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9.3x57
.450 member

Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5521
Loc: United States

Bunny Tracks...
#91306 - 12/12/07 04:52 AM

Conservatively estimated, I walk about 600 miles per year with gun in-hand {rifle, shotgun or pistol} on my morning hikes and sometimes I stumble and bumble my way into something. Here's a snowshoe hare I shot this morning.

Here is a pic for those who haven't seen a snowshoe:

And one of the area. The hare was shot in a dense thicket, but here is some of the country surrounding:

And overlooking some of the deer hunting haunts:

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What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Paatti
.333 member

Reged: 18/01/07
Posts: 301
Loc: Finland

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: 9.3x57]
#91311 - 12/12/07 05:57 AM

Nice to see some small game too in here. What about the size of that snowshoe? Is that normal size?
We have two kinds of hares in here. Hare and brown hare. Brown hare is most common in suburbs and near by the arable lands. Tracks are quite similar between our hares and snowshoe hare.
Here are the end of the brown hare tacks.

Here are my brother and common size hare. Hare on the right.

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9.3x57
.450 member

Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5521
Loc: United States

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Paatti]
#91326 - 12/12/07 12:43 PM

Kiitos Paati!!

Yes, the snowshoe in the picture is about normal size for the ones we have here. I have seen the European Hare in Sweden. The ones I saw were much bigger than our snowshoe hares. The one your brother is carrying appears to me to be bigger than our showshoes.

What gun is your brother carrying? What guns do you normally use to hunt hares?

We do not have many of the hares. I use shotgun and rifle on them. The one I used today was a Ruger 10/22 with a Leupold 2x7 scope. When we use a full caliber centerfire on them we aim for the chest as even if the hare is blown in half, very little meat is lost since most of the meat is in the rear half of the hare, with little meat on the ribs.

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What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Paatti
.333 member

Reged: 18/01/07
Posts: 301
Loc: Finland

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: 9.3x57]
#91369 - 13/12/07 03:00 AM

My brother gun is 870 remington with synthetic stock. Most common gun for hare is 12 gauge shotgun. 22lr is illegal for hares here and rifle is quite seldom seen in hare hunt.
I use rifle mostly if i coinsidently see hare during foxhunt but normally i use shotgun.

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Shackleton
.300 member

Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 203
Loc: Iowa

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Paatti]
#91397 - 13/12/07 10:27 AM

Wow, a fellow small-game hunter. Makes me wish I'd have taken pictures of the 4 squirrels I got Monday-all incidentals from a "luckless" pheasant hunt. The birds were flushing 70 yards out or behind thick cover, but the squirrels were everywhere. One was stalked from out of range-good practice for bigger stuff right?-but wish I'd have had my .22 along for that one instead-Remington 581 with an old Weaver 2.5-7 scope. Biggest problem is that the scope has a steel tube and I don't like to take it out in wet weather, but for accuracy work it will outdo anything else I've used. Headshots from 60 yards are easier than sneaking to within 30 with a shotgun. Oh well, maybe next time, and the gun they're shot with doesn't change the way they taste.

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"I do not kill with my gun, he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart."--Stephen King

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NitroX
.700 member

Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39885
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Shackleton]
#91421 - 13/12/07 12:16 PM

I can probably find some bunny tracks in the sand, but not any snow.

Interesting to read about and see the photos.

I have an article I wrote years ago on hunting hares in vineyards. I will have to dig it up and post it too (assuming I haven't already).

I love hunting hares and enjoy seeing them during the day even when I'm not carrying a rifle or shotgun.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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9.3x57
.450 member

Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5521
Loc: United States

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: NitroX]
#91432 - 13/12/07 02:10 PM

Paati: why are the .22's illegal for hare? What rifle do you use for fox?

Shackleton: I grew up shooting grays and fox squirrels. Here we only have ground squirrels to shoot and I kill hundreds of them each spring and summer, but don't eat them. The red squirrels are protected for some reason.

Nitro: I'd like to see that article!! Are hares still a problem in Australia? Wasn't some disease introduced to decrease the numbers?

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What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Paatti
.333 member

Reged: 18/01/07
Posts: 301
Loc: Finland

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: 9.3x57]
#91492 - 14/12/07 06:42 AM

There is not enough power in 22lr according to finnish law. 22Wmr is ok. Mostly I use my Sako forester 308 for fox. Sometimes also a 9,3x62 Sako battue or my break open custom Baikal in 30-30Win.

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NitroX
.700 member

Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39885
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: 9.3x57]
#91521 - 14/12/07 11:24 AM

Quote:

Nitro: I'd like to see that article!! Are hares still a problem in Australia? Wasn't some disease introduced to decrease the numbers?

Myxomatosis was introduced to combat the rabbit plague. It does not affect hares.

Hare numbers however have decreased due to the use of chemical sprays and herbicides and other factors. Grassy cover along fence lines and similar places in paddocks has been reduced in farms and these areas provide cover for hares and their "nests". Hares do not burrow, so are more susceptible to predation from cats, dogs and foxes.

