RABBIT HUNTING

RABBIT HUNTING
10 tips for hunting rabbits in summer
In many hunting areas there has been a notable increase in rabbit populations in recent months, with an extraordinary repopulation capacity in specific areas, such as the south of Córdoba, where damage to agriculture is very important, and where this year it has been largely accused in the vineyards. As we are now in a working period to hunt rabbits, in this increasingly common and extended summer rabbit season, it is worth thinking about some tips to be able to take a game, enough to each of our outings to the field, with the shotgun and soft cartridges.
To the field!, finally came the expected date to be able to go out to live the first days of hunting of this new season, and we are going to do it with the rabbits, in vibrant hauls, always unexpected, vibrant, attractive and very given to visual enjoyment by the environment in which we are going to hunt, and by doing it usually in the less hot hours of the day.
Here we do not go out to "collect" rabbits, but to bring down those that the field, well, provides us in each day.
Three main modalities in this first phase of the season, stalking, waiting and hunting to jump, will take us to some places to others, looking for the arrival at the dump of a few rabbits that return from their nocturnal runs, approach those who are solean early on the edge of the mountain with the plain throw those who start in our path.
And of course, rabbit hunting in summer with our dogs, where excellent sample dogs will make it clear that throwing half a dozen rabbits to dog is a real luxury. Here are, then, ten tips, to hunt better in these next outings.
1. How many? What the field says
Many fans think that the hunting season in summer, of desconeje as it is popularly known in many areas, means achieving large perches at the expense of new rabbits and little punished by dogs and hunters, who usually leave easily in the face of a productive shot.
Here is a tip that I think is quite practical: do not go out with the fixed idea of achieving a minimum of so many rabbits, this makes us risk the shots when they do not jump as we would like, injuring rabbits that then it is difficult to charge. Never go beyond the rabbits that we can shoot at a good distance and in good conditions, do not want to do pirouettes with the shots, or stop rabbits in full sight out of shot. Here we do not go out to "collect" rabbits, but to bring down those that the field, well, provides us in each day.
2. Hunt slowly always attentive
Big mistake to walk, walking through the field, thinking that the rabbit will always be stepped on, in the best oriented bush, and before a comfortable clear for the shot. We hunt, we walk, but not always these two options get along well when what we are looking for is to take some rabbits to the perch.
We already know that by chance, a rabbit is plucked where you least expect it, and that even that day you are hunting distracted, with your head elsewhere, you hang half a dozen like someone who does not want the thing, but the intention and being focused are essential to be able to take advantage of the summer season of the rabbit. It is important to hunt at a slow pace, not as we usually do many times, it seems that we have a flock of partridges ahead on a hillside in November. Hunting rabbits now you have to hurry when the area is intricate, with sparse faces of vegetation, and we depend on the peeks that we already know, so we do not have to waste time and raise the pace.
3. Master the dump
In line with the previous comments, we must insist that we should not opt for walking, for visiting "beautiful" areas and waiting for a rabbit to jump nearby. We can go a step further, and quickly but effectively analyze a certain place before entering to hunt it, because in this hunt it is essential to "see" the hunter, and hit the shots. Therefore we must look for areas from where we control the rabbits that move at the bottom, which slowly drain upwards, because the bushes sometimes let us see from top to bottom, but they are more problematic if we are hunting below in an area of slope some slope.
Each place has its dump, and we must place ourselves in the best possible way to control the clearings and the corridors in the mountain, and the plots of brush in the plain, because for example, advancing just along a boundary we control right and left, but if we go fifteen meters from that same boundary, the rabbits that move on the other side will leave without us discovering them.
4. Shooting at a good distance
In the rabbit hunting season in summer almost all of us tend to throw precipitously and dominating the distances little in the first days. And that those who hunt several days, because those who at most go hunting on a couple of occasions at this time -contracted hunts-, do not get to take well the distance or the rhythm of shooting that this piece demands. Let us never rush. It is rare that we are hunting in an area so tangled as to have to shoot super fast: facing badly and aculatar inadequately makes us fail "inexplicably" and this results in the following throws, failing much more than normal.
The rabbits that are torn off at medium distance give us a moment to face and line up the piece well. The rest is to advance just enough, little, because they do not usually go very fast, and shoot. So no shooting with your face raised or three senseless burst shots. A well-made shot is a downed rabbit, and we have plenty of time almost always.
In waiting and stalking you always have to pull at a logical distance, no long-distance trials, because we hurt more than one that we will not be able to charge. Stalking you have to abuse the rather closed chokes to secure somewhat long rabbits – it does not hurt to mount and in shotguns of two barrels, in semiautomatic – and in the waits, calculate well the distance between the hiding post, and the "square" where the rabbits enter, trying to raise the tip of the barrel a little to avoid creeping and low shots by peeking excessively when aiming at an almost still rabbit.
5. Select the rabbit?
We should always do so, and for several reasons; Let's see, if we hunt to avoid further damage to agriculture, better to kill adult rabbits than gazapos, right? At the same time, if we hunt logically, with a quota with the criterion that we must leave enough rabbits in the area for the rest of the season and to guarantee a good density, what is the point of bringing down those small gazapos that we sometimes see in the belts when emptying the backpack?
In this regard there are those who say that when a rabbit is torn from you, you do not know if it is big small, you pull and that's it, but it is not like that. It is like someone who says that he cannot differentiate, in the half ban, a quail from a partridge chicken ... We must take care of and promote a good hunting ethic.
Hunting the jump perfectly appreciates the size of the rabbits, it is possible to the exception that we throw in very closed areas of scrubland and watching the rabbit cross between the bushes, without seeing its real volume; But removing these cases, on a plot on the plain, hunting on a hillside in terraces, you clearly see the rabbit and its size.
