Rabbit Hunting

[bradm]

Has anyone been this year? My best friend who's in the Marine Corps is in town for the holidays and I'm thinking of taking him out, but I'd like to have a good idea where to find some. In the past we've done the West Desert, but it's kind of spotty, and we've also gone as far north as Yost but that's a LONG drive. So if anyone has been out and had success please let me know where you went. Thanks!

 

[DAA]

I wish... It's a Christmas tradition to take my the kids out bunny blasting, but they are pretty spoiled and get bored if there aren't a lot of targets. I really don't have anywhere within easy striking distance to take them this year. I've put a thousand miles of dirt under my wheels this fall/winter, out and about, coyote hunting mostly. Have covered the West Desert pretty well the last two months. The only two places I've see this year with enough rabbits to be worth bothering with, by my standards anyway, which admittedly are high, are WAY farther than Yost.

Just for grins, here's a short video clip of a bunch of bunnies I got into five years ago. Two years ago, we found a spot, in Tooele county no less, with even more than you see in that video clip, as unbelievable as that may sound. I was in that same spot two days ago, not enough bunnies to be worth mentioning. Did get three coyotes though...

- DAA

 

[mbryson]

They are SCARCE this year

 

[Greg]

That video is amazing Dave!!! How'd you decide where to shoot?!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Just for grins, here's a short video clip of a bunch of bunnies I got into five years ago...

Wow!

 

[oldbluechevy78]

like shooting fish in a barrel!!!!!!! that would have been fun

 

[bobmed]

I think it was 82 or 83 when Idaho had a rabbit explosion.
I went with a friend to Boise and between Pocatello and Boise at night I bet we ran over 5 or 6 hundred a mile. They were a solid crowd on the side of the road and when the headlights lit up the road they would run out and you couldn't avoid them. Rabbit fur highway and fenders

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I think it was 82 or 83 when Idaho had a rabbit explosion.
I went with a friend to Boise and between Pocatello and Boise at night I bet we ran over 5 or 6 hundred a mile. They were a solid crowd on the side of the road and when the headlights lit up the road they would run out and you couldn't avoid them. Rabbit fur highway and fenders

So I hear rabbit populations not only increase/decrease based on previous winters, predator populations, etc but that they also have a cyclical increase, like every 7 years? 10 years, etc. Anyone know where we are in that cycle?

We go out every Thanksgiving and judging on our recent results we are climbing out of a slump, last year was pitiful, this year slightly better. 4-5 years ago was great. Thoughts?

EDIT, I guess while the cyclical changes are legit, they are also regional so its not like we will see a massive state wide pile of rabbits based on the cyclical increase alone.

From the DWR this last year:
"Cottontail rabbits

Depending on where you hunt, you could find yourself in the middle of a bunch of cottontail rabbits this season.

Cottontail rabbits are known for their cyclic population patterns, which means the population will erupt and then crash over a certain period of time.

For that reason, you'll find different rabbit numbers in different areas of the state.

"Focus your efforts in northern, south-central and southwestern Utah," says Dave Olsen, upland game coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. "That's where the state's rabbit populations are doing the best this year."

In other areas of the state, rabbit numbers are down a bit.

"A cottontail rabbit population cycle generally covers a 10-year period," Olsen says. "Rabbit numbers will build for a few years. Then they'll decline for a few years before they build again.

"In parts of central and northeastern Utah, rabbits appear to be headed into the downward side of that 10-year cycle."

Whether you're in an area that has lots of rabbits or just a few, you should still find enough rabbits to keep your kids interested. "Rabbit hunting is a great hunt for kids and families," Olsen says. "It's a good way to get your kids outdoors and give them a good chance for some fun shooting."

 

[DAA]

The populations are cyclical, yes, but not on a strict calendar. It's not as simple as "just every 10 years". When conditions are right over a couple of years to allow for an explosion, it happens. And is always followed by a crash. It can happen in far less than 10 years, or in some places it may take 20 or 30 years before the stars align and conditions are right to allow a population explosion.

