This article is reprinted here for the reading pleasure of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny as authorized by the author.
This article appeared in the
June 2021 Volume 35 No.10
issue
of
THE RABBIT HUNTER
magazine
Conservation
of the snowshoe hare on the Allegheny
THE ALLEGHENY EXPERIENCE
writing
by
Joe Ewing
with photography by
Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny members,
Roy Towner
and
Joe Ewing
Photo by J. Ewing
Snowshoe hare country.
The
beagles launched from the tailgate and vanished into the wilds of the Allegheny.
The enthusiastic hounds were on a quest to find the elusive snowshoe hare. As I
strapped my Maine Guide Snowshoes® to my boots I believed I heard a bawl from one of the determined
beagles. It sounded like Music which energized my soul. I closed the lid on the
dog-box, stowed the diving board, secured my walking stick, locked the truck
doors and stood ready. Roy, Jaret and I were on the threshold of an enjoyable
and colossal day of snowshoe hare chasing on the Allegheny during what I’m fond
of calling, the “Extreme Season”.
The Extreme Season is not
a bona fide legitimate hunting season. Call it “training beagles on hare”. The
Extreme Season encompasses the winter months of January, February and March,
usually, after the six-day Pennsylvania snowshoe hare season. Six short days of
hare chasing is not enough when you enjoy the song of the hounds as I do. No
matter how wicked the winter weather it’s always a good day to chase hare.
Members of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny enjoy getting out into
the wild and connecting with nature. Connecting with the majestic snowshoe hare
or varying hare is icing on the cake. The cold, crisp winter silence broken
only by the sweet music of a pack of beagles hot on the chase is my favorite pastime.
Tally
Ho
Confessions of an Old Beagler by
John Jarzynski
Available @
AMAZON
I’m not a critic or a book reviewer. I am, like the author I’m about to tell you about, an old hare hunter and beagler. When I was in high school, if I’d ever dreamed I would be doing this voluntarily, I would’ve thought myself to be deranged.
I’ll read a book and often times I’ll think to
myself, I should write a review. More often the thought vanishes immediately
and the review never happens. Only once before (THE
RABBIT HUNTER November 2015) have I felt compelled to write a review. The
more I read that particular book, I’ve read it several times, the more I fell
in love with it. I felt forced by some unknown influence to tell you about it.
I’ve read Tally Ho, Confessions of an Old Beagler only
twice, I like it and I feel that same unknown influence to tell everyone about
it.
John Jarzynski, “Jarzy” to his friends, is a
family man first and a beagler. He asserts his life has been shaped by those,
“sagacious and happy dogs we call beagles.” John describes himself as a,
“renaissance man, traditionalist, hopeless romantic, wistful lover of bygone
days and a determined soul.”
John is a member of the Enchanted Mountain
Beagle Club located in Western New York, serves as Vice President of the
Northeast Beagle Gun Dog Federation and has judged over 200 AKC Licensed Beagle
Field Trials. His stories have been featured in several different beagle
magazines. John has dedicated his life to the betterment of the beagle breed as
a hunting and field trial dog. John Jarzynski is a genuine beagler whom I’ve
never had the pleasure of meeting, but I wish we had crossed paths.
Tally
Ho, a small book
big on content, is a collection of short stories. Stories compelling enough, I
say with chagrin, to make my eyes swell from my favorite memories. John relates
hunting with his 78-year-old father in Maine out of the Pine
Grove Lodge while being pampered by
Bob and Andrea Howe. He finishes by writing, “At one point, Dad pulled out his
red handkerchief, wiped his nose and said, ‘This is a trip of a lifetime for
me.’ It really was.”
John’s stories tugged at my heart strings and
I know every beagler, rabbit and hare hunter will more than enjoy his writings.
