May 1, 2009, 07:15 PM | #1 |
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Scare a rabbit to death?
Well there has been a fat ol' cottontail just a little to brazen around here and "Deadly" the bulldog ain't had a "bunny treat" in near a year so I break out the ol' Savage bolt gun. It was only a 50 foot shot. He had his back to me eatin' and when he lifted his head I put the crosshairs at the base of his head. Cracked off the trigger and he did a full 360* front flip as expected and DRT...
Now here is the funny part. I went over and inspected for fleas before toting him to the dog yard. NO FLEAS! But I also had no visible entrance or exit wound from the .22 LR HP Federal... NONE NO BLOOD NO WHERE None from the nose, mouth or ears. I ran my fingers thru the pelt all up his back, belly, neck and head and NUTTIN' Reckon I missed but scared the poor bugger to death? Deadly had to work harder to get started as she normally locates the exit wound and starts there. Brent |
May 1, 2009, 08:06 PM | #2 |
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Well either you're slipping 'ol boy, or that bunny just knew the futility of resisting a full on attack by you and chose the easy way out.
I'm watching "Pig Bomb" on Animal Planet. They're doing some pig hunting, but I'm thinking if they didn't put ol' hogdogs on the show, it's suspect.
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May 1, 2009, 08:10 PM | #3 |
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I would ruin the audio with excessive Grab the BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP pig or tie them BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP mutts to a tree Not to mention all the wasted footage on the cutting room floor of me runnin' thru the woods in hopes I don't spill or foam my beer...
I could understand the bunny dieing of shock but wouldn't expect the 2 foot high front flip. Brent |
May 1, 2009, 08:12 PM | #4 |
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You might have clipped him across the skull. Who knows? Maybe he was just playing possum? Maybe he was a possum? Brent, you mean you can't tell the difference between a rabbit and a possum? That's the last time I'm eatin' at your house! Just joshin' ya. But you might have just clipped him.
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May 1, 2009, 08:13 PM | #5 | |
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May 1, 2009, 08:16 PM | #6 |
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Scorch, I really tried to find the scalp mark of missing fur... I was actually getting ready for it to wake up and go "jackalope" on me, Sinkin' his "fangs" in me. He seemed to still be trying to eat the mouthful as I checked him. He stayed out long enuff for me to carry him the 100 yards to the dog and that is all that matters...
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May 1, 2009, 08:20 PM | #7 | |
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May 1, 2009, 08:23 PM | #8 | |
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G'day.
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May 1, 2009, 08:24 PM | #9 |
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I shot one with a .410 as a kid before I learned to whack there head on a tree trunk no matter what... stuck that "DRT" bugger in my game vest and moved on. The only time I dropped that ol' boltaction was when Bugs woke up and went to kickin' and clawin' he didn't bite me but I squealed like a little girl runnin' tryin' to shuck that vest to rid myself of "Devil Bunny". Ol' timer right then and there used that wounded rabbit to show me the tree trunk method...
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May 1, 2009, 08:26 PM | #10 |
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Chop off the paws and tails and Mrs.hogdogs couldn't tell a coon/possum/cat from a rabbit Don't tell her though... our little secret... OKAY?
Brent |
May 1, 2009, 08:28 PM | #11 |
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Ya just "mossed" or "barked" em!!
Hit close to him and the concussion or debris from the ricochet got em. I've had it happen to me a few times with squirrels when hunting with a .22 rimfire.....you can knock them out and not kill them. After the first time it happened to me with a squirrel, I was always darn careful about picking them up....if I don't see blood, I make sure their dead.
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May 1, 2009, 08:34 PM | #12 |
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Dipper, No ricochet possible but I was wondering how much concussion a HP from so close to the muzzle may generate...
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May 1, 2009, 08:44 PM | #13 |
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G'day. I've shot plenty of rabbit with no visible entry wound. Skin it and you will find the hole.
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May 1, 2009, 08:47 PM | #14 |
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I was thinkin' the possibility of that, skull, but I couldn't fathom no exit wound at so close a range.
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May 1, 2009, 09:34 PM | #15 |
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Well, that is odd. I've done that more times than I can count with the 17HMR but never with the 22. Weird, weird.
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May 1, 2009, 09:43 PM | #16 |
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I once had a pheasant try to fly away while in the pouch in the back of my vest. I think I invented the Twist that day.
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May 2, 2009, 12:49 AM | #17 |
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dead snake in the yard, picked it up to throw over the fence, wasn't quite that dead.
