Hey guys, if any of you who live near me (Thompsontown) would be interested in getting together for a rabbit hunt with our bows, let's plan a day. Deer season is over, now I hunt rabbits. I have two rabbit dogs. The one is an excellent dog, fast paced, and will run all day long the other is decent, regardless we killed 5 in 2 hrs the Saturday after thanksgiving, that was with shotguns tho. I don't have too much planned that I know of. Maybe Feb 3? I Have a couple good places to hunt.

That sounds like it would be a fun day Brian

Brian, If I was a little closer and I felt better, I'd be the first person there. I love rabbit hunting and beagles and it would be nice to meet you and some of the other people here. It sounds like a great time. Please take lots of pictures.

We do not use dogs. We do hunt hard in huge sage flats and around ranch haystacks. Went this morning for an hour or so. Just cottontails today-no jacks got any where near an arrow

Nice looking beagles Brian and they obviously know their stuff.

Nice offer a little far for me though.Our club use to put on an annual rabbit hunt,not many interested.So it is no longer held,it was good hunt.Now I do it on my own without dogs much harder and not as enjoyable.

Bunnie with a front stuffing pistol...cool! I have a .45 cal just like that. Last rabbit I shot with black powder was with a Colt Walker .44 cap and ball. Heavy bugger to haul around tho!

Thanks guys, will do, offer stands. If body can go is fine, ill go& take pics!

I've never done it, but might be worth a try. Sounds fun! I'll get back to you a little closer to the date.

Steve

Brian, looks like fun, thank you for the offer. But a bit too far for me too. Also, considering what I have available just outside my garage, I might try it here. :) This is what I saw when I opened the front garage door this morning.

Sounds good Steve

Then I went out the back door, and saw that I have competition. Coyote walked right across our patio looking for the bunnies I'll bet.

A little too close to the house trapper!

Nice rabbit harvest. I wish I was closer. Great looking hunting rig, beagles, very generous offer. Dave

'Haven, that bunny hunt sounds like fun. I'm abut 1 1/2 hrs from you and am seriously considering it. I will get with you. Thanks Shick

I sure wish I could join you, nothing like hearing a Beagle baying on a rabbit.

Looks like you-all had a great time.

Will Tell, if you want to hear beagles I'll send my three to visit. I know my neighbors get tired of hearing them:).

Steve

Brian, would you be willing to haul me around on a sled? I have my own sled and only weigh one eighty. Lol

I don't know bob, I'm 165, you got me beat ha!

Nice shooting! Are you sure that pistol is considered a legal hunting arm in Pennsylvania? Don't want to see you get in trouble.

Pistols are ok in Pa. I sent op a Pm. Blue Ridge club is having a rabbit hunt in next week or so. It's in Wantage NJ. Great group of guys. Nice hounds shadehaven

Sounds like fun Brian! I might be able to go. What time and Where would we meet?

wish I was closer

squirrels and rabbits are scarce around here due to the hawk population this year.

Bowguy, I know pistols are OK to hunt with. But the PA Game Commission has established legal arms and ammo to hunt with and the pistol pictured above is not a legal arm to hunt small game with. Please read your hunting digest before posting yourself breaking the law. If this muzzleloader was legal, I would be hunting with my .45 percussion..or my 1860 colt .44 revolver but blackpowder revolvers are also illegal to hunt with also. The only legal picture shown above is the one with the bow. So before you post a picture of yourself breaking the law, please read your Pennsylvania hunting and trapping digest..even though these pistols have never been legal for small game in PA unless it was .40 cal. or less. 50 cal. and up for big game.. Read it yourself : Pennsylvania Legal Small Game Arms Muzzleloading rifles and handguns 40-caliber or less, and shotguns 10-gauge or less; and 5) long, recurve and compound bows and arrows, and crossbows. Single-projectile ammunition, or fine shot pellets no larger than No. 4 lead, bismuth-tin, or tungsten-iron, or other approved non-toxic shot or No. 2 steel.

Well we can figure a morning hunt or afternoon, I prefer mornings. We can see who all is coming and go from there, maybe my house and then go to hunting location from there?

Man I wish I lived closer! That looks like a blast,and the perfect cure for the cabin fever I have had. Good luck on the upcoming bunny hunt!

Vince, first off you must have lots of time of you can sit and type assuming I broke the law. I know the law, and I read the digest, most guys laugh at me cuz I read the digest annually. I know it well. Why are you nit pickin before you know? It was a legal kill with a shot loaded pistol smaller than 10 ga.

