How to hunt rabbits?

Hi guys
I have been given permission to shoot rabbits on the farm behind my house and was after some advice on spotlighting rabbits.

What's peoples techniques? Do you walk along with spotlight on, spot them at a distance and then stalk in on them?

Or do you walk along with just a head lamp on so you can see the ground and when your at a likely looking spot turn on the spotlight and get the ones you see?

Or are you better off sitting at a spot you know they come out at and sit there quietly and then crack out the spotlight?

I have been there twice this week in the dark with the spotlight and no gun to see where they are and saw about 12 rabbits both times. Lots of poo around so seems like good numbers of them.

Thanks for any advice or techniques you guys use to good effect

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What I have found is you are likely to shoot just as many in the day as you do at night, my best success has been sitting in 1 place hidden with a comfortable rest in a spot I have seen rabbits active then just sit and wait.
However when shooting from the ute with a spotlight we just chase em down till they stop, trying to keep between them and the fence of the paddocks so they don't bolt through, have had really good success with that.
If you want to stalk in on them I found keep the spotlight just off them so they are barely lit up till you are as close as you dare to get then when ready to shoot light them up full beam and don't muck about pulling the trigger.
All these methods have worked for me, but I am by no means an expert just sharing my experiences.

Oh and take the back legs and back steaks and learn how to cook them they are actually pretty tasty, that goes for hares and rabbits.
Doesn't take long to do.

I was planning on cooking them, their are a few big ones so should do alright out of them.
I have seen plenty up there late afternoon but there is a public walkway through the farm so need to do shooting at low traffic times, so well after dark is the best time

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I reckon they are great fun stalking up and onto. I shot some next to snow planet in silverdale where the luge is now. there was a motorway on one side and the old highway on the other and a sprinkling of houses in the other directions.... made for some really hard shots! I had to stalk around in circles almost to get a safe shot most times! Was great practice :)

What sort of rifle are you using? And what is the distance you can clearly see with your spotlight?

Pick up the dead rabbits within about 5 minutes of shooting them or they will be real smelly and sometimes the stomach bursts when you gut them out.

I'm not a real expert on spotlighting rabbits so others here will have better advice but ...
If you're on foot you won't have the spotlight on all the time. I like to walk a bit using a dim torch or moonlight then turn on the light.
I try to start with the best part of the place first, usually right in the middle of a clearing and quickly scan around it then finish up on the edges.
I shoot whatever I see first, don't wait around looking for more. Best chance is when you first turn on the light (unlike searching with binos).

If theres a walkway, be extra careful. Nowdays, some will be moving around with night vision gear and often theres enough light that people can be out for a stroll without any light, while you are night blind using the spotlight. Don't shine the spotlight on the ground near your feet or use it as a torch. Dayllght is safest (you can properly see your firing zone) and much more enjoyable. Spotlighting is dark, cold, wet (windy in Wellington) and a thoroughly second rate way of hunting.

Good on you for asking advice. Have fun and good eating !

Shoot the easy ones in the late afternoon. Once you get to know the place come back with a spotlight. I used to have a quick scan of the paddock then off with the light and walk closer. When I think im in range turn the light on.

Shoot the easy ones in the late afternoon. Once you get to know the place come back with a spotlight. I used to have a quick scan of the paddock then off with the light and walk closer. When I think im in range turn the light on.make your shots count as when you miss you end up with light shy bunnies.

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Originally Posted by Mr Browning

What sort of rifle are you using? And what is the distance you can clearly see with your spotlight?

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I'm using a norinco jw27 bolt action .22 and a ledlenser 1000lm torch it's good out to 100m or so

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Thanks guys keep the advice coming!

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You'll get bigger numbers by waiting it out in one of their favourite locations, but that gets a bit boring unless there is constant action. Walking around can be fun. If shooting at night by myself, I prefer to have two torches, one hand held for spotting, and one scope-mounted for shooting.They'll probably get harder to track down and shoot as you get in to them.

Oh, and if you're going to gut them, do it straight away, or the smell my put you off ever eating rabbit. Hares are way worse in this respect. You can take the back legs and backstraps via the "gutless" method which is a lot cleaner and less smelly. The gutless method is usually described on larger animals, but works just fine on rabbits. There isn't much meat worth bothering with on the rest of the animal anyway.

I quite often will do them the next morning if I'm out late and it's a cold night, the smell isn't too bad to me.
The gutless method is the way to go, try keep your shots to the head or front end if you can makes harvesting a lot easier and cleaner

Last time I did this I walked the area in the daytime and divided the area up into "stations" where I could walk a circuit and be presented with different shooting opportunities

Say if you were to pop up an escarpment that gives you a view of a clearing then it is an idea to customise your shooting area eg use some tiewire to put two branches of a tree together into a V shaped shooting rest with a view of the clearing

IMO you can scare bunnies and they will be back into it a couple of hours later

If a rabbit goes down a hole, it will come back out about 15 minutes later. Less for smaller ones, up to half an hour for big ones.

