1/17/2010 - St. Albans, VT

Date of hunt: 1/17/2010
Location: Corey Cushing's
Weather: Sunny
Temperature: 38 °F (Start) 38°F (End)
Companions: Alone
Dogs of mine: Belvidere Bailey & Flanders Remi
# of Rabbits Ran: 2
# of Rabbits Shot: 0

What is 38 degrees supposed to be like for running conditions? I thought pretty good, but apparently one of two things was not right. Either the running conditions or my dogs. I'm leaning towards my dogs. The dogs couldn't run a rabbit for the life of them. It took about an hour to get the first start. Bailey got the jump but never saw it. The rabbit busted out of the thicket that Bailey was in and I watched it run straight up the hill and out of sight, about 80 yards. You would think that a straight line would be ideal for the dogs. Bailey doesn't know how to run a straight line! She would run about 10 yards straight and then turn left off the scent and then realize that she was off it and go back looking for it. Remi would pick up the scent and run with for a short time before Bailey came busting in from behind because she just has to be in front. But she can't handle the front! The lead dog plows through the snow enough to wipe out the scent for the dog in the back. It was one dog running and Bailey always had to be the one dog, and she can't hanlde it. Together they ran it about 100 yards before loosing it. After a long check I saw the rabbit come back to towards me and it held tight in a thicket just in front of me. I called in the dogs and Bailey was the first one to respond. She got the jump again. The rabbit busted out of the thicket straight up the hill again. Again, Bailey zig zagged it right out of sight, about 40 yards, and then Remi joined in. They ran it together for a couple hundred yards before loosing it all together. The running conditions weren't optimal for the dogs as the punched thru the crust and sunk in about 4 inches every step, but come on! Run a rabbit! AGH!
I made my way across the clearing with hope of kicking up another rabbit on the other side. After searching for about a half hour Remi got the jump and a short sight chase. The rabbit quickly pulled away from Remi as she sunk in too much when she was trying to run. They didn't run the rabbit 40 yards before loosing it and then played a long game of short runs and check for another 45 minutes. I finally called off the dogs and headed home. Quite disappointed.

1/10/2010 - Lowell, VT

Date of hunt: 1/10/2010
Location: Doug Duffy's
Weather: Sunny
Temperature: 1 °F (Start) 9 °F (End)
Companions: Logan Abell
Dogs of mine: Bailey & Remi
# of Rabbits Ran: 0
# of Rabbits Shot: 0

Logan and I left Milton by 8am and got to Lowell at around 9. There was a lot of powder and I figured the hunting would be hard. We geared up the dogs with their collars and us with our snowshoes. We parked inside the gate to the Buckley's camp. Wayne, the care taker of the camp, let us inside the gate after he plowed. We were to put the cable up, but leave the lock unlocked for the fuel truck. As we went down the old logging road we were sinking in about 12 inches each step and the dogs were sinking about 8. There were a lot of hare tracks crossing the road and Bailey got the first start. Together they worked the feeder trail about a hundred yards before loosing it. The dogs were struggling to keep on the track as they could barely keep their head above the snow. All morning long they were barking on feeder trails, but never got anything moving. There were feeder tracks everywhere! I wish the conditions were better. Our feet were starting to get cold around 11 and we decided to head up towards the truck. I gathered up the dogs and headed for home. Maybe next time.