Skip to main content

Going rabbit hunting!

The first of four snowstorms was on it's way when we headed into the woods.  I was pretty sure that we could get a couple hours of rabbit hunting in before I had to head home.  This would be my first attempt at small game hunting so I was excited and eager to find out how it was done.

I met up with my cousin Hillary and her finance, Lance to go rabbit hunting with their three beagles.  We loaded up our guns, snowshoes and gear onto snowmobiles and headed out to see if we could get some meat.

Our first stop was a quick trip through a grown up boggy area.  It was thick and there were not a lot of animal signs.  The dogs could not find a scent so we moved on.

The next stop was at the end of a random snowmobile trail.  The woods were totally different than the spot we had just come from.  There were animal paths and lots of rabbit tracks and poop.  Fresh poop is always a good sign when you are hunting.  The dogs started running when we let them off their leashes and by the time we walked down a couple of paths, their barks changed and they were on the scent of a rabbit.
This photo doesn't do the woods justice.  Thick woods but with no lower branches, it felt much more open.
Heading down the path towards a thicker, bog area.
My view once we crouched and started looking for rabbits
Lance showed me the GPS so we could watch where the dogs were running and see how big the circles were that the rabbit had them running in.  They made a circle off to our left, then our right and then headed straight at us.  We crouched and started watching for movement as the barks got louder and closer.

Then, a shot.  Hillary had shot at the rabbit as it ran past her and up the hill towards the snowmobiles.  Unfortunately, the rabbit was too far away. Lance and I never saw it and it was the only shot we would take while we were out there.

We walked more and listened as the dogs picked up another scent.  They ran two more circles around us before we started rounding them up to go home.  No rabbits for us this time but it was fun being in the woods and seeing the beagles work. 

We may try to go out again before the season is over.  It would be fun to actually get a rabbit this season and learn how to skin it and clean it up to eat!
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2015

    Hi Erin, read your column in NW Sporting Journal, too. Just curious whereabout you are hunting and am hoping these are hare, not rabbits. Maine's rabbit is kind of endangered, even though it was hunted in modern times. It does look like you were in hare covers. thanks and appreciate the outdoor writings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ErinFebruary 12, 2015

      Yes, we were hunting snowshoe hare.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Where are the women?

This week, my interview with Steve at The Maine Outdoorsman went live. Steve said yesterday 200 people hit his site viewing over 500 pages. That is a lot of people reading about little ole me and hunting. Why? When I think of women who are in the general public's eye and hunt, I can think of 2 - Country singer Miranda Lambert and Sarah Palin. Why only two? Why is the female hunter such a fascinating thing? (I should probably note that I do not have cable so any and all female hunters on the hunting stations are lost to me. I'll keep it to the general public because that's what I am familiar with.) People/media were fascinated by the fact that they could get footage of Palin and her gun, shooting (and gutting) animals but I feel like the nostalgia would be lost if they had the same footage of McCain. Lambert and her hubby Blake Shelton tweet photos of their kills, and comment on what/where they are hunting. I only know this because I follow both. That's it....
15 comments
Read more

Do Outdoor Women need to toughen up?

I hope you get shot out in the forest and wolves gnaw on your dying corpse…..WHILE YOU’RE STILL ALIVE I’d like to rip off your f*$%ing head and pour gunpowder down your f*$%ing throat and light it on fire Only c*%t’s shoot animals and take pleasure in it. I hope you die a horrible painful death As I began to look at how female hunters were being bullied, I had to ask myself if it was because we were easy targets as women or if we needed to just toughen up a little. Once I started asking my fellow female hunters about their experiences, the things that they sent to me as examples of what they deal with daily made me sick to my stomach.  I’d like to meet you outside someday with a gun in my hand, I would shoot you several times and laugh over your f*$%ing body as you die like you do to those poor animals that can’t defend themselves.  MURDERER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Generally threats are basic name calling. They include sexist remarks, racist remar...
12 comments
Read more

So much to celebrate - let's give away stuff!

As you know from my last post, this month I am celebrating the one year anniversary of this blog, 10 years of hunting with my Dad and a milestone birthday. In honor of all three, I want to give away some great Maine stuff to all of you! Rules: 1. Leave a comment 2. On Oct 28 (my big bday), Dad will pick a number and the corresponding post will win. What will you win? A big basket of great Maine and outdoor things! Such as: fly fishing flies, blueberry something, Maine maple syrup, apple butter (to be made by me on Tuesday), something related to deer hunting and a couple of great books signed by local authors. (Pictures will be posted when I am back at a computer). So thank you for your support and for helping my celebrate such a great month!!
17 comments
Read more