Snowshoe hares

[RunningBear]

Has anyone done any hunting of Snowshoe hares up in Washington?Do you have any loads for a 32.cal rifle on the little buggers.Runningbear.

 

[cayugad]

We hunt them in Northern Wisconsin. We always wait until after the second hard frost. They are very good to eat actually.

I used to shoot them with a .50 & .54 caliber using roundball and shoot only for the head when they were sitting. Then I got a .44 caliber Pietta 1858 New Army revolvers. So I throw on some snowshoes and hunt with that. 25 grains of 3f and a .451 roundball. A great sport to say the least.

Last winter because of a knee injury suffered during deer season, I was unable to snowshoe at all so they were safe.

Next winter will be with the smoothbore .62 caliber.

 

[Rebel]

Your .32 with 25-30 grs of 3f powder or Pyrodex P if it is a caplock, if those loads are accurate should work well for them.

 

[BrownBear]

Lots of snowshoes here, depending upon the point in the abundance cycle. In fact, snowshoes are about our only small game.

I agree about the eating. Their meat is slightly darker than the cottontails I grew up on- about like the thigh meat on a chicken or turkey. Just as sweet, too. Some of the big old timers need long cooks, but the youngsters are tender as cottontail, too.

I'll have to try those loads Rebel, just cuzz. I've been using 20 grains of pyrodex P in my Crocket 32, and it's a tack driver. Splatters snowshoe heads real nice, too. For 36 caliber I use 25 grains of P, and for my 54 GPR I use 30 grains.

 

[leadball]

Where in Northern Wisc are you finding hares? I grew up in Northern Minnesota and they had alot of hares. Here, I find only cottontails and not that many of them.

 

[cayugad]

In the Northern end of the Chequamegon/Nicolet National Forest the snowshoes are thick. I have seen very few cottontail rabbits actually, although my friends have been spotting a few in the past years. Some winters I can look out in the yard and count four or more shoes just near the house. They sure are pretty in their pure white coats.

You take a walk on shoes into my cedar/balsam marsh and they are all over the place in there. I shoot them like I said after the second hard frost and then stop in February because they start to taste funny from eating too much bark, as it was explained to me.

Last winter of course due to a knee injury I could not hunt. My friends told me that the wolves in the area have really cut the population of hares and squirrels down a lot. Yet I was seeing them all bow season on the stands. I've only seen a few this spring out in the lawn.. So time will tell.

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. BrownBear,
We (in our area) have been at the low end of the cycle for quite some time now. Should have started to bounce back two years ago. This spring (all three days of it) has shown a slight increase in numbers but the coyotes (season closed now) are moving back into the area. DANG IT!
My hunting pardner and I like to use BP pistols. Lot of fun and quite the challenge; no better than I shoot. The young ones (feeding on green grass, spring and early summer) don't taste toooo bad. :hmm:
Best Wishes

 

[leadball]

Well, I guess a trip this winter to the national forest is in order. Grouse were down this past fall in their cycle but I have been hearing more drumming this spring than last. Also, a lot more bugs this spring than last. But yeah, I have not seen a single hare since moving to Wisconsin. There are a few cottontails but I see more cottontails when I go past Danbury or Siren

 

[Rebel]

Brownbear, the 20 gr load you are using will work fine as long as you are getting good accuracy. My Crockett wasn't to picky about powder charges. I could shoot from 20-40 grs with pretty good accuracy. I killed a coyote with the 40 gr load one time at a 164 paces. Two of us paced it off and figured he was between 125-150 yds away. I shot him offhand and hit him right in the ear. He went down and never moved. Couldn't do it again in a million shots most likely, but that little .32 rd. ball has more power than people give it credit for.

