Rabbit hunting is an age old hunt that's said to have been popularized back in the medieval times and maybe before that. Lets be honest, the history of the sport ( be it long and interesting... probably) is a subject for a whole different post. In this post we going talk about todays rabbit hunting, what you need to get started, and what techniques might best fit you and why its such a sport to introduce you to hunting also why even as a seasoned hunter it still will find a special place in your heart.

Today rabbit hunting obviously isn't at the forefront of the hunting world. While popular in a hand full of mid-west and southern states a lot of hunters just don't see as a game species worth spending time pursuing. Like any other animal it takes time to really understand how the animal in your local habitats act. this means what time they come out to feed, what do they eat, and what technique you should use to have a bountiful hunt( which we'll touch on later in this post).

• What do you need to get started                                                                                                                                                                                          The great thing about harvesting rabbit is that you don't need much at all getting started is fairly inexpensive as far as choosing your tools to get the job done and as far as i know you really only need a basic hunting license. If you dont have the money to invest in a rifle or shotgun thats more than okay, air-rifles, slingshots, blow-guns and a well placed shots go a long way and will preserve the meat a lot better than throwing a wall of pellets from a shotgun.                                                                                                                                                                                                          Now if you do have the money to invest in a firearm then a shotgun is honestly my top pick but not for the reasons you think either. Like I mentioned before fire power is not really a need to take down a rabbit but if your hunting public lands with a firearm a shotgun is allowed in a lot more places than a rifle is and your aim doesn't have to stellar to hit your target. You do however sacrifice the distance you have to take an ethical shot. Plus you can find many inexpensive shotguns if your not ready to go whole hog and drop a pretty penny on a fancy firing system. If you are lucky enough to find yourself in an area where you can use a .22 LR then you might be able to find a nice cheap but accurate firing system even as far as ammo goes. Even though .22's aren't thought of as a popular caliber the numbers will show different. you'd be hard press to find a more practical caliber. I highly recommend you do research on where your going to be hunting before you go through with your fire arms purchase and also look into what technique your going to use to harvest. I should add if you do decide to hit public land for your hunt I highly recommend you invest into some type of navigation device even something as simple as a compass can help you out of a sticky situation and a back-pack that can hold food, ammo, water ,binoculars ,and the carcasses of your harvest. Couple other items I'd     
• Techniques                                                                                                                                                                                                                             there's two techniques i'll talk about that I find most useful if you find yourself hunting alone, which you'll most likely will if you were brought up hunting and your self starting. Let's start with the cheapest technique known as still hunting. This consist of walking into the wind scouting out areas with good amounts of shrubs and greenery that rabbits could eat on and take cover in. this technique pairs well with a scoped air-rifle or .22LR because usually this method is used in more arid and flat landscapes so getting within 30-40 yards without them high-tailing it out of there will prove difficult. this'll take a good amount of patience ,scouting ,and studying of behavior. To be honest you might come up empty handed your first couple times out there but there's still nothing better than taking your gun out for a stroll.                                                                                        Second is probably the most advantageous but also pretty expensive and really tedious way of getting the job done which is using beagles. Obviously this includes the task of raising and training dogs and yes that was plural i've never seen one dog ran at a time and depending on the pedigree of the dog they can get pricey. When you do get your dogs trained and running then it becomes a real nice and easy hunting experience. Once you turn the dogs loose just choose a good spot that you think you might get a good shot and your free to sip on some water snack a bit maybe smoke a cigarette or two until you hear them flushing the rabbit towards you. This is personally my favorite technique, there's nothing like having mans best friend doing all the foot work for you so long as you share a bit of the reward of the hunt with them

Now before you get out there guns a blazing always do your research on your local parks and wildlife website about seasons ,bag limits ,firing systems that can be used, if dogs can be used etcetera etcetera. Game wardens uphold these laws strictly and violation of said laws not only result in hefty fines but confiscation of equipment also. Cant wait to see you out there and happy hunting!