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Old 02-13-19, 09:08 AM
  #23  
IBOHUNT
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Location: Western Maryland - Appalachian Mountains
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Bikes: Motobecane Fantom Cross; Cannondale Supersix replaced the Giant TCR which came to an untimely death by truck

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Originally Posted by Heathpack
How hard is it to shoot a rabbit? Asking for a friend.

Originally Posted by Bandera
"Harder?"
Do you mean more difficult to approach and stalk to deliver a decisive shot on a small alert animal or larger one in their preferred feeding habitat?
The skill of the hunter in his/her experience of the quarry's behavior, terrain sense, ability to perceive silhouettes against a background, work upwind and calmly and accurately deliver a killing shot are all learned skills that our species has worked on for countless generations. None are easy skills, and most neglected in our "modern" world. All hard work in the oldest sense of the word, with going hungry or not at stake on the accuracy of the shot.

To deliver the killing stroke on any game animal. large or small, should be done with calm considered certainty.
In my culture we don't hunt for sport, we eat what we kill and take "a good clean shot" or none at all. Rabbit,deer: Same, same.
Hard to do, our natural quarry has been at this survival thing for quite some time as well.

-Bandera
I'd echo what @Bandera posted.

I'll add this with the scale of easier to harder.

shotgun - If you are hungry then this is the go-to weapon. My preference, harder to easier, is 410, 20ga (hard to believe that was bought new 50 years ago) then 12ga. Spray away!
.22 - an over-under is a good weapon of choice here. You can get .22 and 20ga combo and it will work for many species including deer (rifled slug).
Recurve bow - this will hone your skills. The ability to sneak up on a wary critter and judge the yardage is a true test. Yardage judging is key to any IBO or ASA shoots

Any good 'kill' shot will take an animal out. Some, even with a double lung shot, will run or put up a good fight. I put an arrow in a gator just south of Myrtle Beach S.C. (Georgetown) and it took me about a half-hour to get it to the boat so we could bang stick it. I've had deer run 70 yards with a double lung kill shot. Put an arrow through an Antelope in S.D a few years back. Those critters are fast and can run for what seems like forever .when they should just fall over. Amazing what adrenaline does.

As Bandera put it... It's the responsibility of the shooter to know the game anatomy, and only take a shot that will kill. Like Bandera, I was brought up, and passed that on to my daughters, that you shoot it you eat it.

I've been invited to Casa de @racerex for Chuckar hunting. Once I retire I may take him up on that but that little stoke thing I had back in July left me with only partial vision in the right (dominant) eye. If you can sneak up on me you can take a blow with that arn skillet to the right side of my head and I'll never see that coming. All good though.

Mountain bike with a gun/bow rack... yeah buddy!
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