Hamilton Reef
02-25-2006, 08:50 PM
Cold no reason to forget about rabbit hunting
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1140816008116280.xml&coll=5
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Thursday, February 23, 2006
By David V. Graham dgraham@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6306
MILLINGTON - Mike Neilson was amazed at all the rabbits we saw last Saturday.
The weather was sunny but cold, with a below-zero wind chill because of a stiff northwest wind. It was the kind of weather when any sensible person would have curled up in a warm corner of their house with a book and spent the day sipping hot coffee.
It was also the kind of day that hunters would not expect to find many rabbits out and about. Fortunately for us, we were wrong.
Neilson, a veteran rabbit hunter from Flint, and his best buddy and fellow Flintite Bill Desrochers spent most of Saturday hunting rabbits with me and my friend Hendrik Botha, a professional hunting guide from South Africa. I hunted overseas with Hendrik in July 2000 and had the time of my life. He currently is on his third visit here in the past three years, trying to drum up business.
Neilson and Desrochers weren't too confident early in the hunt about the possibility of our success, given the extremely cold weather and the stiff wind. Rabbits usually like to hole up in this kind of weather.
We hunted public land near Columbiaville and found some fresh tracks in the snow, which was encouraging. Neilson and Desrochers had their four beagles - Peach, Dave, Sadie and Daisy - on the ground, and the dogs soon were working a rabbit in thick brush near the Flint River.
Desrochers ended up getting one rabbit with his .410-shotgun shortly after I missed it, so we were a bit encouraged.
We then drove north to Millington, where we joined Ricky Gleason and his son Derrick, 23, for a hunt on a neighbor's farm that featured two thick swales. One of the swales was about 10-15 acres, spread along a narrow depression that ran for a few hundred yards in the midst of a huge harvested cornfield. Desrochers got a second rabbit there.
Hendrik and I staked out the south end of the swale. As we waited on the lip of the marshland, the hounds worked their way through the thick stuff. After 10 minutes or so, they moved off to follow a fresh scent and Hendrik and I settled down to wait.
After a half-hour or so, I sat down on a snowpile to watch my end of the swamp while Hendrik kept an eye farther to the east. I had my back to Hendrik, and that turned out to be a big mistake.
Two quick shots startled me, and I turned in time to see a rabbit twitch his last just 25 yards from me. Hendrik had made a nice shot on the fleeing rabbit, which obviously had holed up when the beagles were working nearby and then emerged when he thought the coast was clear.
With that, we moved off to a nearby swale of about two or three acres. Again, the dogs did most of the work while the hunters spaced themselves on the perimeter to wait for the action.
We didn't wait long.
Within minutes, the shotguns were roaring again and the rabbits were running their last.
Neilson ended up getting three rabbits while Hendrik got two more.
Eight rabbits on a cold, windy day isn't a bad day's work.
Neilson was pleased.
"Don't ever let anyone tell you that it is too cold to go rabbit hunting," he said in Gleason's warm trophy room later. "This was the best hunt we have had in years."
Desrochers said the key is to find a low swale with plenty of brush and cover for rabbits, a place where the critters can get out of the wind.
Of course, it helps to have four good beagles that aren't afraid of opening up loud and clear on a fresh track.
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1140816008116280.xml&coll=5
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Thursday, February 23, 2006
By David V. Graham dgraham@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6306
MILLINGTON - Mike Neilson was amazed at all the rabbits we saw last Saturday.
The weather was sunny but cold, with a below-zero wind chill because of a stiff northwest wind. It was the kind of weather when any sensible person would have curled up in a warm corner of their house with a book and spent the day sipping hot coffee.
It was also the kind of day that hunters would not expect to find many rabbits out and about. Fortunately for us, we were wrong.
Neilson, a veteran rabbit hunter from Flint, and his best buddy and fellow Flintite Bill Desrochers spent most of Saturday hunting rabbits with me and my friend Hendrik Botha, a professional hunting guide from South Africa. I hunted overseas with Hendrik in July 2000 and had the time of my life. He currently is on his third visit here in the past three years, trying to drum up business.
Neilson and Desrochers weren't too confident early in the hunt about the possibility of our success, given the extremely cold weather and the stiff wind. Rabbits usually like to hole up in this kind of weather.
We hunted public land near Columbiaville and found some fresh tracks in the snow, which was encouraging. Neilson and Desrochers had their four beagles - Peach, Dave, Sadie and Daisy - on the ground, and the dogs soon were working a rabbit in thick brush near the Flint River.
Desrochers ended up getting one rabbit with his .410-shotgun shortly after I missed it, so we were a bit encouraged.
We then drove north to Millington, where we joined Ricky Gleason and his son Derrick, 23, for a hunt on a neighbor's farm that featured two thick swales. One of the swales was about 10-15 acres, spread along a narrow depression that ran for a few hundred yards in the midst of a huge harvested cornfield. Desrochers got a second rabbit there.
Hendrik and I staked out the south end of the swale. As we waited on the lip of the marshland, the hounds worked their way through the thick stuff. After 10 minutes or so, they moved off to follow a fresh scent and Hendrik and I settled down to wait.
After a half-hour or so, I sat down on a snowpile to watch my end of the swamp while Hendrik kept an eye farther to the east. I had my back to Hendrik, and that turned out to be a big mistake.
Two quick shots startled me, and I turned in time to see a rabbit twitch his last just 25 yards from me. Hendrik had made a nice shot on the fleeing rabbit, which obviously had holed up when the beagles were working nearby and then emerged when he thought the coast was clear.
With that, we moved off to a nearby swale of about two or three acres. Again, the dogs did most of the work while the hunters spaced themselves on the perimeter to wait for the action.
We didn't wait long.
Within minutes, the shotguns were roaring again and the rabbits were running their last.
Neilson ended up getting three rabbits while Hendrik got two more.
Eight rabbits on a cold, windy day isn't a bad day's work.
Neilson was pleased.
"Don't ever let anyone tell you that it is too cold to go rabbit hunting," he said in Gleason's warm trophy room later. "This was the best hunt we have had in years."
Desrochers said the key is to find a low swale with plenty of brush and cover for rabbits, a place where the critters can get out of the wind.
Of course, it helps to have four good beagles that aren't afraid of opening up loud and clear on a fresh track.