Outdoors - Rabbit hunting offers challenges and camaraderie

Along a stretch of country road near Wallace, a pack of pickups pulled off the pavement at a posted sign. Hunters dressed in brier-proof overalls and orange hats got out and loaded their shotguns with small shot.

Dropping the tailgate, Arthur Bradshire of Hillsboro and James and Charles Pettiford of Rougemont (just north of Durham) freed their pack of 17 beagles into the landscape. They were soon busting the bushes, voicing joy at finding hot rabbit scent in a cutover.

“We like coming down here because there are more rabbits than back home,” James said. “There are also fewer rabbit hunters.”

“We call ourselves the Po' Boys hunting club,” Charles said. “We don't hunt deer, just rabbits. Rabbit hunting is free for the asking, once deer season ends.”

The leaseholder was Tony Webb of Wilmington. He and one of his fellow deer hunters, Chris House of Wilmington, found the Po' Boys through Tim Holloway, who works with Chris but formerly lived in Burlington.

Rabbit hunting is a social sport, because a big group necessary for success. Hunters surround a block of rabbity-looking habitat, hoping the dogs will force a rabbit into the open where someone will have a fleeting shot. Even more crucial to success is that someone in the group owns a pack of beagles. Holloway called the Po' Boys and they brought their dogs for the hunt.

“It's the third time they've come this year,” Webb said. “I have 1,000 acres leased and some of it is prime rabbit cover. When deer season went out, I found out Chris knew someone with rabbit beagles. Last Saturday, we got 10 rabbits.”

Charles bagged the first rabbit as it crossed a narrow trail mowed through the pines. He held the cottontail high so the hounds would see the chase had ended, then coaxed them back into the thickets to jump another one.

Chris bagged a rabbit as it sneaked ahead of another hunter while the dogs were coursing a different rabbit. Several chases were abbreviated when the rabbits sought sanctuary in low areas filled with standing water that confused the noses of the beagles.

But by the end of the day, when the beagles were too tired to continue, the tally was four cottontails and one blue­tail, or swamp rabbit, taken by James.

“It doesn't matter to the dogs or me whether it's a cottontail or bluetail,” James said. “They both smell the same to the dogs and taste the same to me. I like hunting rabbits because they're so good to eat.”

To read more outdoors stories, or contact Mike Marsh, visit his web site, www.mikemarshoutdoors.com.