Henry Rifle Forums

I live in central Massachausetts and, for years my vegetable garden has been plagued by woodchucks and deer. I got rid of the woodchuck a few weeks ago and I haven't seen any sign of deer since mid-April. However, I am being overrun by cottontails, both mature and little ones. We used to have a dense population of coyotes and fox, but they have disappeared, hence, all the bunnies. I own a Havaheart trap and am wondering what is the most effective bait for that trap for rabbits. I would like to catch the rabbits and re-locate them. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Good luck!

www.havahart.com/rabbit-baits wrote: Pour some apple cider into a spray bottle, and spray it thoroughly on the inside of your trap. The apple scent will serve two purposes: luring rabbits into the cage and covering up any human scent that may deter rabbits from entering. Create a trail of bait from outside of the trap to help guide rabbits in.

Hire me to shoot them. We have a problem here too but there is no place to relocate them.

Pitchman1968 wrote:I live in central Massachausetts and, for years my vegetable garden has been plagued by woodchucks and deer. I got rid of the woodchuck a few weeks ago and I haven't seen any sign of deer since mid-April. However, I am being overrun by cottontails, both mature and little ones. We used to have a dense population of coyotes and fox, but they have disappeared, hence, all the bunnies. I own a Havaheart trap and am wondering what is the most effective bait for that trap for rabbits. I would like to catch the rabbits and re-locate them. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Sounds like they like what you are growing, put some of that in the trap.

We have the opposite. We have too many coyotes, fox and hawks. They are getting the squirrels and rabbits around here and there is nothing to hunt and thus eat. I would shoot the coyotes if I had time, but I do not.

Good luck with the have a heart. I'd put clover in the trap and see what happens. Good luck.

Thanks for "Having a Heart" Pitchman.

I thought I was tough, but shooting bunnies..................

I shot a whole bunch of them as a teen. Cottontails are really good eating.

There's a saying about them, though, that I pay heed to: Don't shoot them in any month that doesn't have an "R" in its name. That means avoid them in July and August, and don't take your first one until September. The big problem in the hottest months was always said to be worms.

Man, I'd love to hunt some bunnies again with my H001!

ditchparrot wrote:I shot a whole bunch of them as a teen. Cottontails are really good eating.

There's a saying about them, though, that I pay heed to: Don't shoot them in any month that doesn't have an "R" in its name. That means avoid them in July and August, and don't take your first one until September. The big problem in the hottest months was always said to be worms.

Man, I'd love to hunt some bunnies again with my H001!

ditchparrot, I was referring to the babies, not the adults, unless you eat those as well

Edit to add I wouldn't eat any rabbit in Florida so I never shot one.

for years we had a garden and early on rabbits were a problem .... finally bought the gear to run an electric fence ... ran one wire 2 - 3 inches off the ground and that took care of the problem .... it worked so well I ran 2 more wires ... one a couple of feet off the ground and the top one at about the 4' level .... that took care of the deer

Given the way they breed, the best bait to attract them is more rabbits...