| Outdoors |
Rabbit hunting makes for challenging fun
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age. When they grow up, those hunters teach new generations. ome distance away, dogs erupted in excited howling as they On this frosty morning, my son Daniel and I joined James and jumped another cottontail. Tensing with anticipation and an his dad, Jim Sealy, Roy Shofner and Steve Byrd. I envisioned an adrenaline rush as the frantic ruckus rumbled closer to my easy hunt where dogs did all the work pushing rabbits out of dense position, I anticipated a quick shot. Surely, the rabbit would zip cover while I picked my shots. Instead, I spent most of my day right past me. chasing the dogs and trying to guess where a rabbit would burst Instead, it quietly slipped through high grass about 40 yards from cover. I never fired a shot, although other more, experienced behind me and disappeared into tall brush. With every carnivore rabbit hunters in our party did bag some bunnies. wanting a rabbit meal and little defense except speed and stealth, “Many times, people make the mistake of listening to the dogs cottontails know how to miraculously disappear into the most impenetrable briar patches, thickets, log piles and anything else that and trying to spot the rabbit right in front of the dogs, but the might conceal them from predators. rabbit will be way out in front of them,” says Larry Meeks, a rabbit hunter from Huntsville. “When rabbit hunters hear the dogs “A rabbit is hunted day and night from all kinds of predators heading toward them, they don’t really need to hide, but they need on land and from the air,” says James Sealy Jr. of Citronelle. “They to stop, keep quiet and are constantly trying to start looking for the rabavoid predators much bit. Hunters must keep more skilled than human alert. Rabbits are pretty hunters. They can see a sneaky.” person and disappear While most rabbit without that person ever hunters use dogs, sportsknowing it. Hunting rabbits with beagles is not men can sometimes bag as simple as one might one without canine help. think, but it’s a lot of fun.” Occasionally, a squirrel Because rabbits thrive or bird hunter jumps a in entangling cover, most cottontail. Some hunthunters turn to dogs for ers take turns smashing help. Trained beagles through thickets, kicking grass clumps or fallen can enter the roughest logs as their companthickets to flush rabbits. ions watch for anything However, dogs sniffing to bolt from the edges. out rabbits does not necessarily guarantee a shot. A pair of canvas pants Everyone who follows or leather chaps comes beagles loves shooting, Charles Koger watches his beagles to see if they pick up a rabbit scent during a hunt in handy when busting but most sportsmen take near Bay Minette, Ala. Many hunters use beagles to hunt rabbits because the small through thorny thickets. to the fields and forests dogs can go into the thickest cover where rabbits like to hide. For a really challenging hunt, carry a .22 rifle for fun and camaraderie. PHOTO BY JOHN N. FELSHER and walk along the edge Rather than sitting quiet, of a field, powerline or other opening at first or last light. A fresh still and alone in a tree all day, rabbit hunters spread out, talk and clear-cut or recently burned forest makes a great place to look for socialize while listening to the dogs howl. rabbits in low light. Rabbits frequently leave their protective cover “Rabbit hunting is a very social sport,” Sealy says. “Most rabbit to feed on tender new shoots at dawn or dusk. Some deer hunters hunters enjoy the company. They’ll take a person out and show sit in their stands overlooking food plots with scoped rifles waiting that person a good time. We get in competition with other hunters to pick off rabbits as they emerge from cover to feed. and tease each other, but it’s all in good fun. The camaraderie is Practically any wildlife management area in Alabama with what I enjoy most about hunting rabbits – that and hearing my thickets, fields, brush or similar habitat should hold rabbits. Some dogs!” better WMAs include Barbour near Clayton, Blue Spring near AnThe sport of chasing rabbits with beagles dates back hundreds of dalusia, Choccolocco near Heflin, Freedom Hills near Cherokee, years. European colonists brought the tradition to North America Geneva State Forest near Florala, Lowndes near White Hall, Mulcenturies ago. Most people probably began hunting rabbits by following their fathers, grandfathers or other relatives at a very young berry Fork near Tutwiler, Oakmulgee near Tuscaloosa, Perdido River near Gateswood and James D. Martin-Skyline near Scottsboro. John N. Felsher lives in Semmes, Ala. Contact him Rabbit season runs through March 8, 2020, with a daily limit of through Facebook. eight per person per day. Season dates and other regulations might differ on some public lands. 40 DECEMBER 2019
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