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| The Premier Snowshoe Hare Conservation Organization in PA. |
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| Conservation on the Allegheny. |
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| Hunting the Adirondacks. |
Direct from the pages of
RABBIT HUNTER magazine
VOLUME 34, NO. 10
In cooperation with the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny
and presented here for the reading pleasure of the members of the Loyal Order,
With the authority of the author:
CONSERVATION ON
THE ALLEGHENY
Written and
Photographed
by
Joe Ewing
High HareMan
of the
Big Woods Hare
Hunters of the Allegheny™
For
more than twenty years the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny has been the
premier snowshoe hare conservation group on the Allegheny. Our members live to
chase this magnificent lagomorph with beagles. We search for the elusive hare all winter long
across the Allegheny High Plateau of Western Pennsylvania. We pursue them with
beagles for the thrill of the chase. The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the
Allegheny are the only private group concerned for the future of snowshoe hare
in Pennsylvania.
It’s all about beagles
and it’s all about snowshoe hare. We search for the elusive hare and when we
find their lairs, the beagles test the hares and the hares test the beagles. We love the
ringing howls, yips, bawls and squalls of beagles hot on the tail of a hare.
Utah’s Mormon Tabernacle Choir cannot match the harmony of a pack of beagles. Chasing hare with
beagles and allowing the hare to run free is tantamount to catch and release.
Our members
could never grasp a world without the thrill of the chase. We must
conserve the few snowshoe hare we have left on the Allegheny. How do we
accomplish this goal?
Many
of our members are highly skilled at killing, but all are beaglers first and snowshoe
hare hunters second with years of knowledge and experience. Many of our members
are cottontail rabbit hunters and all know how to harvest when harvesting is
needed or kill when killing is necessary; however, our members have seen the
light on hare. Although “hunting” is in our name we do not hunt to kill
snowshoe hares on the Allegheny Plateau. Our elite members understand we can’t
kill every last hare or the beagles will have nothing to chase and our state
and our planet will be a lessor place to live. It’s about the ecosystem.
We
began the search to find hare as hunters so we call ourselves “hunters”. We
could’ve called ourselves the “Snowshoe Hare Society”, “Hare Federation”,
“Snowshoe Hares Unlimited” or even “The Snowshoe Hare Foundation”. We search
and we hunt for that supreme hare cover and when we are lucky enough to find
the elusive hare, we stand back and listen to the beautiful beagle music as it
rings and echoes across the Allegheny.
FACE MASKS
Way back in June of 2018 I penned an article for this
magazine listing the noble uses of the age-old and reliable handkerchief. I
never dreamed my old standby, my handkerchief, would become a lifesaving
item. I’m sure glad I had a COVID-19 face mask in my pocket all this time.
Little did I know. --HH
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For
more than two decades the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny have understood
the snowshoe hare must be protected on the Allegheny. We believe snowshoe hare
and cottontail rabbit habitats must be maintained and restored by enhancing the
ecosystem and protecting biological diversity. Study alone cannot protect the
snowshoe hare from extinction. We must act before this rare and magnificent
game animal is lost from the Allegheny forever. As we begin the 21st century, the
Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny and all sportsmen stand at the
crossroads. The crossroads of doing everything possible to protect the species or
witnessing the snowshoe hare’s total disappearance on the Allegheny.
How
did the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny start the journey of conservation
of the snowshoe hare? Many years ago, members agreed killing snowshoe hare was far
too simple. Snowshoe hare cover became increasingly scarce and hare harder to
find. Besides, we enjoyed the ultimate advantage of the most sophisticated
killing machines known to man, the relentless beagle hound.
The
use of Thompson® Contender® .410 handguns could not level the playing field.
The “one-hour-time-limit” was established to allow the beagles to sing their
music behind the hare for an hour before the hunters attempted a kill on the
hare. In front of a pack of beagles the rule made little difference. Watching
the hounds run hares for hours with invited hunters, shooting, missing and sooner
or later killing a hare, the “two-hour-time-limit” and the “one-miss-rule” were
initiated. Our development on the road to conservation of the magnificent
snowshoe hare on the Allegheny was begun. Today, we never take a bead on a
snowshoe hare on the Allegheny, but that doesn’t diminish our passion for
snowshoe hare hunting.
