When I was younger I used to treat the Elder Sportsmen with a degree of respect.
On the last couple of hunts, I suddenly noticed that I Am the Elder Sportsman.
Just how the heck did that happen?
It seems like it was only yesterday that I was “The Kid”

And what the heck happened to the respect I should be due?
On the last hunt, I saw a couple of young bucks on the road while I high stepped it in the briars

in Alabama is over.
I have three posts that will follow over the next three days.
One covers the last hunt at Pookies, one has some personal thoughts while looking for Lucy Lu and one is a planned photo montage of the year

And I was in no mood to listen to any crap about having ran a rabbit for two solid days or out running coyotes all night.
Nor did I show those little legs any mercy on the walk back since I had to hike from the sawdust pile to Bobby Jones’s line.
It'll be a cold day before she leaves the pen again for anything beyond a trip to the vet

Snarl

Lil’ Bit, the newest puppy, daughter of Sammie P and Penny Sue, found her first rabbit yesterday at Seale.

Milestone
Lucy Lu spent her first night since she was a puppy sleeping with the coyotes. She was mad at me for dragging her out of her house and making her go on the hunt. First, she wouldn’t come out of the woods when we wanted to move from Pittsview to Seale. Despite, Cuz and Dustin’s assurances, Brag and I walked for almost two hours with jumping a rabbit or having the dogs run one.
When we got to Seale, little short legged Lucy cut me off twice from a rabbit heading back to his home briar patch. She disappeared on the walk back to the truck before lunch and didn’t turn up on the afternoon races.
Brag and I called and looked till after dark.

The hunt in Seale was good despite the fact there were only three of us, Plunker, Brag and myself. Plunker left early afternoon.
Final score
Brag 3
Plunker 2
And sucking hind teat, Rimfire 1

Brag just called from Seale and no sign of Lucy Lu today either

After our first volley, Brag said “I see him, he’s hit. I’ll catch him” That confused me a tad since I could see the rabbit dead on the ground in front of me. Turned out we were shooting at different rabbits.
Then Brag made an outstanding shot on a zigzagging Fred.
Plunker, later on missed Jimmy as he sprinted down a naked fence line. Jimmy didn’t stop till he got to the front porch of the house. I suspect he wanted to ring the door bell and beg for help.

I’m not sure about the names of the rabbits since none were wearing collars but since they were the yard rabbits in Tallassee, I’m sure that the ladies of the house who were peeking out windows to see what was going on had names for them.



Our host put us on the first rabbits near the old buildings of the property that is used once a year for a civil war reenactment. I understand that the Yankees win the first day while the Confederates win the following day.

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A couple of things, this is a personal site, not a commercial site. I do Not sell email addys.
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has passed



"Rye was one of "the most noticing men around" and an original member of The East Alabama Rabbit Hunters & Souse Eaters Social Club. As a matter of fact, it was his tendency to bring souse meat for our tailgate lunches that brought about part of our name.

We all have our favorite stories about "Rye". Here are two of mine

“Dang it, Rimfire“, Rye fumed,

Look out Rye! He’s Charging.

He is and will be missed

I'm behind on my posts
I'll catch up......later

But for now, bare bones

On Tuesday, six of us hunted Rutherford and for the first time this year, we were in double digits
Yep, "we" got 11
Brag was on fire killing four of the eleven. I suspect they had "top flite" stamped on their sides.
Dustin got 2
Cuz 2
rimfire 2
Lenny 1

It wasn't a rabbits everywhere day, but it was a steady progression

Today, we hunted Tallassee and "we" got 3. It was a better day then the numbers indicated.
Hopefully, I can fill in the details tomorrow before Saturday's hunt puts me behind again.

We had a nice hunt Saturday on Plunker’s neighbors property though I think I need some tips from Vern about hunting in snow since my dogs acted like their smellers were broke till the afternoon when a lot of the snow was gone.



Another good thing about my taste for hats instead of caps is the snow don't fall down the back of your neck.

“We” got 7

One boys hunt was Saturday where he dropped a swamp rabbit just below the Southeast corner of the Tennessee River and Whitesburg Bridge on the South side of Huntsville, Al. I didn't get any pictures of that trip.
Today though a welder from work wanted to meet me and bring his boy rabbit hunting since we were off for Presidents Day. It was cold, as evident by the snow covered briars in the picture.

Having lived in the Italian Alps and other snowy climes, I have to say one of the more interesting sights is watching my fellow Alabamians try to drive in icy weather.

Went rabbit hunting this afternoon with Cuz, a nameless fellow that hunts with us some and two guys who had access to the Brown Road property.

"We" got 3 out of 8 races.

on Saturday to find the one rabbit that would push us into double digits, but I knew it was a lost cause unless one of us kicked a rabbit out of its bed because the Girls (and Sammie P) were walking in single file behind me.

The hunters on Saturday were Elder Sportsmen, Cuz and Rimfire, along with djmed, Plunker, MiddleBoy, Mark and the young bucks, Dustin, Tyler and Josh.

Nothing better than a tailgate lunch after a morning of beating briars

ain't dead yet

"We" got 9 at Rutherford today. A good hunt though we beat the bushes pretty hard trying to scare up the nonexistent rabbit that would have taken us into double digits.



Cuz 3 1/2
and in a stunning finish to tie
Plunker 3 1/2
Middle Boy 1
rimfire 1

Details later

Despite Cuz's talk yesterday, he called at 6:30 this morning and wanted to know what I thought. He had stuck his hand out and a drop of rain hit it. I told him it hadn't rained at all out here at Rabbit Run. The consensus was that we would wait an hour and see.
At 7:30 he called back wanting to cancel the hunt because it was to dark and was going to rain sometime today and it was so far to Rutherford and.......

Some days I think about selling the dogs and quitting hunting all together. I have no real weekday hunting partners. Rye has quit hunting, Cuz has only been two-three times this year. Brag works and has taken up (shudder) "golf". The weekends are packed with people
Property is next to impossible to find during deer season. If it wasn't for Plunker and Middle Boy, we wouldn't have hunted all year. Even during February, you're at the mercy of deer hunters who hold the lease and an increasing number of them don't want you to look at the property as you pass by much less hunt it.

I hope the mood passes

One of the good things about hunting in February is all you need are the lighter briar chaps instead of snake chaps since the snakes are safely denned up for winter