Location: Lowell
Weather Clear
Temperature 22 °F (Start) 43 °F (End)
Dogs: Bailey & Remi
Running Partner: Logan
# of Rabbits Ran: 2
# of Rabbits Shot:1
We did it! We officially have shot the first rabbit in front of the dogs as a pair! No other dogs to help, just mine. What a day. Picked up Logan at 5:30 again. Headed towards Lowell Mountain. Its opening weekend of moose hunting, either sex tags first. Parked in the same log landing as last time, there was already a truck there. In the past I would have got discouraged, and found another place, or headed home. I decided to tough it out. We can share the woods, and the moose hunters can't feel like they own the woods. I've seen that mentality before up near camp. Walked in down low the same way as last week. Bailey started getting excited and ran right down the moose trail. She started to open up as she ran down the trail and I knew it was either a moose or deer. I shocked her (level 5, high) and she stopped and came back to me. Hopefully I can get her broke of other game here soon. We worked our way down to where Bailey ran the rabbit last week. She got a start off from the moose trail on the way down and worked it slowly, sparsely barking as she went. She made her way back up towards the log landing. We went back up to find her, she lost it. Found her and worked both dogs back down into the lower clear cut. Worked the thick "island" in the center, nothing. Went down deeper and found some really nice cover. This whole area is nice running ground. I took the dogs over to a really thick patch of woods and Bailey started to bark. She didn't know it yet, but she kicked up the rabbit and it came right at Logan and me. It stopped about 10 feet from me, and I worked to get Logan over to see it. He finally got the right angle and could see it. I called in the dogs, ("wheeee, wheeee"). Remi was there instantly and the rabbit took off. They ran it together straight up to the log landing, again. They lost it up near the top on the turn, up near the truck. Logan and I walked back up toward the landing and Bailey was deep inside the bigger brush pile of the two. She was barking, but didn't kick anything out. I'm guessing the rabbit went in there, but it seems like odd behavior for a hare, cottontail maybe, but not a hare. We kept moving. Got onto the main ATV trail and headed down in deeper. New territory for me. We flushed up 8 partridge in one group of trees, none of them flew out in front of us. No shot. Found a nice open power line. Started out across it and saw some moose hunters coming up through. They stopped and talked for a bit. 5 moose were shot off from the power lines on Saturday. Found a gut pile with Bailey eating some of it. Shocked her for it, will have to de-worm her for tapes. The whole lower edge of the power lines has some really good cover. Bailey opened a few times but never got anything started. We kept working the edge, and kept finding some good cover. Found an area with really good cover. I told Logan that this is Rabbit Heaven. He asked why, and I started to explain what type of cover rabbits like. Remi started to bark hard and a rabbit ran out of the balsams and out along a blow down. Remi ran it hard. Bailey was a ways out and came in on a dead run barking as she went. She caught up to Remi and together they ran it through a really tight turn and headed back towards us, only to far out to see. They ran it a ways down the edge of the power lines and it made another tight turn back towards us. Long check, about 7-8 minutes. Logan and I made our way up to the edge of the power lines and I found a stump that was cut off about 3 feet off the ground. I stood on it to get an overlook. Two four wheelers came down the power line and drove by us. The first guy didn't see us, but the second did. They stopped and shut their rigs off about 70 yards from us. Wasn't sure what they were doing. Meanwhile the dogs were still quiet and then Remi started barking again. Hot. The two of them were humping the rabbit as they brought it back to me. The rabbit ran right by the guys that were stopped, and continued up the edge of the power line towards me. I got a shot off, missed. Threw another shell into Dad's single shot 20 gauge (break action Savage Model 220B) and got a second shot off. Missed. I jumped off the log and Logan was excited. I told him where we needed to go and I saw it again as we got down in there. I shot again. Hit, but I didn't know it yet, it kept running. The rabbit came right in front of us and stopped, right under the blow down that it ran up when Remi first jumped it. It was only 15 yards out, sitting, and I couldn't get a shot because Logan was standing right in front of me, trying to get a shot too. Except he couldn't exactly see it. The rabbit ran back into where Remi jumped it, I never saw it to get another shot. Called Remi and Bailey in again ("wheee, wheee"). They picked up the scent on the way in and ran it by us and into the brush. Then the squealing ended just as it began. Remi had caught it. I quickly got over to them, could see them but couldn't get to them. They were inside some deep blow down branches. Remi was just laying in there chomping away at the rabbit. Bailey was curious, but not after it like Remi. I had to really work to get in and get the rabbit. The brush was really thick and Remi kept pulling it further from me. I got it out, and Remi was just about jumping up to my shoulder trying to get it. We took some pictures and decided to make our way back to the truck. Quickly talked to the guys on the four wheelers, they were taking down a double seater ladder stand. They shot a cow Saturday morning and were picking up. They commented how the dogs were really pumping as the rabbit ran through. We headed back to the truck, Logan was excited. Bailey started a couple of times on the way out and decided to put them on the lead. Took a couple of pictures up at the truck and headed home, 11:15.
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