meat damage rabbits

[GBoyd]

A question for you guys:

Me and some friends have been hunting rabbits this winter out in eastern Oregon. Generally we're walking around in sage and juniper with large rock formations and taking running shots at rabbits. Mostly they're cottontails, with a few jacks thrown in. This is extremely fun. It's a nice area to hike in and enough shooting to stay interesting. My problem is that I hate to clean the rabbits when they've been hit with a shotgun. Usually at least one leg is broken and often the guts have been hit. I probably throw away 30% of the meat for one reason or another.

I've been using a 12 gauge, with No. 6 shot and modified choke. I'd guess most of the shots are under forty yards. Any ideas to reduce damage without wounding and losing too many rabbits?
I was wondering if going to an improved choke, or smaller shot, or slower shot would help.

[plottwalker]

i have killed 100's rabbits with a 410 or 28 gauge for years, you dont normally want to use a 12 ga. on something so small /thin skinned.

[Bill W]

you could try and be a bit more sneaky and use a .22lr.  It would require passing on some shots and walking a bit quieter.

or going to 7 1/2 shot and a more open choke.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I used to hunt rabbits with dove loads (7 1/2 or and an open choke when the only shotgun I had was a 12-gauge.  Both jacks and cottontails die pretty easy, rarely had a problem with losing any.  Once I found the good spots with lots of bunnies, I switched over to a 4" barrel .357 with standard velocity round nose lead .38s.  Once I got a .22 pistol I stuck with that.

[NRA4LIFE]

I've killed 1000 or more cotton tails, snow shoes and jacks in my life, about half with .22s and half with shotguns.  Unless it was my only choice for any one reason, I would use a 12 ga.  If a shotgun, my choice was a 20, 7 1/2 or 8 shot and an improved cylinder choke.  That generally did not beat them up too bad and plenty of fire power.

[GBoyd]

Yeah, I'll try an improved cylinder choke and 7 1/2 next time. If that's too dense I might even give skeet chokes a try.

This area would be very tough to use a .22 rifle. It's a very desolate terrain that only supports sparse rabbit populations. With two or three guys walking 30 yards apart, we'll usually flush a rabbit every hour or 45 minutes. Spotting them before they flush would take an inhuman level of concentration.

[300rum]

I've ran them a lot with Beagles.  You try to shoot them in head.  I liked 6's myself, I always thought they tended to go right through them.  Since you are flushing, try 5's, they should go right through them, see how that works.

[Encore 280]

What about a 357 lever gun or pistol with bird shot?

[heronblu]

i have killed 100's rabbits with a 410 or 28 gauge for years, you dont normally want to use a 12 ga. on something so small /thin skinned.

Ive never had a problem hunting rabbit with a 12ga. I hunt for snowshoe hair in really thick stuff otherwise I'd use the .22. I aim for the head and never have had any trouble with them being too shot up. I tan the pelts too and don't even usually have to do much sewing.

[metlhead]

I prefer my .410 for bunnies. I also go with the lightest load of the biggest shot I can find, #4s work great. Fewer holes and most pass through. With a 12ga., maybe look to some 2 3/4" steel waterfowl loads as you can usually find BB.

[plottwalker]

i have killed 100's rabbits with a 410 or 28 gauge for years, you dont normally want to use a 12 ga. on something so small /thin skinned.

Ive never had a problem hunting rabbit with a 12ga. I hunt for snowshoe hair in really thick stuff otherwise I'd use the .22. I aim for the head and never have had any trouble with them being too shot up. I tan the pelts too and don't even usually have to do much sewing.

hunt behind a pack of fast hare dogs and your opinion might change. at full speed you can still hit most with a 20 or 28 ga, that you would have hit with the 12 ga,but your not going to get the choice of head shots at that point.  with how light skinned and easy it is to kill rabbits, 12 ga is over kill. ask any beagler.

[plottwalker]

i have killed 100's rabbits with a 410 or 28 gauge for years, you dont normally want to use a 12 ga. on something so small /thin skinned.

Ive never had a problem hunting rabbit with a 12ga. I hunt for snowshoe hair in really thick stuff otherwise I'd use the .22. I aim for the head and never have had any trouble with them being too shot up. I tan the pelts too and don't even usually have to do much sewing.

hunt behind a pack of fast hare dogs and your opinion might change. at full speed you can still hit most with a 20 or 28 ga, that you would have hit with the 12 ga,but your not going to get the choice of head shots at that point.  with how light skinned and easy it is to kill rabbits, 12 ga is over kill. heres what some i took last week look like with a 20ga shooting 6's. 9 rabbits were good to go, 1 had a uneatable leg.