In vineyards they can be a nuisance. In young plantings they can "ring bark" young vines killing them by eating off the bark in a "ring". They also can nip irrigation dripper lines looking for water, making a hole and damaging hoses.

I shoot a few each year, but never try to shoot them all out.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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9.3x57
.450 member

Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5521
Loc: United States

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: NitroX]
#91531 - 14/12/07 01:06 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Nitro: I'd like to see that article!! Are hares still a problem in Australia? Wasn't some disease introduced to decrease the numbers?

Myxomatosis was introduced to combat the rabbit plague. It does not affect hares.

Hare numbers however have decreased due to the use of chemical sprays and herbicides and other factors. Grassy cover along fence lines and similar places in paddocks has been reduced in farms and these areas provide cover for hares and their "nests". Hares do not burrow, so are more susceptible to predation from cats, dogs and foxes.

In vineyards they can be a nuisance. In young plantings they can "ring bark" young vines killing them by eating off the bark in a "ring". They also can nip irrigation dripper lines looking for water, making a hole and damaging hoses.

I shoot a few each year, but never try to shoot them all out.

Paati: A SAKO 9.3x62 Battue? Very neat kivaari!

Nitro, thanks for the info. We have the same problem with ringing on new plantings here. We have not yet experienced much trouble from "rabbits" on our plantation as the snowshoes on our ground are located up higher in the thick timber. The foresters tell me they are devastating in some plantings, though.

As for hunting them hard...ditto me. We have a couple spots where we shoot some, but we don't hunt them very hard because they don't cause us much trouble and there aren't too many of them to-boot. I wouldn't hesitate to make war on them if there was a reason, but so far there hasn't been.

Like my son and his favorite "secret" trout stream; there are two big holes he won't take more than three out of. Saving some for next year!

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What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Ripp
.577 member

Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Paatti]
#91533 - 14/12/07 01:36 PM

Quote:

There is not enough power in 22lr according to finnish law. 22Wmr is ok.

I find that quite an interesting statement--as there are literally thousand killed each year here in the US with a 22lr..strange how different areas view different calibers...
Ripp

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ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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Shackleton
.300 member

Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 203
Loc: Iowa

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Ripp]
#91539 - 14/12/07 03:23 PM

And as far as the not enough power question, I've hit rabbits with a .22 hollowpoint badly and even then cut the rabbit nearly in half-then again, that's cottontails and not hares. Probably not quite as big?

--------------------
"I do not kill with my gun, he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart."--Stephen King

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Paatti
.333 member

Reged: 18/01/07
Posts: 301
Loc: Finland

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Shackleton]
#91555 - 14/12/07 07:55 PM

Hare weight at maturity is about 3 kg or maybe bit more and cottontail is something about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds if I'm right. So there is a quite big difference of sizes. Big brown hare duold weight 6 kg.
In my opinion ban of a 22lr is futile but no can do. I do also have more powerful but still handy rifles available if I need one for hares

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9.3x57
.450 member

Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5521
Loc: United States

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Paatti]
#91625 - 15/12/07 10:18 AM

Paati's telling the truth. They're big.

Some of those Skåne hares I saw I could'a sworn would have taken my Newton Porter stock saddle with the cinch let out to the last hole!!

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What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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Shackleton
.300 member

Reged: 11/08/07
Posts: 203
Loc: Iowa

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: 9.3x57]
#91662 - 15/12/07 05:10 PM

I figured they were somewhat bigger than a cottontail but that's huge-sounds like a fun hunt. Will make a point of taking a camera Monday or Tuesday to my father in law's farm if I go hunting again-didn't realize there was this much interest in small stuff with all the discussions on deer and larger. Hopefully will at least get a couple more squirrels, but bunnies and pheasants will be great too(would have had plenty of chances of "sniping" roosters from 70 yards with a rifle but it's just not the same as getting them flying). As far as the size of the hares, I'd probably want the larger rifle too-sounds like a fun day.

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"I do not kill with my gun, he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart."--Stephen King

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Ripp
.577 member

Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA

Re: Bunny Tracks... [Re: Shackleton]
#91675 - 16/12/07 12:53 AM

Quote:

And as far as the not enough power question, I've hit rabbits with a .22 hollowpoint badly and even then cut the rabbit nearly in half-then again, that's cottontails and not hares. Probably not quite as big?

Have shot many many hares as well as cottontails with both a standard 22 long rifle and 22 mag--clearly the 22 mag has more energy--but have never had a problem killing a hare with a standard 22..

and yes, the cottontails are considerably smaller...

We used to open up on them when they would burst from the cattails and brush while making drives back in N Dakota for whitetail deer--that was just the way we grew up hunting back there-=-99% of all shots were at running game--which makes for an interesing learning curve ..

Ripp

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..

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