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Unread 07-18-2017, 04:40 PM   #11
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Mike Franzen
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Dave, I sold my two dogs last fall. My schedule wasn't permitting me to work them as much as they deserved. They were out of the Greenbay Shooter line and were the best beagles I ever had. I miss it.
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Unread 08-15-2017, 12:22 PM   #12
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Last time I hunted rabbits was up here about 20yrs ago during a very high peak in the hare population. A friend and I went out and in 60minutes took 62 hare with a pair of Winchester 62A pumps. We quit when we ran out of ammo. Art was definitely set for trapping bait for the winter. His aged lab retrieved every one of them and could not possibly have been a happier dog. I'm pretty sure that was his last hunt of any kind.

I hunted rabbits a lot as a kid in Michigan. My favorite memory is of hunting on snowshoes by the full moon on a crystal clear night at about -15F and listening to my beagle, hot on a trail, and hearing him "come of age" as his usual juvenile yelps turned to the classic deep beagle yowl in a matter of 30seconds. Who could ever forget that?!
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Unread 08-15-2017, 12:46 PM   #13
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One of my favorite snowshoe hare hunts was with Robin Lewis about five years ago around Berlin, NH in February. The snow was about three feet deep but was hard crusted and we didn't need snowshoes, just walked on top. But every so often we would break through and wallow a bit before regaining our footing. The thing that made it so memorable was that Robin was shooting his AAHE 16 gauge with F/F chokes. He smacked a few bunnies with that fantastic gun too.





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Unread 08-15-2017, 12:53 PM   #14
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We used to see hundreds of bunnies over time in the back and side yards and in the borders of the woodlots here in suburban VA (25 miles from downtown DC) when we first moved here 33 years ago. Also noticed the abundance of red foxes, which of course preyed on the bunnies, and the cycles of life (e.g., fewer foxes, more bunnies and of course the reverse) came and went pretty much on que.

Lately in the last 2-3 years we have noticed the shrinking fox sightings in early morning and of an evening just before dusk. We haven't seen a rabbit (literally) in the last 2-3 years, but we can hear them being killed by the foxes or owls at night in the woods, so we know they are still around (we have always had 2 or 3 owls in close proximity to the house). Also noticed the recent uptick in hawk sightings; we have a gorgeous Cooper's hawk which has taken up habitat in our side woodlot. (No doubt they are doing their part to depress the bunny population).

The only thing we haven't seen peek out of the woods yet is a coyote, but I'm convinced its just a matter of time. (Remember, they got a game trail cam shot of one in Rock Creek Park in downtown DC a few years ago.). We have sighted them at our Izaak Walton League conservation farm in Poolesville MD, about 45 minutes from here. The "canid nerds" tell me that coyote will kill foxes, so it makes sense that they may be affecting the food chain beginning with the bunnies the foxes kill and so on.

Oh, yeah - forgot to mention - a few years ago a pair of bald eagles built a nest overlooking a small recreational lake house development about a 1/4 mile from my house. Looked out one day and one of them was standing in the middle of our back yard, chowing down some type of tasty morsel - made for quite a yard sculpture!
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Unread 08-15-2017, 12:57 PM   #15
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I was using my grandfathers ancient flat bearpaw shoes, with no toe curl, and the snow was very crusty that night in 1966. I did my share of stumbling and falling I can tell you! I actually got one shot at a bunny; I turned quickly and shot and fell flat on my back, glad that I was alone.Those shoes were awful and have not seen the snow since! But not so awful that I didn't varnish them up like new and hang them on my bedroom wall here.

Coyotes are everywhere. I've seen them within 200ft of my house here and ran over one 215miles north of Fairbanks a number of years ago. They are everywhere in Alaska except north of the Brooks Range. They kill foxes, and a lot of dogs, and the wolves kill them, but they still seem to be expanding their range.
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Unread 08-15-2017, 01:02 PM   #16
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Just had a Bald Eagle fly down the lake here about twenty minutes ago being harassed by an Osprey. The eagles are murder on the loon chicks... pretty sad.

Coyotes will definitely kill and eat Red Foxes and the Gray Foxes are becoming more prevalent around here while the reds are diminishing. Reason for this is that the Gray Foxes are pretty decent tree climbers.





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Unread 08-15-2017, 02:50 PM   #17
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I would love to go on a rabbit with one of our members and write it up for the Parker Pages. We have plenty of coyotes in Kentucky. A couple years ago I shot one from my living room as he was approaching a pup tied up outside in the yard.
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Unread 08-15-2017, 03:58 PM   #18
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What started my interest in Parkers was a friend who had a DHE 410, skeet in skeet out behind a bunch of pool sticks in his den. It was in 1972 and i asked what a valuable gun like that was doing out of a safe, he had given his dads safe to me and asked that i take it use it and keep it for him. I hunted rabbits and shot skeet with it until he got a safe 18 yrs. later.I couldn't afford it when it was sold at auction but he sent me a nice check, saying if it wasn't for me he would never have known it's worth.
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Unread 08-15-2017, 04:29 PM   #19
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Richard, the first pair of snow shoes I had as a mid-teenager were flat bear paws. They were absolutely worthless for anything but decoration. I've had several different styles since then and none were as bad as those flat bear paws. Been using Alaskan trail type (10x56) for decades now and consider them the best.
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Unread 08-15-2017, 05:00 PM   #20
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They do hunt rabbits in Mississippi. Most private land that has lots of rabbit is leased to hunting clubs for deer and turkeys, but when deer season is over many welcome friends with beagles. I go once a year, when a friend has combination rabbit hunt and dinner on the grounds. We start around 8 in the morning and stop for lunch served in the field with cookers making gumbo, there is smoked duck, venison,wild turkey and a bon fire if needed.We pull up a folding chair and discuss the morning hunt. This group will point out each others short comings at the drop of a hat. It is great fun.
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