 

[BrownBear]

Hey Reb,

Your coyote shot reminds me of one I made on a running coyote with a CF rifle a couple of years ago. He was going flat out at a couple of hundred yards, and I swung through and led for a lung shot. My buds were mightily impressed when he rolled in a cloud of dust- even more so when we found I had taken the top of his head off. I didn't tell them where I was aiming, and folks are still telling stories about my 200 yard head shot on a flat out coyote. ::

Thanks for the feedback on the Crocket. Traditions recommended 20 grains as an "accuracy" load, and shooting gave me no reason to try anything else. Faster might be real entertaining.

Speaking of entertaining, I've got a mould that drops a .3135 85-grain round nose with wheelweights, so it would probably come in at around .315 and slightly heavier with pure lead. Anyone have experience or thoughts on using that as a "conical" in the Crocket?

Hey Windwalker. The difference in eating snowshoes here and there probably depend a lot on diet. We've got lots of grassland and comparatively little snow. Except in the hardest winters and early spring they almost never eat the spruce trees. But when they do, my hunting season is OVER. Sounds like your window of good browse is a lot narrower than ours.

 

[Rebel]

I tried some .32 cal. Maxi Ball in mine. They shot pretty good out of it. Might be worth trying some out.

 

[BrownBear]

Thanks Reb,

One of my favorite sports is offhand shooting at long range- 400 to 500 yards- with 22 rimfire rifles. Teaches you a whole bunch about wind and how small a target is worth your time. Five-gallon paint buckets are about right on good days. More like mortar or artillery fire. Might be kinda fun with the little Crocket and a mini, simply to get "groups" down below a couple of feet. With round ball at that range, I'm afraid we'd have trouble hitting 55-gallon drums consistently.

 

[Rebel]

Yea, 400-500 yds is kinda stretchin' the range on a .32 cal for sure. Actually, it is stretchin' it for any cal. for me. Heck, i don't shoot at anything that far away with a scoped centefire. ::

 

[cayugad]

Well, I guess a trip this winter to the national forest is in order. Grouse were down this past fall in their cycle but I have been hearing more drumming this spring than last. Also, a lot more bugs this spring than last. But yeah, I have not seen a single hare since moving to Wisconsin. There are a few cottontails but I see more cottontails when I go past Danbury or Siren

Grouse were way down last year. Normally, bow hunting I see a lot of them. It's not uncommon to see grouse every day around the house. But this winter they were just not there. I would see three or four sometimes but nothing like in past years. I left them for seed.

This spring when I was Redhorse fishing the Chippewa River I sure heard a lot of drumming. I also spooked a few when cutting wood this spring so maybe the grouse are on their cycle up again. And you're sure right about the bugs.. the mosquitoes, knats, black flies and sand flies are down right nasty this year.

I personally think the cottontails are on the increase in this area. That is if the predators don't get them all.

 

[leadball]

I also see that there are less zone T seasons than last year. So does that mean i will have to apply for a doe permit like the days of yore even though I only will be hunting the Muzzleloader season? ::

 

[cayugad]

I also see that there are less zone T seasons than last year. So does that mean i will have to apply for a doe permit like the days of yore even though I only will be hunting the Muzzleloader season? ::

I talked to a warden the other day when fishing. He never mentioned less T-zones but said it looked like the earn a buck might be a thing of the past. I guess there were a lot of very angry hunters out there last year. Some were forced to shoot a bambi when all they wanted was one deer.

And I saw two brown snowshoes out in the lawn (7:00 am) eating this morning... :thumbsup:

 

[Keith]

I didn't realize coyotes had extended their range up to Alaska. Are they widespread or limited to southern areas? I understand wolves kill them on sight, might limit their range your way, just a guess though. :hmm:

A conical might be a real interseting varmint load for coyotes and ground hogs, especially at longer ranges.

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. Keith,
Coyotes are VERY plentiful here in the interior. And they are smart! Have observed, on one occasion, them hunting in a pack while calling to one another. They LOVE household pets!
One neighbor takes from 20 to 50 every year and hasn't made a dent in the local population.
Best Wishes