I only had one serious chance to end my personal drought today and I didn’t take it. It wasn’t because the rabbit was to close and I wanted the shot to be "more sporting" though I will tell you that. And it wasn’t because the rabbit was to close and I didn’t want to ruin the meat. And I will tell you that. But the real reason was that I wasn’t sure how big the shot pattern would be at four to six inches and I couldn’t figure out how I would explain to you people how I managed to shoot myself in the foot. Not that it would surprise most.

The doubts I had about "the other side of the road" hunt on Brown Road were quickly erased as I stood in the calf high briars watching a trail where I suspected the rabbit being run would come. At least, one of the rabbits. Five minutes into the hunt and we had multiple rabbits going.

for rabbit season 05-06
And so far, I’ve been dying.
…..and I sure would hate to go out on a losing note….not that I keep up with such.

Two weeks rest after today and the Girls will be rested up and restless and then Turkey Season starts on March 15 and goes till 30 April. No dogs can be run during this period.

But first, any sympathy for Rye and his short lived "dry spell" is long gone. About all I’m concerned with now is the fact that I can’t hit my butt with both hands.

The first hunt on Thursday was at Charlie the Bugman’s. We finally jumped on the edge of a relatively thin hillside that was heavily populated with longleaf pine saplings still in their distinctive bush-like stage. I’m usually around pine plantations, so I’m used to seeing loblollies and longleaf’s are rare enough to get me to remark on it.

in the 05-06 season has been cancelled.
100% chance of rain

Cuz has to help out at the Grill Outlet Yard Sale. Yeah, I know.
So Rye, Brag and myself have decided to have a couple of hour hunt if the weather doesn't turn out as bad as predicted. But if it does turn out to be heavy, it'll give me time to write up Thursday's hunt.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the Russell County Sheriff’s office, I give you this link that Indigo emailed, in what I believe was a rather, not so subtle jab at my deer hunting abilities.

Yeah, this might do the trick. I wonder how it would work on rabbits

at Charlie, the bugmans, tomorrow. That was the site of the "WaterWorld" hunt.
djmed, Brag and Earwig, Rye and myself are to meet a Cuz's at 7:30.The weather is iffy,
"Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before noon. Partly cloudy, with a high near 59. North wind between 5 and 10 mph. "

But with only four more hunts left in the season, we might as well. My rabbit bag has a complete change of clothes along with a couple of those disposable rain parkas. You know the type.? The ones that will last all of 20 seconds in a briar patch.

link to a article, sort of, on hunting. It's well worth your time. The statistics might shock some but most of us "Joe Blows" have been singing the blues for a while along with more hysterical rants.

It sure has come in handy for your host, Rimfire.

“We” got 5
Rye (1 rabbit),
Brag (1 rabbit),
Brag's cousin, "Earwig" (2 rabbits, one pre-cleaned),
The Hounds (1 rabbit)
Rimfire (you know I don’t keep up with such)
Cuz's back kept him out again today.

Yeah, even the dogs scored higher than me today.

Call me tonight with the report. Sorry, I couldn't make it today.
Are we rabbit hunting Thursday?
(unless we get washed out, We’re scheduled for near Crawford, Alabama)

I made this last night. it is EXCELLENT!

BAKED WILD RABBIT

1 or 2 wild rabbits
All-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sage
1 med. onion
Salt and pepper
6 slices breakfast bacon

Dress rabbits and cut up, place meat in a large bowl of salt water,
let stand 1 hour. Pat dry.
Sprinkle pieces with small amount flour; salt and
pepper to taste.
Place 3 slices bacon on bottom of Dutch oven. Add rabbit, sprinkle sage over meat.
Add onion slices to top of meat.
Then add 3 more strips of bacon on top of meat.
Pour water to cover and bake 2 1/2 hours at 375
degrees adding water as needed.
Meat will be brown and crisp outside, juicey
and tender inside.

It was a general consensus of the rest of the East Alabama Rabbit Hunters and Souse Eaters Social Club that since no one had heard from Cuz about tomorrows hunt that we would meet at Cuz’s house at 7:30 as agreed on last Sunday.

Like most hunts, the refrain when Cuz ands Rye met me at Cuz’s house to lead me to the afternoon hunt was “you should have been where we were this morning. We left a lot of rabbits. Why, even Rye already has two.

The rabbbit ran a tight circle and came back to the hilltop where he had so rudely been jumped. I flicked the safety off and started to raise the 1929, 16 gauge, Fox to my shoulder. At the bang of the 16 gauge, the rabbit flipped in the air. I paused, with the Fox only halfway to my shoulder, to yell out ”You got him, Rye. I suppose that extra sleep sharpened your eyesight.”

