# Tracking rabbits



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

The snow out here this morning is perfect for tracking rabbits. I jumped 2 this morning but I'm a bit rusty with the 22 so I will have to get in more practice.


----------



## 6Speed (Mar 8, 2013)

20 guage with #5 shot...


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

I hate finding shot in my dinner.


----------



## 6Speed (Mar 8, 2013)

That's why I said #5 shot. #4 works too!

Glad you're out having fun!


----------



## miruss (Apr 18, 2003)

Still in the deer hunting mode seen 9 last 2 nights but nothing i wanted to shoot 6 within 50 yds . I took a week off in January so i can get the dogs out running !! I'm like you i love the .22 for rabbit haven't used a shotgun in over a doz yrs only shotgun i have is a 10 GA. i use for geese!


----------



## Hunters Edge (May 15, 2009)

Take a loud shrill whistle, it usually will stop them. It's a little easier to hit then in the head sitting rather than running. Besides it saves on destroying the best part or the most meat available on the rabbit. 

PS I always claimed I wanted to leave some for seed LOL. Glad to hear your out and about, good luck.


----------



## snortwheeze (Jul 31, 2012)

miruss said:


> Still in the deer hunting mode seen 9 last 2 nights but nothing i wanted to shoot 6 within 50 yds . I took a week off in January so i can get the dogs out running !! I'm like you i love the .22 for rabbit haven't used a shotgun in over a doz yrs only shotgun i have is a 10 GA. i use for geese!


What area ? Would love to run my hounds with some others. They're good.


----------



## eucman (Jan 24, 2009)

Martin Looker said:


> The snow out here this morning is perfect for tracking rabbits. I jumped 2 this morning but I'm a bit rusty with the 22 so I will have to get in more practice.


This is a blast with a friend or two
One guy stays on the track as hound other chooses a good position and waits for rabbit to circle 
Hound guy whistles or calls out periodically so stander can keep track of position. Have done this lots of times for snowshoe and cottontails 
Equal chance of shots for standers or “trailers” if trackers go slow and keep eye out


----------



## miruss (Apr 18, 2003)

snortwheeze said:


> What area ? Would love to run my hounds with some others. They're good.


Lenawee Hudson state game area!


----------



## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

What kind f rabbits snow shoe or cotton tail. I use to like to hunt them with my 22 pistol


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

All we have now are cotton tails, the jacks disappear years ago.


----------



## 9 (Jan 17, 2000)

eucman said:


> This is a blast with a friend or two
> One guy stays on the track as hound other chooses a good position and waits for rabbit to circle
> Hound guy whistles or calls out periodically so stander can keep track of position. Have done this lots of times for snowshoe and cottontails
> Equal chance of shots for standers or “trailers” if trackers go slow and keep eye out


That method is a great way to get young people interested in hunting And teaches tracking skills. I was brought up doing it with my dad and I in turn brought my sons up doing the same thing. Wish some of my grandkids lived nearby Because they would also learn to “bark’em around”! Always had lots of rabbit sandwiches for school and work!


----------



## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

Martin Looker said:


> All we have now are cotton tails, the jacks disappear years ago.


I still have a few here but no cottontails at all


----------



## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

Guys at work got me started using cross country skis and a 32 cal muzzleloader. I use to go thru my woods there on skis toward the evening and they would be out sitting in the open woods. Did manage to get a few but missed more than I got


----------



## CDN1 (May 27, 2018)

A fresh snowfall, a beagle, 2-5 friends a semi auto .22 rimfire, or lite 410 or 20 gauge. Add rabbits stir throughly…. All the ingredients to one of the best hunting experiences of a persons life. Just wish I lived somewhere were it actually snowed from time to time.


----------



## flyfish (Dec 4, 2001)

Went out Thursday morning. Three solid chases with the dog. Two down. Still searching for good rabbit ground in the Muskegon area. Just moved here finding lots of hardwoods but not an abundance of good rabbit cover..


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

We need a fresh snow now after the rain last night. Everything is under water right now here in the swamp.


----------



## miruss (Apr 18, 2003)

Martin Looker said:


> We need a fresh snow now after the rain last night. Everything is under water right now here in the swamp.


----------



## kisherfisher (Apr 6, 2008)

Great video ! Gotta have faith in your dogs when those rabbits back track like that, or runs across the water !. I have learned to never doubt their nose when they run an unusual line.


----------



## Nostromo (Feb 14, 2012)

miruss said:


>


That's good hound work! Pretty steady camera work too.


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

That's kind of like my place but the brush is a bit thicker


----------



## whiteymalone (Apr 11, 2021)

Martin Looker said:


> All we have now are cotton tails, the jacks disappear years ago.


Lifelong snowshoe hare hunter here. Sad to say that what once was the best and longest hunting season in the UP is almost gone. In the last ten years the hare population has tanked. Nothing to do with cycles, everything do to predators. The proliferation of Fisher, Marten, and large birds of prey have really done a number on the snowshoes. Heck, I hardly see a pine squirrel when driving the back-roads anymore. Previously you'd see one run across the road every 1/2 mile. I can't remember the last time I saw a dead porcupine on the road. Right now there is no legal way to effectively manage marten and fisher. A one or two yearly bag limit with a tenish day season doesn't cut it. The people that were instrumental in the re-introduction of these nasty creatures forgot who paid their salary. When I first started hunting in the early 80's, lots and lots of people were hunting snowshoes with beagles or beagle mix hounds. It seemed like there was a beagle pen in the backyard everywhere you went. It was a blast getting together with friends and family listening to the dogs chase, and it lasted for 6 months! Now the only real voice of the small game hunter is gone. Pre base license, if enough people stopped buying small game licenses, something would have been done to get those sales and it's revenue back. Rather than managing predators, it was way easier make everyone HAVE TO buy a small game license (base license) if they want to hunt for anything. Here's an open invitation to every trapper that reads this: Come to the UP for the marten/fisher season every December. Get all your buddies to do the same. Hell, charter a bus and fill it with 50 Boy Scouts and five hundred Duke #160's!


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

We have a fresh tracking snow. Get those kids out there and find a rabbit.


----------



## sylvan19 (Sep 13, 2009)

Love them bunnies! No dogs just brush stomping. Gun of choice, bolt action .410


----------



## micooner (Dec 20, 2003)

miruss said:


>


Great video, loved the way the tricolor worked the track across the water.


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Today is another one for tracking up rabbits and I am stuck in the house.


----------



## 9 (Jan 17, 2000)

Warm, they should have run like crazy last night.


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

I have a few fresh tracks under the bird feeder . The honey do's have caught up with me.


----------

