But if djmed thought that by taking his boss on a rabbit hunt near the scenic Salem-Shotwell Bridge he could impress him and maybe get a raise or something, then I think djmed has been picking mushrooms off the cow pies in his front yard.. I’m just wondering if he still has a job. Speaking of the bridge, you Lee Countians should do something about the awful shape you’re letting one of the few wooden covered bridges left in Alabama get. And maybe a set of camera’s to add security though most of the vandalism is more of the harmless “Kilroy was here” kind. Some preservation work is needed. Maybe a private organization to raise money to restore and preserve it? I took a few new pictures when I was out there.

Brag and I lead the dogs down into the start of a very long, very thick, very briar, vine and shrub, covered bottom that covered all of Mr. Murty’s property. A bottom so vicious, it even covered the hilltops. You knew it was thick when you would trip and just dangle, hooked on the thorns instead of tumbling to the ground. I had told djmed on two occasions in recent email about the briars being even more vicious than they were last year, if that was even conceivable. Of course, all he had to go on was tales from a known embellisher. I wasn’t trying to scare him off, just trying to keep him from getting fired since he mentioned he was bringing his boss.

Looking below me I could see the orange of djmed and bossman working the bottom below. I knew it wouldn’t be Rye. Rye had reached the stage of gentleman hunter and only dipped into the fringes of the briar fields. And even then he carries a key, a set of pruning shears.

Oh, did I mention that djmed had shaved his beard. Even though I have only seen him once before, the shaved face made him look like a kid. Maybe a two hundred and seventy five pound kid, but still…..

After thrashing my way through a particularly bad patch of cane briars I found myself standing next to Robbie, the bossman. I began talking about the lack of rabbits, the thickness of the briars, what would take the sting out of those face scratches that bloodied parts of his face and how he shouldn’t hold it against djmed when the dogs jumped a young buck rabbit in the bottom below where djmed and Brag were. Listening to the dogs racing down the holler, I glanced at the thin patch of briars we were standing in and suggested that bossman should walk up to the trail above us to cut the rabbit off if he crossed. Not that I was just trying to get him out of my way so I would have a clean shot as he suggested later. He just went to far. It took me two shots out of the old double barrel when the rabbit came running down from the hillside behind me. Besides, I was trying to save djmed’s job because if I missed, the next shot would be djmed.

Later, at the back of the property, Lady jumped a deer and lead what passes for Brag and my rabbit dogs off on a long run. That was pretty much the end of the hunt. We still had Judy, momma dog and her pup “Squeak”, but not a rabbit could be found on our drudge to the trucks.

We laid around bs’ing near the trucks while we waited on Lady, Julie, Dixie and Mazie to grace our presence. Robbie and djmed took the downs of the hunt in stride, pretty much proving that they knew what hunting is really about. We’re already talking about a hunt taking a whole weekend in Georgia. One day to run rabbits and one day to find the dogs. I’m looking forward to it already.