February Cottontails

Last week in northwest Ohio a bitter cold snap and heavy snow had the cottontails hunkering down and waiting for a break in the weather. That break came Saturday and Sunday as the wind turned strong out of the south and temperatures rose near 50.



I teamed up with Patrick Elkins II. and a pair of his finest beagles.
I selected a 400 yard stretch of gully and brush where an over abundance of foraging cottontails were eating the bark around the bottom of the trees.

Although temperatures were above freezing, the snow was still deep and made walking for me a little difficult. I posted up above the gully and Patrick cut loose the dogs. I barely got a shell in my old double barrel shotgun before the dogs were singing and the cottontails were running. Thirty minutes and a half dozen shots later, We had 5 rabbits in the bag.

If you have never hunted Cottontails with a dog you need to give it a shot.

Pat Elkins II. February 12th 2011

Tell me about your best Cottontail Hunt. Post up your comment or E-mail me at brad.proxmire@yahoo.com