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Another fantastic day with the rimfire yesterday in European Hare country!!! We managed to harvest these four magnificent monsters!! And the funny part was that not one of them stopped and looked back at 60-80 yards like “SOMEONE” told me they do!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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You guys are sure getting it done, good job
That is awesome, way to go
Man those are beautiful. Size of a small fawn. Haha
Good job guys, and great shooting, as always. Taking down Jacks @ full speed does not appear to be to difficult for ya. Congrats!
Do you have any thoughts on what helps maintain that local Jacks population? How is the coyotes # down there, any specific agricultural practices you are aware off, more fence rows, any other specifics you think may have made a difference?
Nicely done.
Hey G.S to answer your question, me and Jackhunter have had this conversation many times afield, it's simple the extermination of the coyote will bring back the European Hare population without any doubt!!!! Harsh words but it's reality. Will that happen unlikely but we disected this topic too many times and its 90% the yotes. So all you guys who chase yotes with dogs or call them in, keep pounding them, Jack hunter and I are very grateful!!!!!!!
With regards to the jack population I believe it’s the predators are the reason with the low European hare population and not sooo much habitat loss. There are many many areas where the ha it’s hasnt been altered or destroyed where the hare numbers are virtually zero. It’s the same problem everywhere in southern Ontario. There are areas in which I hunt that local farmers hunt coyote and kill sooo many every year and every year the coyote numbers are still rising. It’s a serious problem and threat to all the wildlife not only rabbits and hares. Everywhere I go I notice coyote tracks following the European hare tracks in the snow. So much pressure on them. However the European hare is a resilient animal that somehow manages to hold on it seems but it does need help. It’s like one member said in the previous thread. When he used to go hunting many years ago for the European hare he noticed that there were barely any coyotes around. People would shoot only a handful of coyotes per year. Nowadays groups of coyote hunters are killing over a hundred a year. It’s a problem
What's your favorite way of preparing them for the table... Looks like some great eating there. Organic fare for sure... Nice shooting and great photos...
Pete
Congrats guys
Hey Bo D, there are many recipes on how to prepare European Hare on the Internet, it all depends on your culinary preference. One of mine and Jackhunters favorite recipes is European Hare wine stew over a bed of pappardelle pasta!!!!! Don't ask me to tell you every detail on cooking it just Google it and Bon Appetite !!!!!!!!!!
Can't stop laughing. Took a shot in the dark, but will try and look it up. Thanks...
and do ya need the hen tooth recipe as well? lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Bo D
Thanks, I knew you guys should have had the same question. It makes sense for me, the yote # is too high for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by kings of winter
Good shooting guy's, congrats on a good day afield.
Tony
Great job boys. One of my favorite was jack slow cooked in sause then spread over a plate of polenta.
I agree with the coyotes but I often wondered if the avian predators might also be inpacking the populations. A very efficient hunter. A jack at full speed would do circles around a coyote but for birds it wouldn't be a problem. And hawk numbers seem to be growing every year. Do you think this could be a factor in there numbers?
Hey Big Gunner, no one will ever despute the fact that birds of prey will on occasion take an adult hare or its young. But nothing compares to what the yotes do and I will explain to you why. When the European Hare Doe gives birth to her leverts she takes them and hides them in different locations so that they have a better chance of survival against all different types of preators. This is were the yotes shine because there sense of smell is much more keen than our domestic dog by far. One by one the leverts don't stand a chance. Predators with out question are the number one factor for the European Hare demise in southern Ontario especially the wily coyote!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kings of winter
Also don't forget that farming practices have changed drastically, you used to find Jacks in fence/hedgerows, now that they are taken out to make larger fields to accommodate the bigger machinery, you can,t find jacks as that is where they lived primarily an along the edges of forests and very small bushy areas which are also gone.
Without habitat, you have no Jacks, and definitely the coyotes are very hard on them.
I think yotes have a lot to do with taking jacks. I started jack hunting 1965 and we did jack drives Perth, Huron, Wellington and Waterloo county sometimes 6 days a week during xmas break. We only saw fox until the late 60's when we saw our 1st yote in Gorrie area. Group that ran fox with dogs saw their 1st yote in 1968 in Elora area and I saw our 2nd yote in 1975 Stratford area. Yote tracks can be found in every concession we push now but I only saw one set of jack tracks this season. Never saw a jack last season. Best place to find and start a yote is next to a village not a swamp.
Hey jaycee Jackhunter and I have probably hunted every township in southwestern Ontario, and I assure you that 80% of the farms we hunt look the same like they did 25 years ago!!!!
I get what you are saying but people are also predators. The number of european hares that you take out reduces the number of european hares out there to reproduce.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackhunter
You guys talk about the MNR doing things to stop the decline but you can do that yourself.
If you believe it is the coyotes killing them all then stop hunting them and go out and hunt coyotes instead of hares.
Nice shooting and all but blaming the coyotes for reducing the population while you are shooting them is sort of messed up.
Fox....sorry but I think you are way off/out of line with your comment....There is no way that the dozen or two jacks these guys take a year are the cause in the decline in jack population.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
Guys keep doing what your doing and best of luck on your next outing....
I love jack rabbit hunting more than any other hunt out there. Seeing these pics makes me happy and jealous at the same time. I believe the jack rabbit populations are seriously affected by predators and the lack of suitable habitat on farms. We can all do our part to help the jack population, but MNR and the OFAH is our voice. They should be the ones to know that going out and filling a limit of 5 jacks per person is a joke or better yet a limit of three pheasants. The resources are not there for them to study these animals and I partly believe that since it’s not turkey, deer, moose or waterfowl they don’t care. Unfortunately it is what is! If you guys can go out enjoy shooting a few jacks than do it! Love seeing your pics! Maybe this weekend I’ll stop chasing a ghost and actually put a jack on the ground!
Thank goodness there are people like Fratri@Frank16 out there because right now I'm absolutely speechless what Fox trot is trying to say!!!!!
It is clear that most forum members can only wish to join you guys on a hunt! Just have to ignore the noise sometimes...
I understand how someone less informed about the cycle and nature of the game population could assume that a natural predator could be the primary reason for such a drastic decline in the overall population of a specific species of animal. What you’re doing, however, is over-simplifying a complex and intricate cycle into a very basic process that places the responsibility of the decreasing numbers of an entire species on “human predators” and their inability to exterminate the hares natural predator (coyote). You’re saying that if we spent more time hunting coyote, and less time hunting the European hare, there wouldn’t be such a decline in population. So, in essence, what you’re saying is that we should focus our time and energy on exterminating the coyote population, so as to increase future populations of the European Hare?
We hunt maybe 6-8 times a season. In stark contrast, the coyote places consistent and relentless pressure on the hare (etc) population, as the hare makes up about 15-40% of the coyotes diet. Simple math and logic dictates that the number of Hare we hunt per season, has absolutely no effect and/or baring on the dwindling number of the European population. If you try to boil down a complex system, in effort to place the onus of the decrease of a population on one thing, all you’re doing is showing how little you know about such an interesting and complex ecosