How do I legally kill pest rabbits in my backyard (for food)?

Generally - when a person (farmer, rancher) kills a game animal as a pest - the entire animal carcass is destroyed or donated. To do othewise - would mean a material gain on that person's part and consitute poaching. If they allowed game animals to be killed as pests - nobody would buy licenses and tags - everyone would be out 'killing pests' and not 'hunting'.

Lots of states - bunnies are open all year round. However, for ethical reasons many hunters avoid them until fall and winter because shooting an adult in the spring or summer can leave babies in the den to slowly starve to death. Not cool. A second issue - tuelmaria - or 'bunny fever' - that can be transmitted to humans during warm months. This is why kids get told by their dad or grandpa not to shoot bunnes unless the month has an 'R' in it - September - April.

Your state has an offical web site. In the hunting section it will tell you in black and white if it is legal to small game hunt with a pellet gun, what dates are open, and what license is needed. It's all online waiting for you.

Most all cities and towns have ordnances against discharging a firearm in the town or city limits. Pellet guns are not firearms.

If you want to put a serious dent in the bunny population - go buy a hav-a-hart live trap and catch them....... then bring them into the garage or house to finish them off. (most people grab them by the back legs and then flick them so the head hits the cement floor or a wood stump hard) This makes the whole issue 'out of sight, out of mind' of your neighbors. One note - you want to dispatch them forcefully and quickly - you wound one - they scream very, very, very loud!!

In general I agree with most of what Glacierwolf said. Especially checking your state's game management agency's website to find out if hunting rabbit with a pellet rifle is legal, what license you need, and when the season is. If the rabbits are causing damage to your gardens/landscaping, you can also contact your state's game management agency and ask about depredation permits which allow you to shoot nuisance animals out of season and what the regulations concerning them are.

However Glacierwolf's allegation that a pellet gun is not a firearm for the purposes of local ordinances prohibiting the discharge of "firearms" is in error. Whether or not a pellet gun constitutes a firearm depends on the definition of a firearm in the ordinance, not whether most people would consider it a firearm. And there will be a definition in the ordinance. In most of the ordinances I've seen when questions about this sort of thing has come up in the past, the definition of what constitutes a "firearm" usually includes a pellet gun. (Where I live for example, anything that fires a projectile by means of burning propellant (actual powder-burner firearms), compressed air (airguns, BB guns, and airsoft guns), or mechanical means (archery, sling-shots, etc...) is considered a firearm for the purposes of the local ordinance prohibiting the discharge of "firearms".) So before you shoot you need to contact your local police/sheriff's department and make sure you would not be affected by a local ordinance prohibiting discharging a "firearm". If you're out in the boonies, its probably a non-issue. If you're in a city/town/village/suburb that has been built up, it will probably be illegal to shoot an airgun in your backyard, even if you're shooting a "nuisance" rabbit.

How To Kill Rabbits

You don't need a license to hunt on your land (at least in NC) but when hunting big game you need tags even on your own land.

Contact a wildlife agent and ask if you can kill them if there pests. EDIT: that was probably the most graphic thing I've ever heard glacier wolf lol...

I was told it is illegal to hunt in any metropolitan area.As for hunting illegally, if your neighbors do not mind you are all right. But if one does not like it, they could make your life difficult.