Trad Gang

Today a few of us got together to do a little warm up bunny hunt, before our big Joan Leonard Memorial Bunny Hunt. There was 7 of us total, Curt,Jamie,Damon,Jamie(Gaffey-27),Izzy and myself. What a great time we had!! Curt arrived early so we went for a little walk, within 2 minutes we both had missed a bunny and in the next 15 minutes we were joined by Terry. He got in on the action right away and had some shooting. We headed back to the house to await the arrival of everyone else. Wait until ya here the rest of this. I am sure everyone will be on with a story or ten. stay tuned for pics. too!! OOHHH YEAHHHHHH!!! Shawn

Gotta eat, remove some thorns, take some advil and help get the baby clean and in bed, then I will DL and post the pics....

Lots of bloody snow today!!(Some of it was even from bunnies!)

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Im dethorned and I didnt leave what God gave me snagged on a rosebush bush somewhere but I did have to check!It was good to get out there with you guys again as one weekend always leaves me jonesing for more.What a good time.I think I took 7 shots and 2 hits.Lost 2 arras and had a ton of fun.Shawn is funny, he kept appologizing about us not seeing a lot of bunnies.Are you kidding me?We saw about 40 and brought 5 to bag.Terry was a shooting machine with 2, Shawn 1 Damon as usual puts one down and Guru bagged him one.All this happened in 2 hours so the hunting was incredible.It was a good warm up and again THANK YOU Shawn!OHHHH YEAAAH!

Setting up a push...
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1991.jpg)


Five minutes out of the truck...
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1990.jpg)

Curt in some nice stuff...
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1992.jpg)

An amazing follow up. Good hit, and the bunny still went a long ways.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1995.jpg)

Another hero shot...
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1997.jpg)


A great hunt all in all. I lost three carbons...not the "expendable" woodies I just made. Six shots, know I hit one, think I hit another.
First time I ever had to go hand to hand with a bunny...but we will let Terry tell that one.
Thanks Shawn for opening your home and your stomping grounds to us for this. I know I needed it. It was great seeing everyone again, especially knowing its just a few weeks until we can do it again.

What a great time! Shawn, thanks a million for hosting. Ok, let me start with a lessons learned list.
*Shawn gets around amazingly well for being just out of a pretty dramatic surgery. I'll let him give you the details, but I was busting my butt out there and Shawn came through with his intact!
*Get out and get some exercise before you come. I know it is only rabbit hunting, but 3 hours of hunting liked to kill my old fat bones.
*Ishi can get really low to  push out rabbits. He had to belly crawl through a thorn thicket just to get out of a place AND he pushed out a rabbit!
*Young thin legs can clear a creek jump much better than old fat ones.
*5 degree temperature can be downright hot.
*New York rabbits would kick the crap out of IN or TX bunnies.
* You can shoot all the way through a rabbit without even slowing it down.
*Bring good brush gear. My denim overalls were in shreds.
*If you aren't bleeding you didn't "jump" the right areas. Guru had a nice blood trail down his face as did Shawn and about everyone else.
*"Jumping brush" is a new term to me that means you wade into a thicket of briars and sticks and fling yourself up and down into them.
*Jamie does a really nice Superman dive.
*These TradGang guys are amazing. A better bunch you will not find.
*If you flip over on your back and do a full backflip the rabbit in your pouch will fall out.
*Bring cheap arrows.
*Guru really is as good of a shot as everyone says. He threaded an arrow through a spot that I could not even see daylight through. Nailed the rabbit through and through.
*Shawn can shoot about 9 arrows faster than anyone I've ever seen.

Thanks again everyone. It was a pleasure spending an afternoon with you!

