Sun & fun with the snow bunnies

[Stumpkiller]

It was a beautiful sunny day at Delirious Acres and once again Bald Mtn Man brought over Kate and Snoop to do the hard work in a bunny sweep. 12 ga New Englanders were the order of the day.

BMM put the first fur on the board with a cooperative rabbit in what has become the beagle’s favorite hang out ”“ a brushy and meandering creek bottom beside a power-line right-of-way.

My first opportunity came barreling by to my right and I was too slow in spinning myself around to get a shot at it. Bunnies don’t make a lot of noise in the snow.

I missed one at 30 yards (possibly the same rabbit heading back shortly thereafter) and walking over to the spot noticed my straight cylinder bore threw a 6 ft wide spray in the snow that didn’t resemble a pattern much. I upped the shot and dropped the powder for the next load.

Later Kate stopped by and was tunneling under a goldenrod & blackberry tuft about 5 yards ahead of me when a rabbit blew out the backside of the hummock. I was amazed it held so long (I think her nose may have touched it). It jinked a classic backwards “Z” pattern and as it kicked in the afterburners to get away from the dogs I rolled it at about 15 yards crossing left-to-right.

As we were crossing a rocky seep along the powerline I managed to step on a sheet of ice under the snow. Went down like a ton of bricks. I used the old Karate technique of breaking my fall suddenly with the ground. Ooff! I told Al I was OK because I’d landed on my rabbit. Sure ”˜nuff did. Later, when cleaning my bunny, I found it had 10 smashed ribs and four broken legs. Poor bunny took a second one for the team that day.

A good time was had by all.

 

[BrownBear]

Great day!

Good looking pups. Makes me miss our long-gone pair and all the pups they brought.

You're pretty sporting with those single barrels, though. I used a NA double 12, and sometimes two shots didn't make up for my shooting skills.

 

[Little Wattsy]

COOL!!!

 

[Roy]

:thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

Nice! :thumbsup:

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Way to go :bow:
Where is port crane? Lookes a like the Canadian border of VT.

 

[bucktales]

:thumbsup:
Sure looks like fun.
I miss bunny hunting.

 

[Allan Gray]

Great photo and even better account of the hunt!

If you're not a writer, you should be. My nose was running thinking about the Nor'East snow. :hatsoff:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Way to go :bow:
Where is port crane? Lookes a like the Canadian border of VT.

About 12 miles NE of Binghamton, NY.

Port Crane is my mailing address because Tunnel is even less findable. I'm actually about five miles from greater metropolitan Port Crane on top of the hill above Tunnel, NY. Site of the worlds longest railroad tunnel (2,239 feet) . . . at the time it was first completed in 1869.

 

[sidelock]

Makes me remember many long ago days of top fun. Thanks for reminding me. Nice looking place and hounds. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Thanks, but that's my long-suffering non-hunting or shooting neighbor across the street's place (he's got about twice the square footage we have) and the hard hunting beagles are Al's. I was just the happy host.

 

[29caliber]

Jake, the surviving member of my beagle pair of "Jake and Elwood",named after one of my favorite movies, passed on just before rabbit season. My son got me a couple of beagle pups out of very good stock for Christmas and I'll be getting them out in March for walks through the weeds. They should be ready by November.

Tom

 

[BrownBear]

Sorry about your loss 29caliber. I bet we all know that pain, and it seems like the better the dogs the sooner they go.

If you don't mind some unsolicited advice from a guy who's raised and trained a lot of beagles over the years, here's my favorite shortcut for great rabbit hunters:

Get some rabbit feet before the season is over and toss them in the freezer. Play with the dogs with them till they turn into a favorite toy. Then tie a string on them and drag them around for the dogs to follow.

Pretty quick they're going to think rabbit smell is the most fun in the world, and they're going to be unstoppable the first time they run across the real thing out in the weeds.

 

[Protrucker]

...about five miles from greater metropolitan Port Crane. . .

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
Is there even a traffic light in Port Crane? Oh wait...I think they put one in at the exit off I88. :haha:

Are you sore from the fall? I really think you could find an easier wat to tenderize your game meat. :blah:

We had a great time & the dogs were exhausted that night. Thanks for having me up Charlie.

Al

 

[RC]

gees this is the best story out'a n.y.s i've heard all year!!! good story! thank you! :thumbsup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Are you sore from the fall? I really think you could find an easier wat to tenderize your game meat.

Better the bunny than the powderhorn (a testimonial to a high carry). I thought my wrist was going to be sore afterwards but it wasn't. We're supposed to get dumped on with snow today so my injuries probably won't "flare-up" until I get home and THE ADMIRAL tells me to get out and shovel. Ooo. Oooooooo!

 

[29caliber]

Brownbear...Thanks for the advice. Anything to shorten the learning curve is appreciated. Our season is out, but roadkills are available. I still don't know how a beagle knows if the track is going forward or backward...and I've had a few beagles that had this same problem! These are medium speed dogs that hopefully will bring a bunny hopping by rather than running since I take my longbow sometimes rather than my flintlock. The parents didn't run deer and I'm hoping that the off-springs won't either. Lost a beagle for 47 days once that got on a deer. Tom

 

[BrownBear]

My pleasure if I can shorten the learning curve. Our dogs needed a little experience to figure out which way trails pointed, but once they knew direction was an issue they could figure it out in a hurry. It helped a lot to hunt young dogs with older ones, which we always did with our pups. We timed the litters to spring/summer, then kept the pups five months so they'd get a little hunting time with mom and dad before moving to their new homes. The new owners always loved that, and it just about brings tears to my eyes to remember a pack of half a dozen or so young pups running their first rabbits with mom and dad. Our old male could figure out which direction a trail was pointed in about three hops, and the others always seemed to learn real quick from him.

On the deer chasing problem, we found a dandy, quick way to beat it. Put a shock collar on the offending dog and take him "deer hunting." Drive around and look for deer, then get out of the car and dont' say anything. Just let him start after the deer and shock the manure out of him. If you're not yelling at him, he's going to come back to you quick looking for sympathy. The dumbest beagle we ever had took only four different encounters with deer and resulting shocks to learn that they were really bad business. The secret is to NOT yell at them or pay any mind to their attempted chase, just be nice and friendly when they come back. The hardest job is not laughing at them when they do it.

Foxes were always a bigger problem because it was harder to find them for "training" and they light out straight cross country for miles when dogs get on them.

Any time we lost track of a dog we'd leave a coat and a baggie of dry dogfood where we had parked the truck. Usually when we went back that evening or the next morning we'd find the dog sleeping on the coat, wondering where we had been so long. Not a sure cure, but worth a try.