JACK RABBITS.. JUST DONT SEE THEM LIKE I USE TOO ?
- Thread starter mrd
- Start date
me and my buddies shot them all in the early 90's. 1000 per week was normal, shotguns, pistols, Ak's, SKS's, long range varmint rifles, hawken muzzle loaders, 17 m4, 17 Rem, 222,223,22/250,243,25/06, and 7 Mags. Norm for the day was shoot the wabbits, then shoot the crows and coyotes coming in to eat the rabbits. The places looked like the battle of Gettysburg, we saved one farmer from bankruptcy, killed over 3000 in 10 days, night and day shooting...exhausting work. The old farmer said, "you boys take your rabbit shooting serious, eh"? We killed over 60 in 20 minutes in his large front yard while sitt'en on the front porch with a Ruger 22 mag loaded with win 40g HP.
Rabbit populations go in cycles, drought has probably not helped the cycles any.
If you have not ate jackrabbit, they are good. Put them in a pressure cooker for 7 minutes under full steam, cut up 1/4 large onion and a clove of garlic, make you slap your grand ma it is so good! Be sure and inspect their liver and look for wolves(worms) in the hide.
If you are going to eat the jackrabbit, it is best to shoot right in front of their nose and suck the wind out of them, so as to not mess up the meat.
Rabbit populations go in cycles, drought has probably not helped the cycles any.
If you have not ate jackrabbit, they are good. Put them in a pressure cooker for 7 minutes under full steam, cut up 1/4 large onion and a clove of garlic, make you slap your grand ma it is so good! Be sure and inspect their liver and look for wolves(worms) in the hide.
If you are going to eat the jackrabbit, it is best to shoot right in front of their nose and suck the wind out of them, so as to not mess up the meat.
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The Famous Grouse
New member
Distemper gets into jackrabbit populaions and hits them really hard in a given area and will whipe out a population for miles around.
Also, in many areas where there used to be a lot of jack rabbits, the coyote populations are much higher than they have been historically. I think coyotes are much harder on jackrabbits than fox, I'm not sure if it's because they team up or if they are just bigger and faster. In areas on my uncle's farm where we've hit the coyotes hard, the jackrabbit population comes back within a year.
Grouse
Also, in many areas where there used to be a lot of jack rabbits, the coyote populations are much higher than they have been historically. I think coyotes are much harder on jackrabbits than fox, I'm not sure if it's because they team up or if they are just bigger and faster. In areas on my uncle's farm where we've hit the coyotes hard, the jackrabbit population comes back within a year.
Grouse
Ackley.....I'll bet the area stunk to high heaven within a couple days. I had a few weekends like that in Nevada back in 2001/2002 with the squirrels. The front pasture was dubbed the killing fields when I left and I was told the place stunk bad. Too much dead meat even for the coyotes. There were hundreds of dead squirrels laying all over. Man was it great!
Yote.Hunter
New member
As has been said, the jackrabbit populations are really driven by weather factors. I used to live in Arizona and I remember in 1977 there were so many jackrabbits, I couldn't buy enough ammo to deal with them. I remember one expedition North of Wickenburg, we came up over a rise overlooking a valley and it looked like the ground in front of us was quivering, there were so many rabbits. We sat there for hours and must have shot 200 at least, 'til we ran out of ammo. There were still plenty left.
1976 was a very wet year, by Arizona standards. Many floods and washed out bridges, etc. 1977 was fairly dry and in 1978 it was hard to find a jackrabbit.
1976 was a very wet year, by Arizona standards. Many floods and washed out bridges, etc. 1977 was fairly dry and in 1978 it was hard to find a jackrabbit.
Sorry......been busy and hadn't been online to update.....
Nope, not a single jack. I couldn't believe I never got a shot at one. Now, Squirrels on the other hand were very plentiful. And it was a lot of fun picking them off for two days. Most were shot from the porch which made for a very leisurely few days. Went through almost a brick of .22 lr. with many shots at 100 yards just for a challenge.
Nope, not a single jack. I couldn't believe I never got a shot at one. Now, Squirrels on the other hand were very plentiful. And it was a lot of fun picking them off for two days. Most were shot from the porch which made for a very leisurely few days. Went through almost a brick of .22 lr. with many shots at 100 yards just for a challenge.
Fursniper
Active member
The AGFD surveys a portion of the hunters each year to estimate statewide harvest of cottontails, but not jackrabbits. The rabbit population in AZ fluctuates erratically with the amount of rainfall each year. I was able to find the following info from the AGFD website. During the past 10 years an average of about 18,000 hunters will take around 90,000 cottontails each year. The highest number taken was about 850,000 cottontails in 1979 and the record low was 56,000 in 1998. The most current data available online was for 2009 in which 72,000 cottontail rabbits were taken.
I suspect the jackrabbit population parallels what the cottontail rabbit population does. In March 2013, the 5th annual jackrabbit camp was conducted near Tucson for youth hunters. A total of 30 young hunters harvested 113 rabbits in 2 days that totaled over 880 pounds of rabbits hitting the deck. This has been a dry year, but we still have jackrabbits in AZ.
I suspect the jackrabbit population parallels what the cottontail rabbit population does. In March 2013, the 5th annual jackrabbit camp was conducted near Tucson for youth hunters. A total of 30 young hunters harvested 113 rabbits in 2 days that totaled over 880 pounds of rabbits hitting the deck. This has been a dry year, but we still have jackrabbits in AZ.
tt35
New member
The jack population in SE Oregon is pretty medium. There are pockets of pretty good numbers but they are not high overall. There are enough to go out just before dark and snipe a few as they come out into the openings to feed but not enough to be very good jump shooting in the sage.