Garter snake, but still a bit startling. |
May 2, 2009, 01:41 AM | #18 |
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Rabbit almost scared me to death last week...
I was "turkey hunting", more just spending some time walking in the woods with a shotgun on a WMA here in GA. This area had been logged 25/30 years ago, and some erosion control features were installed, which are now smack in the middle of the woods. I had seen a few metal signposts, like for road signs, beside a plastic drain pipe in front of a few small earthen dam looking structures.
I was staring at one of these sign post and drain combinations, contemplating the weirdness of seeing such a thing deep in the woods, when suddenly, like one of those "magic eye" things they used to print in the funny papers, I realized I was looking at some kind of animal. Really gave me a start until I realized it was just a fuzzy bunny! Nothing quite like realizing there is a creature you had no idea was there! |
May 2, 2009, 02:30 PM | #19 | |
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May 4, 2009, 09:59 PM | #20 |
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Having missed far too many tasty bunnies with nice pelts having fired at them with a 12 ga shotgun (mostly because it was my crow gun with a modified choke), they don't die of fear. If anything has the blast to kill from fear it's my 1.25 oz crow load. If a 12 ga shotgun can't do it a .22 rimfire surely won't, unless Georgia rabbits are just inherently tough. From my experience with the rabbit pelts, I have a feeling that they hide the wounds. If you did a proper forensic investigation, I imagine the dead rabbit had a .22 cavity that was to blame.
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May 4, 2009, 10:11 PM | #21 |
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You can scare a rabbit to death. I've seen it happen to domestic rabbits before.
We had a lot of rabbits when I was a kid, anyway I was out back and whoever was feeding them dropped a feed dish onto one of the cages. One of the rabbits jumped and must have broke its neck by jerking that hard. But I'd guess that its more likely that if you pulled the fur you would find a hole. As for it not exiting, there is a good chance that at closer range the round will expand more and penetrate less, I shot a large squirrel from sub 25 feet with a .22 and had the round expand to about .35-.40 and traveled at most 6 inches. |
May 4, 2009, 10:50 PM | #22 |
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I have seen a domestic die "in" fright, I don't know if it was of fright or the possible broke neck... I used to get free pitbulls from a well known breeder of "game" dogs before it was an illegal sport nation wide... The ones I got were the ones who didn't make the "cut". One got loose from a yard chain when the screw link came unscrewed. He ran down the road with me right behind on my bicycle and into a neighbor yard and right up to a rabbit hutch. when I arrived some 10-15 seconds (maybe a few more) he was barking at one bay and the doe bunny was dead as a door nail. The owner was a VERY COOL cajun guy... He came out with a .22 rifle and said "Boy yer gonna shoot that dog and mow my grass and I will let this go..." Needless to say I returned home with the leash and collar in my pocket and grass clippings on my shoes...
I wonder if the bunny I shot at didn't leap up and break his neck landing on it... I really inspected hard for a wound. I have missed the last few squirrels with the exception of one (last one I tried) and it was a dirty shoot that required a bulldog to hunt it down for me wounded. I need to set down and adjust the scope but neighbors gripe with more than a few shots... My crosshairs were centered on the base of skull so a hit would have been a head shot (should be one inch low at 50 feet if zero on 60 yards I reckon since rings are tallish see thru), shoulders, or lateral in the back along spine. Any of these should have created visible damage... Not sayin' I did a perfect job lookin' and we will never know and "Deadly" the bulldog wouldn't know a bullet from a bone or even a rock the way she eats these things... Brent |
May 4, 2009, 11:22 PM | #23 |
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Barking squirrels. That's one that I hadn't heard of in a long time. Common back in the day also farther north.
The tree rats around here are only suitable for the landfill as they become dead. The neighbors behind me feed them, I bait them. I'd like to think that I'm wining but I've been at this for almost 10 yrs.
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May 4, 2009, 11:27 PM | #24 |
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We called "limbing"... literally try to hit a 3-4 inch limb center and the running squirrel would fall... He would sit stunned a second or "dig for traction" trying to get underway... Bang flop dead tree rat... ruthless punks we were but we all ate gooooooddddd...
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May 6, 2009, 01:11 AM | #25 |
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the funniest shot i made on a rabbit was with a .22.
it jumped up and was running dead away, i pulled up and shot, and it went tumbling. when i picked it up there was a exit hole in the top of the neck. then the smell hit me. i had shot it strait thru the but, my buddy said "rectum, durn went and killed em"! lol
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