Home › Forums › Campfire Forum › a miss and a kill shot

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    • gigglemonk
        July 14, 2013 at 3:21 pm
        Post count: 146
        #6969

        So deer season opened yesterday in Southern CA. Kinda brutal with it being so hot. I was out anyways, saw one legal buck but he was so far away. Getting to him would have meant a mile or so stalk in 90 degree heat.

        Anyhow, I came up on a cottontail, ears down and hiding. I let an arrow go and missed. When I walked over to get my arrow there was the bunny laying on its side with its legs sticking straight out. I picked it up and found no entry or exit wound. And my arrow was clean.

        It was stone dead. No heartbeat, nothing. Anyone ever have something like that happen? Im hoping that type of luck will spill over when I miss a buck this season!

      • Two rivers
          July 14, 2013 at 4:52 pm
          Post count: 16
          #56763

          Are those rabbits wormy? I was always told only kill and eat rabbits in late fall to early spring that they carry parisights in hot weather and remember killing one when I was young that had open sores and little worms in them. Never shot one again in hot weather.

        • Ptaylor
          Member
            July 14, 2013 at 5:52 pm
            Post count: 579
            #56812

            Giggle- not sure about that. Never seen it happen. You must be hunting the A-zone…? I’ll be heading to the northern portion that reaches the Mendocino NF this weekend. Good luck and enjoy the heat!

            Two Rivers & anyone else interested. You should go to http://www.scholar.google.com and search for “Common Diseases and parasites of Cottontails” by K. C. Sadler. It is a great publication by the Missouri Department of Conservation, and it talks about (with pictures) the various “worms” and things you’ll find in a cottontail and their health risk. Definitely worth a read if you’re going to hunt/eat rabbits.

          • Ben M.
              July 14, 2013 at 7:41 pm
              Post count: 460
              #56907

              Scared him to death! Cool. What kind of arrow were you using? I need to make some. You could market them–“Scarrows”.

            • gigglemonk
                July 14, 2013 at 9:50 pm
                Post count: 146
                #57001

                Scarrows! Rad.

                As for worms and such, I gutshot one and it had tapeworms. Other than that I’ve had no issues. I check them over pretty well.

                I’ve heard that same rule about eating them only in cool months and don’t see any reason not to eat a healthy rabbit in July.

                I’ve read that same report on cottontail diseases. Great piece.

              • Col Mike
                Member
                  July 15, 2013 at 1:13 am
                  Post count: 911
                  #57188

                  Giggle

                  Obviously–heat stroke.:D

                  Mike

                • Stephen Graf
                  Moderator
                    July 15, 2013 at 10:40 am
                    Post count: 2429
                    #57604

                    I saw it happen once.

                    When I was a small boy, too small to hold a gun yet, we had an older cousin spend the summer with us. One of his chores was to keep the rabbits out of the garden.

                    So one evening I tagged behind him as he made his daily after supper trip to the garden to harass the rabbits with the 12 gauge. I was standing behind him when he stopped and raised the gun. I looked between his legs and could see a rabbit. When he shot, it fell over.

                    So he started for the rabbit he shot, passed the rabbit I had seen and went on to pick up a rabbit full of shot. I walked over and picked up the rabbit I had seen. It was dead, not a mark on it.

                    I know rabbits suffer heart attacks, same as people, as they store a lot of fat on internal organs. Maybe that’s the reason? Rabbit got startled, had a massive infarction, and dropped dead…

                  • archer38
                      July 16, 2013 at 2:28 am
                      Post count: 242
                      #58283

                      My first time ever rabbit hunting, My older Brother walked into a big pile of junipers in hopes of flushing a rabbit for me. As he stomped into the bush, 5 of them ran in every possible direction with one of them running head-on into my shin. Dropped dead right there and I got my first rabbit without even firing a shot !

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