Post by WVsnowflake on Dec 13, 2008 15:26:15 GMT -6
Ten Tips for Taking Winter Rabbits
As the winter grows colder and cover and food sources become harder to find, rabbits change their habits. These tips will ensure your late-season success.
By Ed Harp
Of course, it's always a thrill to hunt on opening day. After all, it's been nearly a year since the opportunity to harvest a few rabbits has presented itself. Don't forget, however, that late season can be just as good. All you need to do is adjust your thinking a little bit.
Come January, life is not easy for an eastern cottontail. They have spent the fall, and most of the winter, just trying to survive. They have been hunted by everything ranging from house cats to bobcats on the ground, and by hawks, owls and other feathered predators from the air.
Cover has gotten a little scarce, making survival even harder. Despite rabbits' quickness and extraordinary ability to sense danger, thinner cover gives a split-second advantage to the predators. That's all they need.
On top of all that, the food supply has dwindled. The lush vegetation of spring, summer and fall is now gone. Most of the clover, tender young plants, berries and vegetables have been eaten. What is left over is getting brown, tough, tasteless and hard to find.
Still, rabbit populations as a whole are designed to thrive under these conditions. Spring is just around the corner. Like most species, rabbits will soon turn their thoughts toward reproduction. Mating begins, in most areas of the country, in early February. It will continue through October. Gestation takes from 28 to 32 days with an average litter size of four or five babies. Some rabbits breed again within hours of giving birth.
With these things in mind, three top rabbit hunters and beagle breeders were consulted to see how they approach late-season rabbit hunting.
Robert Oliver, president of the United Beagle Gundog Federation (www.ubgf.org), Tony Chastain and Phil Kirby (pkmillcrbeagles@ aol.com) know as much about rabbit habits and habitat as anybody alive. All three spend their time breeding, training and running beagles. They do this day in and day out, no matter the weather or the season.
They also hunt rabbits, mostly later in the season after the deer hunters have vacated the woods. Combined, they have more than 100 years of experience with cottontails.
Oliver, Chastain and Kirby offer the following 10 tips for taking late-season rabbits. The first four deal with forage. The next four deal with habitat. The last two suggest techniques.
To take full advantage of their knowledge, combine at least one tip from the forage group with at least one tip from the habitat group, matching the conditions on the land you hunt with the most appropriate tips. This should put you on a few bunnies. After that, you'll be in a position to try one of their techniques.
Tip Number One: Find The Clover
The importance of clover cannot be overstated. Cottontails love it. It is their first choice for dinner whenever it is available. If there's a patch of clover around, the rabbits won't be far away.
To find clover during the winter, it is necessary to know something about it. For those hunters who do not know what it looks like, check the Internet.
Clover is a legume. That means it deposits nitrogen in the soil as it grows. This makes for leafy, green vegetative growth around it. High nitrogen content in the soil also helps the vegetation stay green a little longer during the winter.
Clover can usually be found in loose, sandy or well-drained soils. It grows best in areas with a lot of sunshine. Look for it in old pastures or in areas adjacent to them. (Many of our public hunting lands were once farmed.)
Of course, it is sometimes planted in food plots by deer or turkey hunters, and if the plot backs up to cover, big game won't be the only animals interested in the food.
In places, clover will grow wild. Wild patches are usually small and scattered, so finding them will take some time. It's time well spent, however.
www.gameandfishmag.com/hunting/rabbits-hares-squirrels-hunting/gf_aa016805a/
As the winter grows colder and cover and food sources become harder to find, rabbits change their habits. These tips will ensure your late-season success.
By Ed Harp
Of course, it's always a thrill to hunt on opening day. After all, it's been nearly a year since the opportunity to harvest a few rabbits has presented itself. Don't forget, however, that late season can be just as good. All you need to do is adjust your thinking a little bit.
Come January, life is not easy for an eastern cottontail. They have spent the fall, and most of the winter, just trying to survive. They have been hunted by everything ranging from house cats to bobcats on the ground, and by hawks, owls and other feathered predators from the air.
Cover has gotten a little scarce, making survival even harder. Despite rabbits' quickness and extraordinary ability to sense danger, thinner cover gives a split-second advantage to the predators. That's all they need.
On top of all that, the food supply has dwindled. The lush vegetation of spring, summer and fall is now gone. Most of the clover, tender young plants, berries and vegetables have been eaten. What is left over is getting brown, tough, tasteless and hard to find.
Still, rabbit populations as a whole are designed to thrive under these conditions. Spring is just around the corner. Like most species, rabbits will soon turn their thoughts toward reproduction. Mating begins, in most areas of the country, in early February. It will continue through October. Gestation takes from 28 to 32 days with an average litter size of four or five babies. Some rabbits breed again within hours of giving birth.
With these things in mind, three top rabbit hunters and beagle breeders were consulted to see how they approach late-season rabbit hunting.
Robert Oliver, president of the United Beagle Gundog Federation (www.ubgf.org), Tony Chastain and Phil Kirby (pkmillcrbeagles@ aol.com) know as much about rabbit habits and habitat as anybody alive. All three spend their time breeding, training and running beagles. They do this day in and day out, no matter the weather or the season.
They also hunt rabbits, mostly later in the season after the deer hunters have vacated the woods. Combined, they have more than 100 years of experience with cottontails.
Oliver, Chastain and Kirby offer the following 10 tips for taking late-season rabbits. The first four deal with forage. The next four deal with habitat. The last two suggest techniques.
To take full advantage of their knowledge, combine at least one tip from the forage group with at least one tip from the habitat group, matching the conditions on the land you hunt with the most appropriate tips. This should put you on a few bunnies. After that, you'll be in a position to try one of their techniques.
Tip Number One: Find The Clover
The importance of clover cannot be overstated. Cottontails love it. It is their first choice for dinner whenever it is available. If there's a patch of clover around, the rabbits won't be far away.
To find clover during the winter, it is necessary to know something about it. For those hunters who do not know what it looks like, check the Internet.
Clover is a legume. That means it deposits nitrogen in the soil as it grows. This makes for leafy, green vegetative growth around it. High nitrogen content in the soil also helps the vegetation stay green a little longer during the winter.
Clover can usually be found in loose, sandy or well-drained soils. It grows best in areas with a lot of sunshine. Look for it in old pastures or in areas adjacent to them. (Many of our public hunting lands were once farmed.)
Of course, it is sometimes planted in food plots by deer or turkey hunters, and if the plot backs up to cover, big game won't be the only animals interested in the food.
In places, clover will grow wild. Wild patches are usually small and scattered, so finding them will take some time. It's time well spent, however.
www.gameandfishmag.com/hunting/rabbits-hares-squirrels-hunting/gf_aa016805a/
