Hey WABBITT!!!!

[Dave Workman]

Okay, who besides me will shoot cottontails with a .22 rifle?

[lokidog]

I can neither deny nor confirm the fact that I might shoot rabbits with a .22....   

When in college, somew buddies and I would pheasant and grouse hunt and often jumped bunnies.  To make it sporting, with the shotgun, we had to yell "freeze wabbit" before we could shoot at them.

[Hunterman]

Without a doubt   .22 shorts work great

Hunterman(Tony)

[SkookumHntr]

Theres a nice fur for the end table!! I plan on gettin a few with my new T-Bolt

[quadrafire]

Thats the only way to hunt rabbits IMO. I rarely see any on the east side. If anybody has some "honey holes" to divulge let me know. I would love to start my son hunting them.

[wastickslinger]

Just plant a garden and a whole bunch of flowers. Then you will have more of them suckers than you want. All the kids have grown up and moved out and my father in law has had no one to take care of them things for a few years. The other day my mother in law got fed up and told him to take care of them. He has killed 18 since last week!!! I missed out on all the fun, I was mad. He killed them all with my BLR .22 open sights. That gun has killed many rabbits.

[carpsniperg2]

don't like to eat pellets shoot them with a 22

[Dave Workman]

Photos, folks

PHOTOS!!!
 
 

[Kain]

Man I would have so many rabbits if I could use a .22 rifle down here in Clark county.  I keep thinking about getting a .22 revolver because the 44 mag is a little over kill and expensive to shoot.   

[denali]

Ithica mod. 49 single shot lever action, open sights ( old school)      CCI CB .22 short, 700 FPS  not much noise but effective.

we fenced the garden and the buggers are still getting in     I've gotten one and my Wife has shot one.

[rasbo]

I use a 22 and a .177 pellet to the head..

[beagledog]

Soot 'em with What ever I got handy.
Mostly a 20 gauge as I'm not to keen on shooting the  .22 when the dogs are in the brush

[Dave Workman]

Soot 'em with What ever I got handy.
Mostly a 20 gauge as I'm not to keen on shooting the  .22 when the dogs are in the brush

Fair observation. I admire your safety consciousness, especially for a hunting dog.

The 20 is a dandy bunny thumper, as is the .410, because rabbits are very thin-skinned and don't really take a lot of killin'

Still, the .22 rimfire may be the best rabbit gun on the planet.

[Atroxus]

Okay, who besides me will shoot cottontails with a .22 rifle?

I would love to, if I knew where they lived. PM me if you are willing to share any spots near Marysville, WA. 

[Dave Workman]

Well, finding where rabbits live is not a matter of pulling out a map, it's looking for the kind of habitat they like.

These rabbits find refuge in big berry tangles, and root wads. You will often find them where there are roads with lots of clover growing on the shoulders.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/cottontail-rabbit.html

[Ray]

I definitely would. I saw a few out yesterday and this time of year is great for rabbits. The coyotes are going nuts.

[Special T]

I have a savage 22lr 20ga over under that is a grouse/rabit killing machine! I love walking an old logging road after a hard rain when the salmon berries are ripening... Mmmm Berry filled grouse, and the odd hare are awsome!

[PolarBear]

They are a lot of fun with a bow!

[runamuk]

if they were in season right now I would I have a million of the dang things but like all other game they read the regs and know I wont be poaching bunnies 

[Dave Workman]

I definitely would. I saw a few out yesterday and this time of year is great for rabbits. The coyotes are going nuts.

'Yotes?!

Shoot everyone of the durned things you see.  They're just small-sized wolves, sorta.
 

[jackelope]

I have a savage 22lr 20ga over under that is a grouse/rabit killing machine! I love walking an old logging road after a hard rain when the salmon berries are ripening... Mmmm Berry filled grouse, and the odd hare are awsome!

I've got the same rig and love it for the same purposes.
 

[Special T]

I wish Savage made a 22-250 12 gauge  for yote hunting... I know they offer a .223, but for one shot i'd need something with a longer range...

[Dave Workman]

I wish Savage made a 22-250 12 gauge  for yote hunting... I know they offer a .223, but for one shot i'd need something with a longer range...