[heronblu]

i have killed 100's rabbits with a 410 or 28 gauge for years, you dont normally want to use a 12 ga. on something so small /thin skinned.

Ive never had a problem hunting rabbit with a 12ga. I hunt for snowshoe hair in really thick stuff otherwise I'd use the .22. I aim for the head and never have had any trouble with them being too shot up. I tan the pelts too and don't even usually have to do much sewing.

hunt behind a pack of fast hare dogs and your opinion might change. at full speed you can still hit most with a 20 or 28 ga, that you would have hit with the 12 ga,but your not going to get the choice of head shots at that point.  with how light skinned and easy it is to kill rabbits, 12 ga is over kill. ask any beagler.

I imagine that with faster dogs its a different story. I hunt differently than most. My dog (blue tick coon hound and heeler) plods along ahead of me and points when she sees or smells a rabbit or grouse and I walk up and shoot it. I have the luxury of taking my time in most cases.

[GBoyd]

It seems like some people prefer the larger shot because there's more pass-through and less pellets overall. Others are saying smaller shot size because I guess each pellet does a smaller amount of damage? Has anyone thoroughly tried both options to say which one I should try first?

[AWS]

As a youth my dad and his hunting partner would have me jump up and down on the brush piles while they waited for the rabbits to flush out from under them, they used #5's.  You can pretty much clean them wth out getting blood on you hands.  Make a slit in the middle of the back and put two fingers in and pull both directions peeling the skin off the front and bac end of the rabbit at the same time.  Cut the feet and head off.  Make a slit up the belly and grab the rabbit by the front half and the real legs with the belly facing away from you and make a downward tossing/throwing motion and the guts will fly out.  Drop them in a bucket of cold salt water and pull the heart and lungs out or just remove the legs and back straps, you can even do the legs and back straps with out gutting.

[jasnt]

I have tried bb.  No good it turned him in to bunny burger. I like 1 1/8 oz #8 with IM choke

[Trapper John]

I like a 410 with #6  or #4 shot
I also like a 28 gauge with #5 shot
Not much damage in either Shogun.
I think the 12 gauge does a little to much damage
JC

[GBoyd]

I've always wondered about that. Some places I hear that there's no reason to own a gun smaller than 12 gauge because you can always load less powder or less shot. Other places talk about needing a smaller gun to avoid damage to smaller animals.

[seth30]

I kill them just fine with #8 lead, never had any innards falling out and every now and then a broken leg.  I have never lost a rabbit after I hit it either.  They rarely go far if they move at all.   ** DISCLAMIER** for the internet police.  All my jackrabbit hunting is done in Nevada. 

[tallcooljuan]

I like .410 with #4 shot.  I've also shot several with 12gauge #5 with minor damage.  It only takes a couple of pellets to kill a rabbit.  People think you're joking when you say, "aim for the head," but it works.

[GBoyd]

So I've counted another 18 rabbits in the bag since I posted this question and I've done some experimentation.

This has been hunting on the westside, not the desert like I asked about originally.
The first thing I tried was a 12 gauge, Improved Cylinder, and #8 shot. I found it pretty disappointing. There were several rabbits that I hit without recovering. It seemed like anything over 20 yards was too far for the combination. The close-range rabbits were pretty chewed up and full of lead. Maybe I should try aiming for the head like tallcooljuan recommended. The same combination with #6 was a little better. More likely to put a rabbit down before it went into the brush, but also a little more damage.

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I don't like hitting rabbits with a shotgun. My last dozen or so rabbits have been headshot with a .22 and it's much nicer. They fall dead where you hit them and the meat is perfect. I just have to acknowledge that most rabbits I see don't give me a still shot that I can take with a rifle.

[seth30]

So I've counted another 18 rabbits in the bag since I posted this question and I've done some experimentation.

This has been hunting on the westside, not the desert like I asked about originally.
The first thing I tried was a 12 gauge, Improved Cylinder, and #8 shot. I found it pretty disappointing. There were several rabbits that I hit without recovering. It seemed like anything over 20 yards was too far for the combination. The close-range rabbits were pretty chewed up and full of lead. Maybe I should try aiming for the head like tallcooljuan recommended. The same combination with #6 was a little better. More likely to put a rabbit down before it went into the brush, but also a little more damage.

