Thread: How to hunt rabbits?

Hi guys
I have been given permission to shoot rabbits on the farm behind my house and was after some advice on spotlighting rabbits.

What's peoples techniques? Do you walk along with spotlight on, spot them at a distance and then stalk in on them?

Or do you walk along with just a head lamp on so you can see the ground and when your at a likely looking spot turn on the spotlight and get the ones you see?

Or are you better off sitting at a spot you know they come out at and sit there quietly and then crack out the spotlight?

I have been there twice this week in the dark with the spotlight and no gun to see where they are and saw about 12 rabbits both times. Lots of poo around so seems like good numbers of them.

Thanks for any advice or techniques you guys use to good effect

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What I have found is you are likely to shoot just as many in the day as you do at night, my best success has been sitting in 1 place hidden with a comfortable rest in a spot I have seen rabbits active then just sit and wait.
However when shooting from the ute with a spotlight we just chase em down till they stop, trying to keep between them and the fence of the paddocks so they don't bolt through, have had really good success with that.
If you want to stalk in on them I found keep the spotlight just off them so they are barely lit up till you are as close as you dare to get then when ready to shoot light them up full beam and don't muck about pulling the trigger.
All these methods have worked for me, but I am by no means an expert just sharing my experiences.

Oh and take the back legs and back steaks and learn how to cook them they are actually pretty tasty, that goes for hares and rabbits.
Doesn't take long to do.

I was planning on cooking them, their are a few big ones so should do alright out of them.
I have seen plenty up there late afternoon but there is a public walkway through the farm so need to do shooting at low traffic times, so well after dark is the best time

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I reckon they are great fun stalking up and onto. I shot some next to snow planet in silverdale where the luge is now. there was a motorway on one side and the old highway on the other and a sprinkling of houses in the other directions.... made for some really hard shots! I had to stalk around in circles almost to get a safe shot most times! Was great practice

What sort of rifle are you using? And what is the distance you can clearly see with your spotlight?

Pick up the dead rabbits within about 5 minutes of shooting them or they will be real smelly and sometimes the stomach bursts when you gut them out.

I'm not a real expert on spotlighting rabbits so others here will have better advice but ...
If you're on foot you won't have the spotlight on all the time. I like to walk a bit using a dim torch or moonlight then turn on the light.
I try to start with the best part of the place first, usually right in the middle of a clearing and quickly scan around it then finish up on the edges.
I shoot whatever I see first, don't wait around looking for more. Best chance is when you first turn on the light (unlike searching with binos).

If theres a walkway, be extra careful. Nowdays, some will be moving around with night vision gear and often theres enough light that people can be out for a stroll without any light, while you are night blind using the spotlight. Don't shine the spotlight on the ground near your feet or use it as a torch. Dayllght is safest (you can properly see your firing zone) and much more enjoyable. Spotlighting is dark, cold, wet (windy in Wellington) and a thoroughly second rate way of hunting.

Good on you for asking advice. Have fun and good eating !

Shoot the easy ones in the late afternoon. Once you get to know the place come back with a spotlight. I used to have a quick scan of the paddock then off with the light and walk closer. When I think im in range turn the light on.

Shoot the easy ones in the late afternoon. Once you get to know the place come back with a spotlight. I used to have a quick scan of the paddock then off with the light and walk closer. When I think im in range turn the light on.make your shots count as when you miss you end up with light shy bunnies.

Originally Posted by Mr Browning

What sort of rifle are you using? And what is the distance you can clearly see with your spotlight?

I'm using a norinco jw27 bolt action .22 and a ledlenser 1000lm torch it's good out to 100m or so

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Thanks guys keep the advice coming!

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You'll get bigger numbers by waiting it out in one of their favourite locations, but that gets a bit boring unless there is constant action. Walking around can be fun. If shooting at night by myself, I prefer to have two torches, one hand held for spotting, and one scope-mounted for shooting.They'll probably get harder to track down and shoot as you get in to them.

Oh, and if you're going to gut them, do it straight away, or the smell my put you off ever eating rabbit. Hares are way worse in this respect. You can take the back legs and backstraps via the "gutless" method which is a lot cleaner and less smelly. The gutless method is usually described on larger animals, but works just fine on rabbits. There isn't much meat worth bothering with on the rest of the animal anyway.

I quite often will do them the next morning if I'm out late and it's a cold night, the smell isn't too bad to me.
The gutless method is the way to go, try keep your shots to the head or front end if you can makes harvesting a lot easier and cleaner

Last time I did this I walked the area in the daytime and divided the area up into "stations" where I could walk a circuit and be presented with different shooting opportunities

Say if you were to pop up an escarpment that gives you a view of a clearing then it is an idea to customise your shooting area eg use some tiewire to put two branches of a tree together into a V shaped shooting rest with a view of the clearing

IMO you can scare bunnies and they will be back into it a couple of hours later

If a rabbit goes down a hole, it will come back out about 15 minutes later. Less for smaller ones, up to half an hour for big ones.

If you've seen a few around then start shooting them now because they will die down over the winter. That way you can take\ credit for "great pest control" and get some good shooting in. Don't leave them for later. They are a renewable resource (over summer).