Briar City

and

is to be where we hunted last Saturday near the former site of the Salem-Shotwell covered bridge.
I understand Cuz's Boy and Tiny will have the "gators" with them and the plan is to start in the back of the property where the lease holder says there are more rabbits. The last time we didn't get near that area because the dogs kept jumping rabbits at the front.
I hope the weather cooperates

djmed 3
rimfire 2
Brag 1
Cuz and Rye.....well, you know I don't keep up with such.

djmed can't make it Thursday, so it will probably be just Cuz (bad back), Rye (sinus infection), Brag, myself and Tiny if he can get off.

Maizie is a little beat up and I mean more than her tail.

Valentine / Anniversary hunt is to be where I killed four out of seven rabbits....not that I keep up with such.

We were hunting property that was on the other side of the site for the former Salem-Shotwell bridge from Mr. Murty’s. Scott, our host told us it had some mean briars. Brag and I were ready for something like Mr. Murty’s briar patches which can make a grown man cry in pain and frustration. These briars were a walk on a golf course greens in comparison.
And rabbits?

Rain permitting, we're hunting somewhere in Lee county, Alabama. exactly where I'm not sure. As I told djmed when inviting him, he would just have to meet us at Cuz's house or else wait on a phone call. That, for all I knew, we would be hunting in djmed's back yard near Opelika,

scattered over the property that we hunted near Crawford, Alabama.

The pines had grown just enough to hinder hunting. Well, that’s not really accurate. They hindered the seeing and shooting.

Some mornings are just made to hunt.

and ect have another rabbit hunt this morning.
Back later

I don't understand, with all this land Cuz says we have to hunt, why he decided to hunt on Wednesday and Saturday with I suppose nothing in between, instead of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. That way the dogs get one to two days off between hunts leading up to the final two weeks. The dogs are going to need to be ready.

I'm pretty antsie this morning and the coffee is starting to kick in. I have websites I need to work on, a laptop that is comatose with all my favorite settings, programs and such tightly locked inside, and a long out of date tower that is among the limping wounded. How long it can keep up is open to question.
That and why ain't I rabbit hunting this morning, which is truely important in the grand scheme of things, instead of worring about these mundane things.

Note to djmed and Master Graphics located in Auburn, Alabama. Djmed and Mastrer Graphics are the official t’shirt outfitter of The Rabbit Journal.

The boy that had my dogs is kind of big, as in, "djmed" when you talk to him, look up at him and say "Yes sir" and "no sir", kinda big. Djmed is a pretty big boy , himself. I shouldn’t use the word “boy" to describe the finder because the word is subject to misinterpretation. I’m using the word in the Southern good ol boy sense.

"Boy" is generally used as an afffectionate, descriptive word for an acquaintance who , for all you know could be a "fleeing felon" or general "ner do well", but has at some time in the past either got you on some land to hunt or found your dog and didn’t charge you anything.

Or it might be used in as "Ok boys lets go home" or "did you see the size of that boy" or.........

Now that being said--The black gentleman who found my dog was big. As in “duck to come out the front door” big. And big also indicates weight. Not really fat, but Big.

What I’m really trying to say, djmed, before I got off on a pre-emptive explanation is “do you have a shirt that fits a man that is a good 7+ foot and 325+ pounds?”.

near Crawford was a bit slower than I expected. There were a total of eleven hunters and nine dogs. Eleven hunters and eight dogs went home. I suppose it’s better than the other way around. But, if you're the dog man, it's like leaving one of your kids.
Two of the teats showed up and one pre-teat. I’m always glad to see the kids on a rabbit hunt. I just wish more of them went.

Brag says that 18 shots were fired and I shot ten of them. That’s ok. There were 7 rabbits killed and I got 4 of them. I finally missed twice at the same rabbit. That's worse than the other rabbits that I only missed once. Yep, I shot twice at every rabbit but one, whether I needed to or not. And I let a rabbit crawling through the briars get away for Tiny to shoot. Ok, I couldn't tell from the patch of brown whether it was a rabbit, a rat or one of the dogs that were in the same briar patch. In cases like that you don't shoot

a big hunt at the old Capps place out past Crawford, Alabama. Supposed to be quite a few deer hunters there trying to get their bearings. Some of the poor souls don't know what to do on a Saturday. They've been chasing deer since 15 October.
As for me, they could shorten the deer season season to the 15 of January (if not earlier) and start it two weeks earlier on 1 October.