KEYS TO BETTER RABBITING
Deciding On a Rabbit Gun
Editor’s Note: Rabbit hunting
comes in several variations, but all of them are fun.
Here's how to score, using the various tried-and-true
methods.
The way you choose to hunt rabbits determines which
gun is the most appropriate for you. Some folks prefer
to take rabbits with slingshots. I have hunted rabbits
with a .22 rifle. I've also hunted rabbits with a 3-inch
magnum and wished I had a howitzer. I enjoy stalk-hunting
rabbits early and late. During the mornings and evenings
rabbits will most often leave thick cover and head for
fields and pastures to feed. By moving slowly and using
binoculars, I can usually
spot a pair of longears or a brown body at 30 to 50
yards. With an accurate .22 equipped with a scope, making
the shot is usually easy, if I utilize a rest. When
I am stomping for rabbits in thick cover, I prefer a
26-inch barrel with an improved cylinder choke for my
12 gauge. I shoot field loads with No. 6 shot and have
considered No. 7-1/2s. Since the rabbits I jump will
usually be close and fast, I need a wide pattern with
enough power to put the rabbit down but not destroy
an excessive amount of meat. For cottontail hunting
with beagles, I will use a full-choke, 32-inch barrel
on my 12 gauge. An aggressive pack of beagles
will push a cottontail across fields and woodlots. So
the rabbits I shoot at in front of the dogs will usually
be out farther from me than those I flush myself. Therefore,
I increase my shot size to either No. 4s or No. 6s in
high-velocity loads and utilize the tighter patterning
barrel.
Big swamp rabbits in river-bottom hardwoods are in
a class of their own. If I am jump-shooting these large
rabbits, I will use a full-choke 12 gauge with high
velocity No. 4s. I feel I must have
the knockdown power of the bigger shells and the tight
patterning advantage of the full choke to reach out
and take big swampers and to penetrate the thick cover
through which they often run. But, if I am beagling
swampers, I rely on my 3-inch magnum I use for turkey
hunting. The dogs will often be a quarter of a mile
behind a swamper that is tiptoeing through big timber.
Since many of the shots will be at 30 to 40 yards, I
have found that the 3-inch magnum gives me the range
and knockdown power I need at that distance to take
swampers, which may weigh over 5 pounds. Although some
sportsmen may consider the 3-inch magnum to be too much
gun for rabbit hunting in their areas, I've experienced
days when I was severely under-gunned in the big river
swamps where I primarily hunt.
TOMORROW: SELECTING CLOTHES
FOR RABBIT HUNTING
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