# Rabbit Hunting With A Slingshot, Simple Open Field Stalking And Shooting



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

I was asked by a few to show a little more of the stalking aspect of rabbit hunting with a slingshot... so here it is. I saw this little guy out in the grass so set up a camera and went out to show how I do it if there's no way to set up a distraction or lure.
It took me about 3 minutes to get into position for the stalk, a lot of boring air so I just cut to the "meat" of the stalk, when I was close enough to the rabbit for it to really notice me.
I know it's difficult to see the whole thing, but watching it in full screen does help. Basically, you walk slowly in a loop to the backside of the rabbit. If it seems like he's reacting to you, stop and wait until his attention is off of you and then move. Your goal is to get in line with the back of his head and then slowly move towards it without making any noise.
Usually I can get to about 35 feet of the rabbit, but on this one I stepped on a twig and he hopped a little... knowing he was now aware and a little spooked I went on ahead and took the shot. His head and neck was not a viable option so I went for his heart... he hopped a little ways after impact and then died.

Ammo used was .41 lead, and the slingshot used was my Scorpion banded up with single per side 1" X 12" gold theraband... this propels the ball at about 250-260 fps, which is more than enough to go all the way through the rabbit. I'd use my Texshooter latex but I realized I only have a little left and there's some special challenge shots I want to get done... theraband is more than adequate for hunting but Tex's stuff is needed for what I'm planning!






What I used:


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## Sean (Nov 17, 2011)

Thanks for the video Bill, good information there for the open field hunting.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Excellent demonstration, Bill. Thanks for putting this one up.

Cheers ...... Charles


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## mrpaint (May 16, 2012)

Nice man, I don't think you could give a much better tutorial than that. You say you are shooting .41 lead at 250+ fps, why do you need more power??? you gunna hunt hogs with a slingshot???


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Thanks Bill.


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

_Great as always Bill -- Tex_


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Great vids!


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## mopep (Mar 13, 2012)

you rock!!!


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## Megadippen (May 3, 2011)

your the sniper !


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

Looked like a very well placed shot too! ...


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks Guys.

I also did a quick "how to skin a rabbit" vid by request too... It is the rabbit from the video above... it's interesting because you can see what the wound looks like with the skin removed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0wHpMGHbhk[/media]

and here's one where I used the white cloth distraction technique on:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPkJTmLkllg


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

mrpaint said:


> Nice man, I don't think you could give a much better tutorial than that. You say you are shooting .41 lead at 250+ fps, why do you need more power??? you gunna hunt hogs with a slingshot???


Lol, no... I'm going to do something nobody's done before... but it's kind of dangerous so I can't go into details about it... yet


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## RockinRabbit (May 17, 2012)

Always a pleasure watching your vids man , Thanks


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## Berkshire bred (Mar 4, 2012)

great shot same as always thanks for another great vid


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## Thornbottom (Apr 9, 2012)

Great shooting as always Bill! I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve next!


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

Do them cotton tails always sit tight, its rare you can get so close in open field to the british rabbit, over here they would be off and running unless it was with the lamp at night, they seem a smaller rabbit than out british rabbits, so ours are a bigger target ha ha, jeff


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Yeah, the cottontails are fairly small... pretty dumb and kind of slow.... and there's tons of them around here.... perfect slingshot prey!
Jackrabbits, on the other hand.... big, long and lanky... extremely dumb, very fast... incredible pests (as bad as or worse than rats) that NEED to be controlled. They've been hunted to where there's very few around this area now... open field coursing and a .22... distraction and luring works on them extremely well if you're by yourself, so they're also perfect slingshot prey....

Taste-wise, the cottontail is just better.... tender and moist... whereas the Jackrabbit (which I grew up eating, and you know why Jeff), is usually kind of stringy, dry and tough.


