After deer season is over, lots of dedicated rabbit hunting begins. You can use shotguns, rimfire rifles and pistols, and even archery to harvest bunnies. They’re all legal ways to take rabbits. You can track or spot and stalk. You can hunt solo, or with a group of friends. You can kick brush piles, or simply walk the fields around food sources. You can unleash a pack of beagles, or simply follow fresh tracks in the snow. That’s late-winter rabbit hunting: You can hunt rabbits just about any way you want!

Spotting and stalking

Walk slowly in good rabbit habitat, looking carefully to spot sitting rabbits in or around cover. Thick groves of small trees, brush, hedges or multiflora rose tangles are all great places to check. Early mornings on bright, sunny days seem to work best for this tactic. Try to spot a patch of fur, an ear or eye in the cover, rather than an entire rabbit. This is where a bow and arrow, or accurate .22 pistol or rifle, comes in handy.

Watch for “forms” or rabbit holes in the snow. Fresh tracks that dead end in a hole in the snow can often lead to a rabbit that took cover under a fresh snowfall. If carrying a shotgun and you spot a sitting bunny, simply aim a few inches in front of the rabbit’s nose. This will ensure a clean, instantaneous kill, with no damage to the meat.

Tracking and brush busting

Follow fresh tracks into cover like CRP fields, woods or cattail swamps. Start out around cover like fence rows, brush piles and fallen trees, and look for fresh tracks. Food sources like picked corn fields, or groves of small saplings where rabbits feed on tree bark, are also good starting points.

Everything seems to prey on rabbits, so think like one. Look for thick cover they can escape into to avoid foxes or coyotes. Overhead cover (small trees and brush) provides protection from flying predators like hawks and owls. Look for fallen trees or thick brush with grass growing next to them, as these are rabbit magnets.

Working in a two-man team is about the most effective way to hunt with this strategy. While one hunter kicks the brush piles or busts cover, the other stands ready, watching any escape routes. Switch off brush busting and covering the area so both hunters get shooting opportunities. Following rabbit tracks into a frozen cattail swamp can be interesting, as rabbits will hold incredibly tight. We have also taken an occasional bonus rooster pheasant (if in season) out of the frozen landscape.

Hunting with dogs

The excitement of a chase is hard to describe unless you have been there yourself. Beagles catch a fresh track and stay on it, chasing the rabbit until it circles around past the hunter. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Sometimes, the rabbit will find a den and go to ground or take a detour and lose the pack. Once the dogs are on a rabbit, stay alert! You never know when a rabbit may pop up! Safety first; be sure any rabbits you shoot at are well away from other hunters or pursuing dogs.

Firearms and ammo

Just about any shotgun from a .410 to a 12-gauge works fine to harvest rabbits. Low-cost, promotional game loads are ideal rabbit loads. Choose size 6 shot, with one ounce in 12-gauge or 16-gauge guns. Load 20-gauge guns with 7/8 ounce of #6 shot. If you shoot steel shot exclusively, try 1 ounce of #6 or #4 steel in 12-gauge guns, or 3/4 ounce of #6 shot in 20-gauge guns. Smaller shot sizes are not recommended, as too many tiny pellets in the meat will render it inedible. Always aim for the head of running or sitting rabbits. I’ve come to think my 16-gauge guns loaded with 1 ounce of #6 shot at 1165 feet per second may just be the ultimate bunny load.

If using a .22 long rifle or magnum rimfire rifle or pistol, use hollow point ammunition. Hollow points are much less likely to ricochet off frozen ground and will self-destruct upon hitting something solid. They also make a larger wound channel and stop small game better. Again, aim for the head for a quick, humane kill. My personal best shot on a sitting rabbit was an honest 85 yards with my scoped .22 magnum rifle.

Archery small game hunters often use Flu Flu (short range) arrows blunts or “judo” field points that flip up when hitting the ground. These small-game-specific hunting points will keep you from losing arrows under the snow.

Rabbits are a great way to start out mentoring young or starting hunters. Finding a spot to rabbit hunt is also fairly easy. Rabbits are excellent table fare.

For more insight and tips on how to make the most of the time you spend hunting, check out the articles in every issue of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.