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I don't like hitting rabbits with a shotgun. My last dozen or so rabbits have been headshot with a .22 and it's much nicer. They fall dead where you hit them and the meat is perfect. I just have to acknowledge that most rabbits I see don't give me a still shot that I can take with a rifle.

  I used a modified choke and # 8 lead, and have not lost one.  Maybe jack rabbits are weaker than the cotton tails and snow shoe hares   Are you using dogs to retrieve the rabbits?  I find that the shotgun usually breaks the legs and they don't go to far if they move at all.  Most of my shots have been at running rabbits though as the jack rabbits will tend to run to the next county if you let them. 

[GBoyd]

So I've counted another 18 rabbits in the bag since I posted this question and I've done some experimentation.

This has been hunting on the westside, not the desert like I asked about originally.
The first thing I tried was a 12 gauge, Improved Cylinder, and #8 shot. I found it pretty disappointing. There were several rabbits that I hit without recovering. It seemed like anything over 20 yards was too far for the combination. The close-range rabbits were pretty chewed up and full of lead. Maybe I should try aiming for the head like tallcooljuan recommended. The same combination with #6 was a little better. More likely to put a rabbit down before it went into the brush, but also a little more damage.

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I don't like hitting rabbits with a shotgun. My last dozen or so rabbits have been headshot with a .22 and it's much nicer. They fall dead where you hit them and the meat is perfect. I just have to acknowledge that most rabbits I see don't give me a still shot that I can take with a rifle.

  I used a modified choke and # 8 lead, and have not lost one.  Maybe jack rabbits are weaker than the cotton tails and snow shoe hares   Are you using dogs to retrieve the rabbits?  I find that the shotgun usually breaks the legs and they don't go to far if they move at all.  Most of my shots have been at running rabbits though as the jack rabbits will tend to run to the next county if you let them. 

It's probably where I've been hunting too. This farm holds rabbits on the edge of blackberry hedges and fences. If they don't drop immediately, odds are I won't find them. No dogs helping yet. I've got a three month old pointing griffon that will be enlisted soon though!

Now I just need to figure out where you're finding huntable populations of snowshoes...

[seth30]

So I've counted another 18 rabbits in the bag since I posted this question and I've done some experimentation.

This has been hunting on the westside, not the desert like I asked about originally.
The first thing I tried was a 12 gauge, Improved Cylinder, and #8 shot. I found it pretty disappointing. There were several rabbits that I hit without recovering. It seemed like anything over 20 yards was too far for the combination. The close-range rabbits were pretty chewed up and full of lead. Maybe I should try aiming for the head like tallcooljuan recommended. The same combination with #6 was a little better. More likely to put a rabbit down before it went into the brush, but also a little more damage.

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I don't like hitting rabbits with a shotgun. My last dozen or so rabbits have been headshot with a .22 and it's much nicer. They fall dead where you hit them and the meat is perfect. I just have to acknowledge that most rabbits I see don't give me a still shot that I can take with a rifle.

  I used a modified choke and # 8 lead, and have not lost one.  Maybe jack rabbits are weaker than the cotton tails and snow shoe hares   Are you using dogs to retrieve the rabbits?  I find that the shotgun usually breaks the legs and they don't go to far if they move at all.  Most of my shots have been at running rabbits though as the jack rabbits will tend to run to the next county if you let them. 

It's probably where I've been hunting too. This farm holds rabbits on the edge of blackberry hedges and fences. If they don't drop immediately, odds are I won't find them. No dogs helping yet. I've got a three month old pointing griffon that will be enlisted soon though!

Now I just need to figure out where you're finding huntable populations of snowshoes...

I see them on logging roads but only when I am bear hunting   This winter I plan to target them a few times solely and see how it plays out.   

[IslandStorm62]

[/quote]

It's probably where I've been hunting too. This farm holds rabbits on the edge of blackberry hedges and fences. If they don't drop immediately, odds are I won't find them. No dogs helping yet. I've got a three month old pointing griffon that will be enlisted soon though!

