What's your favorite bunny weapon?

[Dangler]

Bunny huntin' can be such a relaxing and social sport with a small group of guys and some hounds. Sometimes I like to take an old heirloom out and see if I can't foul the bore on a cottontail. Just wondering what y'all like to carry with you on a day out sportin'.

Longbow and cedar shafts? Grandpa's old LC Smith? Ruger single six? What's your fancy?

[weatherby]

i have an old single shot 20 guage ithaca single hot which looks like a lever action made in the early 70's.i don't hit as many as with the benelli 20 guage semi auto but that's ok. i don't eat a lot of rabbits every year anyways

[Fred Bear]

mossberg model 500 .410 pump and a beagle

[Beagle]

My favorite is an old 16 gauge Model 12 Winchester that my Grandad gave to me. His dad gave it to him when he was a teen ager. I still love hearing the stories about him hammering the pheasants when there used to be a good population in Michigan.

I don't use it as much now, because I am trying to get less BB's and hair in the meat. Sometimes I will use a Ruger 10-22 (miss a lot) or a single shot twenty 20.

But there is nothing like the sound of "Beagle music"

Bunny Hunting...Ya gotta love it!

Beagle

[Askel]

Mossberg 500 .20 guage and a few nice 13" beagles that can work the brushpiles.

[Pinefarm]

Remington 1100 28ga.

[Rasdale]

My old short double barrel 20 Ga.

[Oct.1]

I use an old Deerfield 20 guage pump.

[Dangler]

Thanks for your post, Weatherby. I had completely forgotten that I killed my first bunny with one of those Ithaca lever actions, model 67 I think it was, back about 1975. My grandpa's gun.

Bob, I occasionally carry a 1974 model 1100LT in 28 gauge. Problem is, it has a super tight full choke barrel. I've searched gun shows and written to Remington trying to find an IC barrel for it, no luck.

Most of the time I carry a Ruger 10-22 with a a 1.5-4.5X scope set on lowest power. It's often easy to get good shots using a dog, and the scattergun just seems unfair at times. After years of harvesting 50 to 100 rabbits per season with a shotgun, switching over to the .22 put a lot of fun back in the sport for me. I highly recommend it.

And sometimes I just carry my video camera so I can watch my dogs work again after they're gone.

[drunkinduck]

.410 double barrel that was my grandpa's

[bukwild1900]

i use an old stevens 20 gauge double barrel that was my dads. has one full choke barrel and one modifed, works great, only
trouble is i don't have a beagle, i'm only 16 so my mom won't let me get my own, so i'll have to wait a few years.

[Whit1]

J.C. Higgins (High Standard) 12 ga. pump gun. It was a graduation gift (1962) from my parents. That gun and I have been the demise of many rabbits/hares and grouse over the years. Ducks and geese are also "notched" into the memories as well as pheasants. I got in on the last of the "good ol' days" of pheasant hunting when I was in high school and college.

[ben vander jagt]

well after shooting my share of rabbits with a mossberg 12, i invested in one of those overprice gamo airguns but they sure are fun...........its also a great squirrel gun

[Moe]

I like to use my Mossberg model 500 20 ga and a beagle. It does the job!

[Pinefarm]

Dangler, why don't you just buy a barrel with choke tubes? My 1100 is a sporting clays and comes with skeet, IC, mod., and improved mod. I don't see why you couldn't do that. It will probably cost more than it should, but the 28ga is perfect for bunnies and birds.

[Dangler]

Great idea, Bob, but the information Remington gave me says that by the time they started offering barrels with choke tubes, around 1975, they changed some other things on the barrel that made it not fit my gun which was made in '73 or '74. Perhaps the way it was machined to fit into the receiver.

Do you think maybe I got some bad info? Would a newer barrel fit my gun?

