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Finally, Brandon

          You know there are some really good ones that have finally developed into good hunters after giving them enough time to figure it out. Such was the case with Brandon. It's not that he didn't hunt, he does fine on cottontails, he just didn't seem to get it together for snowshoe hares. I've hauled Brandon up north hare hunting for three years and just couldn't get him onto a bunny. I couldn't lose him, he never left my side and when the hare would get close I'd get his attention in hopes that he might spot it. So now you're thinking that I've lost my mind spending three years trying to teach Brandon about snowshoes hares. Well you see Brandon is not a beagle but a hunting friend from work, and try as I did he just could not get his eyes on a hare. Sometimes the hare would be 20 yards away moving and I would try to point it out to him but he just couldn't see it through the balsam furs.
          The day it happened, we were on the edge of a cedar swamp just starting our hunt when all of my dogs started acting birdie. I bet they didn't go 30 yards before jumping the hare right in front of us. It was a loud roar as Demon, Freedom, Rage, and Stormy tore off into the cedar swamp after the hare. The hare made a real quick circle and as it came into view, I tried to calm Brandon down and get him ready for a shot. The hare hopped to within ten feet of me on my left side while Brandon was kneeling on my right side and unable to take a shot. It was as if I was watching it all in slow motion, the hare sitting spitting distance away having a stair down with me, all the while my dogs are burning up his backside and Brandon franticly scanning to see the hare. What excitement! When the hare finally made his move the dogs were so close that a shot was not taken. The hare ran so close to us it almost went over our boot laces. About 50 yards past us came the first check of the race, it didn't last five seconds but Freedom my oldest pack hound got left behind he just couldn't keep up with Demon, Rage and Stormy. It makes me so sad to see a hound that's given me seven years of hard running lose his fast speed and become disruptive to the other hounds. Anyway Freedom got left behind and started his own hare.
          When the young dogs had a hard check they came back to Freedom and his big booming voice and joined him. It was really thick balsam fur with cedar trees mixed. The hare and hounds made six loops in that thick stuff and it didn't look like they were going to leave that spot anytime soon, so I told Brandon I was going into the middle of the action because where we were standing I could see a few taller trees about 60 yards in and if I could make it through the thick nasty balsam there might be an inside edge that the hare keeps running by. Sure enough, we made it to a clearing with an opening of about 20 yards and it wasn't long before Mr. snowshoe hare showed himself. I said to Brandon here he is slowly pointing in the direction of the scampering hare. I could see Brandon's shotgun barrel in my side vision and boom! I got it! He said, and just that quick the hounds came on the line not ten seconds behind the hare. Brandon was excited to say the least seeing his first hare dead. He gave me a high-five and the grin on his face said it all. The hounds went right back out and started another hare within minutes and Brandon got to shoot his second snowshoe hare of the day. I wanted to check out a couple more spots so we pulled the hounds out of the swamp and headed on. The spots we checked didn't have much sign and not any in some places. The hares must be on there low cycle, that is one reason it took Brandon three years to kill a hare. The places where I hunt doesn't seem to have a good hare population so I didn't allow anyone to shoot the hare. I just run the dogs and check out the swamp and move on to another spot in hopes for a huntable population.
          I'm looking forward to hare hunting this year and I know Brandon can't wait to go either, because he just got his first beagle pup from me and I keep telling him " it's a whole lot more fun hunting when you have your own dog along running hares". I better teach it to hunt for Brandon other wise it might take three years! Ha, Ha!

Keep'em safe and keep'em running,
“Snowman”
Rick Snow