|
Last year’s rabbit
hunt did not happen due to an ice storm the night before the hunt.
This year sure looked different, as we had a fresh snow from the
Friday before the hunt day. We couldn’t have asked for any more
perfect conditions to try to harvest a rabbit with a bow. The
morning started out crisp with the temperature about 15 degrees, but
the forecast was calling for sun and about 32 during the day.
We had fourteen
members go north to Prescott, Michigan to Steve Fralick’s little
paradise-in-the-northern woods. We headed to a little swamp we
always go to first. Usually before we get set up, the dogs have
jumped a rabbit or some of the hunters have jumped one or two.
Not this year though. This swamp kind of set the tone for the day,
as we didn’t even see any tracks. Not one rabbit track. We thought
the earlier thaw we had might have moved the rabbits to the high
ground of the adjacent pines.
So we all moved into
the pines. We did finally find a few rabbit tracks but not like in
previous years. We did see some coyote tracks, so we thought our
rabbits had ended up some critter’s dinner. We worked our way back
toward the cabin, when Lynn Lovejoy and Greg Lauderbaugh got a shot
off at a rabbit that the dogs jumped less then 40 yard from the
cabin. Lynn says there was a little bit of fur on his arrow, but we
all think he just scratched his fuzz on his face to get it on his
arrow as the rabbit never slowed as they both missed clean.
The dogs ran this
rabbit for quite some time. When it came back around the first
time, Larry Butterfield saw it standing still and let an arrow fly.
He missed clean, but the rabbit didn’t bound off very far. The
second time he shot, he got fur but not a solid hit as the rabbit
kept going. Off again the rabbit went, and the dogs were still
casing but not real close. The next time the rabbit came by, Nathan
Squires saw it running about 50 yards away, but that was the last we
saw of that rabbit as the dogs finally ran the rabbit into one of
its holes.
We all then went in
and had a fantastic caribou chili and caribou sloppy Joe lunch that
was supplied and fixed by our host Steve Fralick. This is when we
got to swap some hunting stories or at least listen to some of
Steve’s!
After lunch we
decided to try a different area. While we had the same problems
after lunch as we did before lunch, it sure was great to get out
with a bow in hand again. We never did see any more rabbits that
beautiful day in February, but some of us did see plenty of partridge,
deer and about 20 turkeys. Nathan had a herd of deer walk by him at
less then 10 yards. We moved a nice flock of turkeys from a
hillside and we had partridge flying almost all day. But no
rabbits. That’s hunting, when you hunt rabbits, you see everything
else. When you hunt deer, you see rabbits. Well, maybe next year.
I want to THANK
Steve Fralick for allowing us to use his little
paradise-in-the-north for a day of rabbit hunting. If anyone would
like to bow hunt deer this fall at Steve’s, he takes hunters for a
small fee. I want to THANK Nathan Squires, Doug Haines, Larry
Butterfield, Mike Green, Bill Guith, Chris Green, Adam Green, Scott
Bell, Lynn Lovejoy, Greg Lauderbaugh, Jason Woodby and Dan Charles
for going to Prescott to try their luck at the 12th
Annual Flint Bowmen Rabbit Hunt. Next year we will be moving it so
it won’t be the same week as the Daytona 500. Next years hunt will
be January 31.
Below are some photos from the 2009 Annual Flint Bowmen Rabbit Hunt.
Click on the thumbnail image to see a larger version of that image.
|