:thumbsup:

Yup, 5 minutes out of the truck and Damon says to me as he is walking by a pile to set up watchers,"kick that I am sure there is a bunny in there". He keeps going to set up Izzy and Jamie(Gaffey). Terry is right at my side as I step into it and out starts the bunny, well Terry nails him and as he is coming out the other side with the arrow in him Curt shoots, later we find Curt hit him too. The fun than begins with a couple more shots and a great head long dive in some nasty stuff by Ishi(jamie 1)but he did not quite snag the bunny. We surround it and damon gets another hit on it and than to Jamie, who shoots misses, throws his bow and dives again this time catching the bunny. I wish we had video it was awesome. We than started the push and I had 4 rabbits cross in front of me and Jamie pushed two more. 7-8 rabbits and the hunt was 10 minutes old. More to come, I know we shot 51 times and had 5 dead bunnies and at least several more hit, that managed to get away. What a great time! More to come!! OOOHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

It wasnt so much a superman dive as stopping after I hit the multiflora rose bush at full speed ahead...  :rolleyes:

Jamie, I was duly impressed whatever the reason!

great post Terry, I just love hearing the revelation that newcomers get!!

now you boys have got me pumped!!

Thanks Terry, I jsut didnt want him getting away...again.   :D

Terry, Loved your list bud...too funny       :notworthy:  

Terry sure didn't waste any time, he had two rabbits killed before we'd gone 100yds!!

Jamie's flat out run after Terry's first rabbit was just hilarious....his involuntary swan dive as he tripped going full bore in a foot of snow still has me laughing when I think of it      :biglaugh:  

Terry's first bunny and his retriever Jamie.....

  (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Guru39/JLMBH%2009/JLMBHwarm-up001.jpg)


Never did get a pic of Terry's second bunny.


Shawn was next to make good on a shot with his RER "bunny Bow".....

  (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Guru39/JLMBH%2009/JLMBHwarm-up004.jpg)


Then I got the shot I'd been waiting for...a bunny sittin' under a rose bush...I actully took my time on this shot and made it count. But these rabbits a no joke!! He took off, hit a barbed wire fence, bounced off it several times and finally shook the arrow and was off again before I could get to him!  A good blood/and pieces of intestine trail led us to a blowdown,we searched for him for a while as thinking he had to be in it somewhere...just when we were about to give up, Izzy found a speck of blood out the other side,and within a few second Terry yelled that he had a hit bunny in front of him.....I was grateful he'd found it and recovered it for me.Then Damon got one with the JLMBH traveler bow, how cool is that!!

  (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Guru39/JLMBH%2009/JLMBHwarm-up006.jpg)


My bunny took a hex blunt right behind the front shoulders and made it over 100yds!!! You can see in the pic where the arrow hit him.....

  (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Guru39/JLMBH%2009/JLMBHwarm-up009.jpg)

You really have to hit a rabbit thru both front shoulders or forward to stop them quick!!

be back later......

:thumbsup:    :clapper:    :clapper:    :clapper:

Not even a beagle...a retriever...  :rolleyes:    :biglaugh:    :biglaugh:

awesome stuff guys!! had a great time seein ya all again. i had 3 shots, all close misses, and by close i mean all less than 5 yards!!  :readit:  

chris.... er.. jamie.....er... whatever i answer to anything!!! lol  :confused:  

hey shaun, from now on call me gaff thats what all my buddies call me. at least to my face anyway..
 :thumbsup:

I am terrible with names. Curt has it right. I was walking Izzy and Gaff to set them up to be watchers when the cover got really good. I placed them and started in, when a bunny caught my eye. It was about 10 yards under wildrose bush.] I took the shot and pinned his hind legs together, and than went diving in the bush. I grabbed the arrow as he was trying to get away and hauled him in, not bad, 400 yards and 3 dead bunnies. Damon, bought the JLMBH traveling bow which he won at the raffle last year and managed to kill his bunny with that. As Curt said that was awesome!! OOOHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

Yeah Damon is turning into a bunny killing machine. I have five or six pics on photobucket of him and bunnies....lol.

Great time. Im still smiling.

Great shootin guys! Wish I could of been there...  :campfire:

Boy bonding sooooomuch funnnnnnnnnnn

Great hunt and sounds like you had a blast

Jer Bear

Curts shot thru the thickest stuff ya ever saw towards the end of the hunt was awesome. I still do not know how the arrow got thru. That rabbit was last seen with 10"s of Curts arrow in him running dead away at 100 yards, we never found him. I did apologise because where I saw all the bunnies last night we only saw 2 but 100 yards away we saw 30 so that made up for it! Sorry Izzy!! OOOHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

The last hour of daylight was just crazy!!! Bunny's and arrows all over the place......Took a shot at a sitting rabbit thru some thick stuff...could'a sworn I hit it right in the head...but it took off running...went looking for my arrow and came up empty and not sign of a hit. So I continued on and 15yds ahead I see my arrow laying...I had in fact hit that bunny! Had blood 6" up the shaft and no bunny!!  Later realized that was right where Terry had another wounded bunny in sight,lots of blood, but he vanished,never did recover that one.....Tuff, Tuff bunny's!!!


