Bunny hunters looking for a change in scenery should consider our neighbors to the south. West Virginia has ample cottontail hunting opportunities, ones pretty much overlooked as fall gives way to winter.

West Virginia’s season on cottontails is a long one, extending until Feb. 28 (it opened on Nov. 3). Despite the lengthy hunt, from a management aspect the added opportunity doesn’t jeopardize future bunny numbers.

“Rabbits have such a high mortality rate that hunting isn’t going to be an additive factor,” said Curtis Taylor, West Virginia Division of Wildlife Section Chief. “Whether you hunt that rabbit population or not, a high percentage (of rabbits) are going to be killed by one method or another. All predators eat rabbits, avian predators, mammalian predators, everybody will eat a rabbit.”

Many West Virginia hunters like to eat rabbits as well, which probably helps explain the reason a fair number take advantage of the late season chances.

“Late season-wise, hunters probably take advantage of rabbits more than anything else,” Taylor noted. “You do see some folks out rabbit hunting. Not in large numbers, but you do see them out in January and February. For the beagle hunter, that’s the best opportunity, because the other major seasons are over with. They don’t have to worry about sharing the woods with deer hunters.”

Taylor said that the late season rabbit population is going to depend a lot on how much rainfall we’ve had during the summer. In a dry summer, as cover dries up and fades away, rabbits become more vulnerable to predators.

“The thing about the January and February season, it does tend to congregate the rabbits in the better habitat. Of course, if you’re a rabbit hunter, that’s pretty easy to pick out,” he said. “Take an area like McClintic Wildlife Management Area, in Mason County. There are lots and lots of hedgerows and multiflora rose. It’s a rabbit’s dream-come-true. It makes it hard on the dog sometimes to get in there and get them out, but that’s a good place.

“Hillcrest WMA up in the northern panhandle. Any forestland where there’s been recent clearcuts offers real good rabbit hunting opportunities.”

McClintic WMA is located in Mason County, about five miles north of Point Pleasant. A former wartime industrial land — its nickname is the TNT area — this tract is mostly comprise of reverting farmland and wetlands.

Hillcrest WMA is found in Hancock County, near New Cumberland. It covers 2,212 acres and is made up of former agricultural lands, bottomlands and small woodlots. It’s about a five-mile drive from New Cumberland to Hillcrest via State Route 8, Gas Valley Road, and finally Middle Run Road.

WMAs like McClintic and Hillcrest — which primarily feature brushy, shrub-type cover — exemplify premier rabbit habitat. But Taylor said that WMAs that are primarily forested tracts — ones like Stonewall Jackson — oftentimes have areas of good “rabbitat.”

“We are trying to do more and more early successional stage habitat work across the state,” he reported. “We’ve got some active timber sales going on. Our goal is not to make money off of these sales, but to improve habitat for wildlife.

“It’s going to be too early to be of benefit this year, but a place to put in your pocket for the coming years is East Lynn WMA. Recently, we had a significant tornado come through there and put about three thousand acres of timber on the ground. So we’re down there trying to salvage timber right now. In a couple of years that will be a rabbit hunting paradise,” he added.

Finally, Taylor singled out Bluestone WMA as another good one for rabbits. He suggested, “Getting down in those bottoms along the river. There is some excellent rabbit habitat down there.”

The cottontail limit is five bunnies per hunter.

WV Hunting Tips

Fairmont-based rabbit hunting enthusiast Bill Wix hunts bunnies until the season’s last day. When the season isn’t open, he’s working with his beagles, getting ready for next year’s hunt. He relishes the late season, a time when deer hunters are no longer in the woods. Here he shares some of his knowledge in regard to late season bunny hunting.

“One of the best tips I can offer is to walk that extra mile, to get back to areas other rabbit hunters haven’t been,” Wix explained. “Everyone wants the easy places. I hunt in public areas like Stonewall Jackson and Burnsville.

“Last year on the last day of the season, on Stonewall Jackson, I walked five miles before we jumped a rabbit. But once we jumped that first one, we ran 15 rabbits that day. Getting away from where other hunters have been, that’s the big secret,” Wix added.

As with most rabbit hunters, dog work is the most important part of Wix’s experience. During winter, dogs requires extra consideration in addition to factors like proper hydration.

“In the winter the big problem with dogs is snow and ice building up in the pads, and also dogs working on frozen ground,” Wix said. “That will really cut a dog’s feet to pieces. I use a product called Musher’s Secret. Before I take the dogs out of the truck, I work that stuff in between the pads and over the feet. It provides a barrier that stops the cracking and bleeding.”

In addition to public land, Wix said rabbit hunters can also find extensive private lands available through companies like Coastal Timberlands Company and Mead Westvaco.

Though private hunting leases are becoming more common on such properties, it’s still worth exploring these opportunities, a process made easy by way of Internet searches.

is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.