The author commends the beagle pack for their work. Heavy cover at the edge of a field can make for good rabbit habitat. Photo courtesy of Mark Fike.

Rabbits are said to be America's No. 1 small game animal. As abundant and tasty as they are, it is no wonder that so many hunters enjoy a day afield chasing Mr. Long Ears. The Southeast is composed of a number of habitats and ecosystems. One can find swamps, timber in hardwood and pine lots, pasture, cutovers, agricultural fields, brush country and prairie all in the region we call the Southeast.

The good news is that rabbits, whether they are cottontails, blacktail jackrabbits, marsh or swamp rabbits, can be found in each of the habitats. Sometimes two or more of the species may overlap in the same habitat.

Rabbits are generally known to frequent what biologists call early successional cover. This means that they prefer weedy, grassy or short brushy areas. Rabbits, no matter the species, have two things that occupy almost their entire lives: eating and hiding. (Rabbits also are notorious for occupying themselves with making more rabbits, but that doesn't take much time and right after the new rabbits are born, they have to start hiding and eating, too.) Some of the best areas to find rabbits are areas that offer both cover and food either next to each other or mixed together in the same area.

SWAMPS & MARSHES
The Southeast has a number of areas where swamps and marshes are common. In these areas, the swamp rabbit and marsh rabbit and to a lesser extent, the cottontail, is found. Swamps and marshes are often surrounded by wet soil that is conducive to weedy growth, which in turn provides great cover and food.

Many swamp rabbits are taken incidentally in the course of a rabbit or other game hunt. Hunters who hunt wetland areas know that a good pack of beagles is the way to go when wanting to put rabbit on the dinner menu. The cover is very thick and briars and vines are common. Hunters wearing chaps and using walking sticks to ward off briars, snakes and vines can also stomp and roust rabbits from cover, affording a shot with a shotgun. In open marshlands, the marsh rabbits can be sniped with a .22 rifle by a hunter stalking quietly.

TIMBER
Finding rabbits in hardwood lots and pine lots is tough unless the stands are very young and thick. Early growth of such lots still has plenty of underbrush, offering rabbits food and cover in which to hide. The edge of a pine thicket is an excellent area for rabbits to be found.

However, hunting a hardwood or pine lot can be tough. On one hand, a rabbit dog (usually a beagle) will locate rabbits faster, but sometimes because of the lack of thick cover, the rabbit may run much farther and be well out of range in no time. This is especially true of older hardwood lots.

A few hunters easing along the edges of a hardwood or pine stand armed with either tight-choked scatterguns or .22 rifles will find that hunting can be quite good. If a group of hunters work together and strategically place the rimfire hunter among the shotgun hunters, then the lone rabbit spied at a distance can be taken by a rifle, while moving rabbits jumped by the hunters walking along are more easily taken by a shotgun.

CUTOVERS
Cutovers are areas that were recently timbered with no growth more than seven or eight years old. Most of the brush in a cutover is less than 6 feet tall. Briars are prevalent and honeysuckle, saplings and vines are common. Rabbits absolutely love cutovers because food and cover are located in one place.

Cutovers are very difficult to hunt solo or without a beagle or other rabbit dogs because the cover is darn near impenetrable. The most common practice is to get a pack of beagles and several hunters together. One or two hunters work the dogs from one end of the cutover and the other hunters spread out in the cutover looking for a location where they have a field of view. Once the dogs begin chasing down a rabbit, hunters wait at their spots for the rabbit to pass by.

The rabbits can be several hundred yards in front of the beagles in the thick cover, so hunters need to be watching closely. Opportunities for shots are short lived. Sometimes being on higher ground is advantageous. Standing on a large stump can offer a better vantage point and be the difference between putting a rabbit in the game vest or not.