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Author Topic: Hunting snowshoe hares?  (Read 1140 times)

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Offline bigbore442001

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Hunting snowshoe hares?
« on: December 31, 2002, 05:27:02 AM »
What is the best way for a handgunner to hunt these big white rabbits? I don't have a dog nor do I know of anyone who does. Any suggestions?
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Offline Dand

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snow shoe hares
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2003, 03:11:49 PM »
Hunting snow shoe rabbits with a pistol is a blast.  Like the previous posters said - locate a good population, then stalk very slow and carefully and use your eyes - study the brush etc.  You might look for sunnny hillside where the rabbits might be sheltered while sunning.

I have used 22 long rifle or 38, 357, and 41 mag with light semi wadcutter loads and they all work well with open sights.  Good luck and have fun!!!
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liberal Justice Hugo Black said, and I quote: "There are 'absolutes' in our Bill of Rights, and they were put there on purpose by men who knew what words meant and meant their prohibitions to be 'absolutes.'" End quote. From a recent article by Wayne LaPierre NRA

Offline KING

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Hunting snowshoe hares?
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2003, 05:09:47 PM »
:D   FER SHOOTING HARES,i WILL USE A .22 HANDGUN,WITH OR WITHOUT A SCOPE ON IT.  sOMETIMES,AND ITS MORE FUN,i USE A .32 FLINTLOCK.  iF YOU FIND A GOOD AREA WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED AT AND THERE IS NO SNOW ONNA GROUND THEY WILL BE EASY TO SE,CAUSE THEY WILL BE WHITE,AND THE GROUND WILL BE,BROWN.  iF YOU DO HAVE SNOW ON THE GROUND,LIKE THE OTHER GUYS SAID,WALK SLOWLEY AND LOOK UNDER OVERHANGING BRANCHES ,OF SPRUCK,AND THE PNEY TYUPE TREES.  aLSO LOOK INT THE BUSHES.  wHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS EITHER AN ABNORMALITY IN THE PATTERN OF THE BRANCHES OR THAT LITTLE BLACK EYE WINKING AT YA.  gOOD SHOOTING AND BE SAFE.  EVERYTHING IS IN CAPS,CAUSE THE BAR IS STUCK ONNA COMP.
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THE ONLY FEMALE THAT I TRUST IS A LABRADOR.......AND SHE DONT SNOORE,AND DONT COMPLAIN ABOUT MY COOKING...THE ONLY GODS THAT EXIST ARE THOSE THAT HAVE ONE IN THE CHAMBER,AND 19 IN THE MAG.......

Offline Mikey

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Bammin' Bunnies
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2003, 04:08:17 AM »
Hay BigBore:  My regular hunting buddy and I usually go with shotguns and 22 pistols or shotguns and 357s.  Rarely get the chance to bam one with the scatterguns as we're usually chasing them around heavy ground growth, stone walls or fences, brushpiles or brushlines where they can hide and you have to get close with a handgun.  

With Snowhares, stalking slowly is about the best way if there is snow on the ground.  Most bunnies, including the cottontails we hunt here try and avoid large open areas where they are subject to airborne predators and stick to places where they can get to cover quickly.  If you want to foster the wabbit population, build some large brushpiles where they can find shelter or knock off some of the local bunny eaters so there is more for you.  Sometimes they are very difficult to see in the snow but, look for the eyes and their tracks.  If you see tracks you can expect to have some in the area.  No tracks, no bunnies, no dinner.  

357s with wadcutters or semi-wadcutters make for good bunny medicine and don't ruin a lot of meat.  22s are also real good.  Good luck and have fun.  And dinner, too.  This is Mikey.
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Offline RJ

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.44 bp, rev
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2003, 03:30:23 PM »
If you are up to a bigger challange try a .44 black powder revolver of a single shot BP, pistol.  It's a blast.
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Offline Mikey

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Bustin' Bunnies
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2003, 04:10:44 AM »
Hay RJ:  that does sound like a hoot.  Shoot, wait for the smoke to clear, see where the bunny went.  I do like that idea, thankee.

Question fer ya:  do you shoot the black powder or one of the substitutes in your pistol?  I have read that the Pyrodex pellets give a consistent powder charge and pretty good accuracy.  Any thoughts on this???

Thanks.  Mikey.
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Offline RJ

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bp
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2003, 12:34:54 PM »
Mikey, I have been shooting ML since 77', never used anything but BP.I use fffg in the shotgun and rifle and ffffg ion the cap-n-ball and the pistols.
I use the ffffg for priming the pan on the ones that use no caps.I re-enact F&I, Rev. and 1812.
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Offline Mikey

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Black Powder Bunnies
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2003, 03:43:20 AM »
RJ, you have gone and incited me.  There are a couple of cap and ball revolvers I have been looking at in the Cabellas catalog and I think you have just given me the nudge to go over the edge and get one.  This is going to be kinda tough, because I have had my eyes on a Cimmaron Arms 1873 repo with the original finish and have thought about trying black powder in that.

I notice you use 4fg in your rifles and pistols.  I have little knowledge of BP but will assume that the higher the number of 'f's you have the finer grained the powder is.  I can understand fine grained powder in pistols but what caliber rifle do you use it in and how does it perform.  

I have a Trapdoor that I have yet to fire as I'm not too comfortable yet with the cleaning up routine and I have read that some fellas use 1f and some use 2f powder in their cases.  Should I assume that the smaller the caliber the finer grained the powder can be and still give good results???

Thanks for any info you can provide.  Mikey. :-D
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