7 Tips for a Successful Winter Rabbit Hunting Season

A lot of hunters can probably say that their first successful hunt was while pursuing rabbits. Whether you prefer to chase cottontails behind a brace of beagles or hunt them on-on-one, use these tips to fill a vest with bunnies this month.

1. TIME IT RIGHT

Rabbits are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dusk and dawn. One way to maximize shot opportunities on rabbits is to simply not sleep in too late, or to get a quick hunt in before the sun sets. I have run home from work, gone afield for the last hour of daylight and brought a daily limit home for the freezer. It is a great strategy during the work week when an all-day hunt isn’t possible.

2. FIND THE ZONE

Location is critical. Christmas tree farms, edges of crops (farmers leave field corn standing until the end of February where I live in Pennsylvania), fields of goldenrod and other thick cover is where I focus. Be cognizant of your strategy when choosing a location. A 50-acre patch of multiflora rose is a great spot for a pack of beagles, but it can be nearly impossible for humans to get in there and actually move rabbits.

If you are heading to the briar patch without a dog, get some friends together and stage a drive, the same way folks will do for deer. Drivers walking through the brush will push rabbits to standers on the periphery (spaced safely apart) who will then have shot opportunities.

You can walk great cover and never see a rabbit and think that maybe there are none there. The reality may be that the rabbits are flushing so far ahead of the drivers that no one will see them. Those big ears allow a rabbit to hear a threat from a great distance and move out accordingly. A lone hunter entering a massive field of goldenrod may have some difficulty being close enough to see a rabbit and get a shot as it bounds away. A rabbit drive is smaller in scale than a deer drive; space drivers no more than 20 yards apart.

3. GO SLOW AND STEADY

Taking one’s time is essential for a hunter working cover. Rabbits will feed all night, then move into a position of concealment and lie down. This little area is called a form. The longer a rabbit sits there, the weaker the scent trail it created walking to that position becomes. A primary survival strategy of a rabbit is to not move when it senses danger. How many times have you jumped a rabbit that didn’t move until you almost stepped on it?

Naturally, there is some luck in that process of almost stepping on the rabbit you can’t see. But walking slowly and pausing occasionally will increase your chances of jumping a rabbit that has every intention of remaining motionless. Walk slow and stand still at times. If a rabbit is nearby, it may bolt from its form when you stand still because the rabbit thinks you see it. A brisk walk along a hedgerow may not be as productive as a slow, deliberate walk that can make those bunnies nervous enough to give you a chance at a shot.

4. READ THE DOGS

I know a lot of guys who have great success jump-shooting rabbits as they’re bumped from their forms by beagles. However, this is dangerous, and dogs get injured or killed this way, especially when hunting thick cover. So, my rule is that the rabbit has to circle at least once before I shoot. This is about safety, but it also adds to success.

When that rabbit is running and the chorus of beagles baying behind it fills the air, it will move other rabbits from their forms as well. I have had beagles switch rabbits in a chase. Typically, a smaller rabbit will cross paths with a larger one, and the hounds switch to the stronger scent. Letting a chase unfold will stir up the population of rabbits in that particular spot. This creates new scent trails to new forms. After a rabbit is killed, the dogs can find those new scent trails a lot easier than they can find a rabbit that has been motionless for four hours with its scent trail becoming fainter by the minute.

5. STAND STILL

Statues shoot rabbits. Many of us are confident in our beagles and realize that the hounds will keep chasing until the quarry is dead or goes underground. That being said, it is tough to shoot a rabbit while walking along a dirt road or talking with a hunting buddy. Yes, I have shot many rabbits that paused to look backwards at their canine pursuers. However, rabbits will be cautious about running into open areas.

Pacing anxiously or shifting your weight from foot to foot as the rabbit approaches can turn a rabbit at an angle that allows it to avoid the pursuing pack and prevents you from taking a clear shot. Other times, movement will cause a rabbit to simply retreat to its cover. Stay still and you will get a lot more chances.

6. FIND THEIR HOLES

As mentioned, I don’t like to jump-shoot rabbits, but a cottontail that runs a circle to the same hole is one that can be shot. I once took a senior hunter with me and had him stand on a big mound of dirt that was filled with groundhog holes. Every rabbit I ran in that location, all year long, went into one of those holes without making a full circle.

My hunting buddy was having some trouble with his knee and couldn’t walk well on the uneven ground where I was working the hounds. I posted him on that mound of holes, and he shot three rabbits. This is also a great way to get a kid afield and have them learn to be statues.

7. DOUBLE BACK

All-day hunts can be productive, but late morning and early afternoon can be challenging times to find rabbits. As discussed, if they have been motionless for several hours, their scent trails may be tough for the hounds to locate.

Of course, “jump” dogs always seem to be able to locate the rabbit, and some are more talented at doing so than others. I was at a field trial one time, and the handler and dogs walked into a block of brush looking for a rabbit. A few minutes after the beagles and their owner entered that block of brush, a rabbit walked out of it. After all the hounds walked past the sitting rabbit, it got up and walked the opposite way!

If I walk through a patch of really good cover in hunting season and my dogs do not produce a rabbit, I pause. Then I go back. I lead the dogs back through the same brush we just worked, looking for the rabbit that might have stood up and gone in the opposite direction. The dogs lock onto that scent trail and the ensuing chase moves other rabbits. It is also good to work the dogs slowly, so they can cover the ground thoroughly rather than just working quickly at a distance.