Maybe I’m overly sentimental, but I love rabbit hunting. When the last few weeks of February roll around, I start wishing the season would last a few months longer. I hate to see rabbit season end.
Part of that’s because I spent a lot of my youth hunting rabbits. It was how I got introduced to hunting, and I have thousands of memories of good times out rabbit hunting with my dad, my best friends Josh and Blaine Curtis, and even by myself.
That’s another nice thing about rabbit hunting. You don’t have to wait until your hunting buddy can get the time off to go with you. A rabbit hunt on your own can be just as enjoyable as one with a good friend.
Now that I have kids of my own, my love for rabbit hunting has been rekindled. I took my youngest son out into the pasture over the weekend to see if we could find a few cottontails, and even the cold temperatures and gale-force wind couldn’t dampen our spirits. We hiked around out there for an hour or so, and we saw a few rabbits, but Logan never got a shot.
It was a little disappointing that we couldn’t bring any bunnies home, or even get to take any shots. That’s one of the best things about rabbit hunting, usually – most of the time, you at least get to do a little shooting. And you don’t often have to take any long shots. Rabbits generally let you get pretty close, so a kid can move up for an easier shot.
Maybe it was that wind that got the rabbits moving quicker than normal. And once they did start running, the wind helped them get out of range in short order. One jackrabbit hopped up and took off, and I swear it came close to breaking the sound barrier with that Wyoming wind at its tail.
We still had a great time, though. Maybe next weekend we can do it again, and maybe even celebrate with some cottontail stew.
