This was not the weekend to go Rabbit hunting

[Mark W.]

Holy crap batman it was cold. We left Friday about 11 would have made it over Santiam pass just fine without chains but of course heading up the hill from Santiam Juction the motor home in front of us slammed on his brakes and I had no where to go but on to the chain up shoulder and once there couldn't get traction to return to the traffic lane. SO on to Ana Lake RV park our head quarters for what was to be 2 full days of Jack Rabbit hunting. And oh man was it cold. 20° with intermittent 25mph winds and not a tree in sight so. camp got hit with everything. Made dinner set up the tent. Found out the cots wouldn't fit in the tent (had been raining here to much to try that out at home) so sleeping bags on the hard ground.

Went over to where they allowed fires to be built quickly got a nice roaring fire going and had to sit almost on the edge of it to get even a little warmth. Finally gave up about 10pm to crawl in the bags and get maybe 2 hours of sleep Wake up at 4.30AM try to get out of the new Mummy bag and get a frecking Leg cramp!!! That was fun. Go pee (they have very nice toilet and shower at the camp) back into the bag to try to get some more sleep maybe another hour and its time to get up. Water jug is a 7 gallon block of ICE. We decide to pack up pay up and head out one of the other campers who was a local but staying there as their home water system had frozen. Came over and gave us coffee.

So all packed up we run to the little cafe in Silver Lake and have a great breakfast and chat with the gals working there. Decide t head towards Christmas Valley and on to Wagontire looping back to Bend. All the time looking for BLM land to hunt. We stop on the road to the huge back scatter radar installation and get set up to walk some sage brush. And within 200 yards of the truck realize the area is crap for Rabbits the top inch of sand is wet so we head back to the truck and decide the weekend is a bust we are about 3 weeks to early. The local guy pretty much said the same thing this year was just wetter and colder later then years past.

As we are putting the guns away I realize the set of keys for my Willys Jeep aren't in my pocket. DANG IT so we back track to the RV camp figuring they much have come out of the tent there when getting dressed. NOPE and we then keys with every place we stopped in the way and no one had turned in any keys. Pretty sure they left up on the pass putting on chains. OH well I have duplicates of them all.

Anyway Pretty sure this old man is done with tent on the ground camping. And I ain't going anywhere until the weatherman says at least 40 degrees during the day. It never broke freezing while we were there.

Did see a herd of Mulies about 30 strong when we came over Picture Rock pass that was cool.
My son saw one Rabbit in the middle of some farm field where it could not be hunted. That was it.

OH well more incentive to get to work on the little off road travel trailer to tow behind the Willys jeep.

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[oremike]

Any day spent outside is better than 10 days spent inside.

 

[JuglansRegia]

That almost sounds like an adventure. I used to sleep on the ground while camping, then l got smart and bought an air mattress.

 

[Unicykle]

Love that area. I haven't been down there since we had the big fires a few years ago and it's on my list to hit in the next couple months. It's the hard trips that make the most memories anyway.

 

[Longwalkhome]

March is always too cold for me to hunt in Central Oregon, high mountain desert with blowing wind and snow flurries.

Too old for that.

 

[gmerkt]

Anyway Pretty sure this old man is done with tent on the ground camping. And I ain't going anywhere until the weatherman says at least 40 degrees during the day. It never broke freezing while we were there.

What took you so long to come to your senses??! I seriously agree with your decision. These days, I won't even leave my place if its drizzling.

 

[ma96782]

Aloha, Mark

 

[Mark W.]

That almost sounds like an adventure. I used to sleep on the ground while camping, then l got smart and bought an air mattress.

As would we had we not thought the cots would have fit. Had it not been pissing down rain here I might have checked to see if they fit. But alas.

 

[WillametteWill]

 

[Stomper]

View attachment 1391563

Aloha, Mark

The only thing missing from Mark's rabbit hunting misadventure is making a wrong turn in Albuquerque!

 

[osprey]

Suffering Succotash!

 

[P7M13]

I'm down on my daughter's farm in Texas, and there's 6-10, maybe more, here on her place.
I turn to her and ask, "have you shot that 22 I gave you yet?"
A challenge for her for another day.

Went rabbit hunting in Pocatello this time ~5 years ago. It looked like coyotes had wiped out the population. There was no sign whatsoever.

 

[Mikej]

Went rabbit hunting in Pocatello this time ~5 years ago. It looked like coyotes had wiped out the population. There was no sign whatsoever.

Do you remember many years ago, over 40 I think, (were you even old enough?) when Southern Idaho was over ran with jack rabbits? I lived in Utah then. There were so many of them in places that they were rounding them up and clubbing them. I remember wanting to go up and hunt them with .22s. I didn't have the means at the time. Even back then I seem to remember an outcry from the bunny-hugger types.

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

16 degrees out this morning. I've camped in colder, but it's not something I'm keen to do again any time soon!

 

[RVTECH]

Shoulda gave me a call and stopped by and said hi!

I'm planning on chasing some jackass rabbits as well but I'm waiting on at least sunny & 50s !

 

[RVTECH]

16 degrees out this morning.

Beetcha by one degree here at Wickiup Junction! 17 for the low this morning but up to a whopping 22 now!

 

[kmk1012]

I'm planning on heading through that way about the third week in April with a couple friends. Hope it picks up as we've been skunked the last few times over.

 

[bionic knees]

sage rat and jack populations have been low for several years in central Oregon, "the places I have been looking anyway" went 5 times last spring looking around haystack res, over to grey butte and grizzly butte. didn't see a one of either. only sage rat I saw was in a freshly worked field out of Prineville.

 

[P7M13]

Do you remember many years ago, over 40 I think, (were you even old enough?) when Southern Idaho was over ran with jack rabbits? I lived in Utah then. There were so many of them in places that they were rounding them up and clubbing them. I remember wanting to go up and hunt them with .22s. I didn't have the means at the time. Even back then I seem to remember an outcry from the bunny-hugger types.

I was there in 1984, but we were there as geologists, not looking to hunt them.

 

[Capn Jack]

I was stationed at Kingsley Field in '62. A friend and I would would fill our pockets with cartridges, (30-06 , Sierra 110gr Hp ) and hunt Jacks around the base of Stukel Mt. Whomever got the least # of kills had to buy dinner in town. In later years I used to hunt my uncle's place along the Lost River Canal for Digger squirrels. Times were great, there was never a shortage of targets, or places to hunt. The only place in my life where I've ever seen signs that said, "Hunters Welcome".