Snowshoe Hares...info needed.

[Shaun]

I learned in northern Maine one winter that snowshoes and deep snow can lead to some comical situations if you fall, kinda like having life vests tied to your feet in water. Keep a good longbow or staff with you if the snow is over 5 ft deep and try not to fall over.

[agd68]

They can be a bit gamey, soak them over night in a little salt water, gets that gamey spruce taste out. They dont seem to like bright sunlight;hurts their eyes I think.On bright sunny days look for them in fir or spruce thickets.

[Stone Knife]

If you have access to a good Beagle it would help. My friend likes to forward me emails he gets from a guy named Grampa Redbone, this guy chases snowshoes around nearly everyday in the Adirondacks with his dogs. When I read his stories it sure looks like the Hares make much larger circles that their cottontail cousins.

[ron w]

I have hunted with a friend, picked up a track and pushed the bunny right to him as I barked like a hound. Sounds crazy but works, bunny didn't know I wasn't a beagle. Spot and stalk is fun on cold but sunny day. Look to the edges of the evergreens and swale grass in swampy areas. Bring a bunch of arrows!!!!! lol, most of all have fun.    ron w

[adkmountainken]

trust me man ya need snow shoes if your hunting somewhere without a broken trail. i have a couple good spots and your welcome to join, i will be hunting regularly on the weekends again now that the holiday is over.

[PAPA BEAR]

maybe you ate a squirrel ben

[PAPA BEAR]

:D    :D

[ishiwannabe]

Ken, that sounds pretty good to me. I have always wanted an excuse to explore the 'dacks...

[razorback]

This is great advise guys. I am going to start hunting these bunnies in my end of the Adirondacks so all this really helps.

[PaddyMac]

I dredged this thread up because I'm fresh out of deer season and I don't want to be done. There is a good thread going on snow shoes, which I don't need yet, but any day now I will. I've never hunted hares in the snow before, always just coincidental to grouse hunting...

I have a question. If you're in 2 feet or more of powder, which is likely, and you miss or pass through, that arrow is basically gone, right?

[ron w]

Nope....it will show up in the spring. LOL!! Seriously, bright fletching will help, pink or lime green will glow under the snow on a sunny day. Look for the track of the arrow in the snow, you'll be surprised how many you can find. Have fun.....  

[PaddyMac]

That's how I find my gardening tools... in the spring.      

Yeah, I have chartruese wraps and feathers on the way...

My white on whites don't work very well.

[ron w]

The ideal set up is a year with late or no snow....lol! Those bunnies sit under a spruce all hunched up and think you can't see them against the brown ground, I guess nobody told them they are now all white. They make great targets at those times........

[LKH]

We've had a number of years of high numbers scattered about and it's not unusual for 4 of us to kill 20 or more in a day.  We don't use bows.  The snow is just too deep and arrows too expensive.

[Birdbow]

Keep in mind that their populations are very cylclical. Can be feast or famine, depending on the cycle. This season in NH (in the area I live), there are very few based on the extreme lack of sign and a single hare can lay down a bunch of tracks. Should check with someone with local knowledge. Hope this is helpful. Best, Todd

[MikeS]

Head for the thickest brush you can find because that is where most of them hole up.  Sometimes you can spot them in more open areas, but not too often.  Hare populations around here are down and have been for about 15 years.  They just don't seem to be able to come back from the high numbers we had years ago.  A lot of that has to do with maturing habitat, but even in good thick areas where there should be more rabbits, they are scarce.  They make a very good stew.
Mike

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I think Adirondack Ken has a picture of me digging out an arrow. Took a while but eventually Ron found it.  

[Cyclic-Rivers]

[Hopewell Tom]

Fir thickets and wet areas, alders and such. Their numbers are down here for the last few years. Gonna get out anyway. Great way to spend a day on the snow. Bass River Bunny hunt in January. Great time, good food. Hare is definitely good eating.

[TSP]

Brings back memories of hunting them with beagles when I was a boy.  Used to go every Saturday during winter, always with a little Topper single shot .410 shotgun...and of course snow shoes.  Huck and I would get in his Hillman with Ole' Duke (the best beagle dog I've ever seen) and be out all day chasing the rabbits,  and sometimes into the night waiting on the dog (hares can run a LOOONG ways if they want to).  By hunt's end Duke's paws would be cut up something awful but he wouldn't want to quit.  

Big woods, exciting hunts and great company.  Those sure were great times.