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Page 2 The Hunt Continues

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A while later I saw another rabbit running at about thirty yards moving straight away from me. Thinking that I'd never catch up and there was no way to cut him off, I decided to climb up on top of the jeep and see if I could locate him. Once on my perch, he was easy to see sitting in a little clearing at about seventy five yards away in perfect profile, with his long ears standing up straight. Lying diagonally on the roof and setting my pack on top of the rack I was not very comfortable, but it provided a rock solid rest. I decided to take a chest shot and place the crosshair about 3-4" high, then pulled the trigger. The rabbit jumped and started to run while obviously favoring his front leg. I was not happy and fumbled while trying to slip another pellet into the chamber simultaneously keeping an eye on the rabbit to see where he was headed. But he didn't move more than ten yards before toppling over without further movement. No more rabbits turned up over the next hour or so, but I did spot the herd of wild donkeys that makes the desert valleys and plateaus their home. They were feeding about a quarter mile away so I thought I'd hike out to take a look. This is a game I?ve played for years, trying to get as close as possible before these shy animals thunder off.  About a hundred yards away from the lookout donkey, they either saw me or caught scent, but as if on signal they turned and went trotting away. Having lost the stalking game I turned around to start my walk back, and in doing so found myself looking right at a rabbit lying in a scrape twenty yards away. I must have walked right by without seeing him crouched down. I quickly snapped the gun up, acquired my sight and fired just as he was jumping up to run. In the tight confines of the scrape he had to move directly towards me, so as he popped up the headshot I was taking became a chest shot. It thudded into him and literally bowled him off his feet, again impressing me with how powerful this gun is. At the end of the morning I'd bagged three jackrabbits, which pleased me as a good result. I did make a couple of observation; first the rabbit numbers seemed lower than usual to me. I've hunted this spot for years and had never seen so few jacks on the ground. This may be a cyclic occurrence, but I found a number of .223 casings scattered about. I also found a donkey carcass and wondered if he'd been shot or died of natural causes. But the last thing that really struck me as odd is that typically I'll drop the rabbit carcasses along the side of the road, and often they?re gone if I drive by an hour later. There always gone by the next morning. But this trip I'd not heard any coyotes howling and calling had been nonproductive .... but stranger still, the rabbit I'd dropped the night before was still there in the morning. I'm not sure if somebody has been indiscriminately shooting out my hidden hotspot, or what has happened. I've kept this spot to myself and limit my hunts to two or three times a year, and then only with air rifles. I'm afraid that somebody is either wiping out the rabbit population or educating the rabbits to stay a hundred yards away from man, and if so my little airgunning hotspot is lost. I?ll be out again in a few months . and will see if this is a trend or just one of those weekends. That afternoon I drove a few hours and left the Mojave Desert for the Sonora Desert, where I was scheduled to stay at an exclusive golf resort for the last two days of my trip. I was not going to have any time to hunt, but was looking forward to the visit as I love this desert with its saguaro cactus dotting the verdant landscape. I always thought this was the most "alive" looking desert in North America. The first morning there I woke early and made a pot of coffee to take out on the veranda, planning to greet the new day. As I sat in the predawn calm I heard grunting and caught motion, finding myself looking down on a herd of javelina wandering out of the hills and through the hotel grounds. I watched for a half hour as these little desert boar walked along the halls and open walkways, up and down the stairs leading to villas, and through the parking lot. I'm glad I took pictures, because when I told my colleagues what I had seen, they made comments which led me to believe they thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. All in all I had a most enjoyable hunt, even though my time had been limited. One of the reasons I've shifted from big game hunting with my firearms towards small game hunting with air rifles is that these short hunts are much more practical for me these days. I have three kids ranging from 16 years to 4 years of age, and if I can get a couple of days away I want to spend it with my wife and children, because my pressing professional life does not provide much free time for weeks in the Rockies hunting elk or on the plains in pursuit of pronghorn. I?ve had those trips in the past, and will have time to do them again in a few years, but for now the ability to get out for a morning hunt when time opens up is just what the doctor ordered!

One of the things I enjoy about being in the field besides the hunt, is having the chance to see other animals than those I'm in pursuit of. I see these donkeys almost everytime out at this spot, and have been playinga cat and mouse game of sneaking up on a few generations of these wild donkeys. I was suprised to find these little desert pigs wandering the hallways of my hotel though!