Not the biggest...

[mathias]

but it sure was a fun day, the dog belongs to my hunting buddy and she worked whit the hare for about 1,5 h before it came out where i stood looks like it will bee our last hunt for the season due to snow, but it was a great ending ;D



Merry Xmas
Mathias

[Gary @ R&G]

Looks good Mathias. What other species do you hunt in Sverige?

I was lucky enough to visit Stockholm with a good friend who works as an Polis officer there. His name was Mathias also. We worked together in Pristina Kosovo.

[mathias]

For me the moose hunting takes up most of my time but i try to hunt the smaller game as much as as i can. Something that is great fun is the hunt for the black grouse and the capercaillie and in the spring there is beaver to hunt. And then you have Red fox, badger and roe deer. Glad to hear you liked Stockholm.
Mathias

[derekr]

That's a good looking Beagle and a LARGE rabbit.
Congratulations

[akray]

Mathias, is that a snowshoe hare or varying hare? In southwest Alaska they have arctic hares that are much larger than the snowshoe hares we have here in the interior, but I've never seen one before.

[mathias]

Yes a think it is a snowshoe hare, i tried looking it up in my dictionary to see what it was called in English but had no luck. they are called "forest hare" in Sweden
Mathias

[akray]

Whatever the name they are fun to hunt. My friend Stan and I used to use our Benjamin 342 air rifles to hunt snowshoe hares with. They would usually kill the animal with one shot in the head. My preferred armament became the Winchester 9422M with its combination of power and accuracy. Stan once killed a hare with my brother's 9422M by shooting through a small spruce tree that was about 5" across at the base. I'm not sure he intended to, but that's what happened. Any quality 22 rifle works fine for hunting them. I've shot them with shotguns before too, but the pellets can be troublesome for eating. I wish they were as fun to eat as they are to shoot.

[dale53]

Mathias;
THAT is a nice rabbit! Seeing it brings back old memories:

I used to bird hunt in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for "Pats" (we call them grouse in Ohio(:>)). I always carried a handgun (as did a couple of my hunting buddies) for snow shoe hares. Grouse season opened in September before the snows. When I kicked up a hare, I would place my shotgun between my legs, draw my revolver (carried cross draw to avoid interference with my shot gun). The hares would typically run about 25 yards, then sit down momentarily to see what we were doing. I would follow them with the revolver and when they sat down (you only had two or three seconds before they took off again) I would take the "high percentage shot" and shoot them through the ribs. No meat damage and instant stop.

I have used a variety of handguns on rabbits from .44's to .32's. A .32 or .38 wadcutter does just fine and the guns are light and carry well. It is a VERY sporting way to hunt rabbits whether cottontails or snow shoe hares.

FWIW
Dale53

[hairy]

Man, That is a big rabbit! I wish we had some of those here in Southern Minnesota. It would feed a family of four.

[maxcactus]

Mathias, what do you have slung over your shoulder? The barrel makes it appear to be an 8-bore shotgun! Just huge.

Max.

[mathias]

Hi Max

I guess it´s true that the camera adds a few pounds because what i have slung over my shoulder is an old 12 guage made by Husquarna and left to me by my now late grandpa
Mathias

[wickerbill]

Agood beagle is a hard thing to beat.
Bill