 

We wuz talking about rabbits...and another thread here says they're plentiful this year.
Time to haul out the .22-caliber rifle, start shooting at empty quart milk jugs at 25 yards. They approximate the size of an upright rabbit, maybe a little smaller, and it is good practice.


My favorite .22 round is a 40-grain round nose lead pill, but a 33-grain or 37-grain hollowpoint works very well too. I've shot several raccoons with the hollowpoint in my youth.

Still have my dad's old H&R Model 922 9-shot revolver tucked away somewhere. 

Ah, them was the days.

[lokidog]

My best/luckiest shot on a rabbit was with a ruger mk II, running jack rabbit in WY at about 30 yards, rolled him first shot to the head.  He was the third I'd shot at though.     Tossed him into a pot of top ramen, yum!

[runamuk]

My best/luckiest shot on a rabbit was with a ruger mk II, running jack rabbit in WY at about 30 yards, rolled him first shot to the head.  He was the third I'd shot at though.     Tossed him into a pot of top ramen, yum!

I really hope to take one with my ruger markIII pistol I actually practice on golf balls in the part of the yard they frequent so can shoot at targets in places where I see bunnies regularly from the actual distances I see them before they hop off....still trying to figure out how exactly they know when they are open season  they actually have yet to even be shot at here in the yard 

[Dave Workman]

When I was just a little kid, my dad shot one in the neck on the hop with a .22 rifle. 
I still have that rifle, a Winchester Mod. 69A bolt action and it is a deadly accurate gun.

[wapiti hunter2]

I learned to hunt shooting cottontails with a 22.  Still do.

[Dave Workman]

It is my belief that the .22-caliber rifle affords the best training possible for honing marksmanship skills. And as a hunting tool, it can be awesome.

A couple of years back, I had a Marlin .22 Magnum bolt action for a T&E that appeared in GUN WORLD.  This rifle was simply phenomenal and it broke my heart to send it back, but back it went.  I forced myself to not buy the gun (if I bought all the guns I tested and liked, the darn things would clutter up my house...maybe two houses!) and there may be a time when I will get one but that's a ways off. 

The .22 caliber rimfire and magnum cartridges are far more versatile than people imagine.  Small game, varmints, predators and in a pinch/emergency, one can even take down a large animal with a well-placed bullet in the head.

But for now...rabbits.  Lotsa rabbits.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

[Special T]

I like lots of guns i have shot as well... The ONLY duplicate i have and will puchase is a .22 they are fun, affordable to shoot and many semi auto's have re-barreling kits to turn expensive to shoot guns 1911 Ar15 ect into bunny killing machines... Workman have you ever done a comparison on different re-barrel conversions?

[Dave Workman]

I like lots of guns i have shot as well... The ONLY duplicate i have and will puchase is a .22 they are fun, affordable to shoot and many semi auto's have re-barreling kits to turn expensive to shoot guns 1911 Ar15 ect into bunny killing machines... Workman have you ever done a comparison on different re-barrel conversions?

No, as it would be rather subjective, and really impossible because there are so many options available. It would not be worth the time or effort to launch a project like that.

[Dave Workman]

UPDATE:

I'm seeing a heck of a lot of cottontails lately in the upper Snoqualmie Valley.  Sept. 1 is not that far away.

But I typically wait until after the first good frost to get serious about popping a bunny. 

How's about you guys???

[Skyvalhunter]

No bunny's here

[Dave Workman]

No bunny's here

And just where the hell is "here?"

 

[runamuk]

hubby said when he got home from work last night there were "damn rabbits" everywhere in the yard...hope the stick around until fall

[BigGoonTuna]

i've been living on the coast almost a year and still have yet to see one out here.  they were all over when i lived in olympia.

[robb92]

Did a lot of bunny shooting when I was in England we used a ruger 10-22 with a silencer on it, now I am stateside I use just an old wincherster bolt actin 22 works good on tree rats as well.

[Dave Workman]

Well, the time clock is ticking down, barely 6 weeks to go before the opener.  I'm getting all snorted up and rarin' to go.  Got a couple of bricks of .22 long rifles, my 10/22 and Ruger Mark I are all sighted in and clean...

Bunnies is in trouble, boys!