Hey Rimfire, I’ve always thought that "ticks and chiggers" and such were part of God’s wrath on the heathen hoards....how come y'all got so much?
And any semi-veiled references to "carpetbagger Yankees" is always taken in good humor.....but could you send me your preachers phone number...I might be able to suggest a few sermon topics.
Trust you were pleased with the photos and write up.....more at your request
Vern

Why , yes I was very pleased with both the write-up and the pictures.

I know what you mean about the ticks and chiggers being the “wrath” visited on the heathens.
I feel the same way about snow.
The army in it’s infinite wisdom decided to send a good ol boy used to running the woods, swamps and rivers in the hot humid south to the Italian Alps instead of SE Asia. Not that I complained at the time. I got a belly full of that stuff.
We get about the right amount of snow around here, Once every few years and lasting only for a day or so

Glad you have a sense of humor in regards to some of my comments. I actually like some Yankees, though like my in-laws, I wish they would go home instead of putting down roots. Ya’ll are sort of like human kudzu since air conditioning was invented.

Yes, we would enjoy regular updates and pics. It’s bound to break up the monotony of my regular posts. Besides between gf and I moving to a new house (if and when we find what we want) finishing upgrading this house to sell, helping 2 with his skeeter, taking the “2+3” back to Apalachicola and bay fishing, ……..I ain’t to sure how regular my posts will be anyway.
Now if I could teach you how to use the comments……

after looking at a house

from Vern, who is about as yankee as they get, being from Maine and all. I hope that the occasional comment I make about his persuasion, usually in connection with ticks and chiggars, is passed over.
Anyway, he sent a couple of pictures of his hunts. I’ve posted his mail with only some minor editing

Hi Rimfire I guess we’re going to have to do the photos this way.. .my wife said our “dial-up” service was too slow to send pictures unless we waited all night for them to down load. These photos are from a hunt in 2005. The first photo is of three of our dogs as they came up over a snow bank on the side of a woods road I was shooting from.

I had just knocked this bunny over, set my shotgun down and ran over to get this picture as the dogs topped the bank. After the dogs gave this rabbit the “sniff test” they crossed the road and started another one immediately.

But not tonight.

GF and I are looking at a house this afternoon after laying tile all day. That will be followed by us looking for Dixie, who is missing in action since last Saturday morning. Yes, she has a collar with my phone number and email on it.
2 and I are working on the Skeeter tomorrow.
yada yada yada

Anybody that knows how to string a sentence together and use spell check want to do some guest posting about most any rabbit/beagle related topic? Vets, pens, training .....?

I got some pics and mail by snail mail from Vern in Maine. I think my fellow southern brethren are going to love the pics. I should have the post up in the next day or so.
And a post about the pup, Pennies, first training day.

Ain't nothing like being a Auburn fan this year and trapped in a truck with two Alabama fans for an hour and a half

to pick some pears for pear relish. It's real good with pinkeye peas and I plan to make a few jars. It's been years since I made any. 2's mother, my grandmother used to make it every year.
She lived near Chad's Rose Room in Phenix City. If your a local, you remember that it had a picture of the stripper (rather tame by today's standards) covering the diamond shaped window in the door. I would have had to stand on tiptoe when I was about 8 in order to see it.
That's if I would have done such a thing.

Anyway, by the time I picked pears, rode with Rye and Cuz to Seale since they had been laid up in the air conditioning all summer and hadn't seen it since the thinning, talked dogs and guns...... Well, it was mid afternoon before I got home. 2 was off with eyt and wife on the pontoon boat.
Cuz knew I had been looking for a double barrel to replace the 16ga Fox. I wanted to put the Fox up for one of the grandchildren, whichever that takes to hunting, before I shot the barrels out of it. It already shows heavy use. A purist would insist that I ruined the gun by dragging it through the brairs and brambles to shoot at rabbits. I just don't see a reason to have something and not use it. Oh well, different strokes.

So I came back with pears, peppers, some tall tales and

I speak of him quite often.
His boss, Robbie I’ve only mentioned a couple of time. He owns (warning crass commercial message) Master Graphics in Auburn, Alabama and is the official t’shirt maker of The Rabbit Journal.

One mention was in a rabbit hunt near Salem Alabama, about the only time he went. I think it was a little tougher than he expected and I’m glad that djmed still has a job

The other time was his revenge.
At least I think it was, considering the giggling on his part when I asked if he was going.

Anyway, he went after easier game in more friendly terrain and scored

Pink Lady apples are back in the local stores.

Brag and I like a good apple and the Pink Lady ( I think I've seen them sold under the name "Crib's Pink") is a firm, crisp, non mealy, sweet apple.
Last year, they were available only for a very short period in the fall

the Maine rabbit hunter who complained in one email about hunting white rabbits on white snow. That don't seem to be to much harder than than shooting a brown rabbit on brown pine straw where our bushes never much lose their leaves.

Anyway, he's sending pictures and inquired about the shirts and hats. I'm still getting the orders up, the local boys are really slow this year, and will give them to djmed in about a month. There's still time if any of you wish to order.

Here's his note

Hey Rimfire,
just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about sending the photos to you. When i mentioned to my wife that i was going to mail the pictures to you she told me we COULD do that via the computer if i could wait. We have attempted to sit down together so she could show me how but our times and my impatience have not brought success yet ! The air is getting cooler here during the night and we can see leaves starting to change their colors already.....fall is coming to the Northeast . We're starting the fall with one less hound in our kennel.......the "old man" Fleetfeet P.J. , a cherished canine companion for a little over 15 years and an excellent snow hound was put to sleep two days ago.......although retired at 11 years he enjoyed an occasional run with the other hounds until his back legs gave out and he couldn't even get out of his box at the end . We're still a bit sad but looking forward to opening day with the others in October...
What's the status of the shirts and hats ? let me know so i can get a money order off to you........Vern

Obviously, he hasn't trained his wife properly yet. By now, GF would have said "Oh for Heavens sake, get out of my way, I'll do it"
My sympathies on Fleetfeet P.J., It's always tough to lose a hunting partner

The Rabbit Journal Pack.
Technically, the copper nosed puppy belongs to Brag, a gift from his wife.
Which means that Brag'll play with if for a week or two, then she will be moved over here into the pen with her new aunties where I'll be the one blessed with the night squalls and such till she gets used to the demotion from pet to working dog

about Brag’s dogs.

Yep, his dog’s, Lucy and Suzie, misbehaved straight out of the box this morning while my dogs, Dixie, Katie and Mystery acted paranoid.
I should have listened to Dixie. She tried to tell me that there were just to many deer around. Both her and Kate hung out at my feet, not wanting to venture out.

Suzie jumped and Lucy went with her before I had time to get the remote control out and put on the antenna.
Hover and his pup, Elmer, went with me up the path and we cut them off at BJ’s property line. Trouble was, they weren’t running a deer when we caught up with them. They weren’t running nothing, so it’s useless to make them piddle on themselves when they won’t even know what they did wrong.

Hover and I walked them down the road, across the creek and up to the sand pit. They jumped and the race moved into the next bottom. It was kind of confusing, the dogs were so scattered out. The next thing I knew Katie was trailing next to me as the rest of the pack ran up the facing hill.
Hover and I caught up with them at the Florida Boy’s stand. Dixie, Mystery came out, but Suzie and Lucy had put the next ridge between them and the remote. The remote, by the way, has a broke switch. I don’t’ have a clue when that happened.
That was the last we would see of those two that morning.
I don’t know what happens every year about this time that turns what have been reliable rabbit hounds into trash running dogs, but it does, most every year.

We got back to the truck and started loading the remaining dogs, so I could show Hover out before returning to find Brag’s wayward hounds. It was then that Brag’s dog Mystery turned up missing. I looked for ten minutes or so, before guiding Hover out.
When I returned Mystery was trotting down the road with a relieved look.
She hates to miss a meal.

with the search term "muscadine recipes", so I thought I would throw this one into the mix

Deep dish scuppernog
Or Muscadine pie

Ingredients
2 cups scuppernongs
2 ½ cup water
¾ cup sugar
Crust
½ cup margarine
½ cup sugar
1 cup flour
½ cup milk

Wash and pulp scuppernongs (muscadines)
Put ½ cup of water with the pulp & boil for five minutes
Strain to separate seeds (A note on the hand written recipe. “I put mine through a tea strainer and scrape around with a spoon until all the pulp has gone through and left the seed.)

Mix in hulls remaining water and sugar.
Cover and cook on low heat for 25 minutes

Crust
Preheat oven to 350*F
Melt margarine in deep 2 quart baking dish. ( butter, oleo (an archaic term for margarine) and margarine are used interchangeably)
Mix sugar, flour and milk into a smooth barrer.
Pour this over the melted oleo


Pour fruit mixture over the batter and cook 35 to 40 minues.

Do not stir. The batter will rise to the top

I really should have had the pre-season race at Jordan’s in Opelika written up by now.
We had three good races on multiple rabbits. We suspect that they changed rabbits in mid race at least once.


Lucy and Suzie behaved themselves and all the girls had good races

I’ve got two recipes for you.
One is a soft drink that my Granny, who lived on a dirt farm near Wedowee, Alabama, used to can for the eight kids and then the grandkids to drink. Soda’s were hard to come by, both for reasons of finance and isolation. Except to go to town for supplies and sell crops, most of the store bought stuff came off a rolling general store that would pull up on the dirt road, blowing the horn.

Both the bronze (scuppernongs)

and the black (muscadines)

are ready and I beat the birds, again, this year. Both are hanging in grape like clusters

Back to the recipes

Muscadine Drink
2 teacups of muscadine (or scuppernogs)
1/2 gallon of water
Bring water to a boil, add fruit & let boil for 2-3 minutes
Add 2 cups of sugar.
Let simmer for 2-3 minutes (how they controlled the heat on that old wood stove is still a mystery to me, though my granny sure could cook)

Pour into jars and seal to keep from fermenting.

For those of you who want some fermenting

1 quart crushed fruit
2 pkg of yeast
6 cups of sugar

Put into gallon jug. Mix well, adding enough water to almost fill the jug.
Let sit for 21 days with a cloth tied over the top (keeps out the bugs)
Oh and I need to add that it lets everything breath
Strain
Drink

Sure would be a good morning for a 07-08 pre-season exercise.
Unfortunately, GF has me by the ear(literally and figuratively) dragging me out to the home repair mega store to improve a improvement. From there it's to Wally World and the grocery store.
sigh!
GF is addicted to those home improvement shows. Right now she's learning that actual projects are harder, more strenuous and don't finish up at in the half hour time frame she watches on the tube