[Pinefarm]

To be honest, I don't know. I'm not a gunsmith and my store doesn't carry guns. But, I'd have to think a good gun store would know. I used to shoot a lot of skeet and was actually the Jr. State Champ in 28ga in 1980. One thing you notice about a skeet field is that guys are always buying and trading guns. I bet if you went to or called a couple skeet clubs and put something up like a "wanted" sign on their bulletin board, you'd find a skeet barrel in no time. I sure wouldn't be afraid of a skeet barrel. Shoot 7 1/2's and you'll get less bb's to eat.

[Crowblaster]

My Ruger 1022 magnum. Headshots only with it or there isn't much left to eat. And my mutt.

[Kevin]

Win 1300 12 ga pump
No dogs, just a slow stroll in the brush.
I would like to try with a bow sometime though.

-Kevin

[BEAGLEMAN]

I'm like Dangler most of the time I use my Ruger 10-22. I'll use my 20 ga Citori or Ithaca 20ga pump if I am really serious about getting some meat. I don't hunt with my beagle as much as I used to and that's to bad. I think it's because my boys don't enjoy it like I do. But I still get out a few times a year to work my dog.

Amos,
I hunted with an old glass recurve for most of my youth. I can remember when both my buddy and myself would take upwards of 50 rabbits a year each with a bow. We hunted without my dogs and stalked them,catching most of them sitting in brush. It will really improve your awareness and probably make you a better overall hunter.
Tom

[Bow_Hunter]

I use my .22 and my foot. Grandpa taught me this one and it works as good as those I know that use dogs and shotguns. I just get less lead in my mouth;)

[GROUSEMAN]

I've previously used a 20 gauge H&R single shot - modified choke. Recently, I purchased a used Savage model 24F overunder, .22 WMR (iron sights) over 20 gauge. I really like this gun. It seems like the perfect one for bunnies if you hunt over beagles. It's a hammer gun, with a barrel selector on the hammer. The 3" chambered, 20 gauge barrel is unlabeled for choke, but I believe it's full. Last weekend, I shot a quick running bunny my hound had circled back. As the rabbit tried to crawl away on the other side of a mucky creek, I anchored it with a 25 yard shot with the .22. My only complaint about the gun is the trigger, much too heavy of a pull for accurate shooting.

Grouseman

[riverrat1]

I love to use my longbow & flu-flus. I go out in the morning after a fresh snow, and get on a fresh track, and try sneak up for a shot. It's not meat hunting, but it's fun.

[flatsman]

Longbow, blunts, lots of beagles and lots of friends.:D

[Big Shooter]

I love using my rem 1100 in 20 gauge with im cyl on cottontails and trusty ruger 22 mag for snowshoes. Went out sun morn and went 2 for 3 on cottontails and burned of about 3 lbs of fat jumpin on the brush piles. Good huntin!

[midwestfisherman]

I like to use my Rem 597 .22 auto and kicking those brush piles. Around the farm I'll use my 870 12 ga.

[Dangler]

I'm glad to see some real sportsmen here that challenge themselves with something other than 1 1/4 oz of 6-shot. Pleased to see some .22 rimfire fans here. You archers and handgunners have my extreme admiration.

I'm tempted to start a similar thread about squirrel hunting weapons, but I might really make some people mad with my opinions about using shotguns on bushytails.

[Jackone]

When I go by myself, I like the .22 Mag.
When I go with others, I take my trusty 28ga.
Of course, where I go makes a difference also. ;)

[Robow]

I like to use my hoyt. It's not to productive but it keeps me sharp for bow season.

[slowpoke]

I like my Thompson/Center Contender 4-10 with a 10" barrel and #4 shot. Good to 25 yds. maybe 30yds.

[BEAGLEMAN]

Went out Saturday with my Ruger 10/22,The rabbits were playing pop-up. My beagle would roust one from a brush pile only to have it run to the next nearest one. Good workout for my dog but no chances for a shot with a 22. Great day to be in the woods!

[Dogshooter]

I use a Remington 1100 in .410. Fun gun to shoot and is hell on rabbits.

[Bill Hamilton]

Any of you's guys try bunny hunting with a bow,man it's the greatest thing to do ,you miss but when you hit them its so much fun,I do it all the time ,and remember ,no pellets in the meat ..BILL