Yote.Hunter
New member
Originally Posted By: FursniperThe AGFD surveys a portion of the hunters each year to estimate statewide harvest of cottontails, but not jackrabbits. The rabbit population in AZ fluctuates erratically with the amount of rainfall each year. I was able to find the following info from the AGFD website. During the past 10 years an average of about 18,000 hunters will take around 90,000 cottontails each year. The highest number taken was about 850,000 cottontails in 1979 and the record low was 56,000 in 1998. The most current data available online was for 2009 in which 72,000 cottontail rabbits were taken.
I suspect the jackrabbit population parallels what the cottontail rabbit population does. In March 2013, the 5th annual jackrabbit camp was conducted near Tucson for youth hunters. A total of 30 young hunters harvested 113 rabbits in 2 days that totaled over 880 pounds of rabbits hitting the deck. This has been a dry year, but we still have jackrabbits in AZ.
If they would let hunters hunt cottontails on golf courses in AZ, I'm sure they would harvest a million a year easily. They love that freshly watered grass. I've had to shoo rabbits away from the tee box just to tee off. They have little fear of man on golf courses.
I suspect the jackrabbit population parallels what the cottontail rabbit population does. In March 2013, the 5th annual jackrabbit camp was conducted near Tucson for youth hunters. A total of 30 young hunters harvested 113 rabbits in 2 days that totaled over 880 pounds of rabbits hitting the deck. This has been a dry year, but we still have jackrabbits in AZ.
If they would let hunters hunt cottontails on golf courses in AZ, I'm sure they would harvest a million a year easily. They love that freshly watered grass. I've had to shoo rabbits away from the tee box just to tee off. They have little fear of man on golf courses.
EJ Reichenbach
New member
South eastern Wyoming seems to have a lot still, after dark there everywhere, Montana has little to almost none, but our pdog population is growing.
Originally Posted By: FursniperThe AGFD surveys a portion of the hunters each year to estimate statewide harvest of cottontails, but not jackrabbits. The rabbit population in AZ fluctuates erratically with the amount of rainfall each year. I was able to find the following info from the AGFD website. During the past 10 years an average of about 18,000 hunters will take around 90,000 cottontails each year. The highest number taken was about 850,000 cottontails in 1979 and the record low was 56,000 in 1998. The most current data available online was for 2009 in which 72,000 cottontail rabbits were taken.
I suspect the jackrabbit population parallels what the cottontail rabbit population does. In March 2013, the 5th annual jackrabbit camp was conducted near Tucson for youth hunters. A total of 30 young hunters harvested 113 rabbits in 2 days that totaled over 880 pounds of rabbits hitting the deck. This has been a dry year, but we still have jackrabbits in AZ.
Those pigmy cotton tails are better eating than a steak! Rabbit gravy and biscuits are the best!
I suspect the jackrabbit population parallels what the cottontail rabbit population does. In March 2013, the 5th annual jackrabbit camp was conducted near Tucson for youth hunters. A total of 30 young hunters harvested 113 rabbits in 2 days that totaled over 880 pounds of rabbits hitting the deck. This has been a dry year, but we still have jackrabbits in AZ.
Those pigmy cotton tails are better eating than a steak! Rabbit gravy and biscuits are the best!
Kansas220Swift
New member
Not so bad out in western KS
TripleDeuce660
Active member
2 years ago when we had a lot of rain I whacked a dozen in 2 hours three consecutive mornings. Could of hit more but was trying to get it on video tape.
I always find them even in drought times but its taken a lot of scouting and I have learned just what to look for. The most important thing is ephedra sinica. If you see lots of it, especially big ones, you will find jacks. If you go out around feb in a drought year you will find that almost every ephedra has a form on the leeward side and the bottom foot or saw has had all the bark stripped off it. The bark is the only green thing in the desert at this time of year. When all the others have died off the only jacks remaining are living on the ephedra. The very best numbers seem to occur around 3500-5000 feet here in california. Bajada with joshua tree and ephedra is always a prime spot to check. I also like to see a variety of mixed grasses and vegetation. This provides food at all times of year. Areas with just one or two kinds of plants such as creosote are not nearly as good. Of course farm land with alphalpha etc can also be really good.
I am pretty sure we see a lot less rabbits because there are sooooooooo many hawks. When I was a kid a hawk was a rare sight. Now I see them everywhere.
I always find them even in drought times but its taken a lot of scouting and I have learned just what to look for. The most important thing is ephedra sinica. If you see lots of it, especially big ones, you will find jacks. If you go out around feb in a drought year you will find that almost every ephedra has a form on the leeward side and the bottom foot or saw has had all the bark stripped off it. The bark is the only green thing in the desert at this time of year. When all the others have died off the only jacks remaining are living on the ephedra. The very best numbers seem to occur around 3500-5000 feet here in california. Bajada with joshua tree and ephedra is always a prime spot to check. I also like to see a variety of mixed grasses and vegetation. This provides food at all times of year. Areas with just one or two kinds of plants such as creosote are not nearly as good. Of course farm land with alphalpha etc can also be really good.
I am pretty sure we see a lot less rabbits because there are sooooooooo many hawks. When I was a kid a hawk was a rare sight. Now I see them everywhere.
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