Rabbit/Squirrel hunt

[cap'n cook]

i just open my front door and shoot one lol. during the day its a little harder, but at night i can just open the front door, shine my flashlight and usually see 3 or 4 just sittin there. i usually use my model 60. i shot one the other day with my 12 ga with some #2 steel shot because thats what i had. and was surprised. it did more damage to the bone, but less damage to the meat than the .22. they are tasty little suckers deep fried or wrapped with bacon and bbq'd

[Buckaroobonsai]

The messier the better for me. Here's the biggest cottontail rabbit I ever saw. It was the size of a basketball, and was sitting about 200 yards away watching it's final sunset. My Savage 11 Trophy Hunter .22-250 made sure of that. Enjoy!

[Delvehound]

In bad weather they're usually hunkered down, but on the plus side you know where they're at. So, it's easier to scare them out, they run a ways, then stop, turn 90° to look at you, that's your chance. In good weather they're all over, I once was walking around hunting looking for them and stopped to look around, one took off like a shot not 7 ft from me. Anyway I use a 22 maxi mag, HP. I only do head shots on the bunnies "lights out". I usually get 8 or 9 when I go out, but I do private property, not public... Never had luck with public...

I agree, if you saw tracks, they were there, staring at you. Either that or the coyote just came thru.

[trlcavscout]

You all do eat what you shoot right? Except prairie dogs of course.

[rbeau30]

I hunt snowshoe hares up near Jefferson in the wintertime. You can make a pretty good stew with 2 or 3.

Recipe or it didn't happen.

[Buckaroobonsai]

Not much left after my .22-250 hits 'em.

You all do eat what you shoot right? Except prairie dogs of course.

[denverco]

Recipe or it didn't happen.

I like this one. Emeril is the man!!!!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/e...it-recipe.html

[cap'n cook]

A friend and I went up to the north end of Divide yesterday to find some rabbit. We walked several miles but nothing, saw a few tracks but didn't see anything. Didn't even hear a squirrel which would have been an OK alternative meat source
Snow was pretty deep, 8+ inches so we figured that was the reason they weren't out. Scenery was great and it was a nice winter day, good exercise too.
Anyone got any tips on finding the bunnies?

V

open my front door and shine a flashlight and theres a bunny sitting in the same spot every night LOL. except i killed him last night with my pellet gun so hopefully one of his buddies takes up his routine.

do any of you guys eat wild rabbit when its not in winter months? i ate a bunch of them this winter, but i stopped eating them like a month ago when it started warming up. ive read and always been told its safe in the winter because the freeze kills the sick ones, but not so in the summer.

[baglock1]

do any of you guys eat wild rabbit when its not in winter months? i ate a bunch of them this winter, but i stopped eating them like a month ago when it started warming up. ive read and always been told its safe in the winter because the freeze kills the sick ones, but not so in the summer.

The rule I always heard when I was a kid was if the month had an "r" in it, rabbit was safe for the plate. So based on that, Sept-Apr should be good to go. With that said however, I doubt I'd trust that logic unless I heard it from a more reputable source that as an old wife's tale. As I recall, the only times I ate wild rabbit (it's probably been ~30 years since) were in the Jan-Feb time frame.

I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts as well.

[davsel]

Growing up in Texas, the main reason we shot them in the winter was to lessen the fleas and ticks.
We would wait until after a good hard freeze before starting wabbit-season.