I was in Columbus today.
Yeah, shock for me to since I don’t cross the Chattahoochee River unless I have to.
What I was up to was that I desperately needed to get one of my rabbit guns going. The 16 ga Stevens is waiting on parts. If anything, Cuz owes me a hundred or so.

The Fox needed a general refurbishing. And now that I was having some serious problems on the hunt at Plunkers, I figure I may as well go whole hog and have it ready for Rabbit Season 09-10. That means I might have to double the dues for the EARH&SESC. What's two times 0?

The .410 was the most likely candidate for a quick repair. It had locked up after reloading on the 31 December 08 hunt in Seale.

into his alleged couple of hundred acres in Chambers county. Most of it is folded like an accordion. After walking it, most people tend to think that there probably is a bunch more.

Brag once asked me if I was out of breath after hiking to the top of one of the trails.
“yep”
“Good, I thought it was just me”
I got a good twenty years on Brag, so I was happy to.

before going to evening worship with the Crawford Church of Christ, I figured I would download the pictures from yesterday's hunt.

In addition to these items from a picture taking post

Most of my outdoors cameras are cheap. You don’t want a high dollar camera that you ‘re scared of dropping in the creek. Ok, falling in the creek with. Or slamming in the tailgate, dogs using it as a chew toy, getting to the other side of one of those hell’s half acres, only to find a empty case.
Heck, ya’ll are rabbit hunters, you can conjure up all the possible scenarios.

Let's add " forgetting to check your clothes before washing after a hunt"

in Chambers county for a hunt today.
All three of my rabbit guns are now in the shop.
"We" got 9
I missed 2
I got 4 including one double on 2 rabbits running together
Middle Boy got 2
Cuz got 1
Brag got 1
Plunker and djmed double teamed on 1.

The "Girls" (and Sammie) ran really well today.

More about the hunt later

It didn't turn out great, but it didn't go bad either. Kyacker and I went to some more TVA land because our "friends" will let us hunt their place after deer season. Next fall when one of them comes over to make sure they can goose hunt on our farm I just might tell them, after deer season....

These guys didn't let them walk, but I'd rather they let them lay where they shot them. Here is a glimpse of something I've ranted about here before. Hit the read more to view the carnage.

this morning. I was in search of a couple of suitcase deer. You know, the type that you can tie their feet together and pick them up and go?

Don't you just hate it when you don't see nothing that is good for the roasting pan?

Saturday morning found me standing in a beautiful hardwood creek bottom, propped against a tree listening the music that ten little beagles were making as they pushed a big buck rabbit around a thicket on the far side. I had just crossed the all weather creek running in a ditch that it has cut, ten foot deep by ten foot wide.

I could have waited on the other side, but I was trying to get away from Minnie, Cuz’s newest “free” dog

I knew what the rabbit was doing and where the rabbit was going. Unlike last week, this time I was prepared. And here he came

today, in a rematch at Tiny's deer stand in Seale, Alabama

Brag 1 for 1
me (rimfire) 1 for 2. Yes a miss, sort of.
Details later

Yes, I know I could post about Saturday's hunt with only Brag, Cuz and myself, and I will as soon as I find time to set down and type for an hour, or about one of my other rabbit guns, or even how the Pups (and "girls") are doing as Beagler asked.
And I will.

djmed sends this pic of his personal best deer.
Don't be fooled. djmed is a really big boy and would tend to dwarf an elk

at lunch. I was supposed to finish up part of this project.



I didn't bother to tell GF that we all quit at lunch. Better to let her think that I made a special effort. Point stockpile, you know.

How much did I get done?
Well, actually, I fell asleep on the couch and didn't wake up till 6

Oh, "we" got 3

Tuesday’s hunt was another good one. We started out near the scenic business district of Pittsview.


We walked a long way before Brag jumped a small cottontail in some thick pines on the edge of a huge clearcut. And I do mean “clearcut”.

on the Tuesday hunt with the exception of dogs that would yip that “he went this way“, “no, that way“, “No, it’s over here“. The pines off of 39 in Seale were thick, with humps of honeysuckle and thick patches of mostly bare beautyberry. Brag had shot at the rabbit twice at distinctively different times. The last had been a good twenty minutes before with the race lasting for another fifteen before the girls had lost him.
Crunch. The rabbit? No it sounded more like a bone crunch and it was pretty close. I eased forward and saw Sister Sissy chomping down on the rear legs of the big buck rabbit.

Well, that was a good start to Tuesday’s post, but where do I take it from here?
I suppose back to the previous Saturday’s hunt at Seale off of Howard Road. The one where PFC Wiggles USMC made the hunt with Plunker, Cuz, Brag and myself, Rimfire would be the most logical place time-wise.

And I suppose the most pressing question that many of you have is “how’s that 100% shooting rate going”

Sadly the first hunt since early October when we camped, though it was a success. Kyacker and I went to our Grandmother’s place and hunted the old barn lot, field, and swamp across the back of her place. The barn lot produced nothing but we didn’t hunt it hard, mainly because of a new with old wire fence that Kyacker said would just let rabbits through and hinder dogs. As we approached the edge of the woods with the dogs ahead one marks in an old clearing pile that remains from who knows when. I post up quickly and Kyacker runs around to cut the rabbit off when he makes a dash to the deep swamp. All the dogs, even Lady and Sam the pups, were in now and the race was HOT. The rabbit shoots out right towards me and banks to my left about 10yards ahead. I draw the Winchester 9410 packer and give him a dose of 2 ½” 6 shot, with a hit he turns back to the thick briars and old ground hog holes and I did give him another clearer shot to end it before he crawled in the hole infested briars.

We set for the deep swamp where we’ve always had at least three swamp rabbits to run at the first of the season. The rains from the past few days have swept the swamp of many dry seasons of leaves and even broke a few staple beaver dams. With the water level receding but still up, the rabbits hadn’t yet returned from being flooded out it seemed. Molly our long toothed dog hunted hard as we led the dogs out to some higher ground.


Once to the high ground we had another rabbit in a fencerow. Shortly after the dogs jumped a small cottontail trots out right towards my feet. I was debating being still and trying to catch him but decided to wait until he was committed to passing before moving to keep him out for a shot. He did pass and when I shouldered the Packer he was in a full run in the woods. I picked a shot path ahead of him and waited for him to cross. Amazingly he went right to the tru-glow front sight and my Winchester barks again. He keeps right on going and the dogs are in a full race in the opposite direction. I was proud to see him as its not often that we get to run one rabbit and see a “sneaker” up here at the North Alabama chapter of the RHSESC. The dogs ran the rabbit up the fencerow to a tee where the rabbit set on them and they ran him back. As I’m ready to fire again Molly breaks out right where the “sneaker” went and has switched rabbits. When she gets to my gun powdered ground she looses the scent and as the pack tries to figure out where the rabbit went Kyacker trudges ahead and finds my DEAD rabbit!

One more trip up the fence and we put enough search party heat on the original rabbit that he darts to the swamp without a chance for a shot. All in all it was a good day and we’re definitely going to try and do it again before so much time passes.


In response to the bunny guns here are some of our selection with some purpose description. Kyackers Western Auto (Mossberg 410 bolt action) is a orangy stock and a true shooter when he lets it bark, it is his lightweight gun for the much walking rabbit hunts.

write up and post last Saturday's rabbit hunt in Seale, but Brag, Plunker, Cuz and I decided to hunt at Pittsview instead.
Details later......I promise