What are the Big Woods Hare Hunters
of the Allegheny conservation goals? Our objectives are: protect the snowshoe
hare species from extinction by maintaining and restoring habitats, enhance the
ecosystem by improving and developing hare and rabbit cover which interacts and
also improves the environment for all fauna and flora including humankind and strive
to protect from increased loss and improve the variety of native plants and
animals in our environment.
Are we “conservationists”?
We
buy a hunting license and we pay federal Pittman-Robertson excise tax on
sporting goods, but if this is all we do can we call ourselves conservationist?
If we throw empty beer cans out the truck window on our way home from hunting,
I know we do, are we protecting the environment? We see the “Adopt A Highway”
sign so we know someone else will pick up our empties or worse, we don’t care.
Are
we protecting wildlife when we take that one extra game animal over the limit? We
shoot an animal and end up throwing it over the bank at the parking lot. I know
this happens because my beagles find all things dead. We don’t know what to do
with it or have no use for wild game, so we waste it.
We
start hunting before the legal starting time and push the legal quitting time,
no one will know, there are no referees on the field calling penalties, but are
we being ethical? Can we call ourselves conservationists when we enter a hare,
rabbit, or grouse cover and shoot as many animals as we can kill with total
disregard for how many animals may be located in that cover? Are we even
sportsmen? How about our conscience? Is it our guide?
Am
I confused? Do I have conservation, sportsmanship and ethics mixed up? Do all three terms interconnect at some
point? When we witness our friends and hunting partners squandering natural
resources, disregarding ethics and sportsmanship and abusing the rights we’ve
worked so hard to earn and protect, do we take a stand? We know, as sportsmen
and women, we do not police our own ranks. It’s vitally important, we adopt self-regulation
and self-control to maintain the species we love to hunt.
Can the Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny truly
call ourselves conservationist? For far too long, like everyone, we’ve
advocated for the protection and preservation of the environment and wildlife.
We’ve supported, backed, promoted and sponsored other groups’ causes. We’ve let
other groups do our bidding. We’ve left others holding the bag. We’ve been
indecisive and we’ve procrastinated. We’ve blown smoke and hot air to the point
of nausea. We’ve talked enough. It’s time for action.
Time is growing short for snowshoe hare. Like the unnamed
man said, “let’s do something, even if it’s
wrong.” The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny are doing something.
We are taking action. We’ve taken up the cause. We are embroiled in combat. It
is time for battle.
We
pray we never lose our love for the great outdoors and the honorable sport of
beagling. We pray the heritage passed down from our forebears can be passed on
to our grandchildren. Our hope is our youth can find the joy we have enjoyed in
their endeavors in the great outdoors whatever their choices might be.
Or
email us @: bigwoodsharehunters@gmail.com
From
the quarantined headquarters of the
Big
Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny:
“PROJECT 2020”
Written and
photographed
by
Joe Ewing
High HareMan
Big Woods Hare
Hunters of the Allegheny
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| Sign post placing 2019. |
Forest
County, PA -- The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the
Allegheny take pride in announcing a new habitat project on the Allegheny. In
cooperation with Seneca Resources, a National Fuel Gas Company, the conservation
minded hare hunters are conducting a habitat reclamation project to improve
nesting and escape cover for eastern cottontail rabbits, ruffed grouse,
pheasants, song birds and all small animals on land owned by Seneca
Resources in Forest County, Pennsylvania. The project includes
hinge-cutting fire cherry, black birch, quaking aspen and other nondescript
trees, creating brush piles, mitigation of invasive species and planting native
trees and shrubs. The hare hunters wish to express our deepest appreciation to Seneca
Resources Company for their exceptional and continuing cooperation,
guidance and expertise in the successful launching of this project.
In the fall of 2019 after considerable
consideration, discussion and with a certain amount of trepidation the Big
Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny acknowledged it was time to quit delaying, procrastinating
and stalling and take action on conservation and biodiversity by creating
habitat for cottontail rabbits, ruffed grouse, woodcock, song birds and other
small animals.
