Rabbit cycle

[rottik9]

Where are we in the rabbit cycle here in Alberta, are we in a high spot or low?

[huntinalberta]

I think a low spot. Havnt seen to many this year or prior years.

[Dan4570]

Depending on where you go. Was out at one of my spots a few days ago bowhunting. Was wishing i brough the .22 with the amount of rabbits and grouse i was seeing. Didnt feel like losing or ruining my broadheads through thick bush.

[rottik9]

I am in the St. Paul area...not seeing a lot. Birds are around, but rabbits I am not seeing.

[Twobucks]

Originally Posted by huntinalberta

I think a low spot. Havnt seen to many this year or prior years.

Where are you? Hunting K-country I've done well with rabbits this year, but I've hunted small game more than any other year since I was a kid. I don't know if I'm in rabbit country more or if the numbers are good. Little to nothing to compare it to!

[HunterDave]

The last couple of years I've seen a lot but I haven't been looking for them this year so I don't know. Based on what I've seen, I'd say that we are near or at the top of the cycle. Find a Trapper who traps lynx and ask him. The lynx harvest is dependent on, and best when rabbits are in abundance.

[3blade]

I think we are just over the peak. Seeing some but not as many as the last two years. Usually the crash is steeper than the upswing

[huntinalberta]

Originally Posted by Twobucks

Where are you? Hunting K-country I've done well with rabbits this year, but I've hunted small game more than any other year since I was a kid. I don't know if I'm in rabbit country more or if the numbers are good. Little to nothing to compare it to!

Up in the Athabaska area

[KegRiver]

From what I'm seeing I'd say we are caught in the middle. That there are no more cycles.

Having lived through a number of cycles years ago I don't see any of the signs of the spike in populations that happen just before the crash so typical of the cycles I lived through.
What I see are small pockets of somewhat high population but nothing near the peaks that come with cycles.

For those who haven't seen Rabbit (Snowshoe Hare) population spike, I'm sure it'd be hard to picture.
What you would see is rabbits eating the bark of every tree less then six inches in diameter. They get so numerous they try to eat anything that they think might be food. They chew on buildings, fence posts, vehicle tires, rope.
They get run over on the highway, and others try to eat the dead ones until you will see several together, all road kill and there will be at least one road kill rabbit in sight all the time for miles and miles.
I've seen where they eat into a hay stack until the stack collapsed on them killing hundreds.

The last peak I remember was in 1981 or 82. I was working Seismic back then and about mid winter the rabbits started running out of things to eat.
They had girded every sapling and cut off every small bush. There was nothing left so the went after our recorder cables.
We'd drive down the line in the morning and see rabbit after rabbit dead on the trail, often with our cable still in their mouths. After a few days of this the jug hounds started loading the bodies on the trucks and they dumped them in a pile next to the dynamite mags. In a couple of days that pile was bigger then a four by four Ford. And that was just the rabbits that died on our line that day.

There are places I see a couple of dozen rabbits in an evening but that's no where near the numbers I was seeing just before the crash of 1982, 1972 or 1964.

[no-regard]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

From what I'm seeing I'd say we are caught in the middle. That there are no more cycles.

Having lived through a number of cycles years ago I don't see any of the signs of the spike in populations that happen just before the crash so typical of the cycles I lived through.
What I see are small pockets of somewhat high population but nothing near the peaks that come with cycles.

For those who haven't seen Rabbit (Snowshoe Hare) population spike, I'm sure it'd be hard to picture.
What you would see is rabbits eating the bark of every tree less then six inches in diameter. They get so numerous they try to eat anything that they think might be food. They chew on buildings, fence posts, vehicle tires, rope.
They get run over on the highway, and others try to eat the dead ones until you will see several together, all road kill and there will be at least one road kill rabbit in sight all the time for miles and miles.
I've seen where they eat into a hay stack until the stack collapsed on them killing hundreds.

The last peak I remember was in 1981 or 82. I was working Seismic back then and about mid winter the rabbits started running out of things to eat.
They had girded every sapling and cut off every small bush. There was nothing left so the went after our recorder cables.
We'd drive down the line in the morning and see rabbit after rabbit dead on the trail, often with our cable still in their mouths. After a few days of this the jug hounds started loading the bodies on the trucks and they dumped them in a pile next to the dynamite mags. In a couple of days that pile was bigger then a four by four Ford. And that was just the rabbits that died on our line that day.

There are places I see a couple of dozen rabbits in an evening but that's no where near the numbers I was seeing just before the crash of 1982, 1972 or 1964.

Posts like this are so great. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I've never heard of anything about high or low rabbit populations before, very interesting…you've painted quite a picture!

Thanks again.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

From what I'm seeing I'd say we are caught in the middle. That there are no more cycles.

Having lived through a number of cycles years ago I don't see any of the signs of the spike in populations that happen just before the crash so typical of the cycles I lived through.
What I see are small pockets of somewhat high population but nothing near the peaks that come with cycles.

For those who haven't seen Rabbit (Snowshoe Hare) population spike, I'm sure it'd be hard to picture.
What you would see is rabbits eating the bark of every tree less then six inches in diameter. They get so numerous they try to eat anything that they think might be food. They chew on buildings, fence posts, vehicle tires, rope.
They get run over on the highway, and others try to eat the dead ones until you will see several together, all road kill and there will be at least one road kill rabbit in sight all the time for miles and miles.
I've seen where they eat into a hay stack until the stack collapsed on them killing hundreds.

The last peak I remember was in 1981 or 82. I was working Seismic back then and about mid winter the rabbits started running out of things to eat.
They had girded every sapling and cut off every small bush. There was nothing left so the went after our recorder cables.
We'd drive down the line in the morning and see rabbit after rabbit dead on the trail, often with our cable still in their mouths. After a few days of this the jug hounds started loading the bodies on the trucks and they dumped them in a pile next to the dynamite mags. In a couple of days that pile was bigger then a four by four Ford. And that was just the rabbits that died on our line that day.

There are places I see a couple of dozen rabbits in an evening but that's no where near the numbers I was seeing just before the crash of 1982, 1972 or 1964.

Talking moose remembers. Walked from the top of sunny valley hill to the bottom and shot over 30 rabbits(hares) was a sight to behold.

[jim summit]

From what i have seen on the trapline, the rabbit pop is going down, Lynx were lean, and no fat on them. Still some pockets with rabbits.