Jack-o-rama

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Had a really good day on jack rabbits yesterday. Actually, was supposed to be coyote hunting. But after a few stands we had not seen a single coyote track in the snow but were seeing lots of jack rabbits. Too many jack rabbits - when there are that many, it seems like there are hardly ever many coyotes around. If there were, there wouldn't be THAT many rabbits. Anyway, we quit calling and just started hunting jacks. Whopped the heck out of them with our calling rifles.

I also spotted a large badger and took him as well. One of the largest and definitely the best furred badger I've ever killed. Spent most of an hour getting him skinned and then right at the end I goofed up. The ears on a badger aren't placed on the skull anywhere close to how a coyotes ears are placed. I thought I was looking at ear butts and "made the slice". Crap... All I did was slice the hide so that most of the face isn't attached to it. Really ticked me off. I'd left the feet on and was planning to send the fur off to River Runner for proper tanning and everything. Just not the same without the face though... I'll still go ahead and tan it myself, but DANG I wish I hadn't goofed that up.

- DAA
 
DAA,

I don't live in jackrabbit country so I have never had the chance to hunt them before. How do you go about it? Are you jump shooting them and taking them on the fly. Or do they run out a ways then stop and give you a longer distance shot. I wish we did have jacks around here it sounds like the shooting practice they offer would be excellent. The southern part of ID has jacks and I have always been tempted to go down there when populations are high. That would be great to use your calling rifle like you were doing. That would make shooting at coyotes a little easier I suppose. Thanks

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Lonny, we jump shoot them, pretty much just like you described. Most of the time, they won't stop and you have to shoot at them on the run. In deep snow like we had yesterday though, they do tend to stop more often. And every once in awhile you'll spot one just sitting there a ways out and can get a shot off before he runs. Shots ranged from 20 yds on runners to over 200 yds on sitters - my buddy made the best shot of the day, about 225 yds, offhand with his M70 .243. It really is the best practicle rifle practice I can imagine. Back about 20 years ago, jack rabbits were really thick all over Utah and we'd go out after them with our deer rifles almost every weekend for a few months leading up to the deer hunt. I'm here to tell you, after a few months of jump shooting jacks, a deer seems INCREDIBLY huge and slow! Impossible to miss! Coyotes don't seem quite as big and slow by comparison, but they are definitely a whole heck of a lot easier to hit than jack rabbits!

Edit: Forgot to mention, the rabbits yesterday were the thickest I've seen them since the days I just spoke of 20 years ago. Awesome day of rabbit hunting!

- DAA

[This message has been edited by DAA (edited 12-02-2001).]
 
I don't want to be too nosy, but where were you at during all this? We went out Saturday to one of our normal hotspots and got nothing. Only saw one rabbit the whole time.
Like you, we were originally looking for yotes but none came to the call.
If it's a secret hole, no worries if you don't want to give up the location.
 
Hey Dave,
Leave it to me to go down to Globe, while up here, you shoot one of the very critters I'm trying to get mounted this year! Been waiting for a big one for a long time now.
I figured the jack hunting was good up here with the snow on the ground. Maybe we will have another storm in here pretty quick.
Talk to you later, Mike

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[This message has been edited by Mike Paul (edited 12-03-2001).]
 
We went "out west" on saturday for coyotes but it was way to windy where we were at. stopped and tried for jacks but only saw 4 got one. We saw 6-8 jacks torn-up on the road driving around and only one set of coyote tracks. Just a general idea where you were at would be fine, if you don't mind.
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DAA,
It seems to me that areas that I have tried to call and later found that there had been a lot of ADC work in the same area,
I obviously found very low numbers of Coyotes but high numbers of Jackrabbits.
During mid-day after making a stand, I change magazines in my 223 to 30 round mags filled with Mil. Surplus ammo and make large circular sweeps, jump shooting Jacks as we work our way back to the Rig.


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Good Hunting To Ya !!
Merle
 
Merle, you probably nailed it. I know for a firsthand fact that this little area got hammered by ADC last winter. I've seen where an area like that can fill right back up, with transient YoY the following winter and provide some good calling, so we went ahead and gave it a try. Either it hasn't filled back in, or the ADC boys have kept up the pressure. Because there just weren't any coyotes around. But, boy, were there ever a lot of jack rabbits!

Talon, I honestly don't quite know what to say. We were "out west" too. That's an awful lot of area though, I know. And, from reading another post of yours, I know exactly where you were and I will tell you that the honey-hole where we really got into the jacks was both a long way from Lookout Pass and also out of reach for your vehicle by the sounds of it. We did not see anyone else actually hunting where we were. We saw a few trucks drive by, but none of them stopped and got out in the little group of hills we were hunting. So I'm not inclined to say exactly where we were. Hoping it doesn't get too disturbed in the next few weeks. I just finished building a custom 10/22 to give my Brother-in-law for Christmas, and I'm thinking I'd like to take him out there over the holidays. He has only really been hunting the one time before that I took him. Turning him loose on a spot like that with his new (and first ever) gun, then just sitting back and watching him is going to be a LOT of fun.

Mike Paul, I sure wish I had not messed up the face on this badger hide! Really, as big and pretty a badger as I've ever killed. I've not bothered to shoot most of the badgers I've seen for awhile. Been waiting for a real nice one also. Finally crossed paths with one and screwed it up. Hope you find the one you are looking for this winter - and when you do, do a better job skinning it than I did!

- DAA
 
I guess I just need to get out more and find my own areas. I used to have quite a few places to go and do some real slaying on jacks and a few pdogs but then I went and got stupid and got married
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so I don't get out near as much as I'd like (but more than my wife likes). Hardest thing is I don't have a partner most of the time, I like a little company. Thanx anyway.
 
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