It is a muzzleloader. It loads from the...Muzzle! It is not legal. Just because you put birdshot in it and call it a shotgun, still not legal. It is still a .45 cal. CVA black powder pistol no matter how you look at it, which is not legal to hunt with. You must have skipped over the legal arms section in your digest. Go ahead and get stopped by a Game Warden once with your rifled barreled .45 black powder pistol with birdshot and see how far that goes! You should be thanking me before you get yourself in trouble. Call the Pennsylvania Game Commission yourself, or email them, and ask them if your pistol is legal to hunt with, let me know how that goes.

You better check your laws yourself nessajon...perfectly legal to load a muzzleloader with shot and small game hunt. Haven't you ever heard of a smoothbore or fowler? 62 caliber can shoot either a round ball or shot.

The law IS 40 cal or less for a single lead projectile, and no greater shot size than 10 gauge.

When I did hunt with a shotgun, rabbit hunting with a good beagle topped everything else. If I lived nearby, I'd definitely attend.

However, after all the license fees I've spent in NJ, I can't really justify a non-resident license for just a day.

You will have fun.

Sweet, does that mean I can load up my cap and ball revolver with shot and hunt small game?!!

I guess you theoretically could, it would be hard on the rifling though I wouldn't.

I also wouldn't get caught with any .44 cal balls for sure. Plus you couldn't get much shot stuffed in a cap and ball revolver, it would probably be all but worthless.

Sounds like a smoothbore pistol loaded with shot is in the gray area of the law. Pistol-yes. Shotgun-yes,because it's a smooth bore loaded with shot. I'd say give the Game Commission a call and ask. Problem solved. No sense getting into pissinging match.

Pissing not pissinging. Spell check can be a hassle.

I give up haha.

If i were within reasonable driving distance I'd love to join ya. I have two 5-month old beagles. Their parents were hunting dogs, guess I'll find out about them soon.

Hooefully next year!

Nice looking pups, Charlie.

Nessajon I thought you could use a pistol in Pa. If I'm wrong it's not be the first. Got a short term memory thing going on so you could def be right. Used to hunt Pa now it's NJ/NY. I did not post any pics btw and the poster stated not which state that pic was taken in either so I'd say the options are open. I remember friends of mine from Pa loading boxes of dogs and pistols to go hunt somewhere. I'd surely look at legal arms/ammunition no matter where I went and your advice is good

I don’t live too far away, complete noobie to shooting with a recurve but would love to come hang out if I was a bit more ready... next year!!

Think you're the one who read wrong Nessajon. Seems clear any pistols under .22 caliber and any muzzleloading pistol below .40 cal

Cmf_3, get em out and get them in some rabbits, best to start early even if they don't show interest. It'll take over if the got it.

' ...never been legal for small game in PA unless it was .40 cal. or less. 50 cal. and up for big game' Begs the question, 'Why would any in PA ever want to own a .45 cal...?' :)

So far its Shick, bushytail and I. Anybody else able to go? Shade mt or scs? We can have 6 total

Is it gonna be a morning Hunt? Morning or afternoon is oK. Morning would be better though.

I was waiting to see what evolved here in the next week or two.

Right now any warm day's we get I try and work (except Sun) I have a fairly big block job I'm working on, been tough getting it done, next week looks good for work so I may well be free the 3rd.

One thing good about this cold is I'm getting some squirrel hunting done.

Living up here in Northern Ontario, I'm obviously too far to go but it sounds like it would be a great time.

PS.....I love that picture of you and the muzzle loader pistol. That sure is a nice piece.

Have fun on the rabbit hunt!

Hey thanks! ^ Yea bushytail, was thinking of starting at 9. Sick had 60 miles to drive so wee should give him time by starting at 9.

Shade mt, I enjoy late season small game. I got a rabbit yesterday at 4 paces with a .410 pistol while filming it all with my left hand! I will film this trad bumn't hunt. Should be a great time. I will have 2 or 3 properties lined up so we won't run out of ground. We can quit the hunt whenever you fellas are ready to quit. Doesn't matter

Sounds good. We'll meet Where? Gas Station? Restaurant parking lot?

Your filming it? LOL....I'll be the guy hiding over there behind a tree, (kidding). I should know next week depending on how work goes.

I figured we would meet at my house and go from there. It's all local spots. As far as filming, i don't have to but i thought it would be fun to film.

I was only kidding Brian. Film it and record it. It's nice to be able to look back at pictures and videos.

Sadly I have really gotten away from filming or taking pics. I used to a lot. Not sure what happened. I finally did manage to find time to hunt this year. killed a buck and a doe, didn't get one single pic.

