I have access to 30 acres of overgrown farmland that looks so perfect for bunnies it is screaming "wabbits". I haven't hunted it yet but I'm wondering how effective brush piles are for drawing them.I have permission to build as many as I like. Worth the effort?

My thoughts. .  if they have a way to avoid being eaten by foxes and coyotes and everything else, they will survive and you will have some to hunt.

I make brush piles all over my place.
ChuckC

QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
My thoughts. .  if they have a way to avoid being eaten by foxes and coyotes and everything else, they will survive and you will have some to hunt.

I make brush piles all over my place.
ChuckC

Yes build them!! We would be happy to come help you test them  

Absolutly!  when I was a kid I knew where every brush pile was in the woods i'd hunt and would go from one to the next kicking the pile.  Killed a lot of rabbits that way... I should really get out and do that again, ton of fun!

Rabbits love cover!

Pallets are great to use. Put them out and cover them in sticks etc and let it grow over.  I put mine over a log/big stuck with a fulcrum so we just jump up and down on the "handle" and it shakes them right out!!!

QuoteOriginally posted by Brianlocal3:
Pallets are great to use. Put them out and cover them in sticks etc and let it grow over.  I put mine over a log/big stuck with a fulcrum so we just jump up and down on the "handle" and it shakes them right out!!!

That is exactly what i was going to say.

X2

Yes, I built many brush piles on my land. I live on 5 acres. When I first moved there the place was void of wildlife. After trimming the trees that were in the yard and making brush piles, there are lots of rabbits. One important thing is when your trying to kick out a rabbit is to not destroy the brush pile. The brush pile needs to have a secure atmosphere. One idea is after christmas is to run an add in the paper offering to take discarded christmas trees. about 5 or 6 christmas trees makes a decent rabbit house.

QuoteOriginally posted by kill shot:
Yes, I built many brush piles on my land. I live on 5 acres. When I first moved there the place was void of wildlife. After trimming the trees that were in the yard and making brush piles, there are lots of rabbits. One important thing is when your trying to kick out a rabbit is to not destroy the brush pile. The brush pile needs to have a secure atmosphere. One idea is after christmas is to run an add in the paper offering to take discarded christmas trees. about 5 or 6 christmas trees makes a decent rabbit house.

Another great idea, as Bob the Builder says," reduce, reuse, recycle"

You may go by Wally World and ask them what they do with the trees they have left over after Christmas.

Yep.  And rabbits aren't the only critters that like them.  Grouse will nest on their edges as well.  The pallet in the center is a good idea.  I usually try to lay some larger logs or limbs -- 4-6 inches in diameter -- on the bottom then pile with brush.

We have done the pallet thing but I will say now after many years they are broken down and I'm afraid of the nails for me and my dog.  Yard waste, tree trimmings, Christmas trees... it all goes out to the rabbit piles and gives them great cover.

I hunt ranches.  The old vehicles and piles of pipe from irrigation make great habitat.  Pallets are a great idea.  Why not build circular habitats so they can be used as a ground blind?  I do not jump on the piles, but rather use binos and stalk them like deer.  On cold days they sit on sunny sides.  Yesterday i followed coyotes as they hu ted "my" rabbit habitats.  The snow helped me take inventory of what was on the lower end of the ranch
I will build habitats usi g bebris from cleari g beaver dams out of irrigTion ditches.  Thanks for the idea

Pallets work great, and also cutting 4 or 5 4 inch logs, criss crossing them as a base, and piling brush on top works great also. Security from fox and coyotes is important, and a place to dodge owls.

I see several of you guys are from Michigan. Daisy and I are always looking for a new spot, give us a call!

 http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h227/rnorris/DSCF5003_zps0262831e.jpg

A little different thought.  The best rabbit hunting I've ever seen in my life was on a christmas tree farm.  It seemed like every tree had a rabbit underneath, makes sense they used them for cover and food.  With that in mind I'd call around to the extension office and see about free seedlings.  Might take a while but pines grow pretty quick.

Be sure to throw some salt in those brush piles. The does need it for gestation. I buy cattle salt blocks and bust them up with  hammer. Push some chunks down in the piles. Cheaper than buying regular rabbit salt. If you have what might be called "trash " trees at about 6" dia, cut them half to 3/4 thru at about 18" high and push them over. Pile brush up on that. Remember, rabbits are mostly edge creatures, so make you piles around the edges of fields. Feral and farm cats used to be the bane of our rabbits but now it's damn coyotes. They are on my hit list anytime , anywhere. I have a friend who actually live traps groundhogs (they are kinda scarce around here too, damn coyotes !) from barns and out buildings for folks and transplants them to a back corner of his property. Their dens are wonderful rabbit cover too. I hope before I pass from this earth I can once again hunt one of my favorite small game animals.

Great advice with the larger logs and brush them in. It gives the rabbits a nice escape area. Christmas trees are put on the curbs in town and work great as the logs and brush.
I trap at the house and take out to a 20 with many rabbit piles.
There are now highways from rabbits after it snows.

You can also clear some trails and use the brush for building piles. This will give the added edge habitat that rabbits as well as quail and other critters like.

Fence rows and edges are important to rabbits as well.  They provide natural cover areas.  I would mow a winding path through the area and use that to access your property.  You will frequently see rabbits out feeding on browse that grows back up in your mowed lanes.

Oh, and if you REALLY want to attract rabbits, plant green beans along those paths.
(It sure works for my vegetable garden...)   :rolleyes: