on the final day of Rabbit Season 03-04

We got eight.

Sugar has showed back up.
Dusty's dad spotted her near the tower in Pittsview and Brag went down to get her. The other three can handle the training collar with sixteen levels of stimulation. Sugar, I'm not so sure about.

wasn't plush enough for our girl "Dixie". She's hanging out, instead, at the Robert Trent Jones clubhouse.

Well, at least saved me a lot of hassles by taking them on himself.
The dogs have started turning up individually. Djmed picked up Maizey and Julie, the two with my # on the collars, last night and is holding them in his pen. This is saving me from making repeated trips to pick the dogs up. Dixie is still missing and will be the very first recipient of my coming new high tech pine limb. Just as soon as I get my hands on both of them at the same time.

Time for a little tender loving care

“Did either of you boys tick somebody’s husband off?” Rye said while watching the occupant of the large black truck unfold himself from the interior. Turns out it was the host of our hunt and he was a big man. Not fat, but tall and solid. Walking over to where I was sitting on the grounds lacing up my hunting boots, he extended a hand as he said “Chuck Myguts? I‘m djmed“. And thus began the “not ready for prime time rabbit hunters and their poor, poor puppies that only need tender loving care to see the error of their ways and quit chasing deer“ rabbit hunt on the edge of the Auburn city limits.

The four dogs were found in three different places. They were all turned loose at GreenFields next to county 4. Lady, Dusty's dog was found hoboing the railroad tracks next to 26. Across the fourlane from Seale, she was nine miles as the crow flies from the starting point. Next back was Julie and Dixie. They turned up at Mr McCoy's Leather goods and repair shop near the Mariah Church. That's only a couple of miles from the jump off. Maizey turned up two miles north of county 4, but several miles down the road from the entrance. Only Sugar is still out and I don't have much hope of getting her back. If you remember, she was the really skittish one that didn't want you to touch her. You can't catch her to read Brags name and number. Roadkill is her likely end. I don't know what was done to make these dogs so skittish, but I don't want to repeat the mistake

using the search string "breaking beagles from running deer", please email if they find out how?
I've already heard of putting them in a barrel with a deer hide and rolling it down the hill.
Heh

Maizey and Sugar are still missing. Lady was both the dog found and the dog lost. A twofer, so to speak.
I'm beat. A shower and the bed calls.

I’m sure everybody says so.

But I’m here to tell you Brag’s and mine did. Heck, might still be running it as far as I know.

and I get a call from Cuz

That bunch of fools are still going to Greenfields for a rabbit hunt. Oh well, fools of a feather flock together.
Gone rabbit hunting.

15 January 2004




The first Gray rabbit hunt was a bust. Beautiful property near Pittsview Alabama, it was managed for it’s owners passion--birds. Specifically Quail. They were everywhere. Unless the land is managed for quail, they are rare enough around here to startle both the wary and the unwary.

I would be walking through the thick low brush and see something dart away. Tensing up and getting ready for the rabbit to go barreling away, I would feel my heart flutter away when suddenly a half a dozen of the fist sized heart attack inducers would explode out of the brush all around me. My reaction the first time was a wild jerking around looking for what was fixing to get me.

Soon we quit tensing up although the puckering continued, not because the birds quit busting out around us but we didn‘t see any rabbits. We walked the creek bottoms and brush patches. We checked the planted food plots. We checked the hillsides and ridges. Not a single rabbit. Quail everywhere. The question on our mind was “Do quail eat rabbits?”.

Towards the end of the hunt we came to a thick stand of planted pines. Judy quickly jumped and led the rabbit on two circles before it crossed fifteen yards from me. I fired a shot into the grass behind him, not even coming close. A already tired Judy decided if nobody was going to kill it, she dang sure wasn’t going to chase it anymore.

After that disaster of a hunt, I was somewhat surprised when Cuz called me a week or so later to tell me we were going back.

hunt went well

While waiting at the truck stop this morning a vehicle pulled up and the window rolled down. "What you boys doing?"
Going rabbit hunting." Brag replied.
"I love rabbit hunting. I used to do it all the time."
Brag said "Your welcome to come with us."
Unfortunately, other duties called but not till Pat bs'd rabbits for fifteen minutes or so. Some of the most normal looking people get obsessed with rabbit hunting, from a small time blogger to Auburn's former Coach, Pat Dye.

The three dogs, Dixie, Julie, and Maizey, are shaping up. Poor Sugar, in my opinion just will not make the grade. She is to skittish and extemely hard to get ahold of when you want to drive to another spot. She won't even make a good yard dog.

I couldn't hit my butt with both hands today. Or most any day. Thank goodness for the "we" rule of counting how many rabbits We got. Final score: We got 12 and one in a hole.

The hunt started slow with the threat of rain hanging in the air. Brag had assured me last night, that it wouldn‘t rain till dark, but I must say, I had my doubts. We finally kicked a small sager out of some really tough briars. Just about as tough as the ones at Mr. Murty’s place, only a few miles west of us. I don’t know what it is about Lee County briars, but they are sure a mean bunch. The rabbit led the dogs on a figure eight before Brag dropped him on the edge of a planted firebreak. Cuz’s dogs, Judy and lady were first to the rabbit with Julie, Maizey, Dixie and Sugar bringing up the rear.

Long live rabbit season.

Now that the deer hunters are out of the way, it’s time for the rabbit hunters to have some fun. The dogs are well rested and the Brown Road hunt is tomorrow

and better as the day went on.

Dixie, Sugar, Julie, and Maizey were timid most of the morning. That was probably due to not only Brag and I still being new to them, but now they had to contend with a new pack of both humans and dogs. We turned them out with Cuz’s two dogs, Little Girl and Judy, the Grande Dame of what passes for our pack of dogs and Dusty’s , Lady. They nosed around in the planted pines and began trailing. Judy and the new dogs were silent. Only Lady and Little Girl gave voice. Soon the pace picked up and Lady and Little Girl began to run hot, trailing Judy and pups behind.
Deer!