Bunny Hunting Tricks?

A couple of buddies and me went out to the west desert this past Saturday to sight in my new 10/22 and to do some bunny hunting. I have never seen so many fresh tracks in all my life! There were little bunny highways everywhere but the highways were deserted and we only ended up seeing 4 of them. It was a bright, cloudless, sunny day with temps only reaching about 25. We started hunting around 11:30am. So, my question is: what are the best conditions to hunt in to see the most rabbits? Time of day, clouds vs. no clouds, temps, moon cycle, etc? Thoughts?

Been a while since it snowed so what you saw doesn't surprise me. 1 bunny can make a lot of tracks.

Jacks live above ground, so they aren't waiting for the sun to go down or anything else.

You should be happy you saw 4...I haven't seen more than a few at a time for many years. Ahhh, the good old days...

Of course, if anyone else has found a spot with bunnies running everywhere....:ne_nau:

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Originally Posted by Sandstone Addiction

Been a while since it snowed so what you saw doesn't surprise me. 1 bunny can make a lot of tracks.

Jacks live above ground, so they aren't waiting for the sun to go down or anything else.

You should be happy you saw 4...I haven't seen more than a few at a time for many years. Ahhh, the good old days...

Of course, if anyone else has found a spot with bunnies running everywhere....:ne_nau:

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I never understood the fun with blowing jacks away. You can't (don't want to) eat them.. they don't really harm anything, so it must be about the "sport" of it. The most rabbits I've seen (live, running) was further South and West nearer Delta. The area between Tooele and Dugway is just about hunted to nothing. No Coyotes and hardly any rabbits.

Sad, really - but my personal opinion is I'll only shoot something I'll eat or is a threat to me/my family.

As extra commentary: Tall Steve, if you want to sight something in, get a bore sight or targets placed against a mining berm.. just sayin'

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Originally Posted by BruteForce

I never understood the fun with blowing jacks away. You can't (don't want to) eat them.. they don't really harm anything, so it must be about the "sport" of it. The most rabbits I've seen (live, running) was further South and West nearer Delta. The area between Tooele and Dugway is just about hunted to nothing. No Coyotes and hardly any rabbits.

Sad, really - but my personal opinion is I'll only shoot something I'll eat or is a threat to me/my family.

As extra commentary: Tall Steve, if you want to sight something in, get a bore sight or targets placed against a mining berm.. just sayin'

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Back in the day, you couldn't walk 50 feet without jumping a scrawny jack. I never felt even a tiny bit of remorse about "thinnin' them out a little". It was also a great way to practice big game shooting skills.

But in the last 20 years, the coyote numbers have increased significantly and subsequently, rabbit numbers have declined to almost nil. Not fun anymore. IMHO

I see one every once in a while, but unlike most people, I actually DO eat them. I have a couple pounds of jack rabbit in my freezer right now, actually. Just gotta cook 'em right and they're plenty edible. Really a dark meat though.

If you were in the west desert, The jack rabbits were running 300-400 yards in front of you. I wouldn't even consider using a short range caliber like a .22 out there.

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Originally Posted by ilanimaka

I actually DO eat them.

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I was always told they are too tough to eat. @ilanimaka , how do you prepare them? I'll have to admit, I've never even considered eating them...but I'd give it a try.

I think one of the main reasons some people don't eat the rabbits they shoot (including cottontails--which is sad) is because of the fleas, lice and other parasites that start looking for a new host quickly after they are killed. And I totally understand that, it's disgusting.

Thank goodness a friend of mine showed me the quick method to field dress a cottontail in less than 20 seconds. I can have all the meat, including the backstraps, in a plastic bag before the legs stop twitching. I would imagine the technique would work just as slick for a jack rabbit.

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Originally Posted by BruteForce

As extra commentary: Tall Steve, if you want to sight something in, get a bore sight or targets placed against a mining berm.. just sayin'

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Uh, I did. It wouldn't be practical to sight in a red dot scope on a moving target as fast as a jackrabbit.

My old man always told me that his mother cooked up jack on a regular basis while he was being raised in Nevada. The key was to soak them meat in buttermilk overnight and I only ever use them in a slow cooked stew. Between the two, it turns out alright and handles the tough meat pretty well. It's nothing compared to a raised rabbit, to be sure, but when I'm hankerin for some rabbit stew, I won't turn down a jack. :)

As for the fleas and ticks, I was taught to only hunt them (for food anyways) during a month with the letter 'R' in it. Basically fall to spring. You still have the occasional problem with ticks, but not so much and fleas will jump off of a cooling body so I let them sit for a few minutes before gathering them.

Trust me, if there's any real danger to jack rabbit populations, there are multiple government departments on the case. As long as they are free game, there is an abundance of numbers. These rabbit numbers are measured, analyzed, projected, planned and anticipated.
Rabbit shooting purely for sport has it's purpose in managing these populations.
Saying that, I haven't shot a rabbit since I made that bunny blasting video about 9 years ago, but I'd like to go again.

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