I love/hate to shoot rabbits

[Shady Grove Beagles]

I run my dogs year round and always enjoy it but there's just something special about it when I carry the shotgun.
In the off-season I'm more of an observer.During gun season I'm a participant.I'll make no bones about it,I like shooting rabbits! I don't care about shooting those sneaking ,tip toe rabbits or the ones sitting and listening to the dogs. I like the pedal to the metal streaking rabbit to shoot at.
Listening to a race and trying to pattern the rabbit,then positioning your self and getting a shooting lane.Sliding up and down a hedgerow waiting for the cotton tail to pop out.Or crouched low in Maine's fir balsams trying to get a shot at a streaking hare.I love the hunt !
That being said,I don't kill many rabbits.I eat what I kill and have got several great recipes for a Rabbit Bruscheta,Rabbit Fahita and Sweet and Sour rabbit.It doesn't take many as my wife doesn't want any of those"bunnies".I've taken a few extra early this season as my 9 month old female out of Fly Man and my Tess bitch is really cranking and I like them to have some rabbit fur that first gun season.Do I think that makes them a better dog? No,but I think it gets their head in the right place at a very impressionable age that from my experience can last a life time.
This will probably sound strange but I don't shoot the easy rabbits.I'm all about the dogs and killing rabbits is secondary.If I do shoot a rabbit I want it to be a tough, long and hard race with the dogs cranking, not one of those long checks and you see the rabbit sneaking out the back-door and you pot him.LOL.
When I go north to hunt hare,the guys I hunt with we have an understanding that no one shoots the hare until they've run at least an hour.Later in the week we were giving them two hours before we tried to kill the hare.
Today I had my 4 females out and they jumped a big cottontail.They were putting it on him pretty good and I sat on a log and listened to them pushing hard.About 10 mins. into the race the rabbit comes by me,makes a small circle above me and them comes back by me.This was repeated 3 more times over the next hour as the dogs were running like they couldn't lose him.I told myself that if they can run him like that for an hour I'll shoot him.They ran him 1 1/2 hours and I shot him when he broke cover.
I hate that I shot that rabbit ! The beagles put it on him pretty hard and he covered his entire range during the run.An outstanding running cottontail. I'd run him several times before,always jumping him out of the same little patch of cover.He always gave the dogs a run for the money.I hate that I shot him !
Truth is that like a lot of folks,hunting spots are at a premium around here.I've got two W.M.A.'s close by and permission on about half a dozen farms/properties that I can run and gun on.I can always get a run on any of the places but none of them are like "Joey Man's" rabbit numbers.I'm retired and pleasure run year round a lot on these places.
I hate shooting rabbits !

[Baldhead99]

AMEN TO THAT!!!! that how we hunt must of the time unless some old timer wants a mess

[Westridge Beagles]

We run our hounds year round as well. Nothing like sitting on top of a holler field watching the hounds work. However, when season comes in... we're there to harvest rabbits. We try not to jump shoot them, but it happens every so often. We are fortunate to have some great spots to hunt and the rabbit population has been great the last couple years. This makes the third season we've hunted this strip job and we killed 47 rabbits the first season & 57 rabbits last year. Currently, we're on pace to break last year's total but it's not a numbers game to us. I'm simply stating that because one would think the rabbit population might be down this year. However, it seems like their is more than the previous two seasons. Might be because of the mild temps and the food source/cover the rabbits have (tons of clover & predators have a hard time catching them bc of the cover).

[Rcoff]

I guess I'm the opposite of you, Shady Grove; if a rabbit is a good runner I let him go, hopefully he will produce many more like him self. If a rabbit does not want to run I take them out of the gene pool. Simple as that. Maybe my thinking is all mixed up, but I don't think so; to each his own. Not putting any one down, just the way I do things. I rarely shoot any rabbits at all, just a couple for the pups.
Thanks,
Bob

[Aubrey Holcombe]

Very Interesting Post, and Thanks for all the input, however as a person gets, along in some years they tend, to change their outlook on about all things. I been at this Game of Gun Hunting for a very long time,, and it has been my very best Hobby and always will in my life long desire. For me now days its, all about the Grand children, and I let them do the shooting, and I set back and Enjoy them.

I found that shooting the 410' s and 28's has been one of the very best challenges, for the fellows that hunt with the "Over The Hill" ganged we let lots more rabbit live for another day!

Keep Looking Up!
D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>