Does the Conservation Department specifically manage any conservation areas to promote rabbit hunting?
If so, where? A: Rabbit management is an important component of quail and grassland bird management on many conservation areas. Tree removal and replacement with grass, wildflowers, brush piles and shrubs is designed to improve habitat for rabbits, quail, shrubland songbirds and prairie chickens. Most conservation areas with a good mix of open areas and forest cover with brushy fields provide excellent rabbit habitat, though rabbit numbers might vary depending on the hunting pressure and habitat conditions. Be aware that special species-specific regulations might be in place on public land. Two areas, James A. Reed and August A. Busch, have a shortened rabbit hunting season because of the number of managed deer hunts on the areas that overlap the first two months of the statewide rabbit season. Regional Department offices are a good source of information for hunters interested in specific species information (visit www. MissouriConservation.org/16686). Also, if you have access to the I
