Bunny Hunt!! (JLMBH 2014)) .....video page 33!!!

[Huntrdfk]

Let's see....where do I start..... I left my house on Friday morning and three and half hours later I was turning off of Rte 9 onto Creble Road. As I passed Brokeback Mtn and the Greenhouses a smile came across my face at the memories they brought back. I pulled into Shawn's at 2:30ish, man I have missed this. Shortly thereafter Curt and Cade showed up, it was so good to see these three friends, it had been way too long. We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening catching up and telling stories before hitting the sack.
People began showing up early then next morning and it wasn't long before Shawn had the kids hunt organized and on it's way. I'd say about noontime we started the main hunt, walking away from the house it looked something like this.......
 

Little did we know what we were in for......like a fool I took the lead as we started the hedgerow push.....the snow was over knee deep and a heavy solid snow. To say it was difficult walking is an understatement, throw in trying to pound brush and the difficulty increased. We did manage to kill a couple of rabbits on that push, one happened right in front of me when a rabbit came loping by, got shot at and hit by Jen, and then got jumped on with a full body slam by Greg!!! Dead rabbit!  Did I forget to mention thatJen was now out of arrows? See, the problem with two+ feet of snow is that after you shoot your pretty much can count that arrow lost.  I think Jen had shot 5 or 6 times and lost all of her arrows by then. Good thing Terry, her dad, had brought a few dozen with him for this hunt. Here we are taking a rest before staring the push in the Island of Trees......I have another name for it now that I can't print here..
 

Time for dinner, I'll be back.

David

[kwc]

first let me say a big  thank you to shawn and cindy for opening up there house and making me feel at home, all of us who attend see the end result of what amounts to weeks of work so we can have a great time. Two more unshelfish people would be ward to find. Im allways amazed how badley shawn can beat up his body and getup and do it again the next day. this year especially with all the snow it was hard going, and then to have a hardcore six year old putting us all to shame, no one was about to go in early. the frist day for me was slow, but we did manage to get six rabbits.the second day had less hunters but i think we figured out find a hole under some brush with rabbit tracks and you mite find a rabbit, well maybe in mikeys caes a squirell. i was hunting alone side my friends nephew peter when we found on souch hole. i told him to get ready and i would jump on the pile to see if i could scare out a rabbit. but peter would not hear of it, he would be the one to jump on the pile. after arguing with him that he should be the one to shoot, it is about the kids, i gave in. He got to jump and i would shoot. Sure enough after three or four jumps out comes a bunnie running to my left, in one motion i swing on the target and let fly, the arrow took the rabbit low in front of the back leg and half way out behind the front leg. i sure was happy with litte petes jumping.

[Joeabowhunter]

 Great stuff!!!!  Sounds like a fantastic time.

[Huntrdfk]

The Island of Trees is a push that is about 100 yards long in an area that is so thick that you are forever getting stuck if you do your job, ie, jump on and in piles to move rabbits. This year it was especially brutal......here is where I had just been.....
 

And here is where I was going......ugh...

 

We made our way through the Island of Trees without much luck, the bunnies were not moving unless you stepped directly on them.

We moved from area to area until we hit Rabbit Valley......you guessed it, it usually has a high number of bunnies. We pushed through the snow, brush and briars without moving a thing, never has that happened here. At one point I came out of a brush pile into an open area to find Charlie just standing there. He called me over and pointed to this......

 

He had been walking in deep snow and suddenly found himself in this hole, over his head in a sinkhole! That is my bow in the hole to give you an idea how deep it was, luckily he was not hurt. We finished our push and got ready for the walk home.....let me tell you, after a day like this getting to pavement and solid, even ground was a Godsend.

David

[Cyclic-Rivers]

PTSD.  thanks David for bringing that back      

These recaps are helping me get through the week.        

[sleepyhollow]

Does anyone know who had the green Kanati ?

[ScottV_7]

That was me.

[sleepyhollow]

Nice one Scott, I sure would like to find a green one around 55-60# or so

[Stumpkiller]

Originally posted by Izzy:
Charlie, thats not fair to expose me, I mean accuse me of being the voice behind the screaming. You saw my pants, maybe more or less than you cared to. Them was hooked and wicked thorns what did that to me. If it was me screaming, which it wasn't, I had, I mean I would have had a damn good excuse for it. But it wasn't me!!! At least it wasn't only me. Mine were the baritone screams if I did any screaming at all.      

Here I thought you changed into a guilie suit at lunchtime.  You mean those tattered rags you ended up in were your upland duds?

