I always enjoyed going out rabbit hunting the morning after a new fallen snow! The woods and fields all had a clean and bright look to them. There was not a sign of another hunter and you could imagine being the first hunter to ever step foot on this new area! Any animal tracks spotted had to be fresh and if the air wasn't too cold and if the wind wasn't blowing, you just new that the game would be setting loose and not holed up! I'd like to think that rabbits have a sense of adventure and enjoy playing in a new snow, just like humans do! I used to watch them from our kitchen window, at night, during a light snow. If there were two or three of them, they would chase each other around, play leap frog over one another and just have a ball! Come morning they would hold close to cover but may not go deep into the brush or holes unless the weather turned nasty. If you found a set of tracks and followed them to cover, as long as no more tracks were seen, the rabbit was still in that cover. If I didn't jump it out I would call my dog to do the honors!
I've admitted to the love of rabbit hunting but at the same time I've never been one to be possessed with the need to get a limit of rabbits when I went hunting! As a matter of fact, I'd hunted rabbits for over 30 years and "Never" limited out! The older I became the more I changed into a rabbit watcher and not a shooter! I was usually with a dog and would just stand back and watch the chase as the rabbit would lead the dog around as if he had control of his chain! I've seen rabbits play havoc on a dog's keen sense of smell by stopping in mid run, backing up, jumping to the side of the trail, then just sit there to see if the dog would over run the scent, only to take off again in another direction! If the rabbit was an older one with more experience, he would do this to the dog until the rabbit got tired of it and would then decide to lose the dog all together! I watched one chase and timed it at 1 hour 15 minutes, saw the rabbit six different times and never took a shot! On another day, my dog and I were in the woods and he found a rabbit near a brush pile. A hot pursuit began. the rabbit got out in front then started playing games by running around another brush pile then backing into it! What happened next I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it happen! Instead of that rabbit jumping out, another rabbit from the brush pile took off. My dog reached the area and instantly became confused. The freshes scent was from the second rabbit but it was not the same one my dog had been following! My dog took off after the second rabbit! When enough time had lapsed, the first rabbit came out, stood up and looked around and when he heard my dog at a safe distance, he ran a circle around the front of the brush pile, over top of the second rabbits tracks and then turned and headed back to where he had come from. It is typical for rabbits to run in a circle and try to return close to the area they were jumped from. Enter rabbits #3,#4 and #5! Yes the same thing happened again and I figured we would spent the rest of the day in these woods chasing these 5 rabbits! If you have never seen the look of confusion on a dog's face, it's pitiful! When the third rabbit came up to yet another brush pile, I saw rabbits #4 and #5 split off in different directions. I new I had to finally jump in or I would be carrying a very tired and frustrated dog out of the woods! I made the decision to take the best shot available and sent rabbit #4 to rabbit heaven. Rabbit #5 escaped to live another day. My dog finally caught up to #4 and when he found it down, he had to sit himself for a break! I know I could have put him back on the trail of rabbit #5 but that wouldn't have been fair to him!
My rabbit hunting days started to end when Dad and I lost our best hunting partner, our beagle Jack! I've told his story before. I finally hung up my shotgun after my best hunting partner pasted, my Dad! I sincerely hope that Jack was waiting for Dad and they are together right now! (I had to stop and clear some tears!)
Rabbit season 2010 opens here in a couple of days. I wish all a safe and enjoyable season! And, just for the heck of it, let one of those "bunnies" go for the next day!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
THE BEST BEAGLE I'VE EVER KNOWN
I've heard it said that every hunter only has one wonderful dog as a hunting partner in his or her lifetime! I was fortunate to have shared that experience with my Dad!
Jack was a beagle pup when he came into our life. A friend of Dad's was moving out of state and couldn't take Jack with him so he asked Dad if he would take him. Dad hesitated until I got into the conversation. You see, Dad had just losed a hunting dog and wasn't sure he was ready for another and with me just getting started in hunting, he new he would have two pups to train! Dad finally agreed to take Jack and time would tell that that ended up to be a great decision!
Dad had to teach me respect for the dog and to watch his every move. I had to be extra careful when shooting and to always know where Jack was. Jack had to learn how to hunt with us and what was expected from him! That first season was a basic getting to know each other. I was only 10 years old so I just loved to play with Jack as a pet and this all helped in developing a true friendship!
I was able to bag my second rabbit, of my young life, as a result of Jack. Dad, Jack and I were out back of our house one morning late in the season. Jack put out a rabbit and was running a hot trail. Dad had taught me to look ahead of the dog for the rabbit. I was standing in front of an opening in the woods and listening to Jack when I saw the rabbit coming through the woods. As luck would have it, the rabbit stopped straight out in front of me and stood up on it's back hunches to listen for Jack. Dad was directly behind me, back about 15 yards and he had also saw the rabbit but was waiting for me to make my move! I slowly raised my .410 single and pulled back the hammer. I squeezed off the shot and the rabbit just fell over! Dad told me to wait for Jack to find the rabbit to see how he would respond to it since this was his first rabbit with us! Needless to say, things couldn't have gone better!
As the years progressed Jack just got better and better and so did I! We really worked well as a team. Jack learned to watch where we were and to hunt for us not for himself! It didn't matter how many hunters were in our group, jack kept his eye on all of us and managed to hunt in front of the whole group. I would often see him stop and look back or if he was in tall cover he would jump to make sure he knew where everyone was at! That dog would work his heart out for us!
We tried hunting Jack with other dogs but he refused to share the field with a competitor and would some how find a way to take the other dog out of our hunting zone and return by himself! He thought he was the only dog needed for the hunt and he was always right. If Jack went into an area of cover and then came back out you could be certain that there wasn't anything there!
He was so good at listening to us, we could actually call him off a hot rabbit trail if we needed to. There were a couple of times when he took off after fox and when we realized what he was chasing, just a whistle and a call was all that was needed!
Jack never ceased to amaze us. We were out one morning and I jumped a rooster pheasant. I took a shot but missed, then Dad shot and hit the bird and it came down running. We were in a large briar patch at the time. We hunted all over for that bird with no luck. There was an old shed in the area and Jack went under there only to jump out a rabbit. I saw it go and swung on it, shot and send it rolling. Jack came out from under the shed, went over to the rabbit and checked it down, looked up at me as if to say "Good Job", then he disappeared. After I field dressed the rabbit we started to wonder what had happened to Jack. We started calling him and after a few minutes I saw him coming back through the near by woods. He was acting strange. He was staggering, stopping, backing up, turning sideways when he approached any brush. He came upon two trees that were about a foot apart then stopped. He then turned his head sideways and tried walking between the trees. This is when I saw he had something in his mouth. As he got closer we discovered he was carrying the pheasant that Dad had knocked down! Jack brought the bird right up to Dad's feet and dropped it and then sat down as if to rest! Dad wanted to pick Jack up and carry him the rest of the day!
After that day Jack started to retrieve all our game. He would go into thick brush piles that we were sure we would have to tear apart to get him out. I hit a grouse one day and like the pheasant, it came down running. I called Jack to the area. He winded the scent and took off. It was only a minute of two and I heard a commotion around a fence row and got there in time to see Jack with a mouth full of tail feathers, pulling the grouse away from a groundhog hole, with the grouse beating the living daylights out of Jack with it's wings. Jack just closed his eyes and kept pulling away from that hole!
Jack was the only true hunting dog that I ever hunted with. Dad and I buried Jack behind our house one morning after his fight for life had ran out. I was 21 years old and had had a great hunting experience with a great dog!
Jack was a beagle pup when he came into our life. A friend of Dad's was moving out of state and couldn't take Jack with him so he asked Dad if he would take him. Dad hesitated until I got into the conversation. You see, Dad had just losed a hunting dog and wasn't sure he was ready for another and with me just getting started in hunting, he new he would have two pups to train! Dad finally agreed to take Jack and time would tell that that ended up to be a great decision!
Dad had to teach me respect for the dog and to watch his every move. I had to be extra careful when shooting and to always know where Jack was. Jack had to learn how to hunt with us and what was expected from him! That first season was a basic getting to know each other. I was only 10 years old so I just loved to play with Jack as a pet and this all helped in developing a true friendship!
I was able to bag my second rabbit, of my young life, as a result of Jack. Dad, Jack and I were out back of our house one morning late in the season. Jack put out a rabbit and was running a hot trail. Dad had taught me to look ahead of the dog for the rabbit. I was standing in front of an opening in the woods and listening to Jack when I saw the rabbit coming through the woods. As luck would have it, the rabbit stopped straight out in front of me and stood up on it's back hunches to listen for Jack. Dad was directly behind me, back about 15 yards and he had also saw the rabbit but was waiting for me to make my move! I slowly raised my .410 single and pulled back the hammer. I squeezed off the shot and the rabbit just fell over! Dad told me to wait for Jack to find the rabbit to see how he would respond to it since this was his first rabbit with us! Needless to say, things couldn't have gone better!
As the years progressed Jack just got better and better and so did I! We really worked well as a team. Jack learned to watch where we were and to hunt for us not for himself! It didn't matter how many hunters were in our group, jack kept his eye on all of us and managed to hunt in front of the whole group. I would often see him stop and look back or if he was in tall cover he would jump to make sure he knew where everyone was at! That dog would work his heart out for us!
We tried hunting Jack with other dogs but he refused to share the field with a competitor and would some how find a way to take the other dog out of our hunting zone and return by himself! He thought he was the only dog needed for the hunt and he was always right. If Jack went into an area of cover and then came back out you could be certain that there wasn't anything there!
He was so good at listening to us, we could actually call him off a hot rabbit trail if we needed to. There were a couple of times when he took off after fox and when we realized what he was chasing, just a whistle and a call was all that was needed!
Jack never ceased to amaze us. We were out one morning and I jumped a rooster pheasant. I took a shot but missed, then Dad shot and hit the bird and it came down running. We were in a large briar patch at the time. We hunted all over for that bird with no luck. There was an old shed in the area and Jack went under there only to jump out a rabbit. I saw it go and swung on it, shot and send it rolling. Jack came out from under the shed, went over to the rabbit and checked it down, looked up at me as if to say "Good Job", then he disappeared. After I field dressed the rabbit we started to wonder what had happened to Jack. We started calling him and after a few minutes I saw him coming back through the near by woods. He was acting strange. He was staggering, stopping, backing up, turning sideways when he approached any brush. He came upon two trees that were about a foot apart then stopped. He then turned his head sideways and tried walking between the trees. This is when I saw he had something in his mouth. As he got closer we discovered he was carrying the pheasant that Dad had knocked down! Jack brought the bird right up to Dad's feet and dropped it and then sat down as if to rest! Dad wanted to pick Jack up and carry him the rest of the day!
After that day Jack started to retrieve all our game. He would go into thick brush piles that we were sure we would have to tear apart to get him out. I hit a grouse one day and like the pheasant, it came down running. I called Jack to the area. He winded the scent and took off. It was only a minute of two and I heard a commotion around a fence row and got there in time to see Jack with a mouth full of tail feathers, pulling the grouse away from a groundhog hole, with the grouse beating the living daylights out of Jack with it's wings. Jack just closed his eyes and kept pulling away from that hole!
