Best method for 2 ppl. without dogs to hunt cottontails?????

[THE#1hunter]

What is the best method for 2 ppl. without dogs to hunt cottontails?? I live in N. Eastern PA. and it seems you need a dog/dogs to hunt rabbits here, but I know old timers that go out without dogs, and bring back their limits.....(and then some  :wink: )  does anybody have some suggestions?


thnx in advance

THE#1hunter

[rickyp]

when  I hunt them I just find brush piles that look like a good spot for them. I then  I will stomp the brush down this will cause the rabbit to run out then he is mine this would work great with 2 people 1 shooter and the other the stomper.

[THE#1hunter]

Thanks again....anybody else

[Chuck from arkansaw]

1.  Get a job, save some money, buy some dogs.  

2.  Find someone with dogs, ask them if you can hunt with them.

3.  Have an A**H*** buddy with a secret hound man hunting partner
     leave town and hook you up with the hound man just before he
     leaves.  (I used last method) Buddy leaving town casually
     mentioned he had been rabbit hunting for years with a local
     guy who had great hounds.  Hooked me up, I hunted the whole
     season with the hound guy, at the end of the season he gave me
     one of his best hounds and one of her pups.  The next season they
     were both real working dogs.

[Joe44]

I've never hunted rabbits where you live, but I hunt alot of them here in Wyoming. From what I hear, things over your way are alot more crowded and bushy. Out here things are pretty open, but even around creeks and such where things are close I still limit out if I want to.  I just walk them up by myself. I took my dog out a few times, but that didn't work out so well. I almost always hunt by myself, and with usually with a 10/22 .22lr, but I have hunted with 32/20,223,44spl,38spl,45 acp, 308win and my new one is a ruger mark II.  

Just go out and start walking, but walk really, really slow. With the openness of the areas I like, you can jump them and may still get a standing shot after they run 20 yards or so, but if the area that you hunt is so tight that you won't see them after 20 yards, you have to get a shot before they bolt.     After the first few days of the season, you will get to the point that you can spot them sitting before they run and will then be able to make clean head shots all day long.  

One tip though, hunting rabbits like this will teach you to shoot offhand. If you spot a rabbit, chances are that he has already spotted you and is watching you intently deciding to run or to let you walk past. If you see him and stop, which you normally will, shoot him where you stand. The minute you move in ANY other direction than what you were when you stopped, he will bolt. Do not try to take a knee, move back to a handy tree or attempt to get closer, shoot him right then and there and be quick about it or he might think that you are going to shoot him and run.

Joe

[THE#1hunter]

I usually take the 20g, but ill have to take the .22mag out sometime and try your method..thanks  

[Mattkc]

If you don't have dogs find a woman and make a baby.  When kids old enough to stomp brush take him hunting.  Sooner or later he is going to want his own gun so you need to make another kid.  If I were you I would go with the dog never wants it's own gun and doesn't require a college fund.

[THE#1hunter]

If you don't have dogs find a woman and make a baby.  When kids old enough to stomp brush take him hunting.  Sooner or later he is going to want his own gun so you need to make another kid.  If I were you I would go with the dog never wants it's own gun and doesn't require a college fund.

 :-D  :-D  :-D  Good advice  

[rickyp]

when you do just make sure she has a lot more to loose then you,  

[victorcharlie]

Around here the rabbits are spotty, and in pockets.  There just aren't as many rabbits as there were in the 50's and 60's.  Loads more birds of prey with no DDT and the endangered species status on most of them.  Lots more coyotes and foxes as well.  Fescue kentucy 31 is probably the biggest reason for the decline.   I've talked till I'm blue in the face with the college boy game wardens who insist there are plenty of quail and rabbits.  Told them they've done a great job on deer and turkey but the small game has suffered.  There are few days that I come close to a limit, but on occasion, I'll get a farm that's full of them.

If rabbits are scarce in your neck of the woods it may be a long day without dogs.

[Mohawk]

Not sure if it is legal in your state but here in Texas hunting with a good flashlight at night while still hunting is a popular method, especially if you are using a handgun. It is perfectly legal provided you are on private property and very effective.

[LouisV]

This works well along brushy ditches if you have any were you hunt. Have the other guy go ahead about 75 yards or so up the other side of the ditch. Depending on how heavy the cover is, JUST DON'T LOSE SITE OF EACH OTHER. Then work up the ditch slowly, the guy following up will get a lot of shots at the rabbits coming back down his side of the ditch trying to avoid the man leading. I would only use a shotgun for this method .22's tend to bounce around too much for two peaple hunting a distance apart like this. But you probly already knew that. A .410" is my favorite. LouisV

[Dalton Masterson]

This post is a little late, but I still hunt through the area, moving as quietly as slowly as I can. Stop often, and stand still for a minute or 2. This will unnerve the rabbit, and they often move a few steps to try to figure out where you went. Then ya got im. I also will throw sticks on the other side of brush piles, and sometimes they run right to me. I actually stepped on a rabbit last week. Scared the @%@# out of me. I thought it was a snake! DM