Southern Idaho Jackrabbit population?

[Idaho45guy]

Planning a trip down to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Twin Falls, Idaho next month.

I used to shoot jackrabbits all the time when I was a kid down there, but I guess the jackrabbit population has seen some pretty major ups and downs over the last couple of decades.

Anybody have any idea how the population is doing this season?

[quilbilly]

Jackrabbits have always run in 7-10 year cycles. In the Winnemucca area up to the Idaho border, the peak was about 2-3 years ago. I got some great pics up very close in the week before NCBS 2016 and framed a couple (I know, that's weird framing a pic of a jackrabbit). They should be on the rebound by now but I only saw a few last spring in the same areas.

[Idaho45guy]

Jackrabbits have always run in 7-10 year cycles. In the Winnemucca area up to the Idaho border, the peak was about 2-3 years ago. I got some great pics up very close in the week before NCBS 2016 and framed a couple (I know, that's weird framing a pic of a jackrabbit). They should be on the rebound by now but I only saw a few last spring in the same areas.

Thanks for the info!

We always judged how the population was doing by how many dead ones were spotted on the rural 2-lame paved roads. Good way to find a good hunting spot, as well.

Was hoping to get down there sooner to do some shooting, but my Japan trip and other stuff got in the way.

[abunaitoo]

We don't have jack rabbits here, only bunny rabbits.
I've heard they can stand up to four feet tall.
Is that true????

[Love Life]

I don’t know about 4 foot tall, but I’ve seen some big ones.

[Idaho45guy]

We don't have jack rabbits here, only bunny rabbits.
I've heard they can stand up to four feet tall.
Is that true????

They can be pretty big...

Attachment 229731

I once worked an insurance claim in which a customer hit a jack rabbit in a newer Toyota Camry going 90mph while traveling through Nevada. Nearly $4k in damage. Other adjusters thought it was a fraud case thinking no way a rabbit can cause that much damage. A 20lb rabbit in mid hop at 90mph is going to cause some damage...

[Goatwhiskers]

Is it true that they have horns? GW

[Beerd]

Only the bucks.
Someone will come along soon and post a picture.
(And they are antlers, not horns)

..

[marlin39a]

Their abundant in my area. I hunt them early in the morning. A 10/22 is all I need.

[blackthorn]

Is it true that they have horns? GW

Those are Jackalopes! They are a bit scarce. PETA (and other Waco Greens) want them put on the endangered species list.

[LUBEDUDE]

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[Gewehr-Guy]

Ineastern SD the jacks were plentiful until '80 or 81 and then just about disappeared, along with the flickertails. During my high school years spotlighting jacks was about a nightly event, and we killed hundreds a year. Now the Jackalopes were a rarity, only ones I've ever seen were shot to extinction and displayed in Wall Drug, also a few flying Jackalopes have occurred over the years, some kind of genetic throwback. Maybe someone can post a picture of one.

[LUBEDUDE]

You KNOW that Jackalopes are real because Herters sold head forms to taxidermists.

[abunaitoo]

That is a big rabbit!!!!
Bigger than my cat.

[ShooterAZ]

The populations around here are cyclical, kinda like the cicadas. I think much of it may be dictated by weather though, boom populations in good moisture years. There is a mountain range just to the north of Flagstaff called the San Francisco Peaks. The biggest jacks I have ever seen in my life are up there. Must be genetics or something. Some really big ones up there.

[HABCAN]

Years ago shot an Alberta jack with my 6" .22 S&W #17: holding his hind legs level with my shoulder his ears touched the ground. Fed 6 of us. Them were the (long gone!!) days.

[gpidaho]

Saw a really big Jack last week in the desert south of Boise. They used to be thick around here but not many the last few years. Gp

[RU shooter]

It's my understanding as an easterner that jack rabbits aren't very edible ? If so why is that ?

[gpidaho]

It's my understanding as an easterner that jack rabbits aren't very edible ? If so why is that ?

Because some of the disease that Jack rabbits carry can be past on the human that consumes them. While the cottontail are pretty good eating, it would have to be a survival thing to get me to eat a Jack. Gp

[David2011]

I can still remember the smell of the first dead jackrabbit, actually a member of the hare family rather than rabbits, that I encountered in Southeast New Mexico. It was fresh roadkill. I was out in the boonies with my Dad and I was probably 5 years old. The skin was torn away from the very dark red meat and the smell was atrocious. The meat is the color of bloodshot venison even when it's good. They're tough; very muscular and virtually no fat. Their back legs are so strong that I have felt the the ground thump when I've gotten close before they flushed. They are technically edible in that a fresh one wouldn't kill you if you cooked it. It would have to be a survival situation for me. I would hunt rattlesnakes or pigeons before I would voluntarily eat a jackrabbit.

There was a thread, I think in the cooking section, on jackrabbit a couple of years ago. Not many said they would eat it again.