several of the prairie chicken sanctuaries. 
Vol . 11, No. 8 
Page .) 
6 . Rabbit Management K. P. Thomas 
The harvest of cottontails on the Dale Area during the hunting season of 
1967-68 was the 1 owest since 1964-65- In 1 96 7 — 68 , 185 rabbits were removed by 
hunters, a third of the number of rabbits killed by hunters during the previous 
season. Only 213 rabbit hunters were on the area in 1967 - 68 ; 361 hunter trips 
were made in 1966 - 67 . Although a decrease in the hunting effort was partially 
responsible for the decrease in kill in I 967 - 68 , the hunting success was reduced 
to 0.9 rabbit per trip, the lowest value recorded since 1 963 » and the kill of 
0.3 rabbit per hour during I 967-68 was the lowest value so far recorded. 
Both the burned zone (Zone 1) and the food-patch management zone (Zone II) 
reflected the decrease in harvest. Although Zone I received 20 percent of the 
hunters on the Dale Area during the past two seasons, a 50 percent reduction in 
harvest on Zone I and a 70 percent reduction on Zone II occurred between the 
last two hunting seasons. The kill per hour was the same for both zones during 
I967-68, but the kill per hunter was slightly higher on Zone I (1.02) than on 
Zone II (O. 83 ). Hunters spent more time per trip on Zone I than on Zone II (3-6 
vs 2.8 gun hours/trip, respectively). These factors indicate that field conditions 
may be more important than rabbit abundance in causing the differential reduction 
in harvest of the two zones during the past 2 years. 
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