Of all of my hobbies I think chasing rabbits is one of the top five. I chase rabbits in a number of ways, they're a staple in the Grouch's Kitchen but something about chasing them with a longbow sets that method above the rest.
Having recently put blunts on a new set of bacote footed arrows I was itching to hit the thickets.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tAyonT6Pcog/Vl-BHgCHg4I/AAAAAAAAYRI/rzJr03sb-Y0/s1600/LBB.jpg)
We got a pile of fresh snow yesterday, and unlike our usual fluffy fine stuff this was a heavy wet snow. I meandered the backwoods enjoying the quiet serenity of a snow covered landscape. It didn't take long before I cut a slew of hare tracks and trails. I took a post close to the runs and became still, waiting.
The first one was less than 20 paces when he moved, he'd been there the whole time and I hadn't seen him. Such is the case most of the time, be still long enough, be patient, then they move. A couple hops and he was less that 10 yards. The string came back, the briefest of moments at anchor and the arrow sang away. The VPA small game blunt did its business and the bunny expired quickly.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sw6n0VFMsHs/Vl-CLi1EwuI/AAAAAAAAYRY/CJJm35qGpb8/s1600/IMG_20151202_153722.jpg)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xrMk7pxgGOs/Vl-CL7mkT4I/AAAAAAAAYRc/N6rx4_Hx3dI/s1600/IMG_20151202_153917.jpg)
I hitched him up to my BisonGear Lost River pack and headed further into the thickets and snow covered hemlock halls.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qz-RXzwEZjk/Vl-CnOadMYI/AAAAAAAAYRo/8Q2R5SUg9KI/s1600/IMG_20151202_154427.jpg)
I repeated the process and the outcome was the same. Another snowshoe hare quickly dispatched via longbow and blunt tipped arrow. I wondered briefly about how many times this has occurred, how many others had filled their supper pots with hares by way of a bow and arrow. I find it quite entertaining to imagine my forebears doing as I had done, and wondering the exact same thing.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5fsfMtxqUUk/Vl-DNe8drWI/AAAAAAAAYRw/9AwxK0h6ZIM/s1600/IMG_20151202_155334.jpg)
With enough rabbit for a Hasenpfeffer Stew I headed for the barn. While a short adventure, I felt recharged, the cold air nipped at my nose, my boots slid through the heavy wet snow, the weight of my rabbits pulled on my pack and I felt as if I'd touched some ancient root of the tree of time, had reenacted a dance that had been performed untold thousands of times before. I was my ancestor, if only for a moment.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xCKPrnVQNNg/Vl-EmY_ByvI/AAAAAAAAYR8/0jy7sll2laU/s1600/IMG_20151202_162654.jpg)
I sure hope you don't have mountain lions in that neck of the woods... you look like cat bait in that last photo to me... :scared:
Bunny bumping is a blast! Good score!
Heh, no kitties other than bobcat and lynx but I did have a hawk dive on me once when carring a brace of thumpers like that.
Congrats on the bunnies. I find it amazing how well they can disappear!
Yep, most fun you can have with your pants on! It was 9 degrees on Saturday, no fresh snow, but cottons and jacks were feeding in fencerows. Got two. Would love to hunt some thick stuff like you have there, ours are in open sage
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I have to do that sometime soon. Looks like a blast. Thanks for the inspiration.
Great hunt and critters. Congrats to you.
Man I miss chasing the snowshoe bunnies in Montana. You bring back great memories!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Nice work. Snow hunts would be fun but for us Gulf Coast boys more like a dream!
Nicely done.
Nice pix. Well told. Lots of snowshoes in NW Wisconsin this year. Have to get back up there and give it a try.
Thanks guys!
:thumbsup:
Congrats on the bunnies!
Man, it sure looks real cold up there!!!
Bisch
That was a wonderful story - thank you for sharing it and the pics. Enjoyed it - and have been thinking of taking the longbow out soon myself for a hoppity hoppity hunt. (I have a few of those VPS blunts myself. Good bunny medicine right there.) :thumbsup:
That was a great read and pics to cap off the evening. Thank you!