Hunting cottontails

[Black Moshannon]

Well deer season is over here in Pennsylvania and I did not score. One of my strategies to become successful in selfbow hunting is to continue hunting every possible season and now is rabbit season. I have gone out the past couple days at dawn and kicked up a couple rabbits but could not get a shot at either one. I do not plan on ever hunting with a dog and so my only strategy right now is to walk quietly past a bush and hope when the rabbit flees out it stops for a moment in the characteristic manner of cottontails and gives me a clear shot. Does anyone have any ideas or experiences to share? Can I call cottontails with a predator call?  I have a farm field which is covered in autumn olive and honeysuckle shrubs to hunt, and another area which has a lot of brush along the woodline. I am going to ask a couple other farmers to hunt as well.

[JW_Halverson]

Well, in my experience, hunting cottontails teaches you to pay attention to your subconscious. At first, the only fuzzbutts you see are the ones disappearing into the brush ahead of you. Eventually, you start to see one or two here and there. You keep it up and get your eye calibrated by enough time in the field and you'll pick an eye out of a cover so thick a tick would struggle to climb through. Then the edge of an ear, here and there the curve of their back, etc.

You are seeing them, you just aren't "seeing" them. Stick to it! Spend a little more time standing still and scanning. Plus the standing still sometimes makes 'em jumpy, pun intended, and they'll scoot a hop or two.

[Hawkdancer]

Sounds like bunny land!  As JW said move slowly, stop, look, and see!  I have had them sitting right at my foot, just swung my gun down and shot.  Bow is a bit harder, but the principle is the same - they may spook a bit when you stop moving!  Have fun!
Hawkdancer

[Tradslinger]

Rabbits can hide very well nearly in open sight as they tend to blend in easily. As a kid, we would stomp on brushpiles to run them out for a shot. My grandfather back then told me how to do a better job of spotting them in cover. He told me to quit looking for a body but to look mainly for an eye. They have big eyes and once you begin actually seeing them, they become easier to spot. We did this in the briars, blackberries and honey suckle but they really show up when there is snow. We would check all of the overhangs of snow and all shadows for an eye. ususally once you spotted the eye, the rest of the body or head would begin to be seen. a lot of fun with a stick and string. I used everything under the sun for arrow tips on rabbits but liked large blunt types. I also took 38 Special brass, drilled out the primer pocket and inserted a wing nut and bolt thru it with the wing facing the rabbit. I cut the bolt down to keep it about the same height as the wing nut. Very wicked on small game and doesn't bury up for easier finding the arrow. hope this helped a little bit

[Black Moshannon]

Thanks for the ideas fellas. I will try moving slower and looking closer

[Fox]

sounds like fun! I want to hunt cottontails but wouldnt know where to go, all my hunting grounds are woods. squirrels to are something I've tried but without luck, there always out being noisy when I'm deer hunting but never around when Im looking for squirrels! 

-Fox

[Hawkdancer]

Good tips, Trad!  Fox, if you have deer and squirrels, you also have rabbits.  Seeing them is another matter!  Move slow, look a lot, look for the eye, hunt with a dog.  Beagles are very good as are dachshunds.  Bunnies back east don't tend to go to ground as there is usually more cover.  Bow hunting bunnies is fun, especially if you get one or two.  Kenneth, you will get much more " action" with a rabbit hound. And I am pretty sure people have hunted with hounds for millennia- but to each his own!  Good luck and have fun however hunt! !
Hawkdancer

[GlisGlis]

it was mentioned some times ago
when they zip away if you shout or whistle loud they sometimes stop and freeze for a split second
enough to send an arrow god willing          

[Tracker0721]

I think ours are nocturnal or I’m blind. Plenty of tracks on top of the snow but I’ve yet to even have one bust out on me. Before the snow I would just walk the logging roads in the evening and they’d be out eating the grass on the edges.

[Hawkdancer]

They are both, mostly more active at night!  Dawn and twilight.  That's were the hound comes in, they can flush the bunnies almost anywhere.  Try to study the "town" bunnies to see their patterns, if you live out where you can hunt them try to follow the tracks to see where they are feeding, and bedding down.  Also, practice your shooting, use flu-flus or tall fletching and a blunt style head.  Or train Ol' Blue" to fetch arrows, if he loses the bunny. . Also, bunnies usually have a home range of about 400 yards in good cover, they tend to circle when chased, if I remember correctly
Hawkdancer

[Black Moshannon]

it was mentioned some times ago
when they zip away if you shout or whistle loud they sometimes stop and freeze for a split second
enough to send an arrow god willing          

Ill try this.

Another thing is Ive noticed suggestions for blunts, for me i’ve had bad luck with those. Maybe its because I didn’t hit the game in the head but im not that good of a shot. I hit a squirrel in the chest with a blunt out of a 55# recurve bow at less than ten yards and he fell down and ran and I never found him. I hit a rabbit with a blunt at around 18 yards from a fifty pound longbow. I heard the impact and the rabbit was sent flipping through the air only to run away and disappear. So with my skill level perhaps id better stuck with broadheads?

[Tradslinger]

for me, the size of the blunt is what blunt makes the difference. I always use a big blunt with a wide surface area. there is a very distinct thump when used. a no doubt that you hit it and put the hurt on it. I even used washers for added effect. I used the 38 special brass as a starting point for mods of several kinds. I also used the Old J B Weld that you could bake to make it harder and stronger on these points. lose a lot less game and arrows with decent tips that hammer and or grab.  it is like when a 45 hits something versus a 22, big difference in impact.

[Hawkdancer]

Seems to me the rubber commercial things are about the size of a 20 gauge shot she'll case.  I think BJRogg posted one of his a while back.  Several ways to do it.  Larger shaft turned down, .308, 30-06 cases trimmed to fit or expanded neck fit over the shaft and set with epoxy.  There are also some small game points shown in the TBB books, I think.  Post pics, If you make your own!
Hawkdancer

[Black Moshannon]

Well the snow is deep here in Central Pa. I have been out a good many times and seen almost no rabbits lately. But its been snowing every few days and I keep seeing fresh tracks, literally rabbit highways of tracks, between bushes on the farm I hunt. I went out around 4 am this morning just to see if they were moving at dark instead of dawn. The snow had fallen again and there were fresh tracks but no rabbits to be seen. I wonder if they are moving right around midnight. This leads me to wonder if I should go out at midday? Its the only time I haven't tried. I have been going out at dawn and evening/late afternoon. Also, there is a crust under the fresh snow and each step makes a loud crunch. I also suck as a hunter in general. Any advice? I have to start somewhere

[Tracker0721]

I’m in northeastern Washington, getting the same snow every couple days, tons of tracks everyday but no rabbit in the bag yet, we went hiking through a bunny filled area with the dogs and they scattered quite a few snowshoes, it was right about 4pm which is when I’ve hunted it before but apparently I’m blind to them until the dog chases it out. Also ran into 2 young cougars! Really caught us off guard rounding the corner in the road and they were walking down the middle towards us!