If you've seen a few around then start shooting them now because they will die down over the winter. That way you can take\ credit for "great pest control" and get some good shooting in. Don't leave them for later. They are a renewable resource (over summer).

I have a reasonably large battery setup for my maxtoch mounted on my .22, so just leave it on all the time. Full power for scoping out all of the rabbits at a distance, then it gets switched to a lower setting for walking around and shooting.
This allows me to plan the shoot, with the wind in my face, and cover to stalk up on the rabbits.
Most shots end up being 25M or less, so can be done standing.
The maxtoch light allows me to illuminate up to 1km away at full power, so I can clearly identify when there is other stock around, or buildings etc.
Because I shoot around orchards and market gardens with lots of equipment around, ricochets are very undesirable. I find that the CCI Segmented subs limit the ricochets a lot.

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Originally Posted by Dan88

I'm using a norinco jw27 bolt action .22 and a ledlenser 1000lm torch it's good out to 100m or so

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I would get a scope good in low light and have a go at whatever you can see, you should be able to shoot out to 100m ok (you may want to give it a bit of lift at that distance depending on what your rifle is sighted in at). Worth a crack.
What you might have just as much success with initially is having a casual wander late afternoon-sun down, its often the best time. It also gives you time to get used to your rifle if youre not all that familiar with it.

That would be what I would do anyway and is my suggestion. Good luck and happy hunting.

Thanks guys, I'll probably go for a wonder tomorrow night and see how many I can get

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Originally Posted by Dan88

I'm using a norinco jw27 bolt action .22 and a ledlenser 1000lm torch it's good out to 100m or so

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They are a very nice model of rifle. I had one and it was as accurate as the anshutz I had at the same time. Not all are, but the 27 seemed a step up....

I found it best to use a low powered and very wide flood angle head torch while walking around - this makes it easier to spot the eye shine, and a powerful led spot mounted to the scope to use once you have seen the eye shine.

Some good advice already. Sounds obvious I know, but you simply need to know where the rabbits live. Once you've established where their warrens are, whether its a proper one, or under a building, or in hedgerows, then you can nut out a plan of attack. The best way to do this is to recce the farm a few times, watch where they run to, then go have a look for their home. As soon as you find holes, you're in business. Most rabbits will remain within a shortish dash of home but some will venture further, usually younger animals being pushed out from the warren.

Productive rabbiting is all about anticipating where you'll see rabbits, and being prepared. For rifle shooting, the best method is to work out the best places to shoot from, and set them up in advance. I've placed two stacked milk crates with a plywood top in likely places under trees, with good cover, good field of view from slightly elevated positions. I them there for the spring & summer, so I can walk in, sit and have a ready to go rest. I have a half dozen spots set up like this on the farm at the end of our road. Makes it so much easier. Knowing your ranges from each spot, remembering them for each shooting position, makes .22LR shooting a much higher percentage game than having to constantly range (or guess). Rabbits that know you're there will give you a chance, but not for long.

I had the wife laminate my drops table for the .22, a dozen copies, and I've stapled them to the posts or crates and they stay there... otherwise I'll forget it. Its very satisfying knowing you can reliably pick off 100m++ bunnies without too much bother.

If the grass is a bit long, it makes it very hard if you just plan on walking around, you'll spook them and they'll run. Good fun if you have a shotgun but useless with a rifle. But if you know roughly where they'll be, you just have to sit up and glass the grass... you'll see them, even if its just ears. I love picking off rabbits when all you can see is ears.

I do occasionally shoot rabbits at night but to be honest its not my preference, just a personal thing. Used to do it for hours on end as a kid with a ute and lights and shotties, a blood bath. Industrial level rabbitting. These days a late afternoon/ evening is more fun for me, with a good plan and some advance prep.

Agree with the guys saying to shoot in daylight if possible, especially if public thoroughfare is a possibility.

Depending on where you are, be conscious that rabbits and cats eyes shine difference colours, so (unless feral cats are a legitimate target where you are) you aren't shooting the farmer's little miss fluffy.

If you are shooting there for a while, make an effort to notice how the seasons change the foliage/ ground cover and what that means for where rabbits go/ hang out.

The thing I found that made the biggest positive difference for me was sidelining my LED lenser (P7.2), in favour of an 8 dollar AliExpress LED torch using 18650 batteries.

The el cheapo was just so much more powerful. I ended up getting two, mounting one to the scope, using one handheld to sweep paddocks every now and then to pick up eye shine, and a low power headlamp for finding my way around.

I went out for a few nights spotlighting with a very experienced guy.

He'd spot the rabbit with the light, the rabbit would sit or run.

If it sat, he zapped it through the scone with a 22. ( he was a commercial shooter, doing petfood, so didn't do body shots.)

If it ran, he swung the light in front of it till it was out of the beam, then it would stop.

He'd keep doing this till he had it still, then swing the light back on and zap it through the scone.

