and move other quarry that’s in season. Decide whether you’re “rough shooting,” as the British call it, or whether you’re only taking rabbits that day. Many small-game hunting situations offer multiple options to swell the game vest. It goes without saying that we should also only take what we need for a weekend camp supper, or to stock the freezer for future home-cooked meals.

End Game: Shooting is clearly not all of it, but shots come, one there--miss--then two more: “Got ’em.” The morning passes into noon. A tailgate lunch reveals this in your orange game bag: a brace of cottontails, a bonus ringneck pheasant, bright as a Christmas package, and several more excuses regarding misses. The afternoon winter glare finds you reaching for sunglasses. You sit down, taking a breather. This moment, a time of reflection. The folks you hunt with are family, close friends. Such times blend into seasonal reflections: hunts in covers old and new, with fresh bunny tracks offering hope you’ll make game. Forget New Age stuff. You want real aromatherapy? Try the smell of gunpowder on a winter rabbit hunt.

About the author: A regular contributor to Realtree.com, Steve Hickoff is also a lifelong rabbit hunter and gun-dog man. He also writes widely on the subject of wild turkeys, wingshooting, and waterfowl for this and other outdoor publications.