|
Small Game Hunting
If your looking for a
exciting time in the woods that brings hours of
enjoyment...why not try some small game hunting. New York
State has a lot to offer its sportsmen with a large number
of species available to hunt. This is also a great way to
introduce youngsters into the sport of where they can build
on the skills to become a proficient hunter.
I can remember as a boy
being taught safe gun handling from my grandfather as he
started me out with a BB gun. At the time, I really didn't
understand why he was being so strict of where I pointed the
BB gun, what was beyond my target and if BB gun was cocked
and loaded. I now know he was teaching me the basic
fundamentals of safe gun handling that has stayed with me to
this day.
I wrote the above to send
a message to you parents that this is an important time in a
child's life to take an interest in them. You will also be
able to enjoy quality time together and and teach another
lesson in life (parents never stop teaching their children)
that they will use the rest of their lives.
So where would we start if
we wanted to do some small game hunting here in New York? I
guess I would start on the DEC website to see what game was
protected, what the seasons are and the basic rules set-up
by the state to insure a good all around hunt. The few
unprotected species include porcupine, red squirrel,
woodchuck, English sparrow, starling, rock pigeon, and monk
parakeet. All of these may be taken at any time without
limit, but a hunting license is required to hunt unprotected
wildlife with a bow or firearm.
I know when I think small
game, what comes to mind are rabbits, squirrels and ruffed
grouse. With rabbits there are two kinds to choose from and
that being the cottontail and snowshoe (varying hare). So
lets start there...
Types
There are two basic ways
to hunt these critters, one is still hunting and stalking
and the other is with dogs. Still hunting requires patients
of moving slow through thick areas looking for sign (tracks)
that there are indeed rabbits in the area. Keep in mind that
there is a difference in how the two kinds of rabbits live
and that will effect how you hunt them. The varying hair can
also change the color of its hair to avoid being seen. It
normally is a brown/gray color and when the snow hit the
ground it turns white.
How to Find Them
Some places,
naturally, are better than others for rabbit hunting, and
it's not hard to locate the hotspots. Cottontails usually
are found in areas with good cover adjacent to their
favorite foods -- grasses, clover, broadleaf weeds,
soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, garden crops and the buds, twigs
and bark of small saplings and bushes.
Look for
cottontails around small fields bordered by woods, brush and
briars; along drainages and fencerows where vegetation has
grown up, in recently cleaned timber clear cuts, in brush
piles on freshly cleared land sites, in densely covered
power line and railroad right-of-ways and other places
providing hideouts and nearby forage. Favorite cover
includes blackberry patches, briars, honeysuckle, thick
grass and weeds and even rolled hay bales, abandoned farm
machinery, irrigation pipes and culverts.
The cottontail tends to
live, eat and stay pretty close to a den usually dug into
the ground. When they sense danger, they run back into their
den. The varying hair or snowshoe rabbit tends to make use
of its surroundings finding brush piles, fallen logs and
thickets to live in. They tend to travel a bit further and
if threatened will take off doing a wide circle that can be
almost a mile in distance.
If you are after the
snowshoe rabbit and hunting with dogs, you simply have to
place yourself somewhere in that circle of where the rabbit
will run past. If your after the cottontail, its a bit
harder in that the cottontail will den up in a hurry and end
the hunt. That's why if I plan on hunting cottontails, I
tend to do it without the use of dogs and try to sneak into
areas that have a good population of rabbits.
If you are going to hunt
the snowshoe rabbit and their are two of you with snow on
the ground ...simply leave one where the rabbit was first
seen and the other start tracking it pushing it out ahead of
you.
When doing this remember
safety at all times of where each other are. The best plan
is to have the stalker make hoots and hollers as he or she
walks. This way the other person can pretty much locate them
by the sound.
What type of gun should
you use? I think a good all around gun to start off with is
the .410 shotgun using 6 or 7 1/2 shot. It's plenty big
enough to take down a rabbit yet not have that much of a
kick when fired to discourage a younger hunter. If your by
yourself and know what is behind your target...a .22 or .17
can also be a great small game firearm. More can needs to be
taken in that these guns can fire a bullet that can travel
for miles.
Here are the seasons on
Cottontail and Varying Hare
 |
The New York Hunter
