Seriously considering a trip up to the Catskills to chase em. Only thing is, I have never even seen one. I know virtually nothing about them. Anything you guys care to share? As far as mountains, where will the be? Top? Sidehill?
What type of cover? I have an area that has everything from old hardwoods, hemlocks, and even some brushy areas.
Im open to any advice, just trying to cut down the learning curve a bit. As of right now, I would just cover ground looking for tracks and chase em down.
If you have any pictures, that would be awesome.
Thanks!
Jamie, Snowshoes like the cedars, helocks and spruce, they also like the old clear cuts and christmas tree farms if you can find one to hunt on, they are a big woods ceritter and you do not find them were you would normally find cottontails, but they are probally the easiest to hunt by stalking you have to look for their eye and the tips of the ears they will not run normally just sit and give you a shot, once you spot a few, it will come easier and they have to leave tracks, another way to locate them is to ride the back roads were you have an idea some live until you find tracks, access should not be to much of a problem in the catskills, quite a bit of public land. Good luck and have fun take some pics for all of us. Chris
swamps and hemlocks bro! you will need a good pair of snow shoes to chase snowshoes! never killed one with bow but took many with .22 i LOVE to hunt from snowshoes and have an extra pair if ya want to get together for a hunt.
They are actually easy to see once you learn to see them. They are not exactly the color of snow and will often stand out against the snow itself. In cover where the snow is broken up you can spot them against the darker background of the brush and ground.
The thicker the cover the better but you can locate them in and along edges of small pines and other low cover. You just have to move slow and really scan beneath the overhanging branches. Get up close to the thick stuff, drop down, and peer back into the cover and scrutize any blob of whiteness that appears to have curves and look for the dark eyes. Eventually one will materialize and then you will learn to see them.
The key, I have found, is finding not just thick cover that I cannot walk through, but cover with low hanging branches and ground cover. Basically, look for areas where a coyote would have a hard time maneuvering quickly and then look in and around this stuff.
I have found that they like the thick stuff, and like to have brush piles that they can get under.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/akdd2004/2008/WhippedRabbit002.jpg)
Thanks for the replies everyone. Im narrowing down the area where I will start.
Keep it coming!! AKDD...great pic. What was on the pointy end?
125gr judo point my 125gr SGH was stuck in a tree about half way to the bunny.
Don't forget to eat them, best of the rabbits on the plate. As big as a medium sized domestic rabbit and every bit as tasty!
I shot mine in maine and they where nasty.Taste like pine tree.
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/BnWsnowbunny.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/Snowbunny2A.jpg)
They will hold pretty tight, trusting their camouflage. Once you've spotted some sign -- round pellets, tracks, fine-tipped browse cut neatly at a 45 degree angle -- assume that you're very near one until you've thoroughly examined the immediate vicinity.
Awesome pics Charlie! You guys are making it sound easy. I hope to have some pics in the next week or two...
Shaun, plan to.
I have a bunch of heads to chose from, magnus blunts with baldes...ace hexheads...judos, and a bunch of old BHs(bod k). I think I am ready, now I just have to find em.
Thanks guys.
I might have to postpone until I make or buy some snow shoes of my own...LOL.
My good friend Jeff taught me to hunt these buggers in the cedar swamps using snowshoes no I mean we didn't throw our snowshoes at them we used shotguns & I'm keen on trying it with bow & arrow.
Absolute best time is early morning with a fresh dusting of 1" snow, with two hunters you cut tracks; one looks close for fresh tracks, the other looks far for Mr. Snowshoe.
They usually double back & sometimes they freeze in the open when it's extremely cold. I've found their "dirty snow" coloured ear tips & huge black eyes are the visual cues.
Get some good snowshoes & keep your water warm good hunting!
So, with two or more hunters, do you "push" to eachother? I imagine if you find a good trail, it would work. Anyone?
Like most bunnies, Snowshoe hares have a relatively small home territory. When jumped they'll usually circle back where they came from.
One guy can stay where the rabbit was jumped while the other takes up the trail. Many times you'll track him right back to your waiting buddy.
Often when tracking the rabbit will wait for the tracker to catch up, so watch carefully ahead. They like to get up on a log or mound of snow where they can see well.
Jaime,
I have a good pair of snowshoes that my wife bought me for christmas a few years back. I only used them once, and where I live now I don't get a chance to use them. If you want to borrow them for the season, let me know. I would hate to stand between you and hunting bunnies.
Charlie, thats what I was thinking. Thanks for the tips.
pdk, I dont need them, but thank you for the kind offer. I plan on following the trail breaker...LOL. In all seriousness, I think I have a pair lined up already.