Now I just need to figure out where you're finding huntable populations of snowshoes...
[/quote]

I watched a couple youtube vids (UK or Scottland) where a guy takes sniper shots at bunnies. Anyone know a place / farm (farmer) in Washington where there is a high population of bunnies for this type of shooting / harvesting / pest control.

I have a 22-250 that I  want to put to work other than on paper. 

[W_Ellison2011]

We've killed rabbits with tons of different guns. Shotguns loaded with heavy and light loads, rifles chambered in 22 lr, 17 hmr, and much larger, also used our bows with blunt tips. with the smaller shot its about aiming for the heads as stated. Also hitting the legs works too. The guy who told you that you can pull the backstraps and legs off without gutting them is also 100% correct and its quick and easy! I don't have an issue if the guts are hanging out personally but you do so I would go to the gutless setup for rabbits. Just my 

[jackelope]

I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn’t take much at all to damage a lot of meat on rabbits. Shooting one with a .22-250 would likely vaporize them.

[KFhunter]

17 hmr to the eyeball

[jackelope]

17 hmr to the eyeball

I've killed several of them with a pellet gun to the back of the noggin.

[Jonathan_S]

I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn’t take much at all to damage a lot of meat on rabbits. Shooting one with a .22-250 would likely vaporize them.

I did this once.  .22-250 at about 20 yards right at the base of the skull.  Head went flying into the air and front quarters were jelly.  Rabbit didn't go far though 

[W_Ellison2011]

I can tell you from personal experience that it doesn’t take much at all to damage a lot of meat on rabbits. Shooting one with a .22-250 would likely vaporize them.

I did this once.  .22-250 at about 20 yards right at the base of the skull.  Head went flying into the air and front quarters were jelly.  Rabbit didn't go far though 

If it works it works lol!  my 17 hmr hit a rabbit in the head in my yard at about 25 yards. There wasn't much of the opposite side left. Love rabbit stew and my other one that I do I call wilderness stew. Rabbit, grouse, dove, left over venison from the night before (normally doesn't happen but from time to time), corn, carrots, potatos, garlic, shallots, worchestshire (spelling) sauce, little red wine, and chicken broth. toss it in the slow cooker and when you get home from hunting serve over rice. Now I'm salivating and can't wait any longer for September!!!!

[GBoyd]

I posted this question a couple years ago, but since the thread doesn't seem to die I'll give another update:
whatever weapon you're using, the best way to avoid meat damage on rabbits is to just shoot them in the head.

-Since first posting, I've gotten much better with a shotgun. In open country, it's usually pretty easy to get a head shot. They never seem to run straight away, so it's just a matter of swinging a little further in front.

-I've been running into snowshoes on spring bear hunts and harvested three with a 308. A headshot looks pretty ugly, but doesn't damage the meat at all.

-I've also been doing a ton of damage control rabbits. Here in Oregon, they're legal to take from the truck with a pellet rifle. On these, I just aim for the eye and they flop right over. It's nice because pellet rifles don't have the power to knock them down otherwise.

-I also get a lot of trapped rabbits. Those I grab by the hind legs and whack the back of their heads with my fist. Those are the best!

[W_Ellison2011]

I posted this question a couple years ago, but since the thread doesn't seem to die I'll give another update:
whatever weapon you're using, the best way to avoid meat damage on rabbits is to just shoot them in the head.

-Since first posting, I've gotten much better with a shotgun. In open country, it's usually pretty easy to get a head shot. They never seem to run straight away, so it's just a matter of swinging a little further in front.

-I've been running into snowshoes on spring bear hunts and harvested three with a 308. A headshot looks pretty ugly, but doesn't damage the meat at all.

-I've also been doing a ton of damage control rabbits. Here in Oregon, they're legal to take from the truck with a pellet rifle. On these, I just aim for the eye and they flop right over. It's nice because pellet rifles don't have the power to knock them down otherwise.

-I also get a lot of trapped rabbits. Those I grab by the hind legs and whack the back of their heads with my fist. Those are the best!

Raised rabbit when I was little. Hammer to the back of the skull does the trick really well instead of your fist.

[GBoyd]

Raised rabbit when I was little. Hammer to the back of the skull does the trick really well instead of your fist.

Yeah, that would probably be smarter. Killing them by hand works fine, but it hurts your hand to hit them hard enough.

[jackelope]

All sorts of functional methods to dispatch rabbits. This is what we use.

https://theoriginalhopperpopper.com/Hopper_Popper/