Rabbit numbers are up in the Central Kentucky and Bluegrass wildlife regions, based on the Rural Mail Carrier Survey, which helps biologists monitor rabbit populations across the state.
Cody M. Rhoden, Small Game Program Coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR), wrote in the 2020 Kentucky Rabbit Report that “recent years (since 2016) have seen a nice increase in the number of rabbits observed. Hunters should expect a great year for rabbit hunting in the upcoming season and potentially the next few seasons as our population cycle continues its uptick.”
He said the increase from 2020 to 2021 was 30 percent in Central Kentucky and 33 percent in the Bluegrass wildlife regions. “The winter was mild which favored high overwinter survivorship and excellent breeding conditions,” wrote Rhoden.
The Rural Mail Carrier Survey, the oldest in the small game program, has been conducted for 61 years. Mail carriers record rabbit observations as they travel their rural delivery routes during the last full week of July (6 delivery days). Survey cards provide space for observations of rabbits for each of the survey days. Observers also record the number of days surveyed, the length of the route, and the total miles driven.
The mail carrier data is used to forecast the upcoming hunting season, monitor the population, and estimate rabbit productivity. This provides a glimpse of what can be expected for the upcoming hunting season, giving wildlife managers valuable trend information showing whether the population is up, down, or stable. The data is expressed as the number of rabbits observed per 100 miles driven.
The East wildlife region led all four wildlife regions in the state in the number of rabbits observed, followed by the Bluegrass wildlife region.
Season Timeframe
Small game hunters in Kentucky look forward to the opening of rabbit season in part because of its timing.
The season is open statewide the week before Thanksgiving, on November 15th, so opening day is sort of the unofficial start of the holiday season.
In recent years Kentucky’s rabbit season has been split into an eastern and western zone.
The 2021-2022 Kentucky rabbit seasons are:
• Eastern Zone, November 1-12 and November 15 through January 31, 2022.
• Western Zone, November 15 through February 10, 2022.
• The statewide daily bag limit is four rabbits.
Rabbit Hunter Cooperator Survey
The Rabbit Hunter Cooperator Survey was developed in 1995 as a voluntary initiative. Hunters are asked to record data about their hunts, including date, county hunted, hours hunted, number of hunters, number of dogs, and number of rabbits seen killed, and wounded on a diary-type hunting log.
A copy of the logs is available at fw.ky.gov or by calling 800-858-1549.
Hunters simply update their log as the hunting season progresses, and mail it to the KDFWR Headquarters when they are finished hunting for the season.
Data collected from the survey provide biologists with information used to monitor rabbit population trends in Kentucky for the three species of rabbits present: the eastern cottontail, the swamp rabbit and Appalachian cottontail.
Each year participating hunter cooperators are mailed a new hunting log, the results of the survey, and a small gift.
Some highlights from the 2020-2021 Rabbit Hunter Cooperator Survey include:
• Cooperator hunters went on 770 hunts in 55 counties and hunted 2,758 hours.
• Hunters jumped 4,576 rabbits and harvested 2,006.
• Hunters jumped an average of 5.94 rabbits per hunt and harvested 2.61 rabbits per hunt.
• Ninety-nine percent of survey participants hunted with dogs.
• The highest harvest rates were in December and January, and 37 percent of all hunts took place in January.
Rabbit hunting with friends and family is fun and great exercise. Hunting with a pack of eager beagles turns the outing into an outdoor spectacle, full of excitement.
