Wascally Wabbits

     This is the warmest December I can remember in ages, but I'm not complaining and neither are the dogs.  Pretty weather means we are more likely to go rabbit hunting.

Last Saturday was perfect.  The temperatures were in the low 60's, the sun was high in the sky and we were high on the mountain.

Joe took Luke, Rex and Cooper out on leads to start with.

 When he got to the briar patches where ol' Brer Rabbit likes to hang out, he let the dogs go and they went to work....noses to the ground, tails flagging the air.  Joe tossed rocks into the briars and hit around with sticks to try to flush out any rabbits that might be hiding, but neither he nor the dogs could find one.

 Soon, we were joined by Scott and Jen.

 We all climbed to the top of the hill and the dogs hit on a trail, following it into the woods.  Unfortunately, it was not a rabbit trail.

The dogs were hot after a deer.  We called them for a while, then we sat down to wait.  On such a pretty day, we were happy to have an excuse to just enjoy the view of our farm and the surrounding hills.

Finally, our faithful Luke returned and the other dogs weren't  far behind.  We gathered them up and drove to a different, flatter field.

Rex jumped a rabbit shortly after we arrived.  In rabbit hunting, once a rabbit is running, you wait for it to circle back around.  Joe found a comfortable seat....

and I entertained myself by taking a selfie...proof that I, too, was rabbit hunting.

Jen took Cooper on lead across the field where Rex disappeared, but by the time they got there, the wascally wabbit had escaped..  The dogs lost his trail so we all headed home.  

What a beautiful way to spend a sunny December day.