The following article is being presented for the reading pleasure of the members of the

Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny.

The following article was featured in the premier rabbit and hare hunting magazine

THE RABBIT HUNTER

JANUARY 2022 VOLUME 36 NO. 5

Andy Hoover graces the cover.

Photo by J. Ewing

From the World Headquarters of the

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NEW YORK HOUNDSMEN ASSOCIATION

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Photo courtesy J. Ewing Jr.

The fabled mountains of Central Maine.

ICONIC MAINE HARE HUNT

Five members of the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny venture to the center of the snowshoe hare hunting universe for five glorious days of high adventure snowshoe hare hunting.

Hunting and Writing

Joe Ewing

Photography By

J.R. Ewing Jr.

Brayden Murray

Joe Ewing

Photo by J. Ewing Jr.

Wyman Lake on the historic Kennebec River near Moscow and Bingham, Maine.

It’s late October. I’m standing on a rocky mountaintop in the historic mountains high above the Kennebec River. The sun is radiating its warmth, the breeze is slight, the once beautiful fall foliage which earlier graced these mountains is losing its magnificent fall colors, the temperature is optimum and it’s a glorious day for snowshoe hare hunting. The beagles are wailing at the top of their lungs hot on the scent of an especially evasive Maine snowshoe hare. I’ve stood on these scenic mountains tops hundreds of times and something in the air exhilarates my senses. With every breath, the fresh clean Maine air cleanses and invigorates my soul. There is nothing better in this world, or in next, for all I know.

Hunting is not a matter of life or death; IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT!

Author Unknown

I’ve been visiting this historic and fabled landscape every autumn for the past twenty years. Historic because the Kennebec River is remembered as the route Benedict Arnold took on his expedition to Quebec during the revolution. Arnold left Cambridge in September 1775 with 1,100 men. Arnold arrived in Quebec City in November after a difficult passage through these very same mountains. Three hundred of Arnold’s men turned back and another 200 died en route. Fabled because Indigenous Americans trekked these mountains for thousands of years before the land was called America.

Twenty years ago, Andy assigned me with the seemingly impossible mission of finding a hare hunting lodge we would want to visit year after year. Find it I did. For 20-years we’ve hunted snowshoe hare out of the Pine Grove Lodge owned by Bob and Andrea Howe. Andy and I, along with many friends and relatives, have visited Maine in both fall and winter. I’m happy to say I’ve visited Maine at least 35 times, possibly 40 times, in the past 20-years.

My dream of one day having my son and grandsons accompany me and my beagles to the Mecca of snowshoe hare hunting and the Pine Grove Lodge to hunt snowshoe hare finally came true. In the final week of October my son and my daughter’s two sons made the lengthy trek to assist me and my beagles hunt the elusive snowshoe hare. My son, Joe, my grandsons, Will and Brayden, along with my long-time hunting buddy, Andy and I ventured the 800-mile journey to the best snowshoe hare hunting the lower 48 states have to offer. No scenario could have worked out better. A glorious week it turned out to be.

It’s always with dreadful anxiety whenever I invite someone to go snowshoe hare hunting as a successful hare hunt is simply a difficult promise to fulfill. Whenever you take someone along for the first time especially, the weather goes bad, the hares get obstinate, the beagles go on strike or something else goes incredibly wrong. Taking the giant leap of inviting “my boys” to travel all the way to Maine caused me many sleepless nights. As it worked out, I had nothing to worry about as everyone enjoyed a great time. The young men want to return next year.

Photo courtesy J. Ewing Jr.

Sunrise at the Pine Grove Lodge on a frosty October morning.

The Pine Grove Lodge is a superb hunting lodge located in picturesque Pleasant Ridge high above the sleepy little town of Bingham. Pleasant Ridge Plantation is an incorporated municipality encompassing nearly 24-square miles in Somerset County, Maine. The population was 90 in 2019. Pleasant Ridge Plantation has a long and storied history centered around its timber and hunting. Some of the largest whitetail deer ever killed in Maine were taken in this area. The “Hinckley Buck” taken by Horace Hinckley from Augusta was killed on Fletcher Mountain, which overlooks the Pine Grove Lodge, in November of 1955. With one shot Hinckley’s buck was to become a Maine state record that remains a record to this day. Hinckley’s buck field-dressed at 355 pounds with a live weight estimated at 488 pounds.

