Small Game Bunny Hunt

There are many different types of small game hunts. One of my favorites is archery small game bunny hunting. It's very inexpensive, very good exercise and great practice for your upcoming deer hunts. It also allows you to do some scouting for your deer hunts and turkey hunting.

Some of our favorite times of the season were during Christmas break while deer hunting in northern Michigan. My two sons and I were lucky enough to have a beagle for a house pet and she was very good at running rabbits. In the northern parts of Michigan there are two different types of rabbits, the regular cottontail and then the awesome snowshoe rabbit. The snowshoe rabbit was hard for our beagle to run, because the snowshoe took very long leaps through the deep snow, making it hard for our beagle to stay on track and manipulate herself through snow deeper than herself.

The snowshoe rabbit does have one bad habit which helps the archery hunter out a great deal of the time. When you jump or flush it out of its hiding place, it will many times scurry out about twenty yards or so, stop and stand up on its hind legs looking around for a few seconds. This allows the archery hunter time to take quick aim and be able to get a shot off. Granted this isn't much time or a big target, but it is good clean fun and recreation. Much of the time you come up empty, searching for your arrow.

This brings me to some of the equipment you really need to use. First, a recurve bow or straight bow allows you to shoot instinctively or out of habit. The compound bow works fine too. You may have to take extra time to sight in on your rabbit. If you have some arrows that are less expensive or seconds (arrows that won't shoot a broadhead well) these will work fine for your bunny hunt. A good point to use for your arrow is a judo head. This judo arrowhead is made with little spring type hooks that stick out from the side and actually will flip the arrow up (if you miss) out of the brush or grass so you can easily spot it. Using brightly colored feathers or vanes on the arrow will also help you to retrieve your arrow. I've found using bright fluorescent orange or green works very well.

Using dogs such as beagles or basset hounds or any dog with a good nose that will bark on the trail of a rabbit will make the hunt easier and more enjoyable. This allows the dog to run the rabbit in a circle, which increases your chances of getting a shot off even more. This does not mean if you don't have dogs to help out with the archery bunny hunt that you still can't have fun. You and your other hunting buddies can and will have a great time and be able to enjoy the great outdoors with another type of good small game......archery bunny hunt! Have fun and stay safe!!!