John related to me, “The sole purpose was to create something to hold onto the
stories I’ve written for my boys and their children. I am flattered that others
enjoy it.” When I finished Tally Ho
it left me wanting more which all good
things are likely to do. -HH
I touched the “start new hunt” button on the Garmin® Astro 100® and waited. Soon the previous day’s tracks were cleared and the dog tracking device was tracking. Checking the location of each of the three hounds, WAIT! Not a single signal from any one of the three. I had no recollection of turning the collars “on”. Apparently, I was too energized as there was no signal. No problem I immediately and erroneously believed. I’ll just call the beagles in and activate the collars. A whistle or two and Holly’s TT-15-mini® collar was actuated. It took more coaxing for Sid to come back but soon his TT-15® collar was activated and transmitting a strong signal. The more I called and whistled the more evident it became that Music was not coming back. She is headstrong to begin with, and I’ve been forced through laziness, I suppose, and trained Music to come when I tone her. Now I knew why I couldn’t make her come. I was now enjoying the angst us beaglers loved so much during the days before the advancement of GPS tracking collars.
Harsh winds blow off Lake Erie bringing blinding lake-effect snow squalls and extreme blizzards to the higher elevations of the Allegheny in the dead of winter. Daily lake-effect snows give the plateau seasonal snowfall averages of 54 inches (4.5 ft.), more precipitation than any other part of the state. Northern portions of the plateau, with its higher elevations, makes the Allegheny Plateau the coldest region in the state of Pennsylvania. Winter low temperatures are severe. Woods and forests are snow covered three-fourths of the time during the winter months and frequently into spring. The winter of 2020-2021 may set a record for persistent snow cover. Snow commenced falling before Christmas and as I write this the snow-pack only grows. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow in early February which means, according to legend, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. Snowshoe hares or varying hares with their white coats rely on snow cover for their camouflage. The longer the snow-pack lasts, the deeper it piles up, the better for the invincible snowshoe hare.
|
MARIENVILLE, PA Marienville, at one time anointed “the snowmobile capital of PA”, a sleepy little village, is the southern gateway to the Allegheny National Forest. The ANF incorporates hundreds of miles of trails for ATV, snowmobiles, hiking, and horseback riding. Each May and October, nearly 1,000 ATV enthusiasts come to Marienville for Tour-De-Forest, an organized pleasure ride. The annual winter festival features an inspiring snowmobile torchlight parade. Nature lovers flock to Buzzard Swamp for spectacular wildlife and bird watching, including bald eagle and osprey. The ANF is America’s leading camping destination. |
I’m fully aware there are many locales with winters many times worse than the Allegheny. I’ve hunted the famed Tug Hill Plateau, sometimes known as just the “Tug Hill”, and I’ve experienced how rapidly the snow can build up in that area. The Tug Hill is famous or infamous for its heavy winters snows sometimes topping an annual snow fall of 300-inches. The Tug Hill is east of Lake Ontario and west of the Adirondack Mountains. I’ve hunted the deep snows of the Adirondack Mountains with the beagles struggling to wade the white mire. I know how cold it gets in the Central Mountains of Maine with temperatures at -25 degrees or worse, a snow pack of 4-5 feet and a cutting wind chill of 40-50 degrees below zero.
In the dead of winter, the Allegheny is void of activity save for a solitary well-tender or logger on occasion. Snowmobile traffic intensifies commensurately with the amount of snow that falls. The winter of 2021 is such a winter. Marienville, PA at one time was touted as the “snowmobile capital of Pennsylvania”.
James Creek Beagles
Sidney Crosby’s motto, “always ready”.
I imagined Music hitting a Forest Service Road and trekking in the wrong direction for miles. I’ve owned several beagles who practiced this maneuver like a religion. I’ve chased beagles for thousands of miles during my beagling career. The Garmin® Astro® is a life saver for both man and his best friend. I eventually picked Roy up and we toured the block with no sign of Music.
The big woods of the Allegheny and the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) have taken on the feeling of an oil field first and a wilderness second in many areas. In addition to the Forest Service Roads, the oil and gas industry has cut hundreds, maybe thousands, of “lease roads” through the ANF making access effortless for the tender-footed hunter while at the same time fragmenting valuable hare cover and habitat. The Allegheny is home to thousands of active gas and oil wells with each and every one requiring an access road. Some wells produce scarcely a barrel of crude a week, while others yield several times that and they all have a road leading into them. Traffic varies from lease road to lease road but, fortunately, many of these roads are plowed regularly in winter.
