Where do I find RABBITS?

Most of our readers know just where to find a Whitetail Deer in the fall or the strutting Tom turkey in the spring, but where do you find the elusive Cottontail rabbit?

In some cases you will find a bunny or two where you find most of our primary quarry but more than likely you will not.  Rabbits are one of the most sought after meals for most of the predators in your area.  They not only have to have GREAT hiding places from those that chase them on the ground but also from those that swoop down on them from the air too.

If you are looking for a place to jump a rabbit or two and do not have all day to do it, go where it is thick, and I mean the more you cannot see through it the better it will hold rabbits.  Briar patches are great, and the thicker the better; it also is beneficial that the briars and heavy brush be tall and not open to the sky.  Never overlook heavy kudzu, wild grapevines or honeysuckle thickets.  Rabbits will also hide in and around old run-down barns or junk yards as well because those structures offer overhead protection and a maze of escape routes underneath.  Hence, the use of beagles or (in my case in my younger years) kids too young to hunt yet to flush them out to the hunters.

 You will also have better luck in and around farm fields that are boarded with heavy cover.  Rabbits like clover and will frequent the edges of clover hay fields.  If there are a lot of deer or large game trails in that area keep looking.  Rabbits will create trails in the heavy cover but they will only be 3 to 6 inches high and never wider than your hand.

Remember too, if a rabbit is flushed (by beagle or human) from this heavy cover, they will try to run a large circle and get back into the heavy stuff.  This way you can set up ambushed points to harvest of these tasty table fare. Most of our readers manage their properties to better hold deer and wild turkey.  You can also manage the same land for small game as well.  If you do not have the heavy cover that I described above you can easily build some.  Building a brush pile (or several) will bring in the rabbits and usually upland game birds too.Taking all your trimmings from trees no matter the type and piling them up is great but adding shelter under the pile will get it used almost immediately.

Gather together two or four old wooden pallets, place them side by side so the rabbit can run under or dig under them.  On top of the pallets you want to place either a sheet of plywood or roofing metal (the metal will last longer than the plywood).  You do not have to cover the entire top area of the pallets but the more you cover, the more holding power the “rabbitat” has.  Place all your tree trimmings, pine branches, cut up Christmas trees and an occasional load of leaves on top of the pallets and metal.  Now do not forget to keep adding to this pile.  The ones located on my property are about 6 feet high and 10 feet through the middle.

These piles never cease to amaze me.  They do hold rabbits but I have also seen quail using them.  All the songbirds in the area use them to nest in and sing their happy tunes.

Can’t find the ideal habitat on your hunting property for rabbits?  MAKE SOME.  Happy Rabbit Hunting folks.

Pictures from around my property and hunting grounds: first honeysuckle hedgerow; second briar patch; third old junk car; and homemade rabbitat.

By Luanne Bragg

TalkHunting Pro Staffer, Luanne "Beaglepup" Bragg, started hunting (going hunting) with her Grandfather in the fall of 1965.  He loved to squirrel hunt and would carry her into the woods and sit her on a rock and let her hold his prizes.  He took Luanne on her first Pheasant and Rabbit hunts when she was 7.  Shortly after that he had a massive stroke and was never able to return to the woods again.  When Luanne was 9 her Father, who was about to retire from the Marine Corps after 20 years active duty, and Uncle decided that since she could shoot she could remove the ground hogs and crows from the farm fields.  Luanne spent the next few years watching all the wildlife and removing varmints from the farm.  She took herself deer hunting for the first time when she was 15 and took her first deer at 17.  There was a long time between Luanne's first deer and her next deer due to college and work and general life.  She did a lot of small game hunting with her ex-husband starting in 1985 and killed her next deer in 1988.  She has not missed a deer or turkey season since.  When not hunting she is fishing or working in her garden (when not WORKING...).

Luanne has raised, trained and field trialed Beagles in the UKC and ARHA formats for 20 years and has produced several Field and Show Champions and Grand Field and Show Champions.  There is usually at least one litter of puppies born on her place every year.

She holds a Real Estate License in Virginia and owns a Dog Boarding Kennel.  Luanne belongs to the National Association of Realtors, Central Virginia Beaglers Association, NRA, NWTF and Buckmasters.  She was born in East Liverpool, Ohio,  and started showing Appaloosa horses in 1969 and was the Pennsylvania Appaloosa Queen in 1980 and runner up to the National Queen Title the same year. When she gets the chance she still enjoys a long trail ride.  She graduated from Kent State University in Kent Ohio in 1982 with a degree in Applied Science. Luanne relocated from Ohio to Virginia in 1984.

Comments(1):

1. Great info!

   A five minute read with a lifetime impact. I have never rabbit hunted, but am looking at doing more small game hunting with my son this next season. I have always wondered where to find rabbits, and now I know. Also where I can make a place to draw them in. Great information. Thanks Luanne!

   Saturday, February 05, 2011 Duane