Keep taking pics and recording your hunts. I will regret the ones I haven't someday I'm sure

Feb 3rd? As of now, count me in.

Steve

Sure wish I lived closer. I spent a couple hours walking some public land in search of rabbits yesterday and didn't see a thing. Worse, the sign isn't very encouraging...few rabbit tracks and lots of coyote and fox tracks.

Wish I could make it Brian. My nephew is getting married that day. Maybe we could go another time. Have fun and post pics and videos. Jim

Jim! We can do that sometime. Steve sounds good. Plan on meeting here at 9 am. 179 Metz rd thompsontown 17094

MGF, the rabbits tend to make cycles. We had a hard time finding any yesterday also. Did get two.

Sounds great!

Today I got permission for one of the best places I've rabbit before. I told him there will be 6 of us, with bows. He said we were more than welcome.

That sounds great Brian! The way I've been shooting lately, i need to see a lot of bunnys to shoot at. :^)

This sounds like fun!

Sins like its Dennis and Harold. Maybe Steve Aldinger. We got room for 2 more fellas.

It's gonna be a cold bunny Hunt. Burrr!

It does sound like fun. Gonna be cold for sure. Great fun though. Best of luck to everyone!

Gear is all packed. We'll give it a 'go'. See ya's tomorrow. Shick

Have fun guys. Somebody take pics. Jim

Until 9 its to be in the mid twenties. Should be fine.

Well Shick and Bushytail were the only two who braved the 20 degree weather for bunnies this morning. Heres me, bushytail (Harold) and Shick (Dennis)

ok, I don't even have that picture on my computer......I have no clue how that happened.??? Random picture of limb bolts lol

First rabbit up, they trailed way out and around. Harold and I cut it off before it came the whole way back. It stopped perfect in the open at 18- 20 yards. Harold took a shot and barely missed. I quick sent a rubber blunt to it and smacked it hard. It flipped around, hair flew but the rabbit hobbled off. Wish I had a judo!

These two hit it off. Talking about bows built and stories from before I was a twinkle in my mothers eye. ( I was born in 1990) So they had more in common, but we had a great time getting to know each other!

This was the 2nd property we hit, had a couple up but everything but that first one seemed to hoe, quickly.

We called it quits at noon and headed home where my awesome wife made us salads and pizza. It was a good time but rather short. I wish we had better rabbit numbers this year, but at least we got into a few.

Brian,I enjoyed the hunt today and the good company with you and Dennis. I realy liked listening to your dog's barking and howling when they got on a hot trail. And your wife makes good pizza too! We'll have to do it again.

Brian,the 2nd property has waaay to many groundhog holes for those bunnys to get in. :^( Maybe we could do a traditional groundhog hunt this spring. :^)

Thought about ya this morning Brian. I was right in the middle of hanging a exterior door here at home, and thought.....I could be rabbit hunting instead.

I've been in the building trade all my life, started with my dad at 14 yrs old. I'll be perfectly honest...it just isn't all that fun anymore.

funny though, I've been hunting since age 12, and that's still fun.

was a good day to be out I'm sure.

CMF 3, nice looking hounds. They are ready for the woods at 5 months. I have my pups in the woods nosing around at 12 weeks. My male started at 4 months. My female Branko started at 5. My coon hounds, 5 months. Take those 2 out, let them see a rabbit and watch them go nuts.

CMF 3, nice looking hounds. They are ready for the woods at 5 months. I have my pups in the woods nosing around at 12 weeks. My male started at 4 months. My female Branko started at 5. My coon hounds, 5 months. Take those 2 out, let them see a rabbit and watch them go nuts.

Well, the Central Pa Beagles, Bunnies, and Bows is now history. I, we, had a grand time. Brian was a little down since we didn't get much shooting, but I had a helluva time. It's been over 50 years since I hunted beagles. Fine memories of me, my brother and my dad with our hounds. Brian was a super host and his wife Gabe makes one impressive pizza, and I've eaten enough to know a good pie. Had a grand tour of ShadeHaven bows workshop. Brian is one impressive bowyer for the little time he has been involved with them. He will only get better. My face took a good beating with the biting wind, but when you hear the dogs 'tongueing', you warm up quickly. Harold and I did quite a bit of BS'n about everything. I truly enjoyed his company. I'm glad to experience the hounds and to have made two new friends. I thank you both. Shick

looked fun, thanks for the hunt along

Shawn, i don't have ny license. I may someday.

A lady in church this morning saw my male in my pickup and told me she can't stand beagles, they never shut up. I told her that's what I like about them. The don't yap, they howl, music. She just looked at me.

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