Rabbits are still partly grey in NE Alberta!

ironsighter said:
Glad I was able to find this thread again, populated by people who understand my hare hunting addiction. :)

It's been going pretty good so far this season. 22WMR is working out well. Up to 58 hares, so far. Two Saturdays ago I shot the bag limit for the first time. Hoping for a repeat this Sat.

(Note: all head-shot, they just bled all over each other in my back-pack)
bag_limit.jpg
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Congratulations! Geez, this photo sure brings back memories. I'm originally from the Ottawa area, Cornwall really, where we use to go home with, and I'm not kidding, between 50 to 100 snowshoe hares. Of course we had beagles, walkers, black and tans and blue ticks running behind those hares. All I had was a single shot Stevens chambered for the 44-40 which I shot 2.5 inch 410 shells out of. Today my brother has that gun. Thanks again for showing the photo, it brought a big smile to my face and you made my day.:)
 
track said:
Congratulations! Geez, this photo sure brings back memories. I'm originally from the Ottawa area, Cornwall really, where we use to go home with, and I'm not kidding, between 50 to 100 snowshoe hares. Of course we had beagles, walkers, black and tans and blue ticks running behind those hares. All I had was a single shot Stevens chambered for the 44-40 which I shot 2.5 inch 410 shells out of. Today my brother has that gun. Thanks again for showing the photo, it brought a big smile to my face and you made my day.:)
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Thank you! Glad to have instigated a trip down memory lane. :)
 


Got out today and got one of two that I did see. The first one took cover behind a 5inch treetrunk & I guess this small tree took the brunt of the shotload enough for the hare to get away clean. Number two was not so lucky. But the BB load out of a 12 gauge riotgun was kind of uninspiring. I think I'll go back to my longer barrelled 20 gauge with #6 shot as the primary hunting tool. You can plainly see here, that they are starting to turn grey in thier underfur, just like the one's ironsighter took in the BC mountains.
 
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Holy Baglimit ironsighter! A good haul indeed. Just for info, the very next day I spent 3 hours roaming around this property & never spied another bunny.
Many of the locals hereabouts say this is a down cycle year for snowshoehares. I'm beginning to believe them. Once we have at least two days with plus zero temp's, I should be able to confirm or refute this rumour of a low cycle year in this part of Alberta.

Cheers......
 
Brutus said:
Holy Baglimit ironsighter! A good haul indeed. Just for info, the very next day I spent 3 hours roaming around this property & never spied another bunny.
Many of the locals hereabouts say this is a down cycle year for snowshoehares. I'm beginning to believe them. Once we have at least two days with plus zero temp's, I should be able to confirm or refute this rumour of a low cycle year in this part of Alberta.

Cheers......
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I have heard of these cycles, but I have not hunted a single area over enough seasons to establish a baseline. The area that I have been hunting (over the past 2 seasons) seems about the same as it was last season. I will end up with more hares this season (I have already matched last season's total) but I think that has more to do with my knowledge and skills improving and my upgrade to .22WMR.

Best of luck for the remainder of the season!
 
trevj said:
C'mon Brutus, Y'know I'd have seen at least a dozen!

:D

Cheers
Trev
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Heck Trevor, there might be more indeed. But the crusty covered snow makes it sound like you are walking through a bowl of corn flakes to get around our friend's property. I know they are circling around me & giving me a wide birth while I hunt alone. With the extra noise, they have even more notice of my presence. That's my story anyways, and I'm sticking to it buddy. ;)

Cheers.......

PS: I can't seem to pry Silverback out of his man cave to accompany me. We always did much better hunting here in the company of another partner or two.
 
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Man, I really need to get out there. Been a few times this winter after work, haven't put anything in the pot yet. Used to snare them when I was younger, I used to fry them up and eat em with cranberry jelly. Tasty stuff.
 
Just for info and my 'season' includes Sept-March on this 1/4 section only:

-bagged bunnies year before last; 33
-last year; 17
-this year to this date; 9

Casual hunting, 1-2 hours mostly on weekend afternoons.
 
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SnowshowHare2March282014_zpsa5deba68.jpg.html


Here's a pic of one I got last weekend. We were actually out after jack rabbits and saw several but couldn't get close enough for a shot. We tried one area of bush with some sign and scared this one up. About a 30 or 35 yard shot with my .17hmr. Hope the picture comes through. First time posting a pic.
 
Rob F said:
Sorry - pic didn't seem to post. I'll get it figured out in the morning.
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You need to upload it to a hosting service (photobucket is one, for eg.) and post the "IMG" code in your post.

Or pay for the privilege of uploading them directly here.

Cheers
Trev
 
Nice one Rob F!

PS; Silverback & myself got out today. Got one, winged another & a third got away clean.
And a mule deer silently walked by during the lull of gunfire.
Two hours well spent in the Alberta outdoors.

Cheers.....
 
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Yep, that's a nice lookin' hare, Rob.

I'll be heading out tomorrow with a couple of friends. Hoping to get a bunch more.

Oh, crap, I just remembered I have to go renew my hunting licence!
 
Thanks guys. I'll probably get out tomorrow for a few hours too. Probably the last time before the bush is one big swampy mess as the snow finally starts to melt in earnest here.
 
Well, I was out again on Saturday with a couple of friends. It was a weird day out there. I ended up with 6 hares. One friend got 2 and the other got skunked. I don't know what factors caused the disparity.

I didn't take a photo of all my hares lined up, simply because I didn't want to rub it in my friends' faces, but I did get this shot of a nice double-kill that I landed after lunch:

double_kill.jpg


I was slowly creeping along on my snowshoes, approaching the tree marked with an X. I stepped to the right slightly, deciding I would go around to the right, but then there was a hare right there in front of me, sitting on the mound. You can see the red circle where he was sitting, and you can see where he ended up, to the right there.

After I shot him, I noticed another hare, a considerable distance away on the mound of snow marked with the third red circle. I went down to one knee, aimed and nailed him right behind the eye.

One of the hares I got was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, I have ever shot.

Here's another situation; I had received a radio call from the guys talking about heading to the trucks for lunch. I stopped to respond, and after chatting briefly I looked over and there was a hare sitting right there. Bang! Another one in the bag:

hare_hole.jpg


74 hares and counting...
 
You did better than myself friend. I was out alone today & much like your conditions the snow is melting fast. But not fast enough to take that hard crust off the top surface where there is shade. I suspect I did see two very fleeting glimpses of hares giving me a wide berth. This I cannot confirm 100%. The fringe benefit was actually seeing a lonely hungarian partridge just down the road. Not far from where I took sharptails two years ago.

noted
 
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