On February 28th, the Lycoming County Beagle Club held its annual Rabbit Hunt. The weather finally broke, giving us a reprieve from bone-chilling cold and snow. With warm weather and a bit of a breeze, my dad and I were able to get the two beagles, Trigger and Radar, out for a run. It didn’t take long before Trigger bounced a Rabbit out that ran to the field below. We stood along the fence, overlooking the pasture, and waited for the rabbit to return. Radar bounced another out from along the fence. I told my dad to keep his eyes open. I looked to my left as Dad raised his gun. The gun cracked, once, twice. He thought he rolled him. I walked forward to check and stood along the fence, and the rabbit had doubled back. I pulled up and fired. After handing my dad my gun, I crossed the barbed wire fence and retrieved the rabbit. With a rabbit in the game bag, we leashed up the dogs, and it was time to “hole up” ourselves at the clubhouse and share in the camaraderie and stories of others.
The Beagle Club’s kitchen staff, including President Steve Daugherty, Tyler Daugherty, Joe Sanders, and Denny McFadden, were all busy preparing the meal for the hunters. The smell of chili, chicken corn soup, and burgers filled the clubhouse with a cozy aroma.
Dave Johnson and Dave Hughes were on hand to weigh the rabbits entered from 3-5 p.m. My rabbit weighed in at 2.57lbs. Including yours truly, there were 37 hunters this year, including the 6 youth hunters who participated, all of whom submitted a rabbit for weigh-in.
Of the Adult hunters, the 1st for the heaviest rabbit was won by Jake Burgess with 2.66lbs. 2nd heaviest went to Paul Vandyke with 2.59lbs. The 3rd-heaviest rabbit weighed 2.58 lbs and went to Mark Burgess.
Our youth winners were Parker Vandyke for the heaviest rabbit with 2.64 lbs. The 2nd heaviest rabbit was awarded to Mitch Johnson with 2.48 lbs. Finally, the third-heaviest rabbit was submitted by Tobyn Libby at 2.41 lbs.
There were 23 Rabbits harvested for a combined total of 50.66 lbs and an average weight of 2.2 lbs.
I would like to thank the Event Committee and all the members who helped with the hunt. A special thank you to all those who donated food. It was greatly appreciated. Finally, thank you to all those who participated. Your participation and support are why we continue to do this so that the youth hunters of today can pass on this living tradition to the next generation of Beaglers and Rabbit Hunters.
If you have an AKC-registered Beagle and are interested in joining us or learning more, please contact Steve Daugherty at 570-916-6849.