The Pine Grove Lodge offers a family-style atmosphere and the Howe’s home is our home during our many stays. They’ve always made us feel welcomed and constantly and consistently comfortable. Our beagles are spoiled with heated quarters in an indoor kennel, which, by the way, includes maid service. I won’t use the words “world-class” but the comforts and food are of the highest caliber. I have many beautiful memories of hunting out of the PGL. I could write a book on how outstanding the Pine Grove Lodge is and how magnificently Bob and Andrea have catered to our every need for over 20 years. Watch for the paperback edition coming out soon.

The beagles consisted of Andy’s Teagan, (Little Toby Creek Kennel), Emma and Sadie, (James Creek Beagles) along with my five consisting of Sid and Nasty (James Creek Beagles), Music, and Hollie (Little Toby Creek), and Dessie (Tar-Klin Hill Kennel). Teagan and Hollie have been genuinely great hare hounds and are legends in their own time covering thousands of miles behind the hare. Emma, Sid, and Music are young and getting better each and every chase. Sadie, Dessie, and Nasty are puppies and time will be their judge. The hounds did a great job on Maine snowshoe hare.

With 10 million acres of woods, Maine is the place to hunt snowshoe hare. It matters not where you release the hounds. If the cover looks reasonably good there probably will be a hare. We exhausted no time hunting for hare as the hounds started a hare with minimal time wasted. It helps to get reliable advice on good hare covers from an expert Maine Guide like Bob Howe.

Maine certainly has to be considered the center for North American hunting. Not because of the number of game animals but because of the number of hunters hunting in the state. Although not in the top-ten states, in 2020, 130,781 licenses were sold in Maine despite a mandatory 14-day quarantine on visitors. The sale of nonresident hunting licenses grew by 3.4 percent in 2020, from 26,520 to 27,416 with Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey contributing approximately 20% of the non-resident hunters. The hundreds of commercial hunting camps and lodges, many are historic, with too many hunting guides to count make Maine a great destination. These camps and lodges provide accommodations and guide services to the thousands of hunters who venture into the Great North Woods for moose, woodcock, and everything in between, however, the adventure of white rabbit hunting is provided by very few experienced guides and outfitting businesses. Hunters from across the United States and around the world congregate in the state of Maine every fall.

On the first day of our iconic snowshoe hare hunt, it rained. With Emma, Music, and Psycho Sid on the ground, we enjoyed one long chase in the morning and another long chase in the P.M. with no shots being fired. Hunting at the Bingham Wind Farm on the second day with Hollie, Dessie, Nasty, Teagan, and Sadie, son Joe scored the first kill of the hunt. The day went exactly like the first day with only two chases. We didn’t need to find many more hares as these hares wanted to run. At least there was no rain. On occasion, a side chase would develop.

On the third day, hunting in the mountains high above the Appalachian Trail, Will bagged a hare. As it turned out we enjoyed a lot of chasing and a large measure of shooting and missing with only Will succeeding. On the fourth day, it was the same scenario of one long chase in the morning and eventually killing a hare after another long chase in the afternoon.

The week went by fast, way too fast. On the last day of our iconic hunt the hounds, Music, Hollie, Nasty, Sid, and Emma started a hare which made two short circles in the thick cover and then lit out for the home territory. This hare’s home territory was over a mile away. Andy trekked the mile through swamp and beaver flowage following the hounds when the hare showed no sign of returning. The rest of the party took the easy way, loading in the truck and driving around.

I’ve been chasing the elusive snowshoe hare and the rascally cottontail rabbit with beagles for more than fifty years. We could swap rabbit stories for eternity and never run dry. Optimistically, I’ll meet some beaglers in the great training grounds up above someday and we can do just that. The beagles have provided me with great joy over these many years. These loving little dogs called beagles have done more for me than I’ve ever done for them. I’ve loved every one of those little rascals and they’ve provided me with a wealth of beautiful memories.

My time in the snowshoe hare woods is quickly coming to an end and the time has arrived to pass the mantle to future generations. Knowing I have a son and four grandsons who will continue the age-old tradition of hunting fills my heart with joy. And so it was, on October 24, 2021, five hunters and eight hounds entered the Central Mountains of Maine and for five glorious days, the mountains of Central Maine rang with beautiful beagle harmonies and love.