The following article appeared in the March 2021 issue of
THE RABBIT HUNTER
magazine
VOLUME 35 NO. 7
The article is presented here in living color with authority of the author for the reading pleasure of the members of the
Loyal Order
of the
Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny
From the World Headquarters of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny
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Conservation of the elusive Snowshoe hare on the Allegheny. |
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Searching the mountains of New York State. |
Adirondack Adventure Part 2
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| Mark with first hare of the Adirondack Mountain hare hunt. |
“Not now, wait, let the dogs run, “came the cry from my good friend Matt to his dad, Mark. Today, was our first day in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. It was the end of November, Thanksgiving week, and we were hunting hare.
The beagles were coming and they were closing quickly. We were barely out of the dog-trucks when the beagles started their familiar singing. The snowshoe hare, aka varying hare, must have been waiting like it knew we were coming. The scenting conditions were perfect too. The hounds were deadly serious. The hounds had taken the hare out barely 200 yards when the hare turned back toward the picket line of 6 hunters.
The
Bakers and friends have been on a quest for snowshoe hare in New York for
years. The way Mark tells it, years ago, he and his family were camping near
Old Forge when one evening a snowshoe hare came to visit, casually hopping
through their campsite. To Mark, his sons and friends, being serious
Pennsylvania snowshoe hare hunters and beaglers, it made excellent sense to
turn a family vacation into a snowshoe hare hunting adventure. So, here we
were, hunting the famous mountains of the Adirondacks thanks to serious hunting
determination and a chance encounter.
The
elusive snowshoe hare made another circle through the thick spruce and fir
undergrowth. On one of the numerous circles the hare came within 50 feet of
some pretty skilled hare hunters without a hair of the hare being spotted. In
Mark’s words, “we must not be experienced enough to see the hare go by.”
Somewhere along the line my Music hound split off on a side chase of her own. We now had two chases going simultaneously. Nearing the “one-hour-time-limit” a shot rang out. Mark had downed the first hare of the hunt with his first ever shotgun, a Stevens single shot 16 gauge. The hare made the unwise choice of running the same track more than once and Mark was ready and waiting. Music had rejoined the pack and was present when Mark downed the grand snowshoe hare.
The beagles didn’t delay in getting to Music’s chase. It was eerie how quickly Music and the pack were on the scent of Music’s hare. It was like Music remembered where she left off and took the pack back to her run. They ran the hare for a long while before it outsmarted them. It either holed or they just plain lost it on the dog-scent
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Backing Up My Claim. I often tout how good I think the hare
hunting is in the central mountains of Maine. A blurb in the magazine GAME &
FISH EAST by a Matt Crawford caught my attention and is backing me up. The piece was contained in the article
title “A ROUNDUP OF THE TOP HUNTING AND FISHING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE
REGION (east) THIS MONTH” Crawford says, “But snowshoe hare hunting in northern
Maine, well, that might be as good as it gets anywhere in hare range. In north-central Maine, in either The Forks or the Moosehead regions, you’ll find the woods absolutely full of snowshoe hares. There are guide services available in these areas, as well as cabin rentals. If you have a beagle or two and a good pair of snowshoes, you can undertake a DIY hare hunt, though a guided trip is affordable and likely to be much more productive.” It’s not too late to plan for 2022.-HH |
infested ground. Snowshoe hares will run in front of a hound for hours and normally will not hole up. It seems the hares are making a game of it all. The white ghosts are some of the most skilled escape and evasion artists in the woods. The hounds and hare had run over the same ground so many times there was no wonder in why they lost the hare.
The two-way radio sprang to life as another chase was quickly underway, “the hare just ran under Matt’s front bumper,” came Mark’s gravelly voice. The hare had taken the pack of beagles through the parking lot. If there ever was a great place to lose a scent it had to be the parking lot. The area undoubtedly was contaminated with all kinds of scent covering aromas from humans, to dogs and trucks, ham and cheese sandwiches with mustard not to mention deer bologna with leek. Despite all the pollution of the parking lot a shot rang out after the third or fourth circle.
Nick
downed a trophy snowshoe hare of his own. Later that evening Nick was on the
phone crafting strategies and talking with taxidermists about having his trophy
mounted. I must commend the young man for showing reverence and homage to the
magnificent and omnipotent white ghost of the mountains. An Adirondack Mountain
snowshoe hare mount will be a perfect addition in a place of honor in his home.