Jack was the only true hunting dog that I ever hunted with. Dad and I buried Jack behind our house one morning after his fight for life had ran out. I was 21 years old and had had a great hunting experience with a great dog!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
MY FIRST RABBIT KILL
My Dad really enjoyed hunting so it goes without saying that he was excited to get me started into the sport! I started tagging along with Dad when I was about 7-8 years old. During those early days, Dad began to teach me the skills I would use later to be a successful hunter. The main emphasis was applied to hunter and gun safety! I believe that this is the most important lesson people and kids need to learn! Today there is so much talk about how unsafe guns can be and how they should be banned. My belief is, it's not the guns that are unsafe, but the people using them!
At age 10 I was given my first shotgun. A friend of Dad's gave me an Iver Johnson .410 single shot that he had owned for years. It was in excellent condition! He said that every boy needed his own gun and he was proud to be the one to give me mine! I still own that shotgun! Dad took me shooting and made sure I handled the gun in a safe manner before he would let me carry it in the field! I usually only carried 6 or 7 shotgun shells with me and made up my mind that since I was only permitted 4 rabbits per day, that would be enough ammo! (To this day I have never brought home my limit of game!)
My first rabbit came on a cold, January afternoon. Our school had been dismissed early (at noon) and when I got home I found Dad waiting for me. He had been out back of our house earlier that morning checking for fresh rabbit tracks, since we had received a couple of inches of fresh snow the night before. When I walked into the house he said hurry and change your clothes, grab your shotgun and lets go hunting! I never changed clothes so fast in my life!
I was so nervous, I was shaking! We headed into the field towards the woods. Earlier that day Dad had spotted fresh rabbit tracks heading into a small, closed end ravine with a small brush pile at the back end. The tracks ended at the brush and Dad knew the rabbit was still there! He positioned me to the left of the ravine and on top of the knoll. He started into the ravine and just as he approached the brush the rabbit came running out the back side! It was just how Dad had planned it! The rabbit came out of that brush with a flurry about 20 feet away from me and turned left! I had my single shot .410 to my shoulder and pulled back the hammer as I swung to the left onto the rabbit. I don't even remember pulling the trigger but I do remember the sound of the shot and watching as the rabbit went head over heals into the snow!
Dad was one proud Papa as he walked over and picked up that rabbit! He bragged about my picture perfect shot to anyone who would listen for the rest on that season! It is a day I will never forget, although now at age 60, I hope I won't forget!!
At age 10 I was given my first shotgun. A friend of Dad's gave me an Iver Johnson .410 single shot that he had owned for years. It was in excellent condition! He said that every boy needed his own gun and he was proud to be the one to give me mine! I still own that shotgun! Dad took me shooting and made sure I handled the gun in a safe manner before he would let me carry it in the field! I usually only carried 6 or 7 shotgun shells with me and made up my mind that since I was only permitted 4 rabbits per day, that would be enough ammo! (To this day I have never brought home my limit of game!)
My first rabbit came on a cold, January afternoon. Our school had been dismissed early (at noon) and when I got home I found Dad waiting for me. He had been out back of our house earlier that morning checking for fresh rabbit tracks, since we had received a couple of inches of fresh snow the night before. When I walked into the house he said hurry and change your clothes, grab your shotgun and lets go hunting! I never changed clothes so fast in my life!
I was so nervous, I was shaking! We headed into the field towards the woods. Earlier that day Dad had spotted fresh rabbit tracks heading into a small, closed end ravine with a small brush pile at the back end. The tracks ended at the brush and Dad knew the rabbit was still there! He positioned me to the left of the ravine and on top of the knoll. He started into the ravine and just as he approached the brush the rabbit came running out the back side! It was just how Dad had planned it! The rabbit came out of that brush with a flurry about 20 feet away from me and turned left! I had my single shot .410 to my shoulder and pulled back the hammer as I swung to the left onto the rabbit. I don't even remember pulling the trigger but I do remember the sound of the shot and watching as the rabbit went head over heals into the snow!
Dad was one proud Papa as he walked over and picked up that rabbit! He bragged about my picture perfect shot to anyone who would listen for the rest on that season! It is a day I will never forget, although now at age 60, I hope I won't forget!!
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