Late-Season Cottontails

It’s late January. The same big briar thicket that flushed six rabbits in November has been hunted three times since then. You release the dogs and they work the edges for forty minutes — nothing. The rabbits are still here, but they’ve moved. They’ve gone somewhere you haven’t been willing to go. This lesson is about going there.

Quick recall

From The Circle — when a beagle is trailing and a cottontail circles back, where should a stander position to intercept it?

From The Circle — when a beagle is trailing and a cottontail circles back, where should a stander position to intercept it?

Near the spot where the rabbit was originally jumped Along the far edge of the cover away from the jump Anywhere with a clear shooting lane, position doesn't matter much

Check answer

Why late season is different

A rabbit season runs from late fall into March (verify current SCDNR regulations before you hunt — these change yearly). By the second half of the season, three forces reshape the land:

1. Hunting pressure. The same patches get hit repeatedly. Rabbits that survive learn which cover gets walked through. They shift to the spots least visited — which are usually the densest, nastiest, least comfortable to hunt.

2. Vegetation thinning. Frost and freeze knock down herbaceous cover. Broomsedge that was thick in October lies flattened. Thin brushy edges look empty from the outside — and often are. Only structural cover (briars, honeysuckle, root tangles, brush piles, cedar thickets) stays intact.

3. Colder temperatures. Rabbits minimize thermoregulatory cost by sitting deep in insulated, windproof cover rather than ranging widely. They may not stray far from their core hold sites for days at a time.

The result: rabbits compress into a fraction of the land. Ten percent of your cover may hold ninety percent of your rabbits by February.

The why How do pressured rabbits change their behavior?

A cottontail that has been jumped and chased several times in a season does not leave the area — its home range is small (~5 acres) and it rarely crosses into unfamiliar territory. But it does become increasingly reluctant to flush from dense cover. Pressured rabbits sit tighter, run shorter circuits, and return faster to the same bolt hole. They rely on holding absolutely still rather than bolting early. This is actually good news for the hunter: find the right cover and the rabbit is almost certainly still in there.

Find the right cover — the core, not the edges

Late-season hunting is largely a cover-selection problem. The productive patches share a few traits:

• Structural, not just vegetative. Fallen logs, root balls, dense cedar rows, blackberry canes, and honeysuckle mats that survived the frosts — not broomsedge fields that have lodged flat.
• Interior density, not edges. Early season, the field margin was the money strip. Late season, the rabbit moved into the interior of the thicket where dogs struggle and hunters avoid.
• Sign confirms use. Before committing the dogs, walk a slow circuit of a likely patch and look for: fresh dark pellet droppings (darker and glossier than old, dried ones), freshly nibbled twig tips with clean 45-degree cuts, and packed-down runways that weren’t obvious earlier in the season.

Adjust your shot expectations

Late-season rabbits flush at shorter range from denser cover. A rabbit that holds until you nearly step on it at 4 yards and bolts through blackberry canes is not giving you a 30-yard crossing shot. It’s giving you a glimpse between stems at 10–15 yards — or nothing at all until it clears the far side of the patch.

What this means practically:

• Have the gun up and ready earlier — mount as you push into likely cover, not after the flush.
• Open your choke. You are not making 30-yard shots. A cylinder-bore or improved-cylinder pattern at 10–15 yards is far more useful than a tight full-choke load that throws a pencil pattern at close range.
• Take the first clean window the rabbit gives you. Late-season rabbits in heavy cover may give you one brief opening and then disappear.

Edge case Shot size and choke for tight cover — the quick math

At 10–15 yards with an improved-cylinder choke, #6 shot delivers a dense, clean-killing pattern that won’t over-penetrate. A full choke at the same distance throws a fist-sized pattern that requires nearly perfect aim on a small, fast target in brush. Open up. Many experienced rabbit hunters use cylinder bore or skeet choke in late-season thick cover specifically because the shots are so close and the cover so broken that pattern spread is your ally.

Always verify ammunition and choke selection is appropriate for your specific firearm — consult your shotgun’s manual or a qualified gunsmith if uncertain.

Make the call — a January hunt

Decision

It's late January on a property you've hunted three times since Thanksgiving. The big open broomsedge field that gave you six rabbits in November is empty — dogs worked it for 30 minutes with nothing. A thick, impenetrable-looking honeysuckle tangle in the back corner of the property has never been touched. What do you do?

Walk the edge of the honeysuckle tangle looking for fresh droppings and nibbled twigs before running dogs Release the dogs through the tangle right away — the sign check wastes time The tangle looks too thick to hunt — move to the next property

Judge the cover and the shot

Knowledge check

It's the last week of the season. A property you've hunted hard all year still looks good from the road — but you've walked every edge and fencerow multiple times. Where should you focus your next hunt?

It's the last week of the season. A property you've hunted hard all year still looks good from the road — but you've walked every edge and fencerow multiple times. Where should you focus your next hunt?

The interior cores of the thickest, most uncomfortable cover on the property — spots you've avoided Walk the same productive edges again — rabbits keep using the same spots Move to a completely new property — the current one is hunted out

Check answer

Knowledge check

A late-season rabbit flushes at 8 yards in dense honeysuckle and your best shot window is 12 yards. Which choke and load gives you the best clean-killing pattern at that distance?

A late-season rabbit flushes at 8 yards in dense honeysuckle and your best shot window is 12 yards. Which choke and load gives you the best clean-killing pattern at that distance?

Open choke (cylinder or improved-cylinder) and #6 shot — wider pattern at close range Full choke and #4 shot — tighter pattern and heavier pellets for denser cover

Check answer

Take it to the woods

Late-season hunt adjustments

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Reset

• Before running dogs, walk the thickest cover and look for fresh droppings and nibbled twigs.
• Open your choke to cylinder or improved-cylinder for close-range brushy shots.
• ⚠ Safety Mount the gun as you push into likely cover — not after the flush. Late-season shots are fast and close.
• ⚠ Safety Confirm backstop before every shot — dogs and partners may be just beyond the cover.
• Position standers close to the jump site — late-season circles are tighter than early season.
• Identify at least one heavy cover patch you have never hunted and go there first.

Sources

• MeatEater — How to Hunt Late Winter Cottontails: https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/small-game/how-to-hunt-late-winter-cottontails
• MidWest Outdoors — Five Tips for Late-Season Cottontails: https://midwestoutdoors.com/hunting/five-tips-for-late-season-cottontails/
• Mid-South Hunting & Fishing News — 3 Ways to Find End-of-Winter Cottontails: https://mshfn.com/3-ways-to-find-end-of-winter-cottontails/
• Dive Bomb Industries — Rabbit Hunting in South Carolina: https://www.divebombindustries.com/blogs/news/rabbit-hunting-in-south-carolina-cottontail-essentials
• NC State Extension — Cottontail Rabbit: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/cottontail-rabbit
• SCDNR Small Game Regulations (verify current season dates and bag limits before hunting): https://www.dnr.sc.gov/regulations/