Feb 27, 2016 Sat

. 10AM-5PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and Roxy
Where: Hannibal, WI
Weather: S 11, clear, 45°, 6” wet melting snow
Bagged: 3 hares

My once a weekend rabbit and hare hunts are winding down and soon they will be over for the season. The morning started out cold with some very crusty snow conditions. On account of the crusty snow and the possible damage it would do to the dog’s feet, I elected to do a little scouting for the first hour and a half. I did not find too much for sign and in the limited run time for the dogs they never located a hare.
Around noon I headed to a know spot with and abundance of hares. When I got to m first spot I made the mistake of trying to get off the road too far and ended up going into the abyss of a snow filled ditch. Since the dogs and myself were chomping at the bit to hunt, I said screw it and put off the inevitable of getting unstuck for a later time. In a very short time frame the girls had a hare up and running. After a two-hour chase and two missed shots the hare finally succumbed to the birdshot fired from my simplistic single shot .410 shotgun.
Now it was time to pony up and suffer the consequences of my misguided judgment. After two hours of digging and a rutted up ditch the truck was still unable to get enough grip to crawl out of the ditch. Just at the time I had given up in frustration and exhaustion a lost sales man comes along asking me for directions. I told him there was nothing down the road he was going but a dead end and a very probable situation just like the one I was in. Then he asks “and how is your day”! Not worth a shit was my reply.
The salesman Ryan gave me a ride back to the beginning of the road and to the nearest house with a big truck sitting in the garage. I was hoping to get lucky and find a sympathetic person to hopefully improve my day somewhat. Luckily I landed at the right spot and Dean was both sympathetic and very helpful. Dean had a big old diesel Ford and the big powerful truck hardly even strained as it pulled me up and out of the ditch. I tried to send Dean on his way with a couple of twenties, but he just laughed and said “are you serious”. Finally after some insisting on my part he agreed to take a single twenty but only if I gave it to his 8 year old co-pilot that was riding shot gun on this adventure.
I ended the almost perfect day with another two hours of beagle music and two more hares.