Besides, Shawn trains us right. My first JLMBH, the snow was head high at times...we dont need no stinking snow shoes.
I thought I read somewhere that BHs were sort of needed for such large hares? So far, thats proving to be overkill.
I killed a ton of them with regular steel blunts. Also had very good success with rubber blunts, but my set up was pretty high energy.
Snowshoes aren't that tough.
I learned in northern Maine one winter that snowshoes and deep snow can lead to some comical situations if you fall, kinda like having life vests tied to your feet in water. Keep a good longbow or staff with you if the snow is over 5 ft deep and try not to fall over.
They can be a bit gamey, soak them over night in a little salt water, gets that gamey spruce taste out. They dont seem to like bright sunlight;hurts their eyes I think.On bright sunny days look for them in fir or spruce thickets.
If you have access to a good Beagle it would help. My friend likes to forward me emails he gets from a guy named Grampa Redbone, this guy chases snowshoes around nearly everyday in the Adirondacks with his dogs. When I read his stories it sure looks like the Hares make much larger circles that their cottontail cousins.
I have hunted with a friend, picked up a track and pushed the bunny right to him as I barked like a hound. Sounds crazy but works, bunny didn't know I wasn't a beagle. Spot and stalk is fun on cold but sunny day. Look to the edges of the evergreens and swale grass in swampy areas. Bring a bunch of arrows!!!!! lol, most of all have fun. ron w
trust me man ya need snow shoes if your hunting somewhere without a broken trail. i have a couple good spots and your welcome to join, i will be hunting regularly on the weekends again now that the holiday is over.
maybe you ate a squirrel ben
:D :D
Ken, that sounds pretty good to me. I have always wanted an excuse to explore the 'dacks...
This is great advise guys. I am going to start hunting these bunnies in my end of the Adirondacks so all this really helps.
I dredged this thread up because I'm fresh out of deer season and I don't want to be done. There is a good thread going on snow shoes, which I don't need yet, but any day now I will. I've never hunted hares in the snow before, always just coincidental to grouse hunting...
I have a question. If you're in 2 feet or more of powder, which is likely, and you miss or pass through, that arrow is basically gone, right?
Nope....it will show up in the spring. LOL!! Seriously, bright fletching will help, pink or lime green will glow under the snow on a sunny day. Look for the track of the arrow in the snow, you'll be surprised how many you can find. Have fun..... :thumbsup:
That's how I find my gardening tools... in the spring. :biglaugh:
Yeah, I have chartruese wraps and feathers on the way...
My white on whites don't work very well.
The ideal set up is a year with late or no snow....lol! Those bunnies sit under a spruce all hunched up and think you can't see them against the brown ground, I guess nobody told them they are now all white. They make great targets at those times........
We've had a number of years of high numbers scattered about and it's not unusual for 4 of us to kill 20 or more in a day. We don't use bows. The snow is just too deep and arrows too expensive.
Keep in mind that their populations are very cylclical. Can be feast or famine, depending on the cycle. This season in NH (in the area I live), there are very few based on the extreme lack of sign and a single hare can lay down a bunch of tracks. Should check with someone with local knowledge. Hope this is helpful. Best, Todd
Head for the thickest brush you can find because that is where most of them hole up. Sometimes you can spot them in more open areas, but not too often. Hare populations around here are down and have been for about 15 years. They just don't seem to be able to come back from the high numbers we had years ago. A lot of that has to do with maturing habitat, but even in good thick areas where there should be more rabbits, they are scarce. They make a very good stew.
Mike
I think Adirondack Ken has a picture of me digging out an arrow. Took a while but eventually Ron found it. :thumbsup:
(http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m637/cjohntalk/Chshoot.jpg)
Fir thickets and wet areas, alders and such. Their numbers are down here for the last few years. Gonna get out anyway. Great way to spend a day on the snow. Bass River Bunny hunt in January. Great time, good food. Hare is definitely good eating.
Brings back memories of hunting them with beagles when I was a boy. Used to go every Saturday during winter, always with a little Topper single shot .410 shotgun...and of course snow shoes. Huck and I would get in his Hillman with Ole' Duke (the best beagle dog I've ever seen) and be out all day chasing the rabbits, and sometimes into the night waiting on the dog (hares can run a LOOONG ways if they want to). By hunt's end Duke's paws would be cut up something awful but he wouldn't want to quit.
Big woods, exciting hunts and great company. Those sure were great times. :)
From a couple years ago. We have more now than then, numbers will probably start declining again after this year. May try and get out tomorrow.
(http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh271/chinook907/rszdbunny.jpg)
(http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh271/chinook907/rszdbunnys.jpg)
What about a string tracker? Or maybe a bow fishing rig set up for ground use?