Some of my fondest childhood memories are of days spent rabbit hunting with my great uncles, Julius Pieri and Pat Murphree of Cherry Valley.
I think I was around age 12 when the two elder statesmen started letting me tag along on their frequent cottontail hunts. Neither man owned a pack of beagles, but that didn’t stop us from taking home plenty of rabbits to eat. We’d just “walk ’em up,” kicking through brier patches and brush piles to roust the rabbits out, then trying to get a good bead on the bunnies before they raced away. More often than not, we killed a half dozen or so that became the makings for some delicious meals.
Those days outdoors with Uncle Julius and Uncle Pat remain vivid in my memory. For a youngster, the adventures were super fun and super exciting.
My uncles also taught me a great deal about rabbit hunting that’s proven useful to this day. The hunting tips these veteran nimrods shared remain valuable for the connection they provide to that generation and for putting more rabbits in my game bag. Perhaps the tips will prove useful to you, too.
Ask a farmer.
Uncle Julius owned a grocery store where many of the local farmers shopped. When he wanted to go rabbit hunting, I often saw him talking to these farmers about hot spots on their property where rabbits were abundant.
“If you want to know where there are lots of rabbits, ask a farmer,” he told me. “Because they work their land daily and see rabbits regularly, they know where huntable populations are likely to be. And most are eager to keep cottontails thinned out so they don’t cause damage to their crops.”
It’s a simple matter to cultivate your own contacts in farm country. Just remember these things Uncle Julius also taught me:
“Ask permission before hunting, every time you visit,” he said. “Follow all rules the landowner asks you to abide by, like passing up shots at the coveys of quail he’s nurturing. Leave everything just as you found it, and always take time to thank the farmer personally. Offer to share your game, and follow up with a thank-you note and a token of your appreciation. Make these things part of all your farm visits, and you’ll always have prime rabbit lands on which to hunt.”
Watch over your shoulder.
In isolated patches of cover, a cottontail may head directly away, disappearing from sight, then circle well behind the hunter. Others sit tight until the gunner passes, then squirt out behind.
“Look over your shoulder every few minutes, and you’ll glimpse some of those renegades before they make good their escape,” Uncle Pat told me. When I started listening, most rabbits I killed were seen that way. The same is true today.
Shoot fast, but be safe.
Uncle Pat also taught me that snap shooting is a must when hunting rabbits in heavy cover, so it’s important to identify your target before shooting.
“You have to shoot fast, but be safe,” he coached. “Get your eyes on the rabbit; be sure it’s a rabbit. Then shoulder your gun, and shoot without leading. If the rabbit bolts across open ground, however, swing through its body and beyond the head, shooting just as the bead clears the rabbit’s nose. When your target is running straight away, you’ll want to aim at that white tail, but don’t. Swing through the rabbit, centering your shot just beyond the head for a clean kill.”
Experience has shown his advice was true.
Look for their eyes.
Stalking rabbits as they sat in their forms was something my uncles and I often did. The trick is to spot the rabbit before it spots you. Considering a cottontail’s superb camouflage, this can be tough.
“Look for their eyes instead of their whole bodies,” Uncle Julius used to say. “A rabbit’s round, dark eyes look out of place against the crisscross of cover and are easily spotted if you walk slowly, and carefully examine all brush and weeds. You may overlook some rabbits huddled in their forms, but you’ll also bag a few at close range after spotting the eye.”
Make them worry. Then they’ll run.
Uncle Pat taught me another rabbit-hunting technique that has proven very effective over the years. It’s based on the idea that rabbits, being at the bottom of the food chain, are highly nervous animals, and suspense is something they can’t handle very well.
“You have to make them worry. Then they’ll run,” he taught me. To do it his way, enter a covert and begin walking very slowly. Go 10 paces, and stop for a minute. Then repeat the process. The sound of your approach may flush cottontails, but often as not, it’s the silent treatment that makes them bolt. Apparently, the rabbits think they’ve been detected and decide to make a run for it.
Think like a rabbit.
Rabbit hunting is often best on cold, miserable days when snow or ice blankets the landscape. Rabbit fur has poor insulating qualities, so cottontails must take shelter from the weather, making them easier to find and less likely to flush wildly.
“To find bunnies when it’s freezing outside, you have to think like a rabbit,” Uncle Julius said. “Where would you go to escape the cold if all you had to wear was a light jacket? That’s where rabbits are likely to be.”
As always, he was right.
Whistle while you work.
Here’s another tip both uncles shared that can help you bring home the makings for some hasenpfeffer. A running rabbit will often stop in its tracks if you sound off with a loud, shrill whistle, giving you an extra moment or two for a shot.
“Remember to whistle while you work,” they said. “It doesn’t work every time, but when it does, you can make a clean killing shot so there’s rabbit in the stew pot tonight.”
Take a Kid Hunting
Here’s one final thing my uncles taught me, not through words but by example. To get the most out of your next rabbit hunt, take a kid with you — a son, a daughter, a niece, a nephew, a grandchild or maybe a neighbor’s child. It was in the cottontail fields that most of us were trained as young hunters. We may have dreamed of deer or more exotic game like grizzlies and lions, but with cottontails, we learned the crucial basics about hunting, nature and ourselves.
Share these things with children like my uncles did with me. Share the fun and excitement, the triumphs and disappointments, the barrage of wonderful sensations experienced on a rabbit hunt. Our heritage of hunting is a priceless treasure. Do your part to pass it on.