eight short legged beagles on a hot track doesn’t put a grin on your face, you ain’t normal.

It was only the core of the East Alabama Rabbit Hunters and Souse Eaters Social Club this morning, Brag, Rye, Cuz and myself, Rimfire. We pulled through the gate on 39 shortly after 8, only to find one of the deer hunter trucks already there. We backed out and headed to the old standby-- the clearcut patch before the mudhole.

Brag jumped and called the dogs.

Brag, Cuz, Rye and myself are going to run the back fifty off of county 39.
Back later

“All the dogs back” I asked eyes half closed as I did the old fart thing in the sun.
The pre-teat we had with us said “Yep, all five are here”
My eyes popped open. Five? We only brought four.

I took a look. She had a tail, briar scarred, cuts here and there, a eye colored blueish from a scratch, ribs and hip bones showing, in truth a pathetic looking puppy though cute. A closer look showed that she had some age, maybe five years old, just a small dog.

It turned out, that of the hunters that I mentioned that would be hunting, only Brag and I showed up at the Bleeker Junction Store. Billy Boy didn’t show but Brag’s cousin, Earwig did and as a bonus had his sons with him. One was a pre-teat, Graham while the other, Russ, was a fledgling teat.

We met up with Plunker and his son, Wiggles (That nickname is subject to change, but has it’s roots in a big buck rabbit he killed on the hunt. It only took three shots. After the last shot, somebody (who remain anonymous (heh) yelled “shoot him again, he’s still wiggling.”)

is on for tomorrow.
I know they have plenty of deer, the rabbits remain to be seen, but nothing ventured........
The terrain is hilly with plenty of green plots, briar thickets, tangles, even a swampy area.

Ruby and her chauffer/ quality of life giver, Marktippins, won't be able to make it. Something about more important than rabbit hunting--making money. Priorities, Marktippins, priorities.

2 bowed out. something about to cold, to steep, his hip........
Don't use all your excuses at once, 2.

djmed...well, djmed is smitten. Heck, he even took her hunting with him.
Yeah, I know. Anyway, he's off in Texas with her.

That leaves me, Brag, BillyBoy (a mutal relative), his grandson?, Plunker and maybe one or two of his son's. Plinker, you've met.
Cuz and Rye are strong maybe's.

that we eventually will see, overall, in the US, even Alabama, as the deer hunters tie up most of the land for their sport and drive the cost of leases to the point of driving out people of more moderate means.
Hunting will be considered a sport of the privileged. As more people are removed from exposure to hunting, more will be willing to vote in state referendums to outlaw the use of dogs and, eventually, all blood sports.

"The large turn-out of riders and supporters was a renewed show of defiance to the Hunting Act 2004, which outlawed fox hunting, deer hunting and hare coursing with dogs in England and Wales following similar laws in Scotland."

They're light as a feather.


The new Leather laces to go with them are also deep appreciated. The cloth laces are, generally, the first to go bad.
I hope they hold up better than the last pair I had. I'm kinda rough on both myself and my equipment as I note on this repeat of my quest for the perfect rabbit hunting boots
Rabbit Hunting Boots Update

to all the rabbit hunters

Those were pretty good fruitcake cupcakes, you made 2, even if I did have to naw them off the paper.

Speaking of 2, his gift wrapping improved this year over his previous years of garbage bags, grocery store bags and tinfoil. This year he recycled bags that he got gifts in from previous years. He just scratched out the names and wrote the new ones in.
Glad you aren't blowing my inheritance, 2.

Jealousy of KY Ricks rather successful hunt?
If a case of green eye stopped me from posting, the front page would be a blank.

Deer hunters all over the place. Cuz, who had to work, had told us that the teats (Right Teat and Left Teat were so named because like a woman's breasts, if you see one, you generally see the other) and their two friends, Saggy Teat and C-Cup, would be there, but there were also several other deer hunters.

As I noted in the video, none of the rabbit hunters had a fourwheel drive except for me, so they all parked right before the first mud hole and crammed their way into the pathfinder with poor Ruby being unceremoniously dumped into a dog box with Julie and Dixie. Since she usually rides shotgun next to her chauffeur and quality of life giver, Marktippins, I’m sure she was rather peeved.

Back later

that one of the rabbit hunters or wannabe's would have a four wheel drive besides me. But nooooo, they'd rather ride in the pathfinder. You know, there were also five dogs besides the rather healthy individuals seen

to check Plunker's property this afternoon (I'm to meet him at 1:30) and then rabbit hunt tomorrow morning. Probably at Seale, possibly at Plunker's.

If we hunt Seale( the most likely case) then we'll try to get to the back of the property where we haven't hunted this year though I did do several pre-season races there and djmed, Brag and myself, had a couple of productive hunts the last year or two.

cleaning and oiling down the Fox. I had to do it outside to avoid complaints from GF. I've tried to tell her that if she had worn a dab of Hoppe's #9 instead of CHANEL 5, I might have married her sooner. That's if someone else hadn't already snagged her up. And just look at all the aggravation it would have saved her mother from worrying about GF becoming an old maid,

"it’s a deer, Zap Lucy and let’s go. Come on, zap her. It’s a deer, I swear. Besides, I’m tired, it’s hot, there ain’t no rabbits here and if it’s not a deer, she’s lying. Come’on zap her."

I looked at Julie, who, after exchanging tired disgusted looks at Lucy’s cold trail bark that had turned into an insistent “come help me” with the other members of the blended pack, had smelled the ground for a brief second before running to my feet like she does when Lucy is on trash.
I could kinda understand, The clothing, pack boots, shells, guns, knife, camera and game bag were wearing me down to.
Well, not the game bag.
Think that is a lot to carry? GF has long made a observation about my overloaded pockets and hummingbird butt.

