# Rabbit Hunting



## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

So, I want to cut down on the chicken we buy and supplement the deer and goats in the freezer, but my wife won't let me raise rabbits for meat. I just started deer and antelope hunting last season, and haven't ever been rabbit, deer, or bird hunting, but I want to get out and give it a try. 

If I were to take my .22 out to, say, BLM land out by Dugway or somewhere out off of 80W, or up in the forest service land up on the Mirror Lake Highway, would I have a good chance of seeing some cottontails? I've read the DWR articles on rabbit hunting, but picking a spot has gotten between me and the couch for the last 2 seasons. 

Also, I gotta balance my anticipated low probability of success with the driving investment to get to a good spot. I'll be coming from SLC. 

Should I be looking anywhere, or focusing on low points, sunny spots, sage flats, forrest along a drainage...? Is there a terrain picture you have in mind where I'd 100% be wasting my time? 

Since I don't have a shotgun, I'm thinking I'm better off looking for tracks (in hopefully a light layer of snow), then sitting and scanning. Or should I move around to kick up the rabbits, then wait for them to stop? I might be able to convince the wife and kid to come, so that's more eyes and bodies...

Thanks for tolerating my obviously oblivious questions.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Any public lands within an hours drive of SLC will be a waste of time. They recieve nonstop pressure. I'd go up past Evanston and follow Goobs footprints.

Otherwise go way way way south. Tarantula Mesa on the Henry Mts has the most cotton tails I've ever seen in Utah... but only a fool would drive to that god forsaken place in search for bunnies.

Look for ravines with water sources / greenery & cover.


-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

DallanC said:


> Otherwise go way way way south. Tarantula Mesa on the Henry Mts has the most cotton tails I've ever seen in Utah... but only a fool would drive to that god forsaken place in search for bunnies.
> 
> Look for ravines with water sources / greenery & cover.
> 
> -DallanC


I doubt that you would be able to get onto the mesa right now even with a 4x4 truck, but it all would depend on the storms.

Other than that there is the South Book Cliffs. I can shoot a limit of them in less than a hour and even shorter if I use a shotgun.

But then again it is a long ways to go for a rabbit.


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## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

Oh man, I was afraid I'd be part of the masses around SLC. Maybe I'll have to convince the family we need a weekend out in Moab, but that's a long shot. Thanks guys.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Rabbit hunters around SLC have success or they wouldnt go but dont expect to walk out and find them posing for a shot. Follow the info on the DWR website about terrain type and head out. Dugway, and Stockton area can produce. Rabbits are spooky because they do see pressure so it can be frustrating but if you want it bad enough you will kill them. I used to hunt rabbits pretty hard with a work buddy years ago but not so much anymore. We liked to always hunt in some snow so we could identify tracks and high traffic areas more easily. If we got out of the truck and found boot tracks we jumped back in and found a fresh spot. Usually killed a few cottontails and plenty of jacks that way. 

I like walking a long ways with a shotgun and flushing them. Others like being stealthy with a 22. 

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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Agreed that rabbit hunting is very hard within an hour drive of any metro area at this point. They definitely are out there though. Just gotta be willing to walk. 

I’d focus on areas that have washes and ravines and sage brush or cover of some sort. If the sage is too high, it will be hard to see them so keep that in mind. 

Cottontails don’t run far and tend to stay near their burrows. 

Jackrabbits will run two miles if you give them reason


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## one4fishing (Jul 2, 2015)

Jack rabbits can be found out towards Dugway. They aren’t evenly distributed though. You can see dozens in an area. Then head down the road a mile and see nothing. Look for healthy sage and lots of tracks in the snow. And like was mentioned already if there are boot tracks there move on. They’ll be runnin into the next county when you close the truck door.


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## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

one4fishing said:


> Jack rabbits...


So, what do you do with jacks? I haven't heard much positive about their palatability, and also that they were better suited to shotguns since you're shooting them on the run. I mean, tell me they're great to eat and there are more of them so I can go get a shotgun.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

kodoz said:


> So, what do you do with jacks? I haven't heard much positive about their palatability, and also that they were better suited to shotguns since you're shooting them on the run. I mean, tell me they're great to eat and there are more of them so I can go get a shotgun.


After I hit one on the run I like to grab them by the hind legs and give em a big heave-ho as high up in the air as I can and see if my buddy can hit em again.

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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

kodoz said:


> So, what do you do with jacks? I haven't heard much positive about their palatability, and also that they were better suited to shotguns since you're shooting them on the run. I mean, tell me they're great to eat and there are more of them so I can go get a shotgun.


Jacks are edible, they technically are not a rabbit but a hare which is a fairly sought after game animal in a lot of the rest of the world. I don't shoot them often but when I do, I tend to brine and marinate them and then use a slow-cooking method like a stew or braise for them. They aren't as tasty as cottontails, and the meat is a good bit darker, but they aren't terrible or inedible. Shotguns will probably give you a higher hit percentage but I prefer to do as much rabbit hunting as possible with a .22 and go for headshots but you have to take what you can get.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

DallanC said:


> Any public lands within an hours drive of SLC will be a waste of time. They recieve nonstop pressure. I'd go up past Evanston and follow Goobs footprints.
> ....................................................
> 
> Look for ravines with water sources / greenery & cover.
> ...


Southwest Wyoming offers some great cottontail hunting and on easily accessible public land. Get a map, get on the BLM ground and look for fresh tracks in the snow. This year may not be the best year though; rabbit numbers are in the downward trend of their cycle and the snow is really deep.

The northern end of Flaming Gorge is worth trying. Drive any of the gravel or dirt roads off the west side of the lake and look for tracks. Hunt for bunnies in the morning and late afternoon, ice fish during the day....fishing is great.

Please refrain from harvesting pygmy rabbits, relatively small cottontails with short ears and brown tails.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I wouldn't recommend rabbit hunting Forest Service ground along the Mirror Lake Highway. 

.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

PIKA!


-DallanC


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## hardman11 (Apr 14, 2012)

Sanpete is great go down by Gunnison Res. millions of bunnies.:smile::EAT:


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## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

They're definitely on the low end of the population cycle right now, at least in the spots I've hunted them in the past. We used to make a yearly trip from SLC to Nine Mile Canyon south of Duchesne. Find a good sage brush drainage and shoot them until you're sick of cleaning them. It was a blast. I haven't been out there in quite a few years now though.


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## kodoz (Nov 4, 2016)

*"Successful" Rabbit Hunt*

Well, I got a shotgun, but it took 3 weeks to get here. Hadn't had a chance to take it out, but we were down in the Swell for the weekend doing SAR training so I brought it along. We were all over and didn't see any sign, so I figured it was pointless even trying. Until of course, we were on our way out and a cottontail ran across the road in front of us. Jumped out, stalked him thru the snow for an hour, and had a good clean shot. But my daughter vetoed it, so we followed him around for a while more. That day it was snowing hard enough that it was loud, got some good kid time in, and we both learned a little.

Came back the next day with my wife, and we followed that same rabbit...probably the only one in the Swell...over both sides of the road, through 3 washes, and within 30 yards of where we were parked at one point. Never saw hide nor hare of him. Also spent a little time walking the mud on one of the WMAs down by the River. No luck. Judging from the number of spent shells we saw, I'm guessing that area was hunted clean. Gave us something to do other than bicker, and we did see a pheasant hen. So, no rabbits, and I might not get out again before the season is done, but I'll call it a success anyway.


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