The third week in November is prime time for hunters in New York. You can find hunters in tree stands every where pursuing the whitetail. Although our hunting party spends their share of time in the deer woods, this weekend would be different. This weekend would be one to remember. Hare was the game we were after. On Thursday morning at 6:30 am our group would begin to form at the home of Neach Avery in Ellenville, N.Y. The gear was packed and loaded. I would bring one hound and my father would bring one as well. Neach chose to bring a 16 month old bitch named Blu Jean. This dog came from Andy Krom. She shows a lot of hunt and has a nice voice. I brought my 2 year old bitch, Snowy, which I purchased from Harry Snow. Believe me, it was the best money I ever spent. She is a very busy dog with great line control. Our good friends Bill Wilhelm and Todd Booth pulled in the driveway. As we ran through the checklist and gathered last minutes items, I looked at the box in Bill’s truck. Bill decided to bring 3 hounds. Of course, he brought his Jenny bitch. This dog has it all - speed, desire, hunt - and is easily the best check hound I’ve ever seen. He also brought Katie, an 18 month old bitch from Jenny’s first litter. This young bitch is like lightning. She runs front and she runs hard. The potential of this dog is endless. Bill also brought a ticked bitch named Blue. She is fast with good line control and the mouth to go with it. Todd brought a young 13” bitch named Dottie. She runs with the big dogs. She is a great start dog and pushes for the front on every run. Todd was lucky enough to get this dog from Bill. Some friend! I know I wouldn’t have parted with a hound as good as her. We had a good group of hounds which run together pretty often at the Ulster Heights Beagle Club. They usually do a great job. I have never seen any of them quit. We jumped in our trucks and began the 4 hour trip through the snow belt. We arrived a little before 11 a.m. We dropped off some gear at the hotel and went straight to range control to register and get our down range passes. After calling the sportsman hotline, we got right to it. We parked the vehicles on the trail and headed into some thick cover. We were only there ten minutes tops when Todd saw a hare and called the dogs to the trail. Dottie began to open and the other hounds harked in. Quickly the dogs went quiet. As Todd went to take a look, he said, “The dogs caught the hare“. He showed us the hare. The talk quickly turned into how we could have left the shotguns at home with hounds like this. What a start. We were as happy as kids on Christmas morning. Bill filmed a little with his weapon of choice - THE CAMERA. We were surprised that the hare had begun to change from brown to white already . This made seeing the hare a lot easier through the dense thickets. It wasn’t long and the dogs had another start. The dogs were still a little wired up and full of energy from the trip so we let the run go for about 45-50 minutes. The cover was very thick but somehow Bill managed to get a few passes on film before he filmed me taking the hare. After the sole shot was fired, the dogs came through in a tight pack. You could have covered all of them with a baby blanket. After showing the dogs the downed hare, they began to cast again. They covered a lot of ground in a short period of time. The dogs once again started to sing for us. These hounds were really pounding the hare, taking it out of hearing and back in just a matter of minutes. The dogs made a few loops below a ridge and as we pushed closer for a shot, the hare appeared. Bill and I caught a glimpse of the almost pure white hare but didn’t think a shot would present itself. As I called out, “Coming your way” to Neach , the hare spun and came through a clearing. This gave us the perfect angle for the camera. As the pack caught up to the downed hare, the barks ended and “Dead rabbit” echoed through the woods to let the other guys on the line know that the run was over. We gathered at the spot of the kill. Everyone was joking and laughing. What a great time we were having - 3 hare in just two and a half hours. We were also letting the dogs get a good run before taking any of the hare. We pushed through a swamp and up a hillside towards another thicket when another run began. The hounds pushed the hare by Neach and he let two shots fly but didn’t catch up with the hare. The dogs were really driving. After a good run, the hare was on his way back when Neach saw it. This time he ended the run. This was a good thing for him as this can be a rough group when you miss a hare. Darkness wasn’t far away so we circled back to the trucks, snapped some pictures, and headed for the hotel. After feeding the dogs and getting a bite for ourselves, we sat and enjoyed some good conversation as we watched the days events on the camcorder. The next morning, we tried a different spot which I haven’t been to for about 3-4 years. When I was stationed up north I spent a lot of time in this patch of woods and was confident that we would have a good run there. The weather was cool but not cold. The leaves were off the