The kid stood and shivered in the snow. There wasn’t much of it on the ground, just enough to get some on the toes of his cheap boots. This made it feel even colder and seemed to freeze his feet.
He was posted on an opening in a 40-acre field of brush, briars and sumac thickets. In other words, perfect cottontail rabbit territory.
(READ MORE: Chasing rabbits and memories down the trail)
To make it even better, the farmer who owned this land had tried and then given up on clearing it, leaving a series of brush piles. This, of course, drew the rabbits like bears to honey.
The strategy was simple: The kid and the dog attacked the brush pile, hoping to flush the hiding rabbit. His uncle stood to one side, ready to take a shot. The kid wasn’t yet entrusted with bagging a rabbit on the jump. Instead, he would pounce on the brush pile while Biscuit, the dog, watched eagerly to give chase.