The American Beagler Forum

Hey guys, hope you all are blasting away at the bunnies! Unfortunately, my hunting buddies and I aren't. We hunt in central/southern Indiana, and it seems like the bunny population is way down this year. I was wondering if any of you guys are encountering the same thing, or are you seeing the same number of bunnies as the last few years. Thanks!!

FLABSLAB, I'M IN SOUTHERN IND. & WE DON'T EVEN HAVE 20% % OF THE RABBITSWE USUALLY HAVE.
MIKE

Thanks for the reply Mike. That was my suspicion, that others were noticing it also. Now for my next question....WHY? I've been told that rabbits go thru "cycles" and some years they won't have many young. Is this true?

Mike, in years past we usually drove down to Minnehaha (sp?) and had a good time. Might not limit out, but the dogs ran almost the whole time. This year, we might spend 4 hours and only have 2 runs. It's disheartening, because we've tried Minne, Atterbury, Brazil, ect and the running is the same.....BAD.

I'm in SW Ohio. Seems to be the same here. The rabbit population is seemingly real spotty. I havn't had a great day yet this year. Some of my friends had good days, but they are not as common as years past. The population just seems down.

Hey, I got to agree, have not seen very many rabbits south of Indy.
I going this weekend around Clay county to a place no one has hunted.
Rabbit season is coming to a close soon for us in Indiana.
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Report of this past weekend.....Jumped 10 deer and 2 rabbits.
We came home with all 6 dogs and no rabbits

I remember years a whole lot better that this year!!! Our no.'s are down a bunch at my house. Have a couple spots that seem to be kinda normal. (???)

well im in the deep south of indiana,,,,,,and as for rabbit we kill at least 5 every outing, there are 3 of us,now i have seen about 40 yotes this year and a bunch of house cats,,,where i hunt you can bet everytime you turn loose there are yotes gonna come out,,,,,,

I live in Indianapolis but go up to norther Indiana to hunt. I grew up there and have a lot of private ground to hunt. Rabbits have been normal to a little above normal up there. I think them boys done drove the coyote south. Rabbit here around Indy are down.

We hunt a private lease and we are NOT seeing the rabbits that e normally see. Last weekend we talked with some of the other club members and they asked if we had been seeing the numbers as they stated they thought the rabbits weren't there either. We've hunted at Minehaha several times and NEVER had much luck.

I'm in Western KY. and cottontails hard to find this season. Seems to be a few swampers though.

I ONLY HUNT PRIVATE LAND & HAD SOME REAL GOOD SPOTS BUT WHERE WE USED TO KILL 6-8 A DAY NOW WE GET MAYBE 2-3 IF WE'RE LUCKY. I HAVE AN 80 ACRE FARM NEXT DOOR THAT I HAVE PERMISSION TO HUNT & YOU COULDN'T GET UP 2 RABBITS WITH A HERD OF DOGS.
MIKE

mike i hunted a 20 acre farm yesterday, it has all kinds of old farm machinery on it growed up in heavy sage grass,we had 15 jumps never killed a rabbit,,,,tracks lasted mabe 10 minutes at the most,i couldnt figure out why so i crawled up on an old disc to see the dogs jump a rabbit and it would run about 30 yars and run in a hole,,,,,,i think that the dry summer we had did something to the population, seems if you get into a patch the hole up quick,,,,,i remember 5 years ago me and 4 buddies went with 6 dogs to a 18 acre patch to kill 23 rabbits in a little over an hour,,,,,,

Thanks guys for all the input. It is as I suspected. Definitely a bad year for rabbit numbers. Hang in there, this season's almost over and hopefully the fall will be much better.

,,,,,,i think that the dry summer we had did something to the population,


jeff i think this past summer had more to do with it than this past winter did like alot of people are saying. becuase this spring i was having great runs and no problems finding rabbits. heck when we ran this spring we had some great runs and no problem finding rabbits. i agree about the dry summer...keith

It will be interesting to see what happens at some of the big trials put on in the coal mines in south. Ind. What i am getting to is the fact that so many out of staters plus Ind folks have hunted this area more than ever. At least thats feedback i have received. It is nothing to see cars from Ill Ky. even on fellow on this board from Virginia telling how he has a dog that spent 4 days in the coal mines. I have also heard some being stopped and asked to leave...this does not surprise me for the fact of so many folks hunting in this area. If you come to the area i would be very carefull you may end up in the Boonville jail. Yes it will be interesting to see what impact on the population...By the way im in south Ind and i quit shooting for the fact its hard to find a rabbit. Been going to industrial park close to home for years..i might find one or two....