rabbit hunting at night

[whacko]

OK guys I'm new to hunting......started last year and am having a blast learning evrything I can. Googled this topic a million ways and am confused.

1. Rabbit season runs till 28 FEB and I went last night and saw plenty of tracks and plan to go back again to the area. Hours of hunting are 1/2 hour before sunrise until midnight.

2. Hunting laws in Mass say NO artificial light can be used except for racoon and opossum.

SO........how the hell do I hunt rabbits between sunset and midight with no damn flashligh?

HELP!!!

 

[whacko]

Very interesting, In 29+ years I never dealt with an end of day issue with rabbits. So I never looked it up until now, Ma. F&W screwed up on that one as they never defined the close of legal hunting hours for cottontail rabbit.

Hours are sunrise till midnight so daytime is fine too but......


Yeah it's a wierd one. I'm hunting with my 12 year old and trying to teach him to research the rules and hunt legally.......like yesterday when we saw a couple of squirrels running around and he wanted to take one.......squirrell season ended on January 2 so can't do it......as much as I wanted to.

Anyway I digress.........we hunted till about 45 minutes after sunset as the hours for rabbit are till midnight.......just makes no sense to me to have the legal hours for rabbit go 'till midnight if you can't use artificial light on any animal in mass other than coon or possum. Just plain wierd.

I've read hunting articles where it is legal in some states to "shine" rabbits at night and it sounds like fun.

 

[xtry51]

FLIR scope

 

[whacko]

FLIR scope

That'll look pretty funny on my mossy 500 20 guage.

 

[Mike-Mike]

A hunters moon and a snow covered ground. I hiked at night quite a bit and once your eyes adjust you can see better than you think.

 

[xtry51]

That'll look pretty funny on my mossy 500 20 guage.

Maybe but practical is rarely stylish!

 

[ColdDayInHell]

Maybe but practical is rarely stylish!

That's like a Ferrari engine in a Camry

 

[whacko]

That's like a Ferrari engine in a Camry

I would say more like a Ferrari engine on a 1985 ford f150

 

[whacko]

So I got online with my boy yesterday and looked a videos on rabbit hunting to get some ideas on how we are going to do this without a dog. Got some great ideas. We are excited for tomorrow morning and are thankful we own some good snow shoes after the storm yesterday. I found the video below really cool and it got my blood pumping for gunning some rabbits for dinner tomorrow! Here is to hoping.......if you like rabbit hunting the video will get you going!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNZiIkn8dUg

 

[fishangler]

Some fish hunters moon and a snow covered ground. I hiked at night quite a bit and once your eyes adjust you can see better than you think. Just give it a try and you'll surely get it around!