good rabbit terrain

[ballista]

 hey guys- don't worry, i'm not here to steal you're hunting ground , but what do you look for in a good rabbit hunting site? The only rabbit hunting i've done has been in a brush blind by a big garden in wisconson, thats it. The videos on youtube looked like pretty open land, with bushes for hiding, but I'm sure theres alot I don't know, and it's crappy weather for deer hunting today and tomarrow, so im hoping I can find, generally speaking, somekind of rabbit feild. so, my real question: When you hunt rabbit, what does your terrain look like? I'm pretty sue you can't bait here, but my neighbor has been baiting squirrels in his subdivision-sized backyard ever since we lived here 9 yrs ago, no one really cares. Do you look for water too? the place i was thinking of going to has a small creek, with small fence rows of timber on each side, them in the middle is an open feild, but theres absolutley no cover and I've never seen a rabbit there once. thanks, and if you have a picture of where you hunt, that's greatley appriciated also. -jimmy

[JackCrafty]

I hunt rabbits in open fields (of low-cut grass) when it starts getting dark.  That's when they come out of their hiding places.  It's handy if you've got a friend who can hold a flashlight on 'em if it's too dark. Their eyes will reflect a pink color.

You can also hunt for them in terrain with lots of shrubs (anytime of the day) but it will be harder to hit them with an arrow (because of the obstacles).  It's also a lot harder to see them before they see you.

[Little John]

I would hunt where ever I had access to likely looking terrain. Where do you live. Might be different in Wyoming than in Main.     Kennerh

[ballista]

oh, I should have mentioned that, northern Illinois, close to the wisconson border- they call it the prarie state, but its real populated up here, i'd like to live a little more south to where they'res real prarie terrain . I'm planning on buying a half dozen blunt arrows sometime soom, but at the moment, i got 5 feild tips... dont wanna loose those  . you guys know what they would eat naturally? I'll be honest, I was going to go to petco and buy a crapload of pellet food and just bait the hell out of wherever I'm going, I got two rabbits as pets in the backyard and thats what I give 'em-could be illegal, but i dont plan on going hunting with a loudmouth . thinking on using razor darts from a blowgun to harvest them, but that cuts your range down alot... you guys know a real cheap arrow? I wanted to make a few dozen for squirrel, god knows how many arrows you're gonna loose, I figured why not take 50 dowel rods and rough fletch em, but im sure theres better methods. thanks for the help, after highschool i'm going to look around for any places... not being able to drive kinda kills me. thanks- jimmy

[Little John]

You can remove your field points and replace with blunts or 38 special cases to make good blunts, should be able to find some for free. As for cheap arrows, they can be free if you can get out and harvest some shoots and spend the time to straighten and dry them. Look for goose feathers around duck ponds or maybe I could send you some, like I say points can be as simple as pistol cases. It takes time to learn the tricks but lots of help in the arrow section. If you can afford to buy a couple dozen cedar shafts from three rivers makes it a lot easier and faster. Like I said, I would hunt any place I could get permission and be legal. Maybe you can find a like munded friend who drives to open up possibilities. Be always on the lookout for materials and hunting opportunities.     Kenneth

[ballista]

souds good, thanks again man.  would you add any weight to the .38 special cases? I stumbled over something that said about melting lead bb's into them, dunno though. every time I go roaving, I look for some red osier- still no luck, unfortunatley. I'm actually going to order enough supplies for a good dozen arrows, the feld ponts I have are glued on.. but I have a bad feeling about blunts, i think i might make my own style for rabbit and squirrel, that still penetraits, with similar springs to the judo. thanks again guys, jimmy.

[armymedic.2]

i stalk the windbreaks in sticker bushes.  The rabbits in NY like it thick.  You have to spot em, find your best hole, and punch an arrow thoruhg it.  you wouold be amazed at the stuff you can get thorugh, and be amazed at the stuff you can't, lol.  I like to use flu flu's for brush hunting because they show up better with big bright feathers.

[El Destructo]

Back Home it's a good Cedar Swamp with plenty of Hidey Holes...........down here it is Windbreaks.....Fencerows.....Brush Piles and any standing Irrigation Pipe piles...they love the stuff!!

[ballista]

aha! see, i was thinking fencerows also- I was driving past a small feild about 4 miles from my house, looked like great terrain, the houses were purdy close though, gotta watch out. I have a beagle too, you never know! anaways, I had one in my backyard eating the rabbit food that spilled under my rabbits cage- thats the second rabbit i've seen in my life back there- I wasn't going to shoot it at first, but then i though about how good it would be with some onions, so I grabbed my longbow-(not the laminated one, the good old 42 pound hickory!) and loosed a feild point, about a centimeter high..... I think it doged it! It was anly about 17 or 18 feet away, so afterwards I was shooting close range, I was way off- a good four inches high, a little to the left, consistantly. so, thats my rabbit experience reccently, any of you have a similar aiming problem? I didn't have an arrow rest, so it's not like it was uneven or anything. thanks -jimmy

[JackCrafty]

Yep, I used to have that aiming problem until I started shooting targets (practice) at 17 & 18 feet way.

Also, you might not be drawing the arrow all the way back to your usual draw length.  That happens when you get exited and rush the shot.  If you don't draw the arrow back far enough, it will act like it's too stiff.

[mullet]

   Down here it's good ol' Blackberry bushes.  Bre' Rabbit says, "Pleezes don' throw me in tha Bria patch"

[ballista]

 thats awesome, I was thinking maybe under an apple tree, maybe they eat osage oranges that'd be pretty ironic- woke up at 5 this morning to find the 6 point that was gut shot, and as we were pulling out, i saw the same little bastard cottontail run across my yard, i'm gonna drill him the next time I see him fer sure  -jimmy

[Adam Keiper]

Ha, come to my development!  Rabbits everywhere!  I'm just not sure all the good residents would care for arrows screaming through their yards.  Tempting none the less.  I figure that I could disguise my bow as a walking stick, but still haven't decided how to disguise the arrows. 

Seriously though, fencerows, field edges, and swampy areas are good.  Orchards if you can find one.   You want terrain that the rabbits like, but that gives you enough cover to slip up on them. 

[Susquehannock]

I used to hunt rabbits a lot when I was younger. Generally, we hunted agricultural areas, cut cornfields, apple orchards, fencerows, and general "brushy" areas. The thicker the brush the better. Look for honey suckle thickets, briars, overgrown fields, etc. We used to also hunt with beagle dogs. When you jump a rabbit with a dog, let the dog trail the rabbit and stand perfectly still. Rabbits will literally run a complete circle when followed by a dog. I don't know how many times I would jump a rabbit without a shot, put the dog on the trail, and a half hour later, they'd be looping back to me and the rabbit would literally run right up on me. Good luck. Rabbits are fun to hunt and great eating.

Jason

[El Destructo]

   ...............................Hunt Rabbits with Beagles...now thats a New One..................... ........................................