“How in the world did you miss that rabbit?”
I glanced over at Dave, who was about 40 yards away in a brier thicket. He asked this in amazement (hey, I was surprised, too) that I had missed a shot, with a shotgun, that was seemingly a “gimme” on a cottontail rabbit.
I probably mumbled something like “I don’t have a clue” and then wandered away in the brush-and-brier-choked clearing we were in. Tim, our other hunting partner, added no words to this scene, but his stoic stare said it all.
Even though all this happened more than 50 years ago, something has stayed with me even more than the chiding of my hunting buddies and the sting of wading through an ocean of greenbriers: All of this, small game hunting, is a heck of a lot of fun.
(READ MORE: Bushytails and cottontails will keep you on the hunting trail)
How so? It just is.
Now that is not explaining it very well, so let me try.
More than twice you have heard me say that once upon a time almost all hunters got their early exposure and training on how to be a hunter in the small game woods. Rabbits, squirrels, ruffed grouse, and maybe even waterfowl like wood ducks and mallards were all on the menu.
(READ MORE: Squirrels may be small game, but they’re a big deal for hunting)
Back in the day, 50 years ago and more, the deer and turkey populations were nowhere near what they would become. Some of us can remember when just seeing a deer track in your neck of the woods was a big deal. If you saw a whole live deer, it would be discussed for weeks at the hardware store and barber shop.
If you actually killed a deer during the season (if your state had one), you would no doubt be a legend as a hunter and could probably run for any office in local politics and be a shoo-in winner.
Hunters later moved from concentrating on small game to focusing on deer and turkeys. Actually, I am going to say it was mainly deer that contributed to the fall of small game hunter numbers. Turkey hunting in most states has become a springtime endeavor. While we once had a lot more fall hunters for turkeys, with the meteoric rise in the popularity of spring turkey hunting, the fall season fell by the wayside.
More is the pity.
If you get where I am going in this rambling, as the deer population rose, hunters quickly moved on to something bigger and more appealing. Deer, especially big deer.
The outdoors media had no small part in all this. Starting in the 1980s, hunting TV shows soon became enamored with the hunting of big whitetail bucks. The hunting population quickly went for this as outdoors programs targeting big bucks were very popular.
Now let me just pause here to say I don’t really have a big problem with all this. Anything in the media that shows hunting in a good, ethical light is a good thing, I think. While I may think some of us have gone a little overboard with the obsession over big deer horns (OK, antlers), again, if a program is promoting hunting and getting people in the woods, I’m all for it.
So perhaps now it is easier for you to see how the expanding deer numbers lured many hunters away from their roots, that is, small game hunting.
I hope you don’t think I have painted a dismal picture here. There are signs that the numbers of small game hunters may experience a resurgence. Wouldn’t that be nice?
New hunters and those introducing young hunters to the hunting world quickly find that small game hunting has many advantages. Among them are easy access to hunting land (both public and private), a chance for many more opportunities with game (much more than sitting for days in a tree stand looking for that big buck), and no need for a lot of expensive equipment.
Getting back to your roots is always a good thing.
“Guns & Cornbread” is written by Larry Case, who lives in Fayette County, W.Va. You can write to him at larryocase3@gmail.com.