Then in the heat of arrows flying again I waded into some brush to kick around as Terry and Shawn had a bunch in front of them...Terry yells that one was coming right at me...with briars pulling on me from every direction I managed to nock an arrow...somehow draw my bow and snake an arrow thru and punch another hex blunt into this bunny...again he was off!! Shawn shot and missed... Last time we saw him he was draggin' my $10 carbon arrow about 100yds away!! Shawn took off after him, but again, it seemed to simply vanish before our eyes!!!  Unbelievable!!!!!!

Did someone mention blood...Shawn said I'd taken good one...on the way home I checked in the r.v. mirror...sure enough...I snapped this pic of myself as I drove.....

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Guru39/JLMBH%2009/JLMBHwarm-up010.jpg)


If you're not bleedin', you're not huntin'!! You can see I pierced my ear, and took a few to the face.  Fun stuff!!!!

How is it that Damon is so deadly on Bunny's but has a hard time with the deer   :bigsmyl:  Nice shooting guy's     :thumbsup:

Very cool can't wait for Feb.....

Damon, can shoot lights out, we think he just has to aim small miss small, bunnies are small. Great hunt, hope FEb. is just as good! OOOHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

Bud, I'm sure Feb. gonna be great as long as we don't get TOO much snow!!  But heck,we killed a ton with 2-3ft on the ground 2 yrs. ago,so we'll be fine.....

Still de-thorning.....

wish I took more pix, but we were kinda busy   :goldtooth:

Yeah I am still dethorning too....worth it though.

Unbelievable guys.........I can't wait!


OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!


David

David, you were missed bud    :campfire:

I missed being there too Curt, I almost called you at 2:15 to see if you guys had anything down yet........at least you kept the thorns out of your eye this time!  :thumbsup:    :campfire:  


David

Ive been telling guys at work this morning about the warmup hunt and they all say they have never seen bunnies like we did yesterday.Im with them on that.Still pulling thorns from my legs but man did I ever need that hunt.Been working too much and this hunt was real therapy.If I ever manage to find what in my mind is the perfect dog, half pitbull and half beagle Im gonna name it Shawn cause he sure reminds me of that.After this Shawn Leonard terriers will become a recognised breed and everyones gonna want one.Thanks again Shawn for a serious deposit in my memories bank.
                       Izzy

Izzy, great to have ya and your close brother. You can call me anytime and come down for a quick hunt. I have several spots to hunt that we never even see during the bunny hunt. always rabbits in there too!! I like the dog idea, ya need one that is kind of a small bull for where we hunt. I had a great time, one thing I wish I had gotten gaff down by me on the one I shot. I should of let him have a nice easy shot. It would be great to see the new guy kill one. This was a great time with an even better group of guys!!! OOOHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

I counted fifteen thorns, and those are only the ones I could get at with a needle and tweezers. I need some sort of brush pants.
My knees are actually swollen from the amount of thorns...wonder if I am slightly allergic?

Still smiling though, and telling my wife all about it. She keeps looking at me funny though...  :jumper:

no worries shawn, i could have had no shots and still had a ball!!  :wavey:

this is way funnier than a barrel of monkeys  (http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh305/jeffburg/RollingSmiley.gif) looks like yaall had a great time.

Feb. will be awesome even if we don't kill a bunny. Shawn and Guru are good friends, and I remembered a couple of the other guys from the 2007 hunt. You won't find a group more fun to be around. They are all unselfish hunters and would just a soon see you shoot than to shoot themselves. It was obvious they were all happy just to be out slinging arrows. I'll definitely be bringing some cheap ones in Feb. As Gaff said above, finding arrows after the shot is a low probability option. Look forward to seeing you all soon.

