Catching Rabbits - it is that time of year

Neal McConaghy is a little more up to date than when I was a kid- swathing hay
Someone got smart actually about the time I was 13 and combined the sickle bar mower and rake method of cutting hay  to create a swather - the first one I remember was a Heston swather made in Heston, Kansas

Every spring when it came time to harvest the wheat or cut the alfalfa for hay or grass for hay it was a marvelous time.  Basically you always started on the outside edge of the field cutting the wheat or other crop and worked your way toward the middle.  I don't know what we were thinking but there was never a consideration for the risk involved with what was happening.  Anyway as the harvesting or cutting got closer to the middle the field became smaller and smaller.  The excitement was building as I anticipated what was getting ready to happen.  Pretty soon one rabbit would come running out of the uncut field looking for a place to hide.  At that moment we would take off running after the rabbit which was darting from side to side and trying to avoid capture.  The great thing about rabbits is they are very vast and can turn quickly but they run out of gas in a hurry and search for cover.  I have no idea how many rabbits we caught every year but it was a lot and we would throw them in a gunny sack and take off for the next one.  I ran myself silly doing this only in the end to turn the rabbits lose.   About the last time I did this was during the summer of my freshman to sophomore year when I was chasing a rabbit and stepped in a hole.   The next thing I knew is I could hardly walk as my back was out of place and I was in a lot of pain.  This was my second back problem which ended my football career during my sophomore year.  It was one of the worst years ever as I loved playing football.  The great news is I got to play as a junior and senior.

Now Dad told stories about when Jack Rabbits were so thick the entire community would get together and surround a field with sticks to club the rabbits as they destroyed the crops.  Now if you don't know Jack Rabbits are very tall with long ears sticking straight up vs. a cotton tail which is short and small ears.  They would kill hundreds of rabbits in one field.  What farmers went through back then was amazing.

Now here is a story from Russell Whiles:
Gary, your story about your First Bow and Arrow stirred a rabbit-hunting memory..a rather unique one!

Me and Boog (G.D. Williams), we did a lot of things together. Where and how Boog ever got the idea to do this, maybe he will share on here. Plus, I will probably make some mistakes in telling the story, and Boog should help us out later, with straight facts.

A field where a crop is growing takes a lot of work to get it all pretty and ready for a crop. Prior to the dirt being all crumbly and smooth and ready to drill, or plant, it was probably plowed. If the dirt was very firm,  plowing would turn the field into row upon row of large dirt clods. Somehow, Boog knew that boys our age could "outrun" (that might be less than accurate..) rabbits in a freshly plowed field. That would have never dawned on me!

So, here we go...Take a gunny sack...you described "gunny sacks" in an earlier story, Gary! Take a gunny sack into the plowed field and scare up a rabbit. Chase it, as best you can, and most likely, you will find that the chase goes fairly well, in your favor! Surprised?...I was!

Actually, "outrunning" the rabbit is more of an illusion, created when the rabbit finds so many big clods to hide under, he just gives up and hides! It takes only amateur stealth to sneak up on the Clod of Refuge, and a lightning-fast grab yields a caught bunny! Next, put the bunny in the gunny! Done deal! 

Why did we do that?

Well, Boog wanted his little dog to be a rabbit dog. As I recall, the pup was a weenie dog...Dash Hound...Dachshund! Once back at home with a bag-o'-bunnies, we released them one at a time, to properly train that little dog! The picture in my mind is one of a grateful rabbit, enjoying its freedom, while the pup focused its curiosity on the mysterious gunny sack, oblivious to the chase.

I have no idea whether modern rabbits behave the same way, today, in a plowed field. In fact, we see fewer plowed fields, with newer no-till practices in farming. 


So what do you learn in the Osage?

• You really are not as quick as you think nor as slow as you think
• All your work should be enjoyed and we should all be thankful for work
• Pride is restored when a man works not when a man gets paid to not work

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com