# The Bunny 7 Year Cycle



## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I have always heard that rabbits have a 7 year cycle in which they multiply, reach a peak population, and then the population dies off due to predation, disease, and lack of food supply as the environment cant support such a large population. Then the process repeats: low population > population growth > maximum population > population decline > low population (repeat ∞).

In theory I can support this idea. However, I am beginning to question whether or not we understand what this 7 year cycle really represents. Is this a 7 year cycle between peaks of curves (3.5 years to reach the peak, and 3.5 years to the bottom), or does it take 7 years to reach the peak, 7 years to decline, and 7 more years to reach the peak (meaning 14 years between peaks)?

I am beginning to believe that the 7 year cycle really means the second theory of potentially having 14 years between peaks and would really represent 7 years of growth, and 7 years of decline. The reason I am beginning to think this is based off of observations in my honey hole areas. I have one area in particular that approximately 12 years ago had so many rabbits that I had a hard time deciding which one to shoot at, for a few years there were very few rabbits, and now I am seeing it climb back up again which leads me to believe that 2019-2020 will be the best years to hunt my honey hole.

I have attached an illustration to help clarify what I mean by peaks.










What do you think?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

14 years peak-to-peak by your chart! Well that's good news! 

I thought I only had 7 years to eat all the rabbits in my freezer from the peak year of 2015.

.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

wyogoob said:


> 14 years peak-to-peak by your chart! Well that's good news!
> 
> I thought I only had 7 years to eat all the rabbits in my freezer from the peak year of 2015.


Yeah, I don't like my theory either Goob. And I honestly hope I am wrong, but based off of my observations they are aligning with my theory.

I would be interested to hear what other people think based off of their observations.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

A full cycle is peak-to-peak. My observations are closer to 6 to 8 years than 12 to 14 years.

This year is about as bad for rabbits in SW Wyoming as I've seen it in 36 years. Even worse than the drought years of the late 80s and during the 90s. Weird really; predator populations are only moderately higher,there's lots of food, good weather. I kinda follow the pygmy rabbits here but there aren't any at all this winter. There's a few jack rabbits, that's about it. It's just amazing, the difference between '15 and '16. Where do they all go?

The cottontails back home (Midwest) cycled every 6-8 years IMO.

We didn't get a lot of predatory birds on the Christmas Bird Count this year, especially bald eagles. There are just no dead rabbits (or deer) on the roads this winter.

.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> It's just amazing, the difference between '15 and '16. Where do they all go?
> .


Its doubtful predators can kill off so many from one year to the next.

IMO, I think when the population reaches a certain "density", sickness and disease runs through the population killing off the bulk. Probably caused by transferring infected ticks and or fleas from sick animal to healthy animal.

-DallanC


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Rabbits reproduce so fast that I would tend to say the shorter cycle rather than the longer one.


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

Based off of my extensive and exhaustive research as well as personal observations, having watched the same exact "Honey Hole" year after year since 1999 I have reached the following conclusions:

In 1999 there were more rabbits than I thought could even exist in an area that size (or even the whole state). There were so many rabbits everywhere you looked that you'd run out of ammo before you could get back to your truck to re-stock.

For this specific area, the cycle seems to peak every 7-8 years. 

Human hunting pressure has increased significantly since 1999 and often times there are signs of multiple groups having been in the area before we got there.

Only one time did we make the 3+ hour drive from home to get totally skunked. That trip was in 2000 and we only saw one rabbit that was too far away to get a shot at....the year following the peak of 1999.

Two years ago, the hunting was again exceptional but not up to that 1999 level. That would have been year 16, so I'd suspect the peak of the second 8 year cycle.

Last year, I shot a dozen rabbits and the group left with a kill count nearing 40 or so. This is a good trip, not a great trip but still worth the drive.

I'm going with the 7-8 year between peak scenario for our area.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

In 1983 we had a spot out on the west desert that hit the high of the "boom", and it was unreal. 2 rabbits per trigger pull of a shotgun was common. It was crazy. 

Todate, that spot has never come back. I've never seen more than a handful of rabbits there in anyone year since. The "cycle" might exist in alot of places, but its certainly not universal, not at least in that area.

-DallanC


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

Well if Bax had a Peak in 05, then goob in 2015, and I personally have had one this year..... Then I don't know know. Maybe we personally have a peak?


I dunno.. I personally have killed more Jack's this year than I probably ever have combined.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

LostLouisianian said:


> Rabbits reproduce so fast that I would tend to say the shorter cycle rather than the longer one.


Superficially I would agree with that statement... you might even say they breed like rabbits :mrgreen:

BUT where I wonder if it is true is based off of the concept that the environment can only stand so much stress before a mass die off. This could mean that food supplies are exhausted, or that disease killed the population off. So the question would then be posed: What is the recovery period? Is that the seven years?

So theoretically you could take my bell curves and change the numbers to 3.5 years per red bar meaning that after a population boom, one might expect approximately a 3.5 year decline in population before it bottoms out followed by 3.5 years of increased populations until it reaches its peak once again.

Later. Rinse. Repeat.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

RandomElk16 said:


> Well if Bax had a Peak in 05, then goob in 2015, and I personally have had one this year..... Then I don't know know. Maybe we personally have a peak?
> 
> I dunno.. I personally have killed more Jack's this year than I probably ever have combined.


I would say that different areas are on different cycles which would explain the different timelines.

So the key would be to figure out where the bunnies have hit their peak each year and just cycle through seven or eight of those areas over the years to ensure you always have success.


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

Bax* said:


> RandomElk16 said:
> 
> 
> > Well if Bax had a Peak in 05, then goob in 2015, and I personally have had one this year..... Then I don't know know. Maybe we personally have a peak?
> ...


I like this theory and approach. I am now accepting GPS coordinates for 7 honey holes so I can hunt one each year until my preferred spot recovers.

You can just PM those to me, thanks.


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## grizzly (Jun 3, 2012)

Two years ago our spot in NW Utah was overrun with bunnies... like mortal combat just to fight your way back to the truck before you ran out of ammo.

On Monday, we didn't find a single rabbit or even any scat on top of the snow.

It's easily the worst year I've seen, and only two years after the best. Sadly, I couldn't make it out last year because of work so I don't know what happened in the interim.

I know two other guys that had similar experiences this year too.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

KineKilla said:


> I like this theory and approach. I am now accepting GPS coordinates for 7 honey holes so I can hunt one each year until my preferred spot recovers.
> 
> You can just PM those to me, thanks.


So that Kine doesn't waste any time, Please PM them to me instead and I will save Kine the trouble of checking them out then actually give him the coordinates of those that pan out...8)


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