This is an older post, and I'm new to forums, so I don't know if I'm violating some unwritten rule by reviving a dinosaur, but I absolutely love rabbit hunting and I haven't seen any discussion on rabbit hunting tactics we could be doing now, during the off season, so I thought I would share my strategy.
Bunny rabbit hotels. What's a bunny rabbit hotel? Its basically a brush pile constructed so as to provide the perfect shelter for rabbits. They're easy to make and your yard will be cleaner when you're done. First, you've got to build a nice little hotel room for the rabbits. I use forked branches or the tops of small trees set upside down in the grass. If its going to be a big hotel (larger than 15' diameter), you can make a few rooms. Then I pile brush on top of the rooms, i.e. sticks, saplings, dead flowers, fallen twigs, spent garden stakes, Maypoles, and other yard debris.
Next comes a thick layer of grass. The grass acts as a roof for the hotel. If its left as is with just sticks and yard litter, it won't be frequented by the rabbits because its too easy for the rain/snow to get it, as well as a fox, coyote, or cat. The grass keeps all of that out, or at least makes the rabbit feel like all that will be kept out. After the grass layer, I pile another layer of sticks and yard debris on top as sort of an outer force field. Then your rabbit hotel is done. It will reduce in size over time, so you can keep piling yard trash on top until it gets so tall your wife or neighbors file a complaint.
I like to set up a blind nearby where I can sneak in silently and remain hidden, waiting for the rabbits to make their exit into their foraging grounds, and eventually my hasenpfeffer pot. We have three of these rabbit hotels on our property and every rabbit I've killed has been within 20 yards of one of them.
I would also suggest getting a house cat to help you work the piles.
Much of the small game hunting literature I've read says jumping on and prodding brush piles is a good way to flush out a rabbit, but I disagree. The rabbits up here in Northern Michigan are stay putters, I've never flushed a rabbit by harassing its home. My cat though, she'll sneak in one side and more often than not a rabbit will pop out the other.
