Games Rabbits Play
The Gallberry Thicket Rabbit
Editor’s Note: February is a productive month for rabbit hunting, and much of the country allows small-game hunting then. There are some rabbits that will run a full circle when the beagle dogs get after them and come right into shotgun range – running out into a clearing or go 15 to 20 yards and stop – presenting an easy, simple shot. But, another type of rabbit seems to have supernatural powers to confuse, frustrate, and aggravate even the best of hunters.
My professor and I had a program that was working out perfectly – hunting rabbits before our classes at the university - until our paths crossed with the Gallberry Thicket Rabbit. Early one morning, the dogs jumped a rabbit right on the edge of a big thicket. The beagles took the rabbit on a good run and began to bring him back through the thicket. Waiting on the edge of thethicket from which the rabbit had jumped, I was certain I could take it. But the cottontail never appeared, and the dogs took the Gallberry Thicket Rabbit on another circle. By now, my watch was reporting 7:30 am,which meant we only had 15 minutes to kill a rabbit, catch the dogs and leave to go to class. However, the dogs were on the farthest point of the circle the rabbit was running. My professor and I knew that we would have to make a decision. We either would have to chase the dogs down and pull them off the rabbit, so we could load them up and get back to school in time to make our class, or we would have to plan to be late for class.
Not wanting to lead a student who badly needed to be in class astray, the professor said, “John, let’s see if we can catch those dogs. We’ll get that rabbit on Friday morning.” I agreed. We chased the dogs, caught them and loaded-up in the car. Just as I slid into my class seat, the bell rang for the 8 am meeting. When Friday morning rolled around, we decided we would start hunting the Gallberry Thicket Rabbit. “We need to go ahead and put that rabbit out of his misery, so we won’t have to fool with him any more,” the professor commented. I seconded his idea.
Tomorrow: More on Hunting the Gallberry Thicket Rabbit |