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Spring is here and a man's heart turns to.................well........shooting rabbits. Last year I purchased a Gammo Whisper pellet rifle with a scope. Last fall.i struggled with the scope and just could not get the scope dialed in. As a result, my backyard bunnies have been mocking and taunting me all winter. Shot after shot missed. Today after work I spied one of the plump herd members sitting in the backyard. I took aim through the scope out of the cracked open patio door and missed. The rabbit did not move. I decided it was time to loose the scope so off came the questionable glass in favor of the factory adjustable sights. Cocked and loaded, bunny still working the back yard, I slid the patio door open. Thinking there was little chance those sights would be on, I thought I'd take the shot anyway. Aimed for the eye on a classic broadside sitting shot
The shot was true to its target and dropped the rabbit where it sat with a shot through the eye into the brain.

My garden may have a chance this year if I can continue to thin the herd. Another resident of my sheds "basement " hopped out briefly but was too slow to get off a shot. Just as well, I don't know if I earned a double kill on my first open sight"hunt" of the spring. Wish me luck, theses things multiply like , well, rabbits.

Nice job and good luck

yukon, do you dress them out and eat them?

I love rabbit, but haven't tried any that live around our yards. I used to raise Californian Rabbits for feeding to my albino burmese python, when I lived in GA. She could eat the young ones until they got to about 8-9 weeks old. After that, I would let them go to 10-12 weeks, then I would dispatch them. They would be dressed out and we would cook and eat them. I sold the pelts (they are White with Black nose, ears and feet) to a local furrier.

Didn’t small game season close in February?

Holland&Holland wrote:Didn’t small game season close in February?

Shush

Definitely pest control. My landscape plantings were decimated by the long eared rats. I have Burning Bushes in my front yard that had the bark stripped off over the winter. I hope they come back. Hostas have been cleard to the ground. This is my year. Taking control of my backyard. I'm excited.

I'm not planning to eat these critters. Just bag them and drop them in the trash.

There's the old joke about one's vegetable garden being an important source of food: "I get maybe twenty, thirty pounds of rabbit meat a season".

One is allowed to shoot rabbits and squirrels outside the established season if they are causing damage to property. When taken outside an established season, one is not allowed to use the meat, hide, or other parts as that would then constitute poaching. This used to be in the full game regulations but it's been years since I last saw one. The synopsis doesn't have that in it.

smurfman wrote:One is allowed to shoot rabbits and squirrels outside the established season if they are causing damage to property. When taken outside an established season, one is not allowed to use the meat, hide, or other parts as that would then constitute poaching. This used to be in the full game regulations but it's been years since I last saw one. The synopsis doesn't have that in it.

Nice, not in season, must be wasted

Ghost wrote:

smurfman wrote:One is allowed to shoot rabbits and squirrels outside the established season if they are causing damage to property. When taken outside an established season, one is not allowed to use the meat, hide, or other parts as that would then constitute poaching. This used to be in the full game regulations but it's been years since I last saw one. The synopsis doesn't have that in it.

Nice, not in season, must be wasted

That's government-think for you...

I am surprised. Later the same night of the first assassination, the other bunny living under my shed poked its head out for a brief second. I moved to retrieve my pellet rifle but, alas, upon my return to the patio window, the rabbit had retreated. I haven't seen it since and my hostas are sprouting, so there is incentive for it, and others to return. Is it possible that the taking of one of their kind was enough to send a message? Are they astute enough to understand that the tribe should move on or suffer the same end as Fluffly McFluffster? Or do they possess enough guile to conceal themselves when there are signs of my presence (hear the truck pulling into the garage? I will stand ever vigilant and monitor my day lilies for dental terrorism.

I may don a Ghillie suit and approach the property from the Lake side with the wind in my face and surveil the back yard - ready to deliver justice for the defenseless Coneflowers and the Toad Lilly.

Si Vis Pacem Parabellum

yukonjasper wrote:I am surprised. Later the same night of the first assassination, the other bunny living under my shed poked its head out for a brief second. I moved to retrieve my pellet rifle but, alas, upon my return to the patio window, the rabbit had retreated. I haven't seen it since and my hostas are sprouting, so there is incentive for it, and others to return. Is it possible that the taking of one of their kind was enough to send a message? Are they astute enough to understand that the tribe should move on or suffer the same end as Fluffly McFluffster? Or do they possess enough guile to conceal themselves when there are signs of my presence (hear the truck pulling into the garage? I will stand ever vigilant and monitor my day lilies for dental terrorism.

I may don a Ghillie suit and approach the property from the Lake side with the wind in my face and surveil the back yard - ready to deliver justice for the defenseless Coneflowers and the Toad Lilly.

Si Vis Pacem Parabellum

They are plotting.

Sadly, I think you may be right.

yukonjasper wrote:Sadly, I think you may be right.

If it weren't illegal in MN, I'd highly recommend a ruger american rimfire with a threaded barrel, suppressor, subsonic ammo and a thermal scope for gaining the tactical advantage in this situation. But, since you are in MN that's not legal therefore I can't recommend such a wonderful setup to eliminate this problem.

Ghost wrote:

yukonjasper wrote:Sadly, I think you may be right.

If it weren't illegal in MN, I'd highly recommend a ruger american rimfire with a threaded barrel, suppressor, subsonic ammo and a thermal scope for gaining the tactical advantage in this situation. But, since you are in MN that's not legal therefore I can't recommend such a wonderful setup to eliminate this problem.

Only the thermal would be illegal in that set up.