SnowShoe Rabbits (AKA “Hares”)

[crazymoon]

Bear, Just back from partridge hunting at camp in northern NH. I had one snowshoe run right at me and I waited for a fisher cat to appear which usually happens as the rabbit is more afraid of a fisher cat than a hunter . No fisher showed up this time but my camp partners did see a fisher cat with a snowshoe in his mouth at a different location later that day. Here's a pic of me after a successful rabbit hunt in my youth(many moons ago) !

!

 

[Bearcarver]

Bear, Just back from partridge hunting at camp in northern NH. I had one snowshoe run right at me and I waited for a fisher cat to appear which usually happens as the rabbit is more afraid of a fisher cat than a hunter . No fisher showed up this time but my camp partners did see a fisher cat with a snowshoe in his mouth at a different location later that day. Here's a pic of me after a successful rabbit hunt in my youth(many moons ago) ! View attachment 645620 !

Nice Job CM !!
Those were the Days, My Friend!!

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

Old tales and old memories make for some interesting stories. Thanks Bear.

Warren

Thank You Warren!!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear

We have snowshoes here. I've never hunted them, but I see them every now and then.

I get a kick out of them when we get late snowfalls. They turn white but there's nothing but leaves on the ground. I walked right up to one crouched at the base of a tree. He thought I couldn't see him. Didn't even flinch until I tapped him with my boot.

Yup, regular brown rabbits are like that too:
I'll never forget the first time I found out about that. I was home from school (sick), and my Dad went out back for rabbits. He came back in a couple hours later, with two rabbits, but I never heard him shoot. He told me about it----The first thing you see is usually the eye of the rabbit. Then if you circle around & come in from behind the rabbit thinks you don't see him, so he just freezes in place. Then you can actually reach in the nest from behind & grab them. Wring the neck & gut the bunny & in the coat.

Bear

 

[indaswamp]

He told me about it----The first thing you see is usually the eye of the rabbit. Then if you circle around & come in from behind the rabbit thinks you don't see him, so he just freezes in place. Then you can actually reach in the nest from behind & grab them. Wring the neck & gut the bunny & in the coat.

We use to just hit them over the head with a stick because sometimes thy were in brush so thick that when you went to grab them they would run. The stick had enough momentum to hit home before they could move. Did a lot of gunless rabbit hunts as a kid growing up. We would get enough for the pot most times....

 

[Bearcarver]

We use to just hit them over the head with a stick because sometimes thy were in brush so thick that when you went to grab them they would run. The stick had enough momentum to hit home before they could move. Did a lot of gunless rabbit hunts as a kid growing up. We would get enough for the pot most times....

LOL---I remember watching my Dad one time:
I saw him in the corner of a Hill-field with his Double Barrel.
He was breaking it down. He popped the fore-end off. Then he finishes his approach to the sitting rabbit, and just before he gets to tap him on the head with the fore-end, the Bunny takes off. The old man managed to put the shotgun back together & still got a shot off early enough to bag the little rascal. LOL---Crazy stuff!!! Like he was a contestant in a game show.
I didn't do that often, because I used my favorite gun for rabbits. My "Savage model #24 DL". It had a short 24" barrel, 22 cal over 20 GA Shotgun. I'd use the 22 on the sitting rabbits, and drop to that wide-spread short barrel shotgun for the fancy zig-zagging rabbits. My Dad bought that for me for Christmas, when I was 15 years old, for $54.95, and it's still my prize possession.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

Interesting thread, thanks for sharing it!

Thank You tbern!!
Appreciate that!!

Bear

Great post! Never shot a white rabbit. My first duty station in Maryland served half rabbits in the galley every now and then.

Thank You Whipple!!
You guys sure ate better than in my Army.

Bear

 

[fltsfshr]

Bearcarver To this day I'd like to have a chat with whoever thought of Ham and Lima beans in a c ration. Never had rabbit in the service either but I did have a bit of monkey.

 

[Bearcarver]

Bearcarver To this day I'd like to have a chat with whoever thought of Ham and Lima beans in a c ration. Never had rabbit in the service either but I did have a bit of monkey.

Ham & Limas, Ham & Eggs, they were OK. Now the "Spaghetti with Ground Meat"--Why "Ground Meat"?? What kind of meat?? We had the "B-2" units of the C-rations.
We got cigarettes in our boxes, and we used C4 explosives to heat our meals. Worked Great !!
So I don't know if I had Monkey? I know I had "Dog" in Saigon. I ordered "Duck" at the Victoria Hotel, on that one time we got into the "City". At least I thought she said "Duck", but I found out it was her accent---She really said "Dog".

Bear

 

[fltsfshr]

C4 made great Sterno.

 

[Bearcarver]

Those are some good memories, and to be able to pass them down makes them extra special.

Although VT has the snowshoe. I haven't knowingly seen any. They mostly reside in the North East Kingdom, and unless your family tree is similar to @yankee2bbq you may want to avoid the area.

Chris

White Rabbit:

Thanks Chris!!
We got some areas like that in PA too.

Bear

ya we have the snowshoe rabbit up here in the Keweenaw
if the snow doesn't get too deep in the early part of the winter its a blast to run them with beagles
they will go in a big circle almost out of ear shot then return with the dog in hot pursuit

Mike

Not much prettier than a Beagle in action.
The guy I mentioned "Glen--missing from that outing" had a Beagle named "Molly" that did it perfectly. People used to bring their pups to Glen, so Molly could teach them how to bring Rabbits around. She also taught her own pups.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

We have them here in the North Cascade mountains. When he was a teen, my next-door neighbor actually caught one that had changed before the snowfall. I remember seeing it when I was a kid; he had it in a rabbit hutch for a while, but it didn't live long. Probably couldn't adapt to captivity.

Yup, that doesn't usually end well.

Bear

Nice story bear, I used to hunt them when I had my beagles they were really fun to hunt

Thanks Jim!!
It's funny, but we used to hunt them without dogs, and just like their smaller Cottontail Brown Bunnies, the first thing you would see was the Rabbit's Eyeball. Almost every time, if they don't move. Brown on Brown, or White on White, look for the shine of the Eyeball.

Bear

 

[fltsfshr]

Bear remember Hormel Chili with a sterno can attached to the bottom?

I like rabbit but I was always very careful when cleaning them.

Down here we have Marsh Rabbits. Very small and they swim like fish. I have a couple living in my yard. They like cracked corn.

 

[Bearcarver]

C4 made great Sterno.

I never used it as such.
I only used C4 for cooking & delivering eviction notices to some "Tunnels".

Bear