Looking for some hunters for rabbit opener

[dudeman1986]

Greetings Calgunners. Plans fell through for my buddies, so I am looking for one or two other hunters for the rabbit opener. I am planning on going to the San Jacinto wildlife area, so I can meet you there or somewhere else along the way. I am coming from north OC. Send me a PM if interested.

[rbduffer]

Sounds like fun.
Are we required to use copper bullets there now?

[bigbossman]

Too far north of you (SF area), but good luck! I'll be going out on the opener as well, and where I'll be going it will definitely be non-lead only.

[evanboyle]

bigbossman, you headed to O'Neill Forebay on santa nella road too? I might hit up Volta afterwards.

[bigbossman]

bigbossman, you headed to O'Neill Forebay on santa nella road too? I might hit up Volta afterwards.

No - somewhere else. The last couple of years at O'Neil were pretty dismal. We scratched out a limit or two there, but I found a much better place.

[BillyGoatCrawler]

Yep -- too far north. I'll be going to a random hidden gem in the Sacramento valley "somewhere." It's become my rabbit honey hole. Really excited to have rabbit come back in season.

[dudeman1986]

Sounds like fun.
Are we required to use copper bullets there now?

I confirmed with the unit manager that its shotgun only with non lead ammo.

[rbduffer]

Thanks for checking on that Dudeman, I'm still a rifle and lead guy.
Another time maybe.
Do they even make lead-free in rimfire?

[bigbossman]

Thanks for checking on that Dudeman, I'm still a rifle and lead guy.
Another time maybe.
Do they even make lead-free in rimfire?

None that is worth a crap. You have two choices, Winchester and CCI.

I've used the Winchester, and it is very inaccurate as compared to even the cheapest bulk packed lead ammo. The bullet is made of tin I believe, and at 50 yards the groups were more of a suggestion than a real group.

I haven't tried the CCI, but I hear it is worse than Winchester.

I found the Winchester at my local Big 5, but it is a hit-or-miss proposition.

[rbduffer]

the groups were more of a suggestion than a real group.

Thanks for the info and review Bossman. I can't stand bad ammo.
I think I'll just use the .223 with unleaded 35s, and take head shots.
Then when I miss, I know it's just me.

[bigbossman]

the groups were more of a suggestion than a real group.

Thanks for the info and review Bossman. I can't stand bad ammo.
I think I'll just use the .223 with unleaded 35s, and take head shots.
Then when I miss, I know it's just me.

I hunt with a guy that uses a .223 for rabbit. His strategy is to find the ones sitting still and shoot them in the head. I watched him take 3 jacks last weekend.

In any case, you're still gonna need to switch to lead-free eventually if you want to hunt in CA.

[edgerly779]

Remember lead free now on all state wildlife areas which includes San Jacinto.

[rbduffer]

Yeah that sucks. I've already loaded up some .223 and .308 in no-lead. But there's nothing I can do for the .22, so I'll only use in on National or private property for now.