Hunters and dogs work briers along field edge
I just spent the better part of the day in the briars with the scars and some bunnies to prove it. My first rabbit hunt of the year and it was a dandy. We hunted a couple of tracts in Caswell county that I’ve deer hunted and turkey hunted a time or two and I always seem to jump some rabbits. It was one of these hunts where I get a call from my buddy Rick the other day inviting me to join him and a group of guys that had some beagles to see if they could run this coming Saturday.
We all met up and it wasn’t long after the beagles got turned lose that we had our first of many races of the day. We held back on the first one and just listen to the music of the pack as it tore through the overgrown clear cut hot on the trail. The rabbit successfully eluded the dogs by doubling back but one of the hunters saw him and gave him a pass to see if the dogs would pick up the trail again. It wasn’t long till they did and the hunt was on this time if we saw the bunny we were going to try and take him. My buddy Rick got the first shot but the rabbit proved to be a bit faster. Then one of the guys down below me shot and killed a rabbit. We figured it had to be a second rabbit or the world’s fastest one to cover the ground between Rick and the other hunter. It wasn’t long before our suspicions were proven as the rabbit Rick shot at was kicked up and run by the dogs. That rabbit lead them on a long chase and when it crossed the road the dogs were pulled back.
We worked a windrow along a field edge and I caught a bunny trying to break across the field. My first shot was a bit behind but my second one rolled him. I was pumped, not even 9 am and we already had 2 bunnies. We broke for an early lunch but had 5 bunnies already to show for our morning hunt. Two of them I had dropped. Rabbit hunting is a bit of luck if you’re in the right place the bunny will run by ya. Although I killed two all of us working together really killed the 5. It was a great morning hunt.
We moved to another location and they put out a fresh set of dogs. The briars were a little less here and more switch grass to contend with. We ended up taking two here for a total of 7 for the day.
The last race of the day was a spectacular one with the rabbit running a large circle. In case you’ve never hunted rabbits they usually run in a circle so if you jump them at one spot if you wait there you have a good chance of seeing it again when it completes it’s circle. This rabbit ran a large circle going from the woods to the field of switch grass and back to the woods. Between the woods and the switch grass there was a mowed path that rabbit crossed at least 3 times and on the 4th time my buddy Dan stopped him with one shot. I was behind Dan inside the woods because I just knew that bunny was going to get by him. We all kid Dan about his shooting ability, heck his own Dad has said a time or two that “Dan couldn’t hit sand if he fell off a camel” Well he laid this bunny out and I missed an opportunity to get a triple for the day. This last race was more then 30 minutes long and a great pleasure listening to the beagles’ song.
What a grand day we had and I hope we get the chance to go again before the season goes out the end of next month.
