Here Come Those Cottontails: Memories Of Rabbit Season

The following appears in the July issue of California Sportsman:

By Tim E. Hovey

Ileaned against an oak tree, facing a crease of sage 50 yards away and slightly uphill. Resting on my knees was a scope-mounted, lever- action .22 I had borrowed from my dad’s cousin.

Minutes earlier I had surprised a jackrabbit while hiking near a drainage and he had escaped to the sagebrush I was facing. At 13 I can remember thinking that I was willing to sit there all day waiting for him.

About a half hour later, a rabbit fed its way out towards a small opening in the brush. My heart was pounding as I steadied the crosshairs on his shoulder. At the shot, I lost sight of the rabbit and hurried up the hill. I spotted blood where he had been standing and then found the dead cottontail a few feet away. My first game animal, and my first cottontail rabbit, fell that day.

MANY HUNTERS START DOWN the path of hunting small game such as rabbits. We learn subtle hunting techniques like stalking, patience and persistence. These attributes are honed over decades of pursuit and help us become better hunters. Along the way, we add in observation, habitat recognition and specific game animal behavior. For me, it all started on that hillside at the age of 13.

It doesn’t matter what I have planned; nothing disrupts my annual plans for the July 1 cottontail rabbit opener. A month before the season opens, I make plans to scout a handful of tried-and-true spots. Time permitting, I’ll head out the evening before and camp out so I’m on the hunting grounds at first light.

The California cottontail season stretches almost seven months, running from July 1 through January 26. The daily bag limit is five rabbits per hunter, with 10 in possession.

Cottontail rabbits are more active in the mornings and the evenings. Like most small animals, they are usually never far from a consistent water source. In the desert, I’ll look for green vegetation, usually indicating a spring or watered creek close by. If I can find this type of habitat, rabbits will be close.

Thick vegetation, like sage or rabbit bush, routinely spring up in these damp areas, providing cover for rabbits and protecting them from predators. They can also find some relief from the midday heat in the shade of the thick brush. Underground burrows are often hidden in these brushy areas, providing added protection from the heat and predation.

If these habitat types hold rabbits, they’ll usually be covered in rabbit scat and prints. Cottontail rabbits will hold tight in heavy cover when danger is close, bolting for safety as a last resort. A quick walk through these brushy areas will tell you all you need to know when it comes to rabbit presence.

PROBABLY THE MOST COMMON way to pursue rabbits is kicking the brush in good habitat with a shotgun. Keeping the sun at my back, I’ll move through the area and make sure that I contact the brush with my leg as I walk through.

Cottontail rabbits will often sit tight, racing for cover at the last second. This is the hunter’s opportunity. I call this type of hunting snap shooting. Escaping rabbits won’t give a hunter much time to squeeze the trigger. Often, you only get a quick flash of fur punctuated with that bright white cotton ball of a tail before they escape. This type of hunting will definitely sharpen a hunter’s instinct shooting skills.

Another way I like to hunt cottontails is to set up on a high spot and glass for feeding rabbits just at sunrise. Using a set of shooting sticks and the insanely accurate .17 HMR rifle, I can easily snipe bunnies out to about 150 yards. Again, I try to keep thesunatmybacktohidemeabitand to give me a better view of the terrain.

Rabbit meat is one of my favorite types of game meat. It’s a white meat that picks up the flavor of just about any marinade. My favorite way to prepare the meat is to butcher the rabbit into quarters and to pan fry the portions in olive oil until brown. I then transfer the meat into a casserole dish with two cans of cream of mushroom soup. Cooked at 400 degrees until done, it’s one of my family’s favorites.

THIS JULY, STEP BACK in time to where it all started for most hunters and chase cottontail rabbits. For me, it takes me back to where I started.

I remember all those things I’ve learned since, knowing it all started years ago, leaning against a tree, mounted up behind a borrowed .22 lever-action. CS