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| The sign signifying the project before work began. |
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| Hinge cutting in the project. |
Our goals are to make great animal
habitat where habitat formerly existed and to improve the biodiversity of the
area. Our desire would be to have these animals propagate, thrive and move on
to become game animals. If no one hunted on this property it would be our wish,
but of course, it is not our land and we fully understand the landowner can do
as they wish.
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| The project area in 2012. |
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| The project area March 2020. |
Ruffed grouse are found in the proposed
project area which was a major consideration in choosing the site. A headline
in the Pennsylvania Outdoor News reads “Grouse are in big trouble
in Pa.” (Ironically, the grouse article appeared on the same page as the blurb
announcing our project). The article went on, “Ruffed grouse is in trouble in
Pennsylvania and other nearby states in its native range. The decline continues
to grow in Pennsylvania and biologists point to two main causes: widespread
loss of young forest habitat and deaths from the mosquito-borne West Nile
virus.”
The Pennsylvania Game Commission
estimates the state has lost 20-30% of its grouse population in the last four
years. The Ruffed Grouse Society thinks grouse may well be on their way to
endangered status nationwide unless there is a concentrated effort to protect
and expand their habitat.
Permethrin
Update
In the March 2020 issue of this
magazine I listed the virtues of using permethrin in my beagles. I
presented my theory of buying a larger size package and cutting the dose in
half, thus getting two doses for the same price as one. My contention being
if a dose was 1.5ml I could buy a package containing 3.0ml thus buying two
doses.
I’ve now found I can buy a package
containing 6.0ml for giant dogs which is 4 doses for the same price as 1
dose for my dog. This brings the price per dose down to around $.34 per
dose. Even if I spill some on the floor this is still very cheap. Just like
me. -H.H.
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Ruffed Grouse in the project area.
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Many words have been written by others
repeating the needs of the eastern cottontail rabbit and ruffed grouse. A word
used for both cottontail and hare is “fragmentation”. Words we read over and
over are; “young forest habitat”, “rejuvenating forests” and “successional
forests”. Whatever we call our forests they must meet the challenge of
providing food and cover for wildlife along with our “concentrated effort to
protect and expand their habitat”. We can break it all down to a few words;
food, escape and nesting cover.
Providing
habitat on private land, even posted land, makes perfect sense to the Big Woods
Hare Hunters of the Allegheny. More than 1400 species have been listed as
“threatened” or “endangered” since the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was written.
Threatened species are those at risk of becoming endangered in the near term
and endangered is species at risk for becoming extinct in the foreseeable
future.
“Roughly half of these species find 80 percent or more of their habitat
on private land. This reality along with the fact 60 percent of the land in the
United States is privately owned, makes private landowners critical partners in
the nation’s efforts to recover species on the brink of extinction.”—Catherine
E. Spencer, research fellow with the Property and Environment Research Center
(PERC) in American Hunter magazine, November 2019 issue.
In Pennsylvania 12 million acres of forest
land is under private ownership. In May of 2004, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC)
created a Private Landowner Assistance Program and hired a Regional Wildlife
Diversity Biologist to facilitate the program and aid interested landowners in
developing habitat management plans in each of the state's six geographic
regions. A team of PGC biologists assists private landowners in
making their property more attractive for wildlife, particularly species of
greatest conservation need. It does not matter if the land is open to hunting. Wherever we make habitat we must do
everything in our power to improve the ecosystem and the biodiversity of our forests.
I will keep readers of this magazine up
to date on “Project 2020” in future issues showing the progress. On more than
one day several volunteer members were hard at work cutting trees and making
brush piles. I will feature these members in a future article. It will be
interesting to see before and after pictures. The project area is greening up
and the song birds and rabbits love the food and cover.
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| Matt (R) and Mark (C) receive commemorative copy of The Rabbit Hunter magazine from the High HareMan. Both were featured on the cover for their snowshoe hare hunting prowess in the mountains of New York State. |
