White-tailed jackrabbit

Scientific name: Lepus townsendii

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Large hare with long ears, powerful hind legs, and a distinctive white tail visible in flight. Summer coat is grayish-brown; winter coat turns nearly white. Adults show minimal sexual dimorphism, though females average slightly larger.

Size and weight

Weight 1.5–2.5 kg; body length 50–65 cm. Females typically 0.2–0.3 kg heavier than males.

Habitat

White-tailed jackrabbits inhabit open sagebrush steppe, grasslands, and desert scrublands from sea level to alpine meadows above 3,000 m. They prefer areas with scattered shrub cover and minimal dense vegetation.

Distribution

Found across the Great Basin, interior Pacific Northwest, northern Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain region from southern British Columbia through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and into Wyoming and Utah.

Diet

Herbivorous, feeding on sagebrush, grasses, forbs, and clover in spring and summer; shifts to woody browse and dried vegetation in winter.

Behaviour

Primarily crepuscular and nocturnal, resting in shallow forms during daylight. Solitary or loosely social; capable of sustained speeds exceeding 55 km/h when flushed, with characteristic bounding gait.

Hunting tips

Look for tracks in snow or soft ground and dark pellet droppings in feeding areas. Hunt open sagebrush flats at dawn or dusk by walking slowly upwind to flush resting hares from their forms. Approach quietly into wind; expect explosive escape bursts. Stalking frozen or snow-covered terrain increases success by revealing movement early.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 2 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.