2021 Rabbit Hunt - Small Game Season Finale

Happy hunters with a nice rabbit harvest.

 A group of Lowcountry rabbit hunting enthusiasts gathered on the last Saturday of February for a small game season sendoff. The winter months allow for small game hunting of dove, duck, squirrel, rabbit, quail, woodcock and snipe - but each season closes in succession during January and February. While there will  be hunting in late March and April for the wild turkey, that is considered to be a large game category. 

Beagles and hunters between rabbit chases.

Even though the calendar read February 27, the thermometer read 80-degrees after lunch time, and so the beagle pack and the hunting party that follows them were feeling the heat. A game plan of beginning the hunt at 7:30 a.m. was essential to the success of our hunt. The first rabbit of the day completely broke cover and ran down the side of a greenfield, causing two standers to whirl and shoot. Five shots rang out, and the rabbit completed its perfectly-planned semi-circle escape route around the hunters and back into the safety of thick cover. The first rabbit chase of the day was in the books, lifting everyone's spirits.

2021 Small Game Season Finale

I have visited duck ponds after duck season in the past to hunt snipe, and to watch shorebirds, but this time it was to rabbit hunt along the ditch system that drains waterfowl impoundments. Brambles and briars are the chief components of rabbit habitat, and the ditches and areas in-between grow thick with them. The rabbit master and his pack of beagles must penetrate these thick areas in order to rouse the rabbit. Thick brush pants guard the hunter, while the beagle can successfully navigate the cover by going underneath. When a beagle cries out, everyone knows that a rabbit is now on the move. By our lunch break at noon, ten rabbits had been harvested, giving all a feeling of accomplishment.

To view past blog entries about rabbit hunting click on 2017 - 2016 - 2012 - 2009 

2021 Wood Duck Box - Spring Maintenance

A close call from a fallen oak tree

 Wood ducks are among the first creatures to pair up in order to begin nesting, and they often getting a jump start on Spring by setting up shop in February. All veteran gamekeepers and landowners that are in the habit of maintaining wood duck boxes understand that these annual chores begin almost right after duck season ends. The commitment to keep the wood duck boxes in a clean condition is a way of helping woodies maintain a sustainable population. Also, these hands on chores often produce memorable encounters with other wildlife species that are memorable and 2021 was no different.

I finished the spring maintenance on seven wood ducks boxes by February 5. This is accomplished by purchasing pine chips for nest box bedding, donning hip boots, and wading out into the swamp with a step ladder to access the top of the box which opens. At my first stop I found a dead and dried up wood duck hen inside the wood duck box. It was a startling find, and its a mystery to me how she ended up deceased inside a box with a predator guard on it, but that it part of the mystery of nature. I cleaned out the bedding and found three unhatched eggs too, and it is very common to find a few eggs to remove. 

A dead wood duck hen I found inside box

The last box I cleaned out seems to be full of pine straw, which is not uncommon as birds may nest in these boxes after the wood ducks vacate them in early Spring. However, another surprise crawled out from under the straw when a Southern flying squirrel emerged and hurled himself towards a nearby tree. This nocturnal creature looked sluggish but I deemed it to be in no danger, and decided to shut the box lid and did not disturb the contents anymore. At then end of these chores it was time to head to the house and change clothes since my pants were muddy and a little wet too from the slogging through the swamp in the name of wildlife stewardship.

To view past blog entries on wood duck boxes click 2020 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 

Fresh Bedding applied inside box

Typical wood duck box maintenance set up