The sound of a howling beagles pierced through the cold winter air like a gunshot. I could hear the pack of eager hunters getting closer and feel the excitement building in my chest as I pushed deeper into the spruce I was leaning against.
The bellows were so loud now I forgot about the chickadee and nuthatch I'd been admiring only moments before. My eyes were glued in the direction of the beagle pack, straining to pick up any movement.
Like a ghost, a silent white form appeared from beneath the low-hanging limbs of a black spruce. When I moved to shoulder my shotgun, the hare bolted. BANG, a clean miss, BANG, and the woods went silent for a few seconds.
I left the hare setting in his last footprint until the bellowing beagles unraveled his snaky back trail and arrived on the scene, tails wagging.
Hunting the varying hare or what's better known as the snowshoe rabbit or simply snowshoe, is a winter tradition up north. Throughout most of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota the word snowshoe means rabbit hunting and outdoor fun at its best.
Hunting Without Dogs
I started my snowshoe hunting education during my college days at Northern Michigan University. The Marquette area has no shortage of snow to trudge through or snowshoe rabbits to chase. Creatures of the cedar swamps and black spruce swales, I hunted snowshoes with a shotgun and an ambitious set of legs.
In those days a dog was out of the question. Any hunting I would do had to be the hard way. Despite not having a trusty beagle to chase hares for me, I rarely made a Sunday trip to the woods without waging battle with a few hares.
Hunting hares dogless isn't unlike grouse or woodcock hunting without man's best friend. The best strategy is to move slowly through good habitat, stopping every few steps. Instinctively, hares will sit tight if they think there's a chance the danger will pass by. Stopping frequently unnerves a bunny that suddenly starts to second guess his decision to sit tight.
In a spray of powdery snow the hare will be off and running, offering the hunter a few precious seconds to get on target. This simple hunting method works with a single hunter or small groups. The secret is to move slowly, stop often, and avoid talking and other noise that would alert hares up ahead to move out of your line of travel.
Setting up mini-drives is another excellent way to hunt snowshoe rabbits. Not unlike a deer drive, a successful rabbit drive requires one or more drivers or walkers and a couple blockers positioned at the end of cover.
Pick chunks of cover that are fairly small and ideally those that are bordered by logging roads or fire trails. A pickup truck that hunters can pile into makes setting up a drive quick and easy. Drop off the drivers first, then drive around the cover, park and set up the blockers in spots where they will be able to see rabbits as they bolt for safer ground.
The drivers should move through the cover slowly, stopping frequently. When the drivers start shooting at hares that have jumped, other hares will begin moving towards the blockers. If the hares haven't been hunted hard, the drivers will get the most shooting. In areas where the hares have seen hunting pressure, the blockers are likely to get the hot gun barrels.
Locating prime snowshoe habitat is the real secret to hunting success. Snowshoe rabbits seek out the dense cover of cedar, black spruce, and tamarack trees, but they prefer to eat the tender bark of deciduous trees. Young aspen, red maple, witch hazel, tag alder, and mountain maple are some of the favorite foods of the varying hare.
The best rabbit hunting habitats provide both an abundance of thick overhead cover and a mixture of young saplings and grasses as ground cover and food. Clear-cuts that border thick swamps are ideal places to look for snowshoe activity.
The older a clear-cut is the more likely it will contain the cover required to attract and hold winter snowshoes. In large blocks of clear-cut land, stick to the lowlands where the cover is dense and avoid the ridges and upland cover.
Hunting With Dogs
Snowshoe hunting with a beagle or other rabbit hound is the preferred method of gaining the main ingredient for rabbit stew. I've been fortunate to hunt with friends who own some pretty good dogs. If you don't own a rabbit hound, the best way to make friends with those who do is at a beagle field trial.
Beagle owners attend field trials for friendly competition and to help train their animals. Visitors are welcome at these events. Contact a beagle breeder in your area for more specific information on field trials.
Hunting snowshoe rabbits with hounds is similar to hunting cottontail rabbits. The big difference is that the arena the game is played in is much larger. Most cottontails will circle quickly when pushed by a yapping pack of dogs. The typical cottontail rarely covers more than a few hundred yards of countryside during the chase.
