Snowshoes on Snowshoes
I couldn’t have asked for a better day. I got up at 7:30 this morning for a solo snowshoe hunt. I wasn’t sure how much snow there would be, so I brought the shoes just in case and I am glad I did. In the woods there was around 30in on the ground, compared to 10 at my house. It’s amazing, 15 minuets away and there is that much more snow.
It was perfect around 28 degrees and light snow falling down. The rabbits had moved like crazy over night, I have never seen that many tracks in my life, some fresh but most were a few hours old. I managed to bump a rabbit right away, but didn’t get a shoot. It was a long time before I saw another, and if I had been paying attention I would have had a better shoot. I let an arrow go but the shoot wasabout 6 feet behind him, he was at full tilt by the time I noticed him. Found the arrow and continued.
I saw just a glimpse of a few more bunnies, but nothing wanted to let me shoot it. Thats how the rest of the day went, I would see a flash of white in a world of white and that would be it.
The bunny hunting didn’t go as planed but the wild life viewing was better then planed. I came to a tree that had blown over the road and instead of going around I climbed over it (the snow had drifted around it making a bridge over it), I get to the top and right under me is a yote. We were both surprise to say the least, he was gone before I even knew what happened. I tracked him for a few minuets but he must had grown wings and flew away.Hewas doing the same thing I was, he is just a little bit better at it. I went to a new spot that doesn’t hold as many rabbits but it offers better shoots. I didn’t see any rabbits but must have saw 20 spruce hens, they can’t be shoot in MI, so I had to resist. I wish I had my camera, these “dumb” birds will just sit in a tree and not move, making them great subgects for photography, and easy targets. That must be why they are protected. My Dad has my camera, he went to Detroit to watch the wings play on Sunday night.
Its day like these that make long winters tolerable. Next time I will have a camera and will share some cool pics, hopefully I will be able to close the deal next time.