I had heard the rustle in the thick brush as something moved down a dim trail towards me away from Judy, Cuz’s best dog. The rest of the combined pack were busy running a second rabbit on the other side of me. I raised the old Fox and fired two quick shots. I’m so used to missing that the second shot feels natural now, whether I get him on the first or not. Besides a rabbit this size often takes two shots to put down. You don’t want him charging you.

for the wild pig sausage, djmed.

I fried some for breakfast with eggs and biscuits drenched in smart balance and tupelo honey. The sausage was good and spicey with no gamey taste.
Enjoyed the hunt yesterday, I’ll have the post up by tomorrow evening.

I'll visit our guest, Plunker's property up near Valley on Wednesday. If it pans out, we'll try to set a hunt up soon.
Brag and I are looking forward to the hunt over near Jeffersonville. We're not sure if Cuz and Rye will make the trip since they are set in their ways and liking their own beds at night

for the "girls" today.
No, I don't know why I picked the 14th of the month. It just worked out that way

led by Lucy picked up a scent as quickly as we put them on the ground this morning. The ground and cover was still wet from the overnight showers. They trailed from the top of the hill to the bottom and then started back up. Down in the bottom I remembered that I had left the remote control in the pathfinder. Good thing to, cause I forgot to turn Kate out of her individual box in all the excitement of a hot trail where we parked.

rabbit hunt in Seale, Alabama tomorrow.
Brag can't make it--work
djmed can't make it--work and his band has a gig.
I put out an invite to a local reader--work

Looks like it's just us retired old farts tomorrow--Cuz, Rye, 2, and me
We'll muddle along somehow though I don't see how you people put work above things that are really important

Abbie just ain’t going to make it as a rabbit dog and we need to get rid of her as a pet while she is still a puppy and cute as all get out. She has paper’s for what that’s worth. And it ain’t much.
One thing that I’ve always disliked besides “not enough white” is she has a flight stance. The rear legs kick back like a dog that is ready to run away. On the positive side, she has a beautiful voice. It's a shame, she just don't know how good she has it around here.

Final score
Brag 3
Cuz 2
Rye (who had the toughest shots all day because he asked just prior to the hunt if I wanted him to just wing a couple so I could finish them off) 0
Rimfire (your host) Heck, you know I don’t keep up with such, besides I didn’t even see one to shoot at all day.

Heck, I'd like to get my hands on him myself.

A good looking male has moved in two doors up. Just the right size, good colors with four white “sock” feet. The face (at a distance) looks strange like a little mix of another hound. And a beautiful baying voice…that he uses, no doubt to the annoyance of the other neighbors.

The “girls” are hanging out at the fence. When he shuts up, I hear Lucy’s softest yard dog bark, teasing him to serenade them again

Dang, it's cold

was the question Brag asked me on the way to our hunt yesterday morning.

“I don’t know. This is the first year that I don’t have a clue.”

"Well, I can tell you that Trace and I have been together for ten years and it gets harder every year."

"Don’t I know it. GF and I have only been married for two years but we’ve been together for nine"

But I do think that Brag and I both had better get busy and find that special gift so we can keep on rabbit hunting as much as we do. Otherwise they might decide that we have to spend valuable time off remodeling.

We hunted, pretty much where we stopped off on out Saturday hunt, a broad sloping hillside that has a deep narrow five foot ditch at the bottom before starting a climb on a facing hill that mirrored the first. Today, Lucy and Dixie tried to make up for their Saturday's indiscretion. Lucy impressed everyone with her nose

The logging company had thinned the thick planted pines a couple of years ago and that stimulated the undergrowth of muscadine, briars, honeysuckle and other low growth that fed and sheltered rabbits. Pills covered virtually every stump

Eight races (audio)

Details later. Brag and I didn't get home till dark-thirty

with Cuz, Rye, Brag and 2.

Or

Two hit wonders
Me and my Shadow
You’re lying eyes

The Good

The Rabbit Journal’s East Alabama Rabbit Hunters and Souse Eaters Social Club had three guests on our Saturday hunt.

Djmed, who needs no introduction to you, the faithful reader, or to Cuz and Rye. But to the newer reader, I need to mention that djmed is a good ol boy and the official t’shirt provider of The Rabbit Journal and hangs out over at Auburn, Alabama when he isn’t fishing or hunting across the Southeast.

The other two guests need some introduction though they to have graced the pages of the Journal.

Ruby, is a good looking tri-color with a beautiful voice. She didn’t show much “hunt” know-how in the pre-season exercise Marktippins brought her on, but as a recent graduate of Gordo U. a prestigious academy of rabbit hunting basics, she, for the most part, acquitted herself well. One thing that I noticed that hasn’t changed much is that Ruby rides shotgun next to her chauffeur in a beautifully white and polished pavement suv and when it’s time to go, she seeks out some souvenir smells and mud holes as trophies to bring home.

I weighed telling Cuz and Rye that Marktippins was, well, to put it in words that can be repeated in polite company, a Lawyer. Yes, yes, I know my opinion of lawyers; that 9 out of every 10 should be put against the wall, but that’s your lawyers. I’m rather fond of mine…..when they win. At least till I get the bill.

Now Cuz and Rye are no strangers to rather shady company, so Marktippins should fit right in. The problem was that I was scared that if one of them accidentally winged him, they might want to go ahead and finish him off to avoid any future law suits.

Later I heard the “pop” of Brag’s 20ga. barrel. Hurrying over, I arrived just in time to hear Cuz say “Well, hurry up and finish him off”