The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting Small Game Hunting How Do I Help Rabbits On My PlaceGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| How Do I Help Rabbits On My Place | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
I have 200 acres in Cass County Texas. The property has plenty of hardwoods that are along a bayou, and my internal road that is about a mile long has plenty of grass and other brushy growth. There are very few rabits, possibly because of cayote predation. I would like to do something that will help the rabits. (I don't have time for cayote hunting, so diminishing their population isn't in the cards.) Anyone have ideas. Bob Nisbet DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover Temporarily Displaced Texan If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat. | ||
|
| one of us |
Brush piles will give them a home and protection from preditors. Everybody likes rabbits !! Here in NY IIRC studies show that 80% are lost through predation , not including hunters. Coyote, hawk,owl,fox,bobcat ,mt lion, etc.all eat rabbits. You might ask your game dept people. | |||
|
One of Us |
Brush piles work on my place. Helps the quail population also. Tom ...I say that hunters go into Paradise when they die, and live in this world more joyfully than any other men. -Edward, duke of York ". . . when a man has shot an elephant his life is full." ~John Alfred Jordan "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero - 55 BC "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." - Ayn Rand Cogito ergo venor- KPete “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” ― Adam Smith - “Wealth of Nations” | |||
|
One of Us |
The best way I have found is shoot anything that eats rabbits; even if its your brother-in-laws scrats. There are several rabbits in my yard every evening. Usually see around 1/2 dozen going down my driveway. Clover and rabbitat helps too. I keep at least one live trap set at all times of the year to remove the ground predators. God Bless, Louis | |||
|
| one of us |
As said, brush piles. I know it's an invasive species, but in PA, our cottontails love multiflora rose bushes. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Even as a temporary measure, a sheet or two of tin / corrugated iron resting on a low log on each side. (Angle it so the rain runs off away from the underneath). A few other things around like logs and they seem to feel secure enough to make it home and plant something next to it to make it more scrubby until the grass or bushes you plant grows up to provide other cover. It is even worth fencing off areas where you want them to establish (ie near the tin) so that the grass grows without being eaten, speeds up the whole process. I have shot a number of rabbits around farms where they scurry under the tin or even use it as where they burrow. . Previously 500N with many thousands of posts ! | |||
|
| One of Us |
increase habitat (read as cover, brush piles, thick growth, etc.) and you'll increase rabbit populations. shooting their natural predators won't hurt either. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Ever hear the expression, "screw like rabbits"? Well they come in season every couple weeks. If you can keep em from getting eaten you should be up to your ears in rabbits!! Habitat, habitat, habitat. | |||
|
| One of Us |
In other words, don't expect the rabbits to screw around in the open !!! . Previously 500N with many thousands of posts ! | |||
|
| One of Us |
House cats, feral and pets are rabbit killing machines. Shoot them on sight and don't worry about the neighbors..they will never know what happened to tigger. Don't be fooled that the barn cats only eat the mice. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Make sure you don't have any neighbors' named Elmer Fudd. | |||
|
One of Us |
I agree about feral cats, but a pet, dog or cat that has gotten out by accident and is wearing a collar and tags might be a little different story. Many folks are micro-chipping their pets now and shooting an animal that was not actually doing any harm has started being frowned on, especially if the animal could be identified and linked to an owner. Animal cruelty laws have gotten a tad Draconian in many areas. Providing brush piles is one of the best ways to improve habitat for cottontails at least. Also if possible selecvtively mowing open travel/feeding lanes thru an area, with escape cover nearby helps. Shooting hawks and owls is not a good idea. Also keep in mind that rabbits, as a group tend to be cyclic as far as populations go, build up for several years then crash for a period of time. Developing a situation where a large concentration of rabbits can build up can lead to its own set of problems. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
|
| One of Us |
On the prairie where I live, there are no trees to make brush piles. I bought some woven "hog wire" at an auction. By rolling some "loge" about 18 inches or less in diameter, I made some rabbit habitat. These lay on their sides in the grass, which grows around and through the wire in the Summer. The rabbits use these for protective cover year around. Biggest threat here is the hawks, then the fox (only one at the moment), then the feral cats. RF | |||
|
One of Us |
The Missouri Department Of Conservation has this page. ****************** "Policies making areas "gun free" provide a sense of safety to those who engage in magical thinking..." Glenn Harlan Reynolds | |||
|
| One of Us |
Bob We haven't heard back from you as to whether you have had much success with all these suggestions. How are you going building up the rabbit numbers ? Previously 500N with many thousands of posts ! | |||
|
one of us |
I know You said you have no time for coyote control, but consider snares. They work once you learn how to use them. Texas is cool with snaring year round. It woks! I noticed my wabbit population exploded once I knocked down some Coyote numbers | |||
|
| one of us |
You make a good point here CHC - I don't own a dog, but I sure wouldn't shoot one unless I knew I was absolutely in the right. | |||
|
One of Us |
Blackberry, or some similar thornbush seems to be thier sanctuary of choice, every single one that i have come across has a large population living there for a longtime.Fallen logs soon get colonised as well. To hunt, fish and tell only the truth. | |||
|
| One of Us |
A few months ago I had a contractor do some site preparation for reforestation. As prt of his effort, I had him push lots of dead trees and some smaller trees into brush piles. Also have been transplanting thorny blackberry bushes. I expect it will be Fall before I see whether these have benefited the rabbit population. Thanks, Bob Nisbet Sr Technology Protection Engineer US Army Research & Technology Protection Center Redstone Arsenal, Alabama 35898 Texas is Home but current assignment is Alabama. Bob Nisbet Bob Nisbet DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover Temporarily Displaced Texan If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Not all brush piles are equal. You have ones that are "brush" and you have others like the ones we're about to remove/burn on our place that are leftover from clear cutting. They were bulldozed together with large tree stumps and trunks and limbs. Those kind may also be home to coyote, fox, skunk, raccoon, rats and mice. Cottonmouths also hang around because of the rodents. You may get rabbits on those kind. In fact I have a trail cam of a rabbit with the time. And the next pic just a few minutes later shows a fox hot on its trail in the same spot. Anyway, we had some twenty such large woodpiles and couldn't just leave them there. Unsightly for one thing, and they're in the way of preparing the area for dove fields and deer food plots and for planting new trees (a mix of pines and hardwoods). So, each place is its own story... | |||
|
| One of Us |
Brush piles like others are saying worked great on my place. Clover food plots work well too, just broadcast the seed by hand is all I did and it seemed to be a real draw. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Good Luck! Rabbits love low areas near water. We strategically placed rows of brush around our property to give the rabbits cover and routes of escape when they travel to and from food and water sources. They responded positively, and as the saying goes, "multiplied like rabbits"  I often prefer "walking up" rabbits vs using dogs, so I try to keep the briar and brush patches of manageable size to make the technique effective with only one or two hunters. Best | |||
|
| One of Us |
After deer season I put up a deer feeder for rabbits and my chickens. I mixed rabbit pellets and chicken scratch 50/50 and ended up with hordes of rabbits, friendly ones too. I have natural brush piles and an overgrown burn pile nearby. I also took some R panel and made some burrow area for the rabbits. When I check the water for the chickens the rabbits come out an greet me. Tasty little fellers. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting Small Game Hunting How Do I Help Rabbits On My Place
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia