Hares on the Comeback?

[Jumpshootin']

I took my Lab out today for some exercise by walking miles of snowmobile packed two-tracks that run along and through portions of a very large cedar swamp not far from home. This is the same area where I ran hares with my beagles for a number of years. However their numbers started a decline around 1998 and consequently I sold-off all of my beagles in the spring of 2000 after a winter of not be able to find the track of a hare. They have been scarce since, until today maybe.
Along a mile or so long stretch of two-track that cuts across the swamp I was seeing hare tracks cross about every hundred yards or less. Now I know that one hare can make alot of tracks between snowfalls, but I saw more sign in there today than in the past ten years.
Hopefully this is sign of a long awaited comeback around here.
I have been seriously considering getting a rabbit hound pup this spring. This may well push me over the edge, knowing that I'll be able to drive only a few minutes to get it on bunnies.

[Whit1]

I sure hope you're right! Snowshoe hare hunting was always a favorite of mine.

[Linda G.]

Jump-I did an article in an early February issue of the RE outdoor page about a snowshoe hunt I did up in the Petoskey area with a guy who's been chasing hares for more than 60 years. He, too, thought the hares are coming back in our area, a little, but certainly nothing to get excited about. We chased 2-3 that morning, but didn't kill any. Our choice. He does a lot of hunt and release.

[Robert W. McCoy Jr]

I am glad to hear the hare populations are up in your area. Hopefully the increase in timbering will continue.

[Brandon]

Don't get to hunt hare much, but when I do get up north we seem to get some goo running in. Do know that hare populations go in cycles and hopefully the cycle is on the upward swing.

[Jumpshootin']

I am glad to hear the hare populations are up in your area. Hopefully the increase in timbering will continue.
I don't know if the increase is the result of timbering. What I have noticed over the years is that hares in a particular swamp are at their lowest cycle when the cedars are at their largest state of growth. They get to a certain size, are top-heavy, and then are blown over in strong wind storms. Sun can now hit the ground there, new growth starts, and the hares come back.
I kinda think that the hare cycle is dependent on that of the cedar swamps.
Hopefully I can get some hunting in yet this season. A fella I work with has a 2.5 year old beagle that is just a family pet/house dog. He says that a couple of times last summer it squeezed out the door past the kids when there was a cottontail in the back yard. Both times he sight chased it into the woods and then ran the thing, sounding off for ten or fifteen minutes before losing it. He keeps saying that he should try hunting it. I told him about all the hare sign I found and he wants to get the hound on some this weekend.