Introduction
Winter Rabbit hunting is one of the best activities you can do during winter. Sure it may be cold but hunting rabbits is worth it. In this article, I’ll show you the steps to take when you are late rabbit hunting without dogs and how to hunt rabbits in the winter. Do many people tend to ask why is rabbit season in the winter? Well, it is easy, cold days are good for hunting because the rabbit fur has poor insulation, so the rabbits will be forced to take shelter from the harsh weather making them easier to find.
Top Winter Rabbit Hunting Tips:
Snipe rabbits at dawn
During winter, rabbits seek shelter in thick bushes and evergreen trees. This answers the question, where do the rabbits go in the winter? You can use a small binocular to look for new timber cuts, patches of newly burnt wood or edges of fields.
Winter rabbits require good quality forage and twigs and green growth in burns will feed the rabbits during the early hours. Look for rabbits that have walked into the open. Don’t forget to pack your scoped, 22 rifle since it may come in handy.
Check out the following articles to more about Why Hunting in Winter Is The Best
Why Hunting in Winter Is The Best
Work the edges after sunup
Rabbits tend to go to nearby cover once the sun has been up for a while. Take your shotgun and check every tangle of hedgerow brush and check every pile of timber slash. Rabbits use these areas as their hiding places. It will be easier to shoot the rabbit when you remove them from the thickets.
Go to the high ground for loafing rabbits
The next step is to move to the dense areas because rabbits hide in these areas during midday. High grounds along swamps or creeks are a sure bet. Thickets grow in increased sunlight so the rabbits will definitely find shelter there and also water. Rabbits dislodged from these areas have fewer options to escape so it will be easy to trap rabbits in winter.
Hunt hunkered-down rabbits near home
Old homesteads and equipment junkyards are mostly ignored for years. These also provide safe havens for the rabbits. Don’t pass up these areas especially if these places are in the middle of fields. Put gunners 20 yards from the corners of the barns. Rabbits will run along the edges of barns and abandoned houses, then jet away from places with easy shotgun range.
Stage mini drives for wood rabbits.
Once you’ve checked the fields and creeks, go into the woods. If there are 2 hunters, then they should be at least 30 yards apart. That is the standard method for shooting and jumping rabbits. You can also another method which includes having one hunter go quietly into the woods for about 3o yards then the next hunter should follow in a zigzag pattern.
Take a stand for last light rabbits.
As afternoon reaches, go back to the food plot or where there are recent burns. Rabbits will return to those areas to feed so you have to check them again. Follow the steps above and you will likely end with where you started. Though the process is tiresome, a rabbit filled bag will be worth it.
As for what to hunt with, some hunters use a bow and arrow. Though it is a challenge, the silence of the woods is not disturbed. Some also use shotguns but it is not preferred because the shot tears up the meat on the already small animal. They use a .22 long rifle because there isn’t a lot of aiming time.
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Late rabbit season is the best time to hunt. I’ve list 5 late season rabbit hunting tips. They include:
- Releasing the beagles since they are useful in sniffling the rabbits
- Snow is your friend because you can track rabbits
- Pack an open chocked shotgun
- Heavy/ winter hunting clothes and armor against thorns
- Take your time
Winter cottontails are fun to hunt. So how do you hunt rabbits in the snow or winter? Here are some rabbit hunting tips for winter cottontail:
- Wear brush pants for protection
- Wear your blaze orange to be visible to other hunters
- Take the right gear like a cylinder choke
- Find clover, these are loved by cottontails so they will be there
- Know their habitat
- Know when to hunt
- Walk them out
Final Words
After reading all these winter rabbit hunting tips, you feel comfortable when going for a hunt. Another thing to note is that rabbits are highly infested with fleas which is bad for your health. After you’ve shot a rabbit let it cool before you pick it up. If you want better hunting results, winter rabbit hunting is your best choice.