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Is rabbit hunting becoming a lost sport?

In an outdoor world geared to individual game species, whereshort seasons seem to make hunting priorities more urgent, rabbit hunters ¡ª once vast in numbers ¡ª are in the minority.

Brush piles, woodlots, railroad tracks, a frozen marsh. Years ago, they were a rabbit hunter's paradise.

Any place with brushy cover and a food source was good for a kid to tromp through with the family dog.

And even if there were no cottontails on that trip, it most likely would turn into an adventure of some kind before they came home late again.

Rabbit hunting was something to do on the spur of the moment or maybe after Sunday dinner.

There were no cross-state trips to pheasant hunt; no pre-dawn rising to be in the woods before the turkeys started gobbling; no special gear, tags or expertise required.

Just grab your gun, your dad or a friend, and head to the nearest thicket.

When I was a kid, pheasant hunters were just as likely to head home with a couple furry ears sticking out of their game pocket as long russet tail-feathers. That's not as likely today.

Most bird hunters discourage dogs that sniff up rabbits or are leery about shooting at game on ground level with their pointers or retrievers.

See a rabbit hunter today, though, and you might look twice. They're still out there. But they are a quiet minority, in an outdoor world that seems specialized for individual game species.

Just more than 50,000 Iowans hunted rabbits in 1999, according to the annual game survey compiled by the Department of Natural Resources. That was down from 170,000 in 1963; the first year such a breakdown was available.

It's a safe bet, too, that the number was far higher in the 1930s and '40s eras of subsistence hunting.

"There are so many other things to do," said Rick Trine, wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "Turkey numbers are good. There are so many opportunities to hunt deer now, with the extra tags available through midwinter.

"Rabbit hunting, squirrel hunting, too, have fallen by the wayside."

The loss of traditional farmsteads is another factor.

"We see fewer brushy fence rows, woodlots and brush piles," said Trine. "We have lost a lot of rabbit habitat over the years (as farms grow bigger). The loss of CRP fields over the last few years has hurt, too."

Add to that mix the phalanx of other distractions, priorities, assignments or recreation opportunities, and stomping on brush piles for bunnies gets bumped down the list.

It's certainly not for a lack of hunting days. Iowa's cottontail season runs from Labor Day weekend through February. Rather, it may be that other seasons, with relatively short time spans, make them seem more urgent.

A five-day shotgun deer season, for instance, dictates that you stick with the slugs and rifled barrel, instead of substituting 5-shot or a 22-rifle for a morning.

I fall into the same routine Trine describes. With a limited number of days to hunt, my PHT (prime hunting time) is spent chasing ringnecks or whitetails, not cottontails.

Once or twice a year, though, while hunting pheasants, I'll stick the dog back in the truck (shorthairs make poor beagles) and take a half-hour "rabbit detour."

It's always the same place; a vacant farmstead, swallowed up by 30-years of brush, fallen branches and raspberry canes. I don't think I have ever not seen a rabbit there.

Sure enough, two minutes after wading into the maze of shin-bruising branches and face-high thorns this week, I had this year's cottontail.

There should be a couple of more chances.

With rabbit season extending for seven weeks beyond pheasant and deer seasons (which ended Jan. 10), there should be a couple of days when new snow promises fresh tracks leading away from a likely brush pile.

Just leave the calls, the decoys, the expensive scopes and special game loads at home.

That old farmstead and a fresh set of tracks can transport you back to an earlier day when you spent hours climbing over deadfalls, breaking through the creek ice, chasing rabbits and picking the burrs out of your coat and gloves before going home late again. Continue to learn more about hunting, please visit ESPN.

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