I look forward to seeing his snowshoe hare and personally thanking its
Creator.
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| Nick with trophy white ghost of the mountain and his beagle Bo or is it Beau? |
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| Nick (L) and Mark compare pandemic snowshoe hare. |
Spontaneously,
we all met in the parking lot presumably so Mark and Nick could compare
trophies. Incidentally, it was time to move. We had taken our self-imposed limit
from the area. The group was moved to move and to leave some for seed.
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My
favorite writer, Robert Raurk, spoke to this very subject in many of his
books and articles, "...a sportsman, is a gentleman
first. But a sportsman, basically, is a man who kills what he needs,
whether it's fish or bird or animal, or what he wants for a special reason,
but he never kills anything just to kill it. And he tries to preserve the
very same thing that he kills a little of from time to time. The books call
this conservation. It's the same reason why we don't shoot that tame covey
of quail down to less'n ten birds."
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Roy and I shot trophy snowshoe hares which I reported on last month. On the final day of the hunt Mark shot a second hare which he meticulously skinned out. His other son is making elk gloves lined with snowshoe hare pelt. Gloves from an elk you downed yourself lined with hare fur your father shot can only be termed a trophy and a remembrance fit for a king.
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Roy holds the hare while Mark carefully skins the hare. “LT” looks on. That sure is a big shotgun
“LT” was carrying a Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge. |
This last snowshoe hare of the hunt was a smart little bugger but, unfortunately for the hare, it ended up as glove liners and of course we paid tribute to the animal by eating its flesh that very night. The beagles jumped the hare in some of the thickest and nastiest cover in the area. The hare tried his best to lose the beagles in the thick cover. The hare kept moving and running further down the valley. On more than one occasion the beagles lost the hare for long stretches of time. I could see on the Alfa® the dogs were on the travelled road so I moved up. I caught the dirty little bugger crisscrossing the road. Rather than running straight across the roadway the smart little devil would run down the road 50 or a hundred yards and then dive into the cover. The hare would make a short circle and go back across the road. The hare completed this scenario several times. I decided to put an end to this nonsense. I helped the beagles by directing them to the spot where the hare went into the bush. My maneuver sped up the chase and helped Mark secure the glove liners.
I’ve been bombarded with questions on planning a hunting trip similar to the Baker’s Adirondack Adventure. It’s never too late to start planning. The wives and significant others did all the preparation, organization and plotting. “Private Messaging” on Facebook® burned up the internet for weeks. The women folk planned and prepared all the meals and appropriated all the food which was as delicious as it was endless.
The snowshoe hare season in New York State covers October 1st through approximately March 21st of each year in the management unit where we were hunting. The daily bag limit is 6 in that area with hunting hours from sunrise to sunset. A non-resident hunting license is $100.00 which includes antlered whitetail deer. A beagle or two would be a big help too. During the dead of winter, a N.Y. state-licensed hunting guide is almost certainly necessary. Most will supply the hounds if needed. New York State licensed hunting guides are available in the Adirondacks. Winters in this part of the east are brutal with deep snows making quality snowshoes a must. Stay away from aluminum shoes.
The
Old Forge area is listed as one of the best places to vacation in the east. Motel
rooms to rental houses are readily available in the Adirondacks and in Old
Forge. Web sites can be found with long lists of available accommodations.
Properties listing accommodations for from two to 18 people can be found. At
airb&b.com rental homes and vacation lodging can easily be toured and booked
to fit any pocketbook. Lodging can be found in any town in New York from large
towns to small villages. You will find some of the best dining and
accommodations along the way also. To learn more about the area you can visit
the websites at https//www.oldforgeny.com or https//www.inletny.com. And visit the Old Forge
& Inlet Information Centers when you arrive. Bring your whole family for a
snowshoe hare hunting adventure of a lifetime. Take the family on a summer
vacation and scout the area for guides and lodging. You can’t go wrong.
Next month in THE RABBIT HUNTER I will be critiquing and reviewing the Pennsylvania snowshoe hare season with whoppers and yarns from the “extreme season” on the Allegheny.
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