Today, I’m appreciating the many snow-plowed lease roads as we make our driving tour in search of Music. Seeing no sign of Music, we drive up the main snow-and ice-covered forest road two miles and down the road two miles. As I turn back toward the original hunting area something made me stop the truck, roll the window down and listen. I could not believe my ears, the unmistakable voice of Music. She was tonguing only a few hundred yards from where we started. She’d been working this hare all the while we were looking for her. The thought never entered my mind it could be anything but a snowshoe hare. I dropped Roy off at the top of the hill, called Jaret, released Sid and the chase was on.
For the next three hours Music and Sid hounded the hare circle after circle. Roy and Jaret enjoyed several sightings. I caught just one fleeting glimpse as the hare circled around behind me. This hare was too sneaky-smart for me.
Photo by Roy Towner
I recently received a g-mail
asking, “Is it a big jump to go from hunting cottontail to snowshoe
hare and is there anything I should know before I try”?
Without trying to be too negative while at the same time being honest, it is a big jump, no pun, to go from hunting cottontail rabbits to snowshoe hare. There are many factors you should know. Hares in Pennsylvania are difficult to locate. You and your hound may spend hours hunting the big woods without so much as a whimper. But don’t give up, the rewards are worth every minute. If you are fortunate or lucky enough to find a snowshoe hare, then know they often run big. When you do find a good cover keep it a closely guarded secret.
Snowshoe hare are infamous for the tricks they play in an attempt to confuse the hounds. The hare’s large fur covered 5 1/2-inch back feet allow them to run at speeds of 30 or more miles per hour and turn 180 degrees at full speed in deep snow. They regularly lay new tracks over old, repeating this antic time and time again. A snowshoe hare can jump 15 feet or more in a single bound, leaving a great expanse of scentless snow to greet the beagle’s keen nose. They inevitably hop out of the track, hunker down, and giggle as the beagles race past at full cry.
Little Toby Creek Muzette Mountain Music poised for takeoff.
If your beagle is not “broke” or you endure other bad habits,
you’re in trouble right off the tailgate. If your beagle is out of shape,
over-fed, can’t push its way through deep snow and run for miles then you’re in
trouble. Hours of training and practice on hare can possibly make an average
beagle on cottontail an average beagle on hare. Remember, there can never be too
much training. There is a lot for a beagle to learn about snowshoe hare so a
beagle with a few brains is a plus but only through practice will it be taught.
UPDATE ON FELLOW BEAGLER:
Mary Hosmer
Last month (May 2021 issue) I reported Mary suffered 3rd degree
burns, lost her home and her beagles. She spent several months in a Pittsburgh,
PA hospital on a ventilator and undergoing painful skin grafts.
I’m pleased to now report after
all these months Mary is back living in St. Marys, PA, undergoing rehab and
planning on rebuilding her home.
I understand Mary is “back on
line” but not on Facebook as yet. I’m planning on reaching out to her soon and
will relay to the beagling community any news worth printing.
The beagling and hunting
community has been very supportive and will continue to support her in any way
possible.
Mary is a very lovely person
and loved by all who are fortunate to know her. -HH
Changing snow conditions play a big role when it comes to scenting. I’ve owned beagles that could find a scent in any and all snow conditions and I’ve owned other beagles that just gave up after a while. The latter were not hare-dawgs. Your beagle must be able to find its way back from hundreds of yards out to sometimes over a mile. I’ve had beaglers tell me they picked their dogs up when they ran out of hearing. My advice in this situation is be patient. This is when a GPS dog tracking device comes in handy. If your beagle is the family pet and your wife and kids are going to kill you when you come home without the dog, I would advise you save yourself a load of anxiety and reconsider.
During the three months of the 2021 Extreme Season while keeping hunter stupidity to a minimum, the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny chased many snowshoe hares, many were not run very well and some not at all. There were many outstanding chases, some not so good and days we were completely skunked. In the minds of the Big Woods Hare Hunters every outing is a grand adventure to be cherished and honored. Such is the Allegheny experience.
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