Depending on the ground as well, rabbits and hares have a tendency to stop at fence lines and other obstacles to look back at you to see if you're still chasing/a threat. I have also had success making them stop and look back long enough to take a shot by whistling/yelling at them

I find that they learn your route too so I tend to mix it up a bit to catch them unawares.

Went out for a walk tonight and of course because I had the .22 saw a lot less rabbits than previous nights!
Got 3 and recovered 1. They dash of into the gorse and disappear quickly even when hit well, spent an hour looking for the ones I got.
The recovered one is now brinning in the fridge.
Realized I need to practice more shooting standing and shooting quicker.

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If your going to use the meat, as soon as you can, squeeze it's stomach to push the pee out.

Yep gutted it with the push method as soon as I got over to it

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Just take out some salt and sprinkle that on there tails. There dead easy to pick up after that.

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Originally Posted by Chur Bay

Shoot the easy ones in the late afternoon. Once you get to know the place come back with a spotlight. I used to have a quick scan of the paddock then off with the light and walk closer. When I think im in range turn the light on.make your shots count as when you miss you end up with light shy bunnies.

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Thats good advice. If you have the light mounted on the rifle and use a really good headlamp youve got it all covered. Also works well with a shotgun in scrub at night. Move slowly at night though, theres always a wee drop off you havnt noticed..

if the walkway access points aren't too far away, it may be an idea to hang a " Pest Control Tonight, Be Aware Please " sign at each end of farm track.

Hi mate
Good for you to have a farm for rabbits hunt. I am always looking for a good farm since I like rabbit hunt and cooking. Well my experience is that if you have ATV or quad is best for you at night. Walking is not recommended for night because you need to cover lots areas.
An open sight rifle is alright. But for my experience is shotgun 12/20 ga both work well. looking forward to see your rabbits.

No need to gut them

Remove the backsteaks and back legs, be mindful of hygiene, cool the meat as soon as you can

Vacuum pack it as soon as you get home and freeze

The backsteaks cook as a white meat, cubed and coated with coatncook is a fav with the kids



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Interestingly Rabbit hunting is where most of us started and probably where most of us may well finish up :)

It’s hard to beat a warm afternoon searching familiar surroundings, there’s patience to be learned and a blending in with your surroundings.
Get the most accurate rifle that suits you -and practise at a range to say 80 yards, headshots or chest shots will save the most meat.

Warm afternoons
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When you have a good area consider “farming” it, ie perhaps don’t shoot everything, let them breed so you can go back and continue honing your skills

You will find rabbits in many places, they like orchards.
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After a while I developed a hunting technique that neither scared the rabbits or even alarmed them, I varied my approach styles, wore drab coloured clothing and concealed my face etc, then moved from cover to cover and as slowly as I could.

I was then able to observe them going about their day

Until they spot me
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Hunting small game is great fun, and the skills you develop transfer over to hunting large game as well.

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Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

No need to gut them

Remove the backsteaks and back legs, be mindful of hygiene, cool the meat as soon as you can

Vacuum pack it as soon as you get home and freeze

The backsteaks cook as a white meat, cubed and coated with coatncook is a fav with the kids



Attachment 113929

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This is too good:) Do you smoke it? Any good local recipes from Hawkes bay to recommende?

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Originally Posted by NEO

This is too good:) Do you smoke it? Any good local recipes from Hawkes bay to recommende?

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@GWH is the legend wild game cook

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Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

@GWH is the legend wild game cook

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Hardly, I just cut into chunks and roll in panko crumbs, the kids seem to like it.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e03c4821a6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d1c414d26e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6f78499e2e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...225e29d736.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b0212246b5.jpg

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@Dan88 how's the rabbit hunting going?

I got out for a couple of hours solo spotlighting them tonight, great fun and quite a challenge in the orchard.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...068f95fb6a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...af4c8705f6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...676eb6e726.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...29b6a6f7b2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6a39e42167.jpg

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Great time of the year to be harvesting rabbits

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When spotlighting for rabbits, there are several techniques you can try:
Stalking: Walk along with the spotlight on, scanning the area for rabbits. When you spot one at a distance, approach quietly to get within shooting range. This method requires patience and stealth.


Spotlight and Stalk: Walk along with just a headlamp on to see the ground, then use the spotlight intermittently to spot rabbits. This can help avoid spooking them with constant light and allows you to approach quietly when you spot one.


Ambush: Find a spot where rabbits are known to come out, such as feeding areas or burrow entrances. Sit quietly and patiently, then use the spotlight to illuminate them when they emerge. This method requires knowledge of rabbit behavior and preferred habitats.


Drive and Spotlight: Have someone drive slowly while you use the spotlight to scan for rabbits along the edges of fields or roadsides. This method covers more ground quickly but may spook rabbits if the vehicle is too loud.
Experiment with different techniques to see which works best in your hunting area. Remember to prioritize safety and legal hunting practices at all times.