David, can't wait to see and hunt with you soon. My son has had a ball shooting the arrows you gave him. I can confidently say his success this year on the alligator was because of the time he spent shooting your arrows. Thanks again!

I'm ready to do it again!!   :goldtooth:

I'm looking forward to it Terry......be pretty cool if we could get that Holchin character with his bunch up for this wouldn't it?

Curt ya just gotta quit teasing me!!!!!!   :banghead:  

David

Yeah I would go again in a second Curt. Especially once I get brush pants...lol.

I can't believe after two years of hunting with us that you don't own brush pants    :scared:  

You must own a lot of neosporin and good tweezers   :goldtooth:

I have a pair of old 10 oz. cotton duck pants that worked ok. For some reason Saturday, the thorns were making it through....
But like the huntmaster said, if you arent bleeding, you arent hunting hard enough.   :knothead:

Gotta tell ya though, it looks like I tackled Terry's bobcat instead of a rabbit.  :rolleyes:

Oh I bet!! I had poly thin poly lj's,cargo's, and my brush pants and plenty made it thru!! Still pickin' um out....

My hands took it the worse...I need to find a pair of leather gloves that fit well that I can cut the 3 fingers off on my shooting hand....

...I'm in search of....

Why can't you guys find wabbits in the rubber thorn brush? ...  :rolleyes:  ... After looking at the picture of Davids head I lined the inside of my orange hat with heavy leather. This is only the begining.........

... mike ...

P.S. I'm gonna wear brush pants with chaps over 'em! Think I'll keep the swan dives for Jamie.  :p

The best I have found, as far as gloves were at the local feed store. They were 12 bucks I think. Neoprene on the back of the hand, palm and fingers are deerskin. I could shoot with them as is, but I use a glove anyway.

Mikey, I dunno if there will be any more diving. Im still hobbling around a bit LOL.
Ya know I do have an old pair of authentic cowboy leather chaps....I can already hear the comments though...  :confused:

Cool guys! Thanks for the stories and pics.

No wonder you(Shawn) sounded so excited when ya called me,way to go guys    :thumbsup:  

Yea if ya havn't started some exercise yet you may be a hurtin unit come Feb LOL

Yup, best warm up we have had!! I may do another before the hunt. I have two spots that have not been hunted this year and we won't hunt them during the bunny hunt, so we will do no harm. Both hold lots of rabbits too!! I will check then out during the week and see what happens. I now where a pair of longjohns and sweat pants, than the heavy duty brush pants, up top I keep it very light with a t-shirt, and light longsleeve than a carhardtt zip up hoodie this keeps me close to not sweating to death even in 5 degree temps.! OOOHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

Mikey that's a good idea, chaps over brush pants!!  Now where's my Cabelas catalog     :thumbsup:
    :thumbsup:

Anyone got an old style leather football helmet...now that would be the ticket!!

Gloves are a work in progress....I'll be checking everywhere I go for the answer....

When I pick up a pair, I will take pics Curt.

Curt, give the deerskin gloves at Lowes or Home Depot a try.I use them in thorny areas and although the thorns will still get ya sometimes they dont get ya all of the time and in Shawns cover thats about all you can ask for. I shoot with them on as well as if I had a shooting glove on.My favorite woolies took a beating at the warm up as well as my hands but it was a little too cold for the leathers.Im not so sure this hunt is gonna be appropriate for kids if Mikey wears those leather chaps of his.I heard they were silver!!!   :scared:

Silver leather chaps and pink feathered hats.....oh my.  :eek:  


David

Get It Straight Guys! I don't own leather chaps! Now...... "Leather Straps"  :rolleyes:  That's a different story.

... mike ...  :p  ...

I have a set of cordura chaps that I bought for the Bunny hunt last year, got them from Cabela's. They work great over wool pants. Now Mike I thought you had a set of pink leather chaps complete with high heels that would turn all the guy's heads   :eek:

Jim i believe you mean turn all the guys stomachs!!!  :scared:    :eek:    

Just tried for some of those Jim....sold out.

I seem to remember the chap talk last year...  :scared:  
And I tried to block that memory...