What size of shot for hares

[NewbieShotgunowner]

Hi

 

I just want to ask what shot size u use for hares??

 

thanks

[henry d]

Minimum of 5`s (prefer 4`s 36gm), but don`t tend to shoot them until end aug or sept @ the earliest.

[thomasbeaton]

4's 32gm

 

thomas

[wildfowler.250]

tbh 30g 6's will work if u see one when ur shooting pheasies. shot placement more important than pellet size. But if your specific for hares 5's or less

[casts_by_fly]

30 g 6's will do you fine to 40 yd, though 32g 5's will be better if you are pushing that range often. That's if you can get that close though. My hare shooting is all open fields and getting a shot within 75 yards is not frequent. Certainly beyond shotgun range.

 

Thanks,

Rick

[Zapp]

32 or 36g of 5's or 4's get my vote if you are specifically after hares.

 

ZB

[bob300w]

32 or 36g of 5's or 4's get my vote if you are specifically after hares.

 

ZB

:blink:

[malkiserow]

I have never set out after hare so not put a heavier load in just for them. I use 30g of No 6 then decide if it is a crosser... good ...but check distance (no chance shots) If it is an away run then unless very close (rare) let it go. You need much more penatration from heavier shot from the rear or quartering run ....or you risk an injured hare .

[wildfowler.250]

And an injured one makes an awful noise

[Hodmedod.one]

30 g 6's will do you fine to 40 yd, though 32g 5's will be better if you are pushing that range often. That's if you can get that close though. My hare shooting is all open fields and getting a shot within 75 yards is not frequent. Certainly beyond shotgun range.

 

Thanks,

Rick

 

 

 

I disagree. I have shot hundreds of Hares and seen thousands shot. There are few sounds worse than a wounded Hare.

Give them the respect they deserve and use a decent load on them. I would recommend a minimum of 36g 4s.

 

Anyone turning up on a Hare Shoot around here with nothing but 6s would be going home early. Anyone shooting at them regularly from more than 40yds would also be getting a b*llocking off the 'keepers.

We don't shoot them until the winter either.

[Baldrick]

I am with Chris above - hares are deceptively big animals. I use 36g #4s also if specifically after hares, but the 42g #1s I always keep on me when out with a shotgun do the job quickly. I absolutely hate the sound of a wounded hare. I much prefer to do the job with a rifle.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Baldrick

[Cranfield]

I haven't shot a hare for over 25 years (by choice), but those I have shot were either walked up and rose from under my feet, or were driven across marshland and passed through gates, near which I was standing.

That means that all the hares I shot were at ranges of between 25 and 40 yards.

The cartridges I used were 1.25 oz (35gms) of No5.

 

Few things smell better cooking than hare with some bay leaves added, one of the few things that actually makes my mouth water.

[lurcherboy]

17HMR

 

 

 

LB

[Zapp]

I have never set out after hare so not put a heavier load in just for them.

 

I know what you mean, I never actually go out after hares specifically (if I did I would use 32/36g of 4s or 5s as I said earlier).

 

The best practical thing I can suggest for anyone going shooting where you might encounter hares as well as winged game etc is to go for a compromise which will cope with all.

 

When I find myself in this situation I opt for 32gm of number 5's, which will stop hares dead at reasonable ranges (25-30m IMHO), and will deal with other furry or feathery creatures without smashing the **** out of them and rendering it inedible.

 

Edited to say: The thing I forgot to put in is perhaps the most important. PRACTICE!!! Shoot as many rabbit clays as you can until you smash them at anything from 10-30 yards from any angle. On the day you encounter a hare for real, its head is the clay. As many have mentioned, wounded hare makes a pitiful noise which you WONT forget if it is your fault. Do everything you can to avoid it!

 

ZB

Edited July 25, 2008 by Zapp Brannigan

[Evil Elvis]

Shoot as many rabbit clays as you can until you smash them at anything from 10-30 yards from any angle

 

i think real rabbits are easier to hit lol!!!! Dont get me wrong, i can hit clay rabbits, but theres very few that get past me for real!!(with a shottie!!)

[THEINVISIBLESCARECROW]

I've only shot one Hare with 32g 5 shot.

4 or 5's min' I'd say, there big beasts.

6's sounds ok but I'd not be happy with that myself & I'd let it pass if that was in the gun at the time.

[deer stalker]

I am with Chris above - hares are deceptively big animals. I use 36g #4s also if specifically after hares, but the 42g #1s I always keep on me when out with a shotgun do the job quickly. I absolutely hate the sound of a wounded hare. I much prefer to do the job with a rifle.

 

i think .22lr up to about 70 yards but the best is a 222rem but never shoot one with a 243 win they tend to blow apart and i think that large shot like no. 3 or 1 in a heavy load min of 36 but i really dont like shooting hares with a shotgun.

[al4x]

I've shot loads with 6's with no problems, but always while out on game days and normally within 20 yards. The problem with very heavy loads is damage to the carcass, on hare drives etc shots are usually at close ish range as thats when they get up and run so as long as you are reasonably fast the hare won't be far away if you are out specifically for them then 4's and 5's are fine but I have to say its rare round me to be on hare drives these days.

[NewbieShotgunowner]

thanks for the advice

[Guest cookoff013]

i`d recomend 4`s on hares. i use 36g #4 as a long range rabbit load. i also carry one or two #2 shot cartridges. just incase.

[MM]

.22 headshots work for me, just ask this lot

[Whitebridges]

Hull Sterling Game 34g no4 are very good for hares. More critical is taking them at the right angle. Head or sidewards on for good clean kills.

[Evilv]

I had a very bad experience the other day with a hare. Disgusted with myself really. I was shooting rabbits on a farm I have only just taken on. Got myself in the middle of a field of stubble about a hundred yards off from a patch where I'd seen a few rabbits the other day. I was leaning up against a round straw bale and waited for the bunnies to come out, the HMR at the ready. Along comes a rabbit on the edge of the hedge. Bang - plop. Another wait and same again. Then I spotted one crouching a wee bit further off. It was roughly where the rabbits had come from, so I sighted him up in the puny 4x32 scope. He was about a hundred and twenty yards off, I shot him in the head and he rolled over into the stubble out of sight. I waited some more and got another rabbit, then went out to pick them all up.

 

This is where it all went bad. The 120 yard one was not a rabbit at all, but was a hare and he wasn't dead. The poor chap was lying there groaning and gurgling with half his head missing. I was very sorry for his suffering and put him down quickly, but it really ruined my day - not as much as his, but it was a salutary lesson in taking better care. It also raises the question of how tough a hare is and whether the HMR is up to the job. The bullet had struck him about 5mm below the eye and about a centimeter behind that. Any rabbit would have been instantly killed by a hit like that, but not this chap. If I was shooting hares again, which I won't be often, I think I would go for a chest shot. Like I said - I am very sorry this happened, mostly because he had a hard ending which I try never to have happen.

 

Maybe there are too many parts of the head that will not bring instant death when hit. I suppose we've all seen some of that with rabbits too. A little misjudgement of the wind and the lethal area is missed - especially easy if the nose is down wind of the target region.

Edited September 1, 2008 by Evilv

[Tony9r]

I too have experienced the "screaming baby" shrill of a shot hare ... I just leave them alone now

[al4x]

are you using ballistic tips or hollow points? HMR is plenty of gun at that range for hares but like anything the shot needs to go in the right place, the BT's give you more margin for error than most.