The other week, some friends of mine, who own beagles, invited me and my 12-year-old grandson to go rabbit hunting with them.
You see, I just happened to have some old friends in the upper end of the county that allow me to hunt on their property and this is where we were going to hunt. Before I go any further with this story, I’d like to remind sportsmen to always get permission from the landowner and don’t throw your trash on their land. These good practices and others will most likely get you a return visit to hunt or fish on the property.
This particular hunt would be the second time ever that my grandson had rabbit hunted with dogs. Last year he killed his first rabbit and I don’t know who was prouder — me or him.
Most big hunts have to start off with a big breakfast; why, it’s a given here in the south. On this hunt, our group had planned to meet at the Dixie Burger in Ellerbe. As we went in the place, it was packed with hunters and local folks eating and catching up on the local news. Why, it seemed I knew everyone in the place and before I could order, I’d done been told several stories I could use for future columns.
Won’t long our food was ready and we gobbled it right down. I didn’t even take time for a second cup of coffee; for I knew we needed to be in the woods.
Soon we were on our way, all excited about a good day of hunting.
As we arrived at the place we were going to hunt, all us hunters put our briar britches on over our clothes. Now, if’en you ever been rabbit hunting, you know a good pair of briar pants are a life-saver for your legs — that is, unless you want your legs all scratched to pieces.
Also, you’ll be needing a hunting coat or vest to place your shells in — and if’en you are lucky enough, a big fat rabbit.
According to state law, you are to wear a bright orange hat or vest. Whether or not you agree with all of the hunting laws, this one could save your life. It helps you see a fellow hunter better so you won’t accidentally shoot him.
You will also be needing a shotgun. But in my case, the boys say a good stick will do — because I can’t hit a rabbit anyway. Don’t make no matter what gauge your gun is, but the lighter the gun, the less tired you’ll be at the end of the day.
Lastly, you will need a good rabbit dog — or in most cases several — to keep them rabbits going. There’s just something about a whole pack of dogs running together that brings music to your ear.
Seems a lot of things have gotten more modern since I kept dogs, yes-sir-re. Why, most dog hunters today have shocking and tracking collars on all their dogs and transmitters in their pockets. I have to admit that this is the way to go to train your dog so you spend more time hunting game instead of dogs. Hunters also carry small radios so they can talk back and forth to each other. All these are good ideas, but when you get as old as I am, you forget which button to mash, don’t you know.
On this particular hunt, the weather was perfect for rabbit hunting. A little nip was felt in the air while patches of early morning frost still lay on the ground.
As we let the dogs loose, it didn’t take long for them to jump a rabbit and the chase was on. The sound of the dogs brought back fond memories of past hunts I had been on with my dogs. With names like Boss, Jenny and Ol’ Shag, why, back then I thought I had the best rabbit dogs in the county.
Most hunters know, most of the time, a rabbit will eventually circle back to where you jumped him (that is if’en you got good dogs to bring him back). This is why hunters station themselves not far from where you first jumped the rabbit.
Well, this first rabbit we jumped played by the rules and it wasn’t long before one of our hunters bagged him. During the day we jumped several rabbits and shot three more, but my grandson still hadn’t seen one.
All this was about to change as we jumped the last rabbit of the day. Undoubtedly, this rabbit had been run before either by dogs or coyotes. Why, I want you to know this here rabbit left the world. If’en we hadn’t seen him when he jumped up, we’d have thought it was a big deer.
Finally my grandson walked down to where I was standing and asked, “Pa, reckon when that rabbit’s coming back?” “Ah, he’ll be back directly,” I told him. I could tell he was getting a little anxious to shoot — and to tell you the truth, both of us were getting hungry because it had been a long while since we had eaten breakfast.
As we stood and talked, I told him I thought I could hear the dogs coming back our way and for him to walk back up the hill to his stand.
He had hardly got back to his stand when I heard the dogs coming straight for us. As the dogs got closer, I spotted the rabbit and he won’t tipping either — no-sir-re, he had it the wind. Wanting to let my grandson get a shot, I let the rabbit go by, and the rabbit headed right straight towards him.
Won’t but a minute I heard the dogs going on over the hill, but still I had not heard a shot. I got on the radio and asked him had he seen the rabbit. “Pa”, he said, “I saw the rabbit, but my reaction time wasn’t fast enough.” Well I reckon one excuse is as good as another, ‘cause it just so happened a day or so later I did the very same thing.
That day my grandson and I didn’t kill any rabbits, but we made memories that will last us a lifetime.
I hope you have enjoyed this little hunting tale and please take a kid hunting or fishing. They will remember and cherish it for the rest of their life.
J.A. Bolton is a member of the N.C. Storytelling Guild, Anson Co. Writer’s Club, Anson and Richmond Co. Historical Societies and author of his new book, “Just Passing Time.”