In a wait there is nothing more to say, you know perfectly which rabbit we should pull. and in fact, in more than one case two threes move together, and we see how they have different sizes, always aiming for the largest; Recechando happens the same, if we want there is no problem when it comes to differentiating them.
6. Attentive to slopes and terraces
The mountain holds more opportunities than many think, because sometimes wrongly there are enough hunters who hunt only the plain at this time of summer, fleeing the mountain for two reasons: because of the difficulty of shooting with the bushes, and because you have to be going up and down ...
The scrubland, the slope of a hill, the slope of a mountain range, go over the strip of the mountain that borders the crops with the plain, holds vibrant and very varied hauls that often populate the perch with four five rabbits achieved based on tenacity and knowledge of the hunter.
The hillside must always be caught with the face breeze, trying not to make excessive noise, attentive early in the morning to rabbits that move alone, especially in the lower area, because they will not be bedridden yet; Later it will be a good time to review the troughs where they get to sestear in brooms and gorse, because we will throw at a very good distance, having to review the hunting ground slowly. In areas of terraces it is necessary to advance very attentively to be able to control the dump of the lower terraces, because of the highest we will have little perspective. At most we will see a rabbit tear upwards, and let us pull on the climb between one terrace and another.
7. Hunting in the shade
This sounds mid-morning, terrible heat and a crazy desire to drink fresh water, right? Well, no, at mid-morning we will look for them where they are bedridden, not where we would like to take refuge ...
You have to take advantage of the shady areas at the first and last minute, but especially in the morning, since the rabbits here last longer before bedding in complicated areas, and our presence is much better concealed than in sunny areas. Let's think that with success in the clothing, we will get confused with the environment as soon as we stop at a shadow face eh a hillside, attentive to the rabbits that move nearby.
Entering early through places where there are majanos, you have to take advantage when the sun has not yet started, because then it will be difficult to find rabbits outside. It is something that also happens in the plots of olive groves, since as soon as the sun tightens, it rises and the chicharras begin their concert, the rabbits retreat in the chuecos, and we will throw few.
In the afternoon it is convenient to review the shaded areas that border the crops, because many rabbits will be sesteando nearby, and they begin to move to enter to eat after a while, so we will take advantage of more hauls than in the middle of the mountain. The same happens with the streams, if we can hunt in parallel and protected by an area where we do not stand out, we will throw more rabbits than if we go in sight of them.
8. The stream, in hand
The streams and the boundaries with tarayes and other shrubs always have rabbits, this is clear, and it is enough to travel prior to the opening of the season the surrounding areas, especially if they are planted, to realize the amount of damage caused by the rabicortos there.
Whether we hunt without dogs, or if we do it from the date on which their help is authorized, the streams must always be hunted in hand, with another partner, whenever the bushes cover the dump on the other side, because there are small streams that have rabbits, and can be hunted by a single shotgun.
It is not convenient or prudent, to hunt only on one side of the stream when we do not see the exit of the rabbits to the other side, but there is a small trick that works well, especially at the first and late hours of the day: hunt removed from the stream, first one side, later the other side, back.
To do this we must first hunt the side that is easiest to house rabbits outside the bed of the stream, and advance as discreetly as possible, to see the rabbits that start towards the stream, and those that fiddle in the vicinity enjoying the temperature that will not be high.
9. A good cartridge
Let's look for a good cartridge, reliable, comfortable, practical, soft, adapted to the general shooting conditions that we have on average in our preserve and area where we usually hunt. So far the generalities that we have read on several occasions, but we have to refine more and we have to do it because we can hunt better.
Now we do not need large loads, or very thick pellet cartridges except for very specific situations -long stalks-, all we need is a good hunting cartridge that stops the rabbits well, preventing us from leaving some wounded touched, because without a dog it will be difficult to collect them.
Cartridges that open very well at medium distance, 30 grams and seventh shot, to ensure the haul, these are the ones that will best serve us to hunt the jump and in hand in good dump terrain; If it is complicated because the dump is somewhat longer, we go to 32 grams also of seventh. Let's think that the 32 cartridges close the shot a little more.
This must be taken into account because if we throw close with this load, and unless we use cartridges with plastic felt plug without container cup, we will fail more than we should. In these cases always 30 grams, and if it is always very close, octave shot, soft if possible, to better stop the rabbits. Shooting with 34 – they open more than those of 32 ... – 36 grams is to throw cartridges out of logic for the needs, and except for very complex terrain, we should never resort to throwing heavy loads, less the more shots we hit in the day, because with 30-32 grams and playing with the chokes, we will get better results. In addition, with heat, the cartridges become more "sticky".
10. The rabbit team
Light clothing always, and if we can, no vest. Even less if it is the vest we have to hunt in autumn and winter, because the heat takes its toll subtracting effectiveness with unnecessary weight and extra clothes; Colors adapted to the environment, and when in doubt, unclear colors, we will confuse ourselves better in the environment with light brown green colors, than with jeans and a white shirt.
The important thing is to be able to hunt as long as we want, even until mid-morning until noon on not too hot mornings, because we almost always leave at half past nine in the morning, and if we hunted two three hours more we would not only get better results -usually-, but we would learn a lot about the love of rabbits when they are bedridden.
Hunting in brush and scrub are interesting light gaiters to prevent us from getting spikes in our boots, because early they enter and are a nuisance; Anyway, in summer we can do without boots with protective membranes against humidity and rain, and opt for high cane boots, light and sole of medium hardness, to be able to hunt in the mountains and flat without problems.