less rabbits

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bunnytracks
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 3:38 pm

less rabbits

Post by bunnytracks »

did anyone else notice that there seem to be less rabbits this season?

Indianabeagler
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:44 am

Re: less rabbits

Post by Indianabeagler »

Yes, population here where I am at is down quit a bit from last year. Oddly enough deer population is up.

reddog1
Posts: 812
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Eaton Rapids, Mi.

Re: less rabbits

Post by reddog1 »

The rabbit population is just fine in the areas where I run but I just run in these areas and I do not shoot.

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Swampman
Posts: 934
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:10 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: less rabbits

Post by Swampman »

We've been down here for several years now due to these bar hunts every Saturday.
20 plus teams at 4 men/team shooting 12 rabbits/team. At the end of the day, they all get drunk and the majority throw the rabbits away.
Wish the DNR would outlaw this.


Here is a link where the numbers don't seem to be hurting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nDcSKc5t2k

Welshman
Posts: 189
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:18 pm

Re: less rabbits

Post by Welshman »

I was happily surprised with all the rabbits the dogs jumped this winter. But I think I only shot one this year and I am lucky enough to have a few spots to run and hunt, so when the rabbit slayers, (my son and the daughter's boyfriend) want to shoot a few I can try to save my favorite places.

steve w
Posts: 539
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:02 pm
Location: sw mi

Re: less rabbits

Post by steve w »

I'm lucky to have a fair amount of State Land not to far from me that has had a lot of rabbit habitat work done over the last few years due to the license fee restructuring and or the Pheasant Restoration Initiative Program. Some areas I've noticed a significant improvement in rabbits and other areas not so much. There seems to be no rime nor reason as the poorest areas today used to be steady producers just a few years ago, and have had work done that to my way of thinking made should have a significant improvement in rabbits. None of these areas are gunned any harder then the other and I don't believe the predator population is different. I wish I understood what was going on better.

Shady Grove Beagles
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2005 6:56 pm
Location: east,Tn..

Re: less rabbits

Post by Shady Grove Beagles »

Rabbit population here in east Tn. seems to be good and can't say I've noticed any difference in the past couple of years.
Got a couple of places that I only run and never gun.They tend to be small and hold a few rabbits but I can always get a couple runs there.
Have a couple of W.M.A.'s nearby that are restricted for youth hunting and field trialing only---no adult gunning.These areas maintain a pretty consistent population.
There is a lot of T.V.A. land to hunt on and I run it regularly in the off season but once the gun season opens the"shoot everyone you see" guys pound it pretty hard.
I'm fortunate that I have a couple of friends that have access to several large tracts of private land that I get invited to hunt on a couple of times each year.
We are the only rabbit hunters that hunt there and we usually can take our limits without hurting the population at all.Good cover and plenty of bunnies.
Home of a true hunting beagle that run to catch

Beagle Huntsman
Posts: 371
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 7:17 pm
Location: Albany, Ohio
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Re: less rabbits

Post by Beagle Huntsman »

I have been pleased with the rabbit population here in SE Ohio this fall/winter. We had a very wet summer, so cover grew well, and I think that may have made a difference. Not everything about climate change is bad!

mybeagles
Posts: 2189
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2003 6:35 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: less rabbits

Post by mybeagles »

Swampman wrote:
Wed Feb 06, 2019 3:45 pm
We've been down here for several years now due to these bar hunts every Saturday.
20 plus teams at 4 men/team shooting 12 rabbits/team. At the end of the day, they all get drunk and the majority throw the rabbits away.
Wish the DNR would outlaw this.


Here is a link where the numbers don't seem to be hurting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nDcSKc5t2k
I don’t condone throwing rabbits away but guys wouldn’t be able to shoot 120 in 4 hours if rabbits were not plentiful.

Joeyman in Missouri posted on Facebook his hunting group killed 120 rabbits in two days.....is that somehow different than a bar hunt?
Rob’s Ranger Rabbit Hunter (Lefty)
Rose City Quad King’s
DogPatch Fly

User avatar
Swampman
Posts: 934
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:10 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: less rabbits

Post by Swampman »

mybeagles wrote:
Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:42 pm
Swampman wrote:
Wed Feb 06, 2019 3:45 pm
We've been down here for several years now due to these bar hunts every Saturday.
20 plus teams at 4 men/team shooting 12 rabbits/team. At the end of the day, they all get drunk and the majority throw the rabbits away.
Wish the DNR would outlaw this.