trees, the hare were easy to see, and there was no snow to battle. It would be a good day whether we would get any game or not! Little time had passed since the hunt began and the dogs raised a hare. The dogs ran well for 3 maybe 4 minutes and a shot was fired. “Dead rabbit” . I guess I got a little excited. Maybe I should have let them run longer. Believe you and me, I heard about it from my hunting “buddies”. We pushed on and found ourselves in some really nice looking cover. It wasn’t long and Jen started a hare. Jen has a nickname. We call her the Squealer. She has a distinctive voice and many times when scent is tough she will keep a run going. I believe that she was a big part of the reason why we were able to shoot every hare that we had started on our trip. The dogs were doing a great job. They had circled the hare numerous times by my father and I. We sat the guns down and just enjoyed the music. Bill and Todd had let them pass a few times before ending the hunt. This was the first snowshoe that Todd had ever shot. And to make it even better, Bill did great filming the run. Bill then reminded Todd “tell ‘em” and Todd announced “Dead rabbit”. As we walked over to the pack, all you could see was teeth. Smiles everywhere. Todd was truly excited as were all of us. Bill and I walked away talking and joking when I caught a glimpse of something. A second later, with a huge splash through a puddle, out came a hare and Jenny was on him, She almost had the hare. The pack joined in and man they were really clicking. The ground was swampy, just like the training grounds. This is where that young Kate bitch thrives. She seems to pull away from the pack every time a hare leads them to a swamp. She really separated herself on this run. It wasn’t long and Todd registered his second kill. This time it was clear that he had this hare thing down. ”Dead rabbit”, he said with confidence and bass in his voice. Almost immediately the dogs began another run. After an hour and a half long run, we closed in and downed the hare. As the day was coming to an end, we discussed which way the trucks were, Then we discussed it again, Then headed towards them. Its not hard to get turned around in the thick stuff. The dogs weren’t ready to quit and got another hare out of bed. After a few loops and after Neach decided to load his gun, he downed the day’s final hare. What a great day we had. I was with some really good friends like Bill would say a great group of guys. And the dogs did a really nice job all day. We cleaned the game, took care of the dogs, ate some dinner, and had a few drinks with a lot of laughs. As I lay in bed that night listening to the chorus of snoring from the beds next to me, I hoped we would have a good morning because it was the last day of the hunt. Tomorrow a friend from my old platoon would join us for a few hours of fun. Pete would meet us at an area that we had hunted together many times. We would meet at 7 a.m. We arrived before he did and unleashed our hounds. Soon after, we had a start. The dogs were tired from the two days prior but still pushed hard. Ending a 30 minute run, Todd put the hare down. Only a short while later the girls got going again. Pete arrived and got on line with us. His dog, Chevy, harked in with the pack. The pack circled the hare to Neach and he finished the run. Judging by his reaction I would say he loves this stuff. After working the dogs for a while. We decided we would cross the road to finish out the trip. A short walk later. We were back in business. During a split run, Neach had downed another hare and a cottontail not 60 yards from each other. After our ritual chat, we walked to a clearing where there were some wind rows separating different patches of cover. We spoke to some guys who were planning a deer drive. They watched the dogs run from a hilltop and seemed to be enjoying the music because they watched for a long while. After a few misses, Pete downed a hare and Bill was able to film this kill. This made 5 good kills on film - a real treasure to all of us. We were all glad that Bill decided to carry a camcorder rather than a gun. We decided it was time to make a move towards the truck. It was noon and we had a 4 hour drive home but the hounds weren’t ready just yet. Dottie jumped a hare They ran hard for 40-50 minutes and Pete collected his second hare of the day. On our way to the trucks, we saw a coyote which hung around longer than we felt he should have. We think he was looking for an easy meal. No harm, no foul. We snapped a few photos of the hounds and hare. We said our goodbyes to Pete and began our trip home. In the weeks that have followed our trip upstate, we have talked of our hunt many times. We have watched the tapes dozens of times. We have laughed hundreds of times. We all agree that deer hunting is sometimes overrated and we will all put down the deer rifles anytime for a good hare trip with good hounds, good friends, and good laughs. November will never be the same for me again. Yeah its deer season, but it’s also rabbit season................. By Tony Avery

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