Cottontails also tend to move slowly just ahead of the dogs. One hop at a time, a cottontail keeps moving watching his back trail for the approaching hounds. When the hunter spots his prey and makes his shot, the dogs are often in sight.
A snowshoe rabbit will also circle, but the loop is likely to be more like a quarter- or half-mile trek! The dogs will be quickly left behind as the long-legged snowshoe easily outdistances the pack.
I've been on many snowshoe hunts when I had to strain to hear the trailing hounds in the distance. Not surprisingly the wait between shots can often be a long and cold experience.
A down jacket that can be stuffed in a fanny pack when walking and worn while on stand is a handy item on a snowshoe hunt. The extra warmth will be welcomed while you're standing on one foot and then the other waiting for a hare to streak by.
When the hounds do return, expect the hare to be well ahead of the dogs. Unlike cottontails that often hole up when pressured, the varying hare prefers to outrun his adversary.
Guns and Loads for Snowshoes
A cottontail rabbit is a pretty easy animal to dispatch. Any shotgun, even the tiny .410 is capable of making clean kills at the ranges most cottontail are shot.
The snowshoe rabbit is a much larger animal and is typically shot at much greater distances. A shotgun capable of handling heavy loads and shot is well advised for snowshoe hunting.
The standard 12-gauge is an ideal snowshoe weapon. A modified barrel produces a dense pattern when matched with a load of 1-1/4 ounces of No. 4 shot. Those hunters who prefer the 20-gauge are wise to tote one of the three-inch magnum versions. The 20-gauge three-inch magnum offers a payload similar to the standard 12-gauge.
Both gauges are capable of dispatching snowshoes cleanly out to 40 yards, this combination can be in the form of a double barrel, over-under, pump, or autoloading shotgun.
I carry a Remington Special Field autoloading shotgun in the snowshoe woods. Available in both 12- and 20-gauge the Special Field features a 23-inch vent-rib barrel, straight English-style stock, and shortened forearm. This compact package is substantially lighter than the full-size 11-87 autoloader and a dream come true for upland hunting.
The gun dishes out three quick shots and a soft recoil that makes follow-up shots smooth. Those who prefer a pump-action shotgun can choose the 870 Special Field.
A fast-pointing over-under or double barrel is also an excellent choice for quick-stepping snowshoes. Screw-in choke tubes and selective triggers allow the hunter a choice of loads and chokes for specific shot opportunities. The best all-around choke choices are the improved and modified tubes, but some hunters I know install modified tubes in both barrels.
Most double-tube shotguns come with three choke tubes to pick from. Extra choke tubes can be purchased separately if desired.
Some hunters prefer to chase snowshoes with a scoped .22 caliber rifle. Using a .22 caliber rifle is out of the question when setting up drives or when hunting with large parties. The .22 is best used when one or perhaps two hunters are taking place in the chase.
An autoloading rifle is a sporty and exciting way to take hares. Ideally the hunter watches for a sitting target, but the real fun begins when a bunny bolts and offers the hunter a chance to test his shooting talent.
Hitting a running hare with a .22 rifle is a skill most hunters never develop. The best practice I've discovered involves a package of balloons and a brick of .22 ammunition.
Find yourself an open field where it's safe to shoot and blow up a few balloons. Tie off the balloons and scatter one or two at a time to the wind.
Hitting the balloons as they bounce and tumble their way downwind is a great way to develop confidence in hitting a moving target. When you can pop the balloons regularly, you're ready for a snowshoe chase.
A standard high-velocity .22 long-rifle bullet is deadly medicine on a snowshoe, but I prefer hollow-point bullets for moving targets. Hollow-points provide a little more tissue damage and will stop an animal even if the bullet doesn't hit a vital organ. It's best to sight the rifle to in zero at 50 yards.
Snowshoe hunting is good from first snow until the season closes in early spring. What's even better, some of the best hunting takes place on large parcels of state and federal lands. The sounds of yelping beagles and the sight of a snowshoe rabbit make winter weekends seem a lot shorter.
Copyright (c) 1997 Mark Romanack. All rights reserved.
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