The Joan Leonard Memorial Bunny Hunt 2008 (FINAL THANKYOU!!)

[Shawn Leonard]

MORE PICS. OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

[Kingstaken]

Dido Lar43 who along with him and his son are among those finest people anywhere.
Hats off to Shawn for putting this all together making it another and even better expierence than what I though to be a great time last year even better.
A big standing ovation to Cindy and all who helped to keep us all full by showing such great hospitality. It takes a special women to allow that many people into her home and make all feel at home.
Thank you to Mr Leonard the strong quiet gentleman who always had a smile and a kind word.
And to our special guest Killdeer who after suffering thru us all during the Mikey's pink and feathered hat, practice butts, the hunt, dinner and raffle actually sat in some after hunt storytelling at the motel given by Joe, Mike and Scott. Hope to see ya again soon.
PS
Thankyou to the electric company for suppling the electric for the heater in the portajohn.

[Huntrdfk]

Well, we are home, safe and sound......will get to stories and pics tomorrow.....suffice to say it was a blast, and here is the first of many thanks from me to Shawn, Cindy, Damon Nicole and Mr Leonard, thank you all for your hospitality and everything you did.


David

[Guru]

Wow!! Whooped and hittin' the rack.....oooohhhhh yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

[ishiwannabe]

Just let me know when ya want those pics taken and posted Shawn. Need any help tomorrow with any clean up or anything? If so, just call...as long as I move slow Im fine.
I have to say Im feeling bad for missing today. I looked forward to this all year, and was really bummed that I couldnt really participate with the actual hunt. Being there Sat. made up for it a lot. Just seeing everyone from last year, and meeting some new people this year took the bite out of it all. I can honestly say I would share my woods with all of ya.
Shawn, you and your family could give lessons on hosting, feeding, and entertaining a crowd. We all know you can guide a hunt like no other. My hat is off to the Leonard family. The highlight for me this year was watching your father after he won Stic's knife. The smile he had, and the twinkle in his eyes as he repeatedly removed it from the sheath and tested the edge warmed my heart so much. Brought me back to many similar times with my dad.
Damon, glad ya made a heck of a shot. Wish I was there to see it.
Killy...an honor to meet you. Wish we could have busted some brush, but maybe next time our paths cross. Your arrow holds a special place amoung the antlers of my largest bow kill.
Absolutely amazing experience, amazing people, and something I plan to attend EVERY time in the future.

[mcgroundstalker]

Shawn and family did it again! Made this guy one happy camper. Got six shots and saw about two dozen bunnies! One of 'em ran over my boots!    :eek:    Sorry I don't have pics of that but I'll show ya my soiled underware if need be.

It was a pleasure to see everyone again and to meet killdeer in person. Thank You killy for my gift of a soft, pink, little blankie..... Feels so nice against my hairy chest.

But most of all... I LOVE my range finder! Hand made with PINK line and all the work involved to tie them there knots. I'll never leave home without it.    :p  

... mike ...

P.S. Hey Guru!        Good Goin' on Number 17!

[hs6181]

Thanks everyone for sharing with those of us who couldnt be there. all the comments and pictures have been great, keep em coming.

Shawn and family and everyone else involved, Thank You.  

[adkmountainken]

here is a pic of everyone that killed a bunnie on the first day.
 
 

[ber643]

That's a good looking group, Kenny (and a happy lookin' one too -    )

[adkmountainken]

ok i'm running out of pic's, someone else has to start posting some!!!
  in between hunts was a time for relaxing and and just enjoying the moment, it is done very well in this pic, one of my favorites.
 

[Shawn Leonard]

Great pics. Ken!! Jamie pos what ya got. Curt is gonna have tons and tons of pics as well ass David and Joe Skipp, Killie will have a ton also. The story telling has yet to get started, when people get home from work today, this thread will explode. Also those Michigan boys deserve a big round of applause, Heck they had Ron LaClair, but we did one netter having Kathy Collister!!  I really like the pic. above of Eric. This man hunts hard, puts his head down and bull right in, he is my kind of Bunny Hunter. Tom, Bob and Brent along with Sonny make for some of the best brush busters going anfd Joe Skipp will stick his head in there too!! David(huntflk)and Curt usually boody themselves pretty good, wait until ya se the blood dripping from davids head and face, great pic. We had one guy, for get his name as he does not post often shoot 21 times on one push and more than once guys emptied their quiver and had to go pick up arrows so they could shoot again, right Adam? I also want to compliment the kids, there are some great hunters in the making, Stoneknifes girl kept right up and Arams daughter Una was a real trooper, I believe the young hunters had over 50 shots alone!! Guys lets hear some stories and I canot wait to see more pics. Thanks to all of you for making this hunt so special $4150 and 17 bunnies, that is what I am talking about!! OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

[Shawn Leonard]

I should also say there is only 9 bunnies in that first pic. as eric had already cut and quartered his and those kind of bunnies don't make for a good pic.    I even had a hero shot taken on Sunday! OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

[bbassi]

All I can say is WOW! Another great weekend chasing bunnies and renewing friendships. I can't express my thanks enough for Shawn and his whole family for their great hospitality.