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

Bill Hays said:


> Yeah, the cottontails are fairly small... pretty dumb and kind of slow.... and there's tons of them around here.... perfect slingshot prey!
> Jackrabbits, on the other hand.... big, long and lanky... extremely dumb, very fast... incredible pests (as bad as or worse than rats) that NEED to be controlled. They've been hunted to where there's very few around this area now... open field coursing and a .22... distraction and luring works on them extremely well if you're by yourself, so they're also perfect slingshot prey....
> 
> Taste-wise, the cottontail is just better.... tender and moist... whereas the Jackrabbit (which I grew up eating, and you know why Jeff), is usually kind of stringy, dry and tough.


do you give your greyhounds a run on them


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Now Jeff.... you know I can't talk about that since the laws changed. Let's just say, no jackrabbits live around here anymore... and cottontails, well you don't need a dog for them!

Of course I don't have to tell this Jeff... as you're already an ace hunter.

Which kind of brings me to another point... that really was the reason I videoed a few of the kills I've done with a slingshot... I've had more than a few people emailing and asking for advice about hunting etc. as they simply couldn't get it done.... and I just never thought of it as being all that difficult. So I did a few videos on the subject.
One thing I do have that's an advantage over most people is really good eyesite and the ability to pick out animals against the background... that coupled with having done it thousands of times gives a sort of nonchalant confidence to the whole affair.
The most important things about hunting _without_ dogs, in my opinion, are patience (wait on getting the right shot)... being observant, can't tell you how many people simply can't _see_ what's right in front of them.... being a good shot, once you're in position you should be able to hit what you're aiming at.... and just knowing the habits and signs the game you're after uses.


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

Bill Hays said:


> Now Jeff.... you know I can't talk about that since the laws changed. Let's just say, no jackrabbits live around here anymore... and cottontails, well you don't need a dog for them!
> 
> Of course I don't have to tell this Jeff... as you're already an ace hunter.
> 
> ...


didnt know the laws over there, were can hunt rabbits with dogs as long as the land owner knows and says yes, we can hunt most thisng with guns, but no bows, catapults as long as you dont make the aminal suffer, jeff


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Same here, you can hunt with dogs.... just not Greyhounds, or more precisely not _racing_ stock. Since the passage of paramutual wagering in Texas... part of the tradeoff was, all racing stock has to be trained on artificial stuff and means. Since my racing stock and hunting/coursing stock are indistinguishable for most people (I use/d retired, slow or fighters for coursing)... and my Father was the president of the Texas Greyhound Association and director of the National Greyhound Association, plus this farm is one of the most successful percentage-wise of any in existence..... I get a LOT of scrutiny and am inspected everytime an investigator is in the area.
I've been cutting back a lot lately, as the entire Greyhound industry is in decline (bad track management, and an ever growing "PC" population)... so at some point in the future I'll officially return to the fields... a little west of here... coyotes and jackrabbits beware!


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## philly (Jun 13, 2010)

Thanks Bill good vid.
Philly


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## Adirondack Kyle (Aug 20, 2012)

Awesome shots, nice vid, its just fun watching you in action, thanks dude!!


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## Kester (Dec 27, 2012)

Thanks for this


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## rapidray (Dec 15, 2012)

thanks for the cleaning video! On another note...you have any razor back or wild hogs in your area?


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## tradspirit (Jul 23, 2012)

Thank you Bill for the excellent videos!


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## Aussie Allan In Thailand (Jan 28, 2013)

I do not know if your names are the same as we Australians use.
But the larger similar looking to rabbits we call Hares.

They rest in the shade during the day, and unlike rabbits, do not hop a few meters, then have a look around again, oh no sir.
They just keep running, or hopping, for 50 meters, or so.

Therefore talking 25/30 years ago, it was shotgun only.

I still doubt I could lead enough to ever hit a hare on the run.

Although I'm sure you could Mr Hays.

Oh, and the dense scrub, on creek lines, our wild pigs live in, and how dangerous they can be to you below the knees, no sir e bob, I would NEVER hunt them with any SS.
Even when I hunt them with bow hunting rig, I carry a big handgun as an emergency backup. That is when I was in Australia of course, and way outback.

Cheers Allan


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