Sure wish I'd nown that you lived in Destin when I was there. I'da brought my .22 rifle and my 12 ga Browning SxS...

SwampFox wrote:

We do not have jacks here, only cottontails. I started hunting rabbits when I could hold the gun up. I always hunted two ways, along a rirt road or lane in the late afternoon, just before dark. The bunnies come out on the edge of the lane and munch on tender grass. I use a 510 Remington with shorts for the head shots. But I really love to shoot behind a mower deck in a pasture of tall grass with a 12ga. Start mowing grass at the fence and work in. At a point rabbits start running in all directions, across mowed ground. They throw on the afterburner and the shooting is fast. Ed

Its the same out here mate...first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. Thats not to say that they aren't out and about during the day... just more of them early and later.

I love chasing bunnies with a shotgun...its a real buzz. As you say they are damn quick and you have to be quicker...great fun. Teaches you all about shotgunning real quick...mounting the gun, tracking your target, trigger control, follow through, coming onto the next target...its all there. In fact this is good practice for shooting Sporting Clays...and vice versa.

Cheers, Vince

Err.. somebody say "ELMER" ?

Cant believe I miss this post.. and for HALF A YEAR !! Streuth!!

Well, this Elmer here is goin to blast those blasted wabbit wit a 45-70 this Christmas break

Seriously, I been using Winchester Mod320, Stirling Lithgow, BSA Sportsman Five, H&R 410, Rossi Puma, Ruger 77MkII, 12G Montecarlo etc whatever came handy at the time of sighting.

Any of them is good for shooting wabbit. But, if you want the meat, well, you got to use smaller calibre

gelandangan wrote:

Err.. somebody say "ELMER" ? Well, this Elmer here is goin to blast those blasted wabbit wit a 45-70 this Christmas break But, if you want the meat, well, you got to use smaller calibre

45-70 The bullet is damn near as big as a small wabbit...any waskelwy wabbit you wallop wit a 45-70 is gonna be red mist ... BOOM ...SPLAT....pooffffth (visualise a large red smudge on the landscape at this point !!!)

For meat collection you should head shoot with a rimfire or use a shotgun loaded with #4 or #5 shot.

Cheers, Vince

You would have been welcome Bushy.

Vince, I was over shooting rabbits on Saturday but they were the orange variety, hard to clean and hard to cook. Our station #12 now has two rabbit traps set up. When you get true pairs it is real quick shooting, following rabbits. But the 525 O/U 12ga gun was up to the task. I use cylinder chokes and 1 1/8 oz of #9s. Shots are from a 12 ft embankment down to the wabbits running and jumping through brush.
Ed

My dad and I went rabbit hunting on saturday, i had my Trusty Franchi 12 gauge semi full choke loaded with #1's harder to em with that load but atleast when u hit em they do somersaults and all kinds of aerobatics and then they twitch a little, we take our knife slit their throats, let em bleed out and skin em at home. believe it or not, jacks are good eating if u know how to prepare em right.

got my self 3 jacks on saturday. we always go rabbit hunting in the winter. we put on all white body suits and track em in the snow. i always carry my Coeey Model 60 .22lr with a 3-9x40 on my back for when they sit up far aways. and my Franchi for up to 50 yards. my dad wants to use the Franchi but i always start whining then so he just takes his favorite Reminton 870 Wingmaster 12 gauge. he is one good shot with that gun

Dan

Vince wrote:

any waskelwy wabbit you wallop wit a 45-70 is gonna be red mist ... BOOM ...SPLAT....pooffffth (visualise a large red smudge on the landscape at this point !!!) 8O

Yea.. take that you waskalwy wabbit!! Imma blow yoo to smithereenes..

err, this is Elmer..that was Sam talking above..

I'm taking a poll...I want to know just how many of us have our wits about us...?? I vote that I have all my wits...

SwampFox wrote:

You would have been welcome Bushy. Vince, I was over shooting rabbits on Saturday but they were the orange variety, hard to clean and hard to cook.

Bit hard to find a complete "rabbit" too

SwampFox wrote:

Our station #12 now has two rabbit traps set up. When you get true pairs it is real quick shooting, following rabbits. But the 525 O/U 12ga gun was up to the task. I use cylinder chokes and 1 1/8 oz of #9s. Shots are from a 12 ft embankment down to the wabbits running and jumping through brush. Ed

Interesting...never tried shooting "following rabbits". Done it with "following birds" and its great fun. Even though nothing changes with the traps, every pair "flies" differently.

I've shot single rabbits, and I assume that you guys set up your traps the same way we do...set so the "rabbit" comes out at ground level and scoots along on its edge at a million miles an hour, bouncing along in amongst the ground clutter Frustrating target...almost as bad as a Teal...straight up and straight down...MISS.

Like you, I use 32gm (1 1/8 oz) loads, but instead of #9, I use #7.5. Only time I use #9 is when I am shooting Skeet.

Cheers, Vince

Ever since we "lost" our rabbit hound I've taken on the added role of "dog" while hunting cottontails. Busting through cover that a beagle should be crawling under is tough, and shooting through thick cover is tougher. I carry my Benelli Nova 12 guage, and load it with high brass Remington 2 3/4" #6's. I hunt bunnies by myself quite a bit lately, so I need the extra "oomph" of a #6 load to break through the brush. Most shots are <15 yards (any further and you cant even see a rabbit anymore) and the shooting is very fast.

Joe, Those blackberry thickets make playing the dog pretty rough.

Bushy, I am sure your wits are there some place, did you look under the bed and in the closet....

Vince, Yep, they are the tough made, ground targets, on edge. Shooting rabbits on the clays range can be very difficult. I have seen master shooter just about loose it on a rabbit station, especially when they are set to jump erraticly and at a 3-4 ft height. Our current set on #12 is one behind the other about 4 feet apart, coming out of brush, back into brush, with a tight spring, one or both jump and it can be real confusing unless you concentrate on one bunnie at a time. BangBang gets two, Bang, Bang looses at least one.
Ed

My all time favourite is #3 lead 36grm 12ga through something like 3/4 choke. when we were on pest destruction we took bunnies way out to beyond what you normaly do anything. inside 50yrds a dead cert. past that give it a go. the results up to 80 can often be a twitching bush further along with a dead bunny under it. for the pot #3 is not bad as most go right through if they are under 15yrds go for a head shot.when hungry I have shot them with .270 .303 .30/30 .410 .22 no such thing as too much gun.

elvis wrote:

when hungry I have shot them with .270 .303 .30/30 .410 .22 no such thing as too much gun.

Holy thing-a-ma-bobs Batman.....270 .303 .30/30 !?!?!?

Anything less than a head shot would give you instant red mist...and even a head shot would be touch and go.

Cheers, Vince

Vince wrote:

elvis wrote: when hungry I have shot them with .270 .303 .30/30 .410 .22 no such thing as too much gun. Holy thing-a-ma-bobs Batman.....270 .303 .30/30 !?!?!? Anything less than a head shot would give you instant red mist...and even a head shot would be touch and go. Cheers, Vince

You should see what a .308 SP does to a pheasant.