I'll start the story tellin' off as I think I had the first official shot at a bunny this year. Once we had all gathered up and headed out for the first drive, there were 50+ people walking up this lane way heading for the spot Shawn calls the Island of Trees. The first couple of hunters bumped a bunny not 10 yards up the lane way and Sonny the wonder beagle went nuts. Long story short I was one of the last 5 people in line and while everyone else must have been looking left where the first rabbit went, I happened to look right and there sat a bunny at the base of a tree 5 ft from where 50 people had just walked. I had to yell up the line and ask Shawn if it was OK to shot that bunny as I was afraid we were too close to the neighbors house still. Shawn gave me the OK and I struck him to the ground only to have him run off the end of the arrow while I was diving into the brush after him. The little bugger managed to beat feet around the entire mass of people and right down a woodchuck hole. Elapsed time into the hunt: about 1 minute. LOL. Those bunnies are not only big, they're darn tuff, as would be proven several times this weekend.

[Shawn Leonard]

The people around the house know of the bunny hunt and are very good to me. I also missed that bunny running straight at me as well as 4-5 other guys. Yup, we started shooting 1 minute into the hunt and shot all day long. great time and lots of bunnies as always!! OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn

[woodchucker]

Well Shawn, A bunch of us were talking and we all kinda figured that new chain link fence along the airport would be a royal pain in the butt!!!!! But NOW.....we all are in agreement.....THAT FENCE IS SWEET!!!!!!!!!!

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!  

[Aram]

They say "Behind every great man there's a great woman", Shawn had two great women for support and it showed!    then  fell asleep and has not wakened yet. Ru was upset when I called for us to leave but he realized he would never have enough...
My children count the bunny hunt alongside Thanksgiving and religious holidays.  That's got to give an idea of how much this event touched our lives.      
Aram

[sweet old bill]

looks like all had a great time agan this year. Sure wish you would change the date to the first weekend of December so I could attend...being down south for the Jan and Feb is hard at times when I see the faces of the hunters that attend ing the shoot....

Bill ( SOB )

[Shawn Leonard]

Bill, airfare is not too bad. Most likely less than $200 RT!    It seems the 3rd. week in feb. is perfect for killin' bunnies!! Aram my wife and daughter loved your little girl and my middle daughter loved RU, she likes his eyes!! OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Shawn

[Mark Fedrizzi]

Shawn and family-- glad I made it up...I cannot say enough about your family and all the people involved in coordinating this hunt...I know Curt and others contributed a LOT..

..I had 7 shots Sunday and  1 combo kill with stone knife (Jim)--boy them bunnies have some afterburners--

........thanx again--Mark F.

[Jeremy]

I had 5 shots on Saturday... 3 of 'em pinned bunnies to the ground      
I got my bunny toward the end of a push early on(I think the first push after the Island of Trees).  We were just about at the end and were watching SIX BUNNIES criss-crossing up ahead of us.  I had Keith Deters on my right and had caught up to my dad (he was a watcher on this one) who was on my left.  One of the furry little buggers broke towards me and I let loose at around 15 yards.  I caught him right through the left hip and pinned him to the ground.  I run around a batch of briars, drop to my knees and fire a second shot before he could shake loose.  It skewered him from just left of the tail and came out below the left shoulder.  Those hex heads leave a massive exit hole!!
I stipped off my quiver, dropped my bow and was crawled into the bush until I could grab the arrows and started backing out.  About the time I cleared the bush that tough bunny managed to get off the arrows and take off running!  After a few choice words I started following the blood trail with Keith.  It was easy to follow      He made it about 30 yards before Brent hit him with another blunt.  That's three arrows into the bunny, massive blood loss and the bugger was still kicking!!  Tough doesn't quite describe these cotton tails!
Tom was trailing a wounded bunny through there that left a pretty good blood trail as well.
My third shot that connected was at the end of the day by the road.  A bunny broke cover and Damon got it right through the hips.  My arrow took it right through the shoulders a second or two later.  That bunny wasn't going anywhere, but someone (was that you Mo?) dove into the brush to grab it.  The willingness of people to sacrifice their bodies to recover a rabbit never ceases to amazing me!
I had a great time this year! OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH YEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!