Public land for rabbits?

[Angus]

I have been looking for a good spot to hunt the wascally wabbit. I have been to Cheatham WMA a few times, but no real action. Any suggestions? I have been thinking of trying LBL or Cross Creeks.

[whiskey]

I'd bet both would be good option. DaveS is a rabbit guy, maybe he will chime in.

[10-Ring]

It's hit or miss, there are a lot of guys that work a lot of or wmas over pretty good with dogs but I've had kick with rabbits there in the past anyway.

[peejman]

There's been several in my back yard the last few weeks, my dog has gotten too old to chase them off.  Though I think one met its demise...   I ran over a chunk of rabbit while mowing last week.  Eeeeew. 

[bersaguy]

I grew up rabbit hunting and of all game I enjoyed hunting and eating rabbit topped the list. I had a couple beagles, one was a National Champion named Book Makers Bet and Bet for short. She was a Lemon Drop color and had a mouth on here like a coon hound and was slow but seldom if ever ran a rabbit in a hole and the other was a Tri-color named john Henry. He also had a coon hound mouth on him. The hunted great together. John was the jump dog and Bet was the tracker for the most part. I would love to be able to go rabbit hunting a few more times before I get to where I can't but don't have dogs any longer so would have to get invited.

 

Now with that said, finding places to hunt is not to easy but finding good locations is even harder these days since the coyote's have become a real issue for rabbits and other small game. I have a few friends that have farms and have given me permission to hunt them but without dogs I have never taken up any of the invites. Also would require a lot more walking than I think my body would take without dogs.........jmho

[Angus]

Thanks fellas. I don't have dogs, and I don't mind walking for an hour or two.

[DaveS]

Ah, rabbit hunting...one of my favorites. OK, rabbit hunting on Cross Creeks is a No-No! LbL is pretty good and has a lot of land to hunt. I don't hunt LBL anymore due to the high cost of the LBL hunt permit. We have a lot of good WMA's in the area that offer some pretty good rabbit hunting. Haynes Bottoms for example (Montgomery County) has some of the best rabbit hunting around. Hundreds of acres of brushy fields makes for a good day of hunting. Although walking and "jumping" a rabbit can pay benefits, a good dog is indispensable! That's one of my favorite places. When I was actively hunting rabbits, I would always wait until deer hunting stopped there, because there are fools out there that would shoot your dog.

 

Good luck in your search..happy hunting!

 

Dave

[Angus]

Thanks Dave, sorry for the slow reply. This has been a horrible summer for the Mrs. and I. I am going to try and get to Haynes Bottom to look around, hopefully in the next 2 or 3 weeks if the wife is back on her feet.

[Sidewinder]

I grew up rabbit hunting and of all game I enjoyed hunting and eating rabbit topped the list. I had a couple beagles, one was a National Champion named Book Makers Bet and Bet for short. She was a Lemon Drop color and had a mouth on here like a coon hound and was slow but seldom if ever ran a rabbit in a hole and the other was a Tri-color named john Henry. He also had a coon hound mouth on him. The hunted great together. John was the jump dog and Bet was the tracker for the most part. I would love to be able to go rabbit hunting a few more times before I get to where I can't but don't have dogs any longer so would have to get invited.
 
Now with that said, finding places to hunt is not to easy but finding good locations is even harder these days since the coyote's have become a real issue for rabbits and other small game. I have a few friends that have farms and have given me permission to hunt them but without dogs I have never taken up any of the invites. Also would require a lot more walking than I think my body would take without dogs.........jmho

Bersa, you should take them up on some of those invites. Just being afield, with a loaded shotgun, listening to the sounds and smelling the countryside, is therapudic for sure. You could pace yourself, and just enjoy the freedom of open field hunting. You could probably still bring home a good mess of rabbits. Just do it after a couple of hard freezes, to avoid the parasites! Have fun.

[jughead]

a tale to tell that no one has ever believed. growing up my dad had 2 beagles that would jump a rabbit one of them would chase while the other would lie in wait where they jumped it. most of the time the rabbit would circle back and the waiting beagle would almost always catch it. if one was watching fried rabbit for dinner if not beagles ate. i know hard to believe but strange things have happened on the 20 acres i was raised on and it still live there.