{"id":2623,"date":"2019-02-01T13:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T20:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/?p=2623"},"modified":"2019-02-02T09:06:00","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T16:06:00","slug":"wildcat-hunts-jackrabbits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/2019\/02\/wildcat-hunts-jackrabbits\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildcat Hunts Jackrabbits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

West Texas is a very arid region of the country, primarily\nscrub brush and cactus. It\u2019s been said that everything in the Texas brushland wants\nto sting, stab, or bite you, and there\u2019s some truth to that folksy adage. There\nis cactus everywhere; from jumping Cholla cactus, to creeping vines of beehive\ncactus, to clumps of prickly pears. Don\u2019t even get me started on the animals;\nants that can leave welts, scorpions that can lay you low with cramps, and\nrattlesnakes that will at the very least send you to the hospital for a few\ndays. I don\u2019t mean to imply your life is at risk every when you step into this\ndesert-scape, however these all serve as incentives not to sit, kneel, or put\nyour hands on the ground. I did a few times last week and am still pulling\nthorns out of my hands, my knees, my\u2026\u2026.. well you get the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You have to watch out where you sit or kneel out here! One wrong move stays with you for days!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This landscape is home to both jackrabbit and cottontail\nrabbits and Texas is overrun with them . Both are viewed as pest species, which\nmeans there are no limits and no seasons. In the daylight hours they   tend to lay up in scrapes, depressions\nscraped out under clumps of cactus or brush, though cottontails will rarely\nhijack another animals burrow when trying to escape danger. Considering the\npossibility of running into a badger, fox, or rattlesnake when dropping down a\nstrange hole, it\u2019s understandable that evolution seems to have led them away\nfrom a subterranean life. Besides these threats, rabbits out here are on the\nmenu for bobcats, mountain lion, hawks, owls, and eagles, though coyotes are\nprobably their main predator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I can shoot this gun well from almost any position. This is one of the most ergonomic field guns I’ve shot, and probably my favorite bullpup of all time. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The accuracy and power of the Wildcat are outstanding. I’ve taken everything from prairie dogs to feral hogs with mine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cottontail rabbits rely mostly on their camouflage, tucking\nin tight to brush or deep in tangles of paddle shaped prickly pear cactus, they\nwill hold tight allowing a hunter to step right over them without moving, then\nscurry away once danger has passed. They will run when pressed, often moving in\na large circle while looking for new hiding places along the way. Jack rabbits\nwill often sit and watch the hunter approach through the brush. When their\nsafety zone is breeched, they may bound away in long strides. Or they may start\na chess game in which they move around and behind the hunter, slowly walking\nand watching as they maneuver away from the source of danger. When they choose\nto bolt, they have a habit of stopping at a short distance for a look back\nbefore kicking it into high gear. It\u2019s unfortunate for the rabbit, but an\nopportunity for the hunter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most productive way to hunt these desert rabbits is\nstill hunting: slowly walking (with frequent stops along the way) while\nsearching the base of brush and looking into the patches of cactus and desert\ngrasses. Cottontails will tuck themselves in, while jacks will often sit with\ntheir ears held erect listening for danger. As a matter of fact, it can be hard\nto see a jackrabbit sitting 40 yards away watching you through the branches of\nmesquite, but if the sun is behind them their ears may take on an amber glow as\nthe light passes through. The real challenge, and key to success, is spotting\nthe rabbit before you push them. Cottontails may eventually circle back but,\nspook a jackrabbit and he\u2019ll be a mile away before you know what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A combination, I dropped both a jack and a cottontail on this pass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d say that most of my shots at cottontails in this region\ntake place between 8-40 yards. If they are holding tight, the main problem is\nnot getting close, but rather finding a clear shooting lane. I\u2019ll often step\nlightly on the periphery of the cover, not too aggressively or loudly, but\nenough that they start to think about sprinting off. When this happens, the\nrabbit will step to the offside of the bush or cactus in preparation of taking\nflight, and this may be the hunters only chance at a clean shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackrabbits tend to be taken with shots that are longer, in\nthe 40-70-yard range. They may let you inside of 50 yards, but once spooked\nthey usually stand and watch momentarily before taking off in rapid bounds.\nThis brief hesitation is the best shot opportunity, however as mentioned\nearlier jackrabbits will often run a short distance and pause to look back, and\nthis is typically the last chance for a shot before they are gone for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These jacks fell to the Wildcat at ranges of 30 to 120 yards….. then gun makes a statement on small game!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Had a great time hunting them with the FX Wildcat, I find this a compact and ergonomic field gun, and while bullpups aren\u2019t my favorite style of gun in general, I do appreciate a well designed on and this is one of my favorites. I shoot it well from any field position, can cycle it very quickly, and the power and accuracy are top rate. My Wildcats are both .25 caliber, and it is a truly impressive small game getter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On another topic: I’ll be posting information on our annual prairie dogs shoot in South Dakota in the coming days. Working out some of the final details, but the dates will be May 16 arrival, 17&18 shooting, and departure on the 19th. We’ve had a blast every year and expecting the same again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

West Texas is a very arid region of the country, primarily scrub brush and cactus. It\u2019s been said that everything in the Texas brushland wants to sting, stab, or bite you, and there\u2019s some truth to that folksy adage. There is cactus everywhere; from jumping Cholla cactus, to creeping vines of beehive cactus, to clumps … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,122,124,126,95,20,26,83,7,1,125],"tags":[6,127,205,206],"class_list":["post-2623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airguns-of-arizona","category-compact-guns","category-fx","category-hunting-guns","category-jackrabbits","category-long-range-shooting","category-pest-control","category-power","category-smallgamehunting","category-uncategorized","category-wildcat","tag-airgun-hunting","tag-fx-wildcat","tag-rabbit-hunting","tag-texas-jackrabbit-hunt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2696,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2623\/revisions\/2696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}