Here is a link where the numbers don't seem to be hurting!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nDcSKc5t2k
I don’t condone throwing rabbits away but guys wouldn’t be able to shoot 120 in 4 hours if rabbits were not plentiful.

Joeyman in Missouri posted on Facebook his hunting group killed 120 rabbits in two days.....is that somehow different than a bar hunt?
Not sure where you're getting the 4 hours or the 120 rabbits from, but the bar hunts allow preregistering so the hunt starts at legal starting time of 7:00 am and you need to be back by 3:00 pm, that is 8 hours, not 4.
Here in my area, the bar hunts start the first weekend in Jan. and go through the last weekend in Feb.
If on average there are 20 teams and just 75% get their limit (this is conservative) of 12, that's 180 rabbits/weekend. 180 multiplied by 8 weekends equals 1,440 rabbits not 120.

I've lived here my entire life and the rabbits are not plentiful by any stretch of the imagination.
Before these bar hunts, they were, but since, it gets tougher every year to find rabbits on public land.
I'm not stating this is the only reason neither, there are other contributing factors but in my lifetime, the largest common denominator is the bar hunts.

As for Joeyman, you're comparing apples to oranges. I believe he hunts spots only once/year and the majority are private land hunts.
Not to mention, he lives in MO. with much milder winters with little to no snow as opposed to WI. harsh winters.
So yes, it is completely different than the bar hunts.

mybeagles
Posts: 2189
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2003 6:35 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: less rabbits

Post by mybeagles »

I would hate to see the local government get involved in when and where someone can hunt.

I will not deny the public land in Wisconsin is low on rabbits but I challenge the idea the bar hunts have much if anything to do with it. Guys posting tailgates full of rabbits every weekend of the season are just as much to blame but I don't see rabbit hunters as the problem. Growing up there were far more hunters killing far more rabbits and I never had problems finding rabbits.

Hawk, owls in every section, fewer trappers taking mink, weasels, fox, coyote, skunk, coon, etc are far more to blame. Ive seen studies that claim rabbit hunters harvest less than 2% of the rabbit population every year.

Looks like your wish came true, the legislation to prohibit bar hunts in Wisconsin moved forward and Im sure this new governor will relish signing it. Very surprised you would support something like that. Don't be surprised when fenced enclosures (field trials) are prohibited and then chasing game with hounds is prohibited.

By the way, if your having trouble jumping rabbits Dan Johnson said he can sell you a jump dog but it won't be cheap...... :idea:
Rob’s Ranger Rabbit Hunter (Lefty)
Rose City Quad King’s
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Shady Grove Beagles
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2005 6:56 pm
Location: east,Tn..

Re: less rabbits

Post by Shady Grove Beagles »

There are those hunters that I would consider ethical sportsmen and those that aren't.Not that hard to tell the difference.
Seems to me that 80 men gathering at a bar to see how many rabbits they can go out and kill would grate on a lot of true sportsmen's sensibilities.
Kind of like finding a big deer carcass without a head dumped over a bank on a back road.

And I bet that Rowdy has plenty of dog power right in his own kennel.
Home of a true hunting beagle that run to catch

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Swampman
Posts: 934
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:10 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: less rabbits

Post by Swampman »

Never said my hounds had a hard time jumping rabbits, I said that the population has been down for many years on public land in my area. I can make this statement because I have lived here my entire life of 54 years and have first hand experience of being in the outdoors since the age of 5 with my Dad.

Apparently you have more knowledge of my area in your one year of living in the state 2 hours away from me than I do in a lifetime, I will step aside and let you be the expert.

As for Dan, he is a friend of mine with quality hounds. Don't know why you want to drag him into this, but I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate it.
I'll give him a shout and see if he did in fact make this statement to you.

Hare Chaser
Posts: 336
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:15 pm

Re: less rabbits

Post by Hare Chaser »

Rowdy's hounds won't take a back seat to any man's hounds. I spent a few days in Maine with him this last Dec. As good a dogs as you'll find anywhere in the country. Hard hunting tough hounds that ran well with anything the rest of us put down and did their fair share of the work from start to finish.

mybeagles
Posts: 2189
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2003 6:35 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: less rabbits

Post by mybeagles »

Wow....having an opinion is dangerous.

Nobody, including myself is questioning the quality of anyone’s hounds.

The reference to Dan was clearly in jest, not meant to harm anyone. I will step out of the way so everyone can agree.
Rob’s Ranger Rabbit Hunter (Lefty)
Rose City Quad King’s
DogPatch Fly

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