Yeah, I saw a lot of pants and quivers.  You'll notice most of my images were from the tail end of the line.  I was whupped bad by the late half of the first day.     :rolleyes:     I think I'll need to have my hips re-bushed.  Definately in the market for lighter weight boots.  Phew!

I don't know where Charlie J. got the energy to go digging them out like a terrier after a badger on that last drive Saturday.  
 

[Huntrdfk]

So at the end of Rabbit Valley is a small rise covered in thick brush that parallels the road, followed by a gully filled with brush. Both are on the way back to the house.  We pushed the rise with no luck and I climbed out of that hellhole to the road. At the gully a couple of guys climbed down and worked there way through that....BUNNY!!! I think they pushed three rabbits out of that gully,two escaped, but the third......well, that one got slowed down by an arrow out Glenbo's selfbow and then stopped dead in it's tracks when Val centerpunched it. 6 dead rabbits on the first day, pretty good considering the conditions.
Then it was back to Shawn's for dinner and the raffle.
I have no pictures of the raffle, suffice it to say that there were some nice bows, knives, shafts and other archery related items were raffled off. I will say that there was a knife that Shawn won that was the sharpest knife I have ever seen. I was stunned by how sharp it was.....it was a Helle blade with a wood handle.....rumor has it that Larry is the one that worked on that blade......wow!

David

[Stone Knife]

Originally posted by mcgroundstalker:
As always, we all had a blast! Hugs and kisses to Shawn and family... Maybe someone can post a picture of the Attacking Tree Rat that tried to bite my head off! ...     ... Greg saved my life when he body slammed the fellow...   :rolleyes:   ... It's True!

... mike ...   :D   ...

Haven't we told you not to mess with them there Skwirls

   

[Stumpkiller]

Now, Mikey assured me it looked like this and was four feet tall.  "Up to my eyes" I think he said.

 

[larry]

It's all in the sharpening technique David.....

[Sean B]

I've been with out a computer for a few days, as a matter of fact, I'm on my fiancé's iPad!!  This is the 4th year in a row that I've hunted bunnies up at Shawn's. I have to say that I've been look foward to a rabbit hunt every year!  I just hope he keeps inviting me!!  

Anyway, it was great to see some of the friends that I've made on tradgang over the last few years. The snow was deep....the brush was thick and thorny......the fun was unmeasurable!!!  I had 3 shots on 2 bunnies, touched one.  It's definitely tough to pick a spot on a running bunny!  

It was great to see Shawn & family. Many thanks to all your hard work.

[Tdog]

Sorry I missed the hunt.. Glad you had a good time..A lot of good memories made..

[homer]

Mikey I heard everything that went on I need to hear from you tell us the story about the squirrel

[Mamba]

Thanks again Shawn Cindy your girls and the guys who head up early and set up.  We really appreciate it.  I also appreciate all you guys who help the young hunters.  Especially this year, I couldn't come until Sunday, but Kevin was good enough to bring my nephew peter up Saturday and everyone looked out for him.  Very cool.  

  I lucked out and got to bring hope to the bunny hunt this year.  I sent her up Saturday and one of Jens solider buddies got to use her.  Unfortunately they didn't come back Sunday so I don't know about her success.  We did draw blood on Sunday though.  Of the 3 bunnies I saw Sunday I only had one shot.  As I approached a deadfall with tracks all around I noticed a patch of grey under the log, next to the stump.  Is that a bunny?  I was pretty sure it was and  shot into the grey.  My arrow lurched forward and started quivering.  Oh yeah that was a bunny and the second of the day!

[mcgroundstalker]

So there we was... Bustin' brush to kick out a bunny when David saw a tree rat way up in a tree top... Was not safe to shoot an arrow up there, so David called the squirrel a dirty name and it looked right at me popping its teeth!   :eek:  

Next thing ya know it was on the ground making a bee line for me!     I had to shoot or have my head bit off...   :rolleyes:   ... Lemmie tell ya they are tough critters even with an arrow in 'em... Glad Greg saved me from them big buck teeth or should I say fangs...    

Things were then under control when David pulled his badge and made the little rat surrender, cuffed him, and brought him to bag... Had to change my under ware on that one!...   :p  

True Story.......  :D

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Tell the truth Mikey, you had to change your under wear cause it was dragging in the snow      

[ishiwannabe]

I had an amazing time. I'll need more time to process my thoughts and get the pictures uploaded.
It was great hunting with such a tremendous group...