Where have all the rabbit hunters gone?

[Wifeshusband]

Maybe I missed you, but I haven't seen anything about anybody hunting rabbits anymore. When I was a boy it was almost as big as squirrel hunting. Went a couple of times with a friend in high school who had a pack of beagles. (I'm partially deaf but I can still hear them two miles away.)
Quick shooting and lots of fun.
Maybe it's due to lack of dogs or a large place to hunt on. Dogs don't mind property lines.

 

[Beagler282]

Due to lack of land to hunt until deer season goes out. Some WMA's are getting run on pretty good right now until deer season ends. I'm waiting myself then turning the pack loose.

 

[Liberty]

Coyotes have thinned them out a help in these parts. I hate to shoot the few that are left.

 

[Arrow3]

The extended deer seasons and loss of land have hurt the rabbit and other small game hunters.

 

[Ruger#3]

Small game, particularly rabbit hunting, is dying a slow death. With no big bucks to be made on equipment, no lobbyist to squeeze DNR the small game hunter is squeezed out. It’s tough to feed and train a pack for a few weeks hunting each year.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

It’s so hard to find places for them to hunt around here. People are so anti dog hunting and worried to death you will run a deer off, it’s hard to get permission to rabbit hunt. I really hate that. Thanks giving day rabbit hunts and listening to a pack of beagles used to be the norm. All the money is in deer hunting and that’s what makes the world go round. Maybe it will turn back around one day.

 

[ky55]

It’s so hard to find places for them to hunt around here. People are so anti dog hunting and worried to death you will run a deer off, it’s hard to get permission to rabbit hunt. I really hate that. Thanks giving day rabbit hunts and listening to a pack of beagles used to be the norm. All the money is in deer hunting and that’s what makes the world go round. Maybe it will turn back around one day.

I think you hit the nail on the head.
I don’t expect it will ever come back.

 

[Ruger#3]

Used to love hunting rabbits. Stompin brush piles would produce lots of bunnies. Always wondered what it was like huntin them with dogs...

I have hunted and raised beagles nearly all my life. Not having a hunting companion leaves a void at present.

 

[Wifeshusband]

Coyotes have thinned them out a help in these parts. I hate to shoot the few that are left.

I suspect that has what has happened where I hunt. Lots of Yotes, few rabbits + as said, generally need bigger parcel to hunt rabbits + landowners reluctance to let pack of hounds roam property at will. Sad, but I think the days of having a pack of beagles chasing rabbits is gone with the wind.

 

[HDDyna06]

We are seeing more rabbits this year on our leases after a successful year of trapping last year. Definitely would like to entertain someone with a pack of beagles to expand the recreational use of the lands we lease after the Holidays. SE Georgia, Long County.

 

[Triple C]

Interesting thread. There's a generation of hunters that never had the unique experience of small game hunting during the December break back when deer firearms season ended the 1st Saturday of December and opened back up for bonus week from December 26 - January 1st. Small game hunters had most of December and then all of Jan and Feb to chase critters. And in most cases back then, didn't have to worry about posted property. Pretty much could hunt where your wanted.

Different times we live in today.

 

[Mattval]

I would like to go rabbit hunt ing so bad!

 

[Awehunt]

Unfortunately, unless running packs on private land or large enclosed running pens it is safer to wait for mid January. I would be hesitant to turn my dogs out where they might run across a hunter for fear the hunter would shoot at my dogs.

We do more listening to the rabbit race than trying to hunt the rabbit.

 

[Rulo]

You can thank the avid deer hunting biologist/ DNR WRD employee (s) who gave us the 4 1/2 month long deer season for putting the nail in the coffin as far as killing off the rabbit hunters.

The January 12th end date for deer season leaves one roughly 6 weeks to run dogs on private property.

Thanks WRD/DNR! Really smart insightful thinking went into that one!

 

[bentleyboys02]

I HAVE A BIG PACK , M ay be we can get up a Big Hunt sometime ,some where an let the roar begin .

 

[Bowyer29]

You can thank the avid deer hunting biologist/ DNR WRD employee (s) who gave us the 4 1/2 month long deer season for putting the nail in the coffin as far as killing off the rabbit hunters.

The January 12th end date for deer season leaves one roughly 6 weeks to run dogs on private property.

Thanks WRD/DNR! Really smart insightful thinking went into that one!

You can run them on private property the day season opens.
What am I missing there?

 

[clyde445]

I've been told my grandfather hunted rabbits as a kid but he may have had a bit more pressure to put food on the table than I do. Either he didn't pass the info or my Dad wasn't interested because I never got the memo and Dad was never a hunter. Actually, no one in my family hunts.

Over the past four years I've been trying to rabbit hunt Dawson Forest. I say trying because there's been no sightings and you can only learn so much from youtube and books. More like walking around with a gun for a long time. That was until the weekend after season opener this year. I flushed two and got a shot at one but missed. I kept trying and was able to flush one on 11/22 and he became stew a day later. A lot of suggestions I've read or have been told as to where to find rabbits in north Georgia simply have not been true in my experience. As a solo hunter I've found that doing the dog's job is a bit challenging but manageable.

I don't like how the State ignores priority on small game and I understand loss of habitat, predators, etc aren't helping. On the other hand, complaining to DNR doesn't work. Big game is where the money is. I only spent $15 for my license and feel excited every time I hit the woods. What I'm trying to say is don't be put off by the lack of perceived interest. Keep wading into those thorns. Keep running your dogs if that's your thing. Just don't give up.



I don't deer hunt but as an aside I spotted this goofball before he spotted me while taking a break on 11/16. (center right)

 

[Ruger#3]

You can run them on private property the day season opens.
What am I missing there?

Prior to latest extension of the deer season lots of land owners and clubs would invite a rabbit hunter over for a hunt after deer season closed. This was often unpressured land with plenty of game. With the extension of the season that access moved to weeks later.

 

[sasmojoe]

I have a lease in taliaferro county that has some big brier heads and and i’m Seeing some rabbits. I was hoping to get someone with a pack of beagles to meet up and see If we could kill a few after deer season.

 

[nrh0011]

I think the extended deer season and popularity of deer hunting has taken the biggest toll. The few rabbit hunters I know of are losing places to hunt every year. Like others have said it’s getting hard to justify keeping a pack year round. I still thoroughly enjoy going a few times a year.