There are lots of places in Tooele county, just for one example, where jack rabbits where THICK 25 or 30 years ago, but there hasn't been hardly any since.

I've seen lots of examples where a population has been "good" but not really blown up, and stayed stable for quite a few years before one hard winter followed by one dry spring comes along and they all wither away and disapear without ever having a real peak in the cycle too.

I suspect that in many cases where the rabbits have seemingly gone away forever, it's as much a case of habitat loss as anything. When you see them yarded up in winter such as in that video clip I posted, that dense pocket of rabbits represents the population of a much, MUCH larger area for most of the year. They'll travel a long distance to these areas in late winter. A radio collar study in Curlew Valley found that some of those jack rabbits were travelling in excess of 25 miles to get to the winter yard.

So... While I know it probably seems like the sage brush has no end, it does. And a helluva a lot of it has been turned into houses and churches and walmarts and grocery stores just in my lifetime. Personally, I think that is partly the reason for the relative dearth of jack rabbits in some areas over the last 20+ years.

Oh, and about those jacks in that video clip and shooting... I didn't shoot any of them . I was coyote hunting at the time and didn't want to disturb the area. Knocked the freakin' snot out of coyotes that day too!

- DAA

 

[scootrrydr]

This post came at the right time! I was actually thinking about asking you guys if anybody knew of a place where the wabbits were!

Sounds like they are still on the decline....Ive only been out a few times in the last 5 years and havent really spotted very many....

That little video clip is crazy! I do remember 15 years ago we used to hunt jacks with great success...not so much lately....

I really don't want to travel to Yost! I have heard there are plenty of jacks way down south.

Does ANYBODY have a recommendation (within a couple hours from SLC) as to look for a few of them?

 

[Grim]

I wish... It's a Christmas tradition to take my the kids out bunny blasting, but they are pretty spoiled and get bored if there aren't a lot of targets. I really don't have anywhere within easy striking distance to take them this year. I've put a thousand miles of dirt under my wheels this fall/winter, out and about, coyote hunting mostly. Have covered the West Desert pretty well the last two months. The only two places I've see this year with enough rabbits to be worth bothering with, by my standards anyway, which admittedly are high, are WAY farther than Yost.

Just for grins, here's a short video clip of a bunch of bunnies I got into five years ago. Two years ago, we found a spot, in Tooele county no less, with even more than you see in that video clip, as unbelievable as that may sound. I was in that same spot two days ago, not enough bunnies to be worth mentioning. Did get three coyotes though...

- DAA

that is awesome , i remember days like that (vid). we to have changed from rabbits to coyotes.

 

[Cherokeester]

That video is awesome, talk about a bunch of confused rabbits running around. Few things funnier than that.

 

[Caleb]

Years ago we went hunting out by Stansbury Island. It was a bad winter that year (probably 3'-4' of snow on the shoulders) so all the rabbits gathered on the road. It was worse than that video DAA posted. We shot a few but it really was no fun, it would have just been a slaughter since the rabbits had no where to go. IMO, most of the fun of rabbit hunting is picking them off on the run.

I have gone bunny blasting since then, and even before then it had been quite a while. We used to go up by Bear Lake and always had good success.

 

[rholbrook]

Dave, that must of been crazy.

I have had lots of success the last three years but it is a 2 hour drive for me from Kaysville. There are yotes out there as well. Last year we got one without even hunting for them. A month ago 6 of us shot maybe 100 rabbits. We had to kick them out of the sage brush. I hate to share the location because but I may be coaxed into it. My neighbor works for the railroad and I ask him to keep an eye out for me and then he gives me the mile markers to go to. Works great.

 

[Darwin]

the only place i've seen any rabbits this year was down around kooshorm. i saw a few coyotes in the area also. other than that its been bleak out there

 

[bradm]

Thanks for all the replies. Still not sure where we'll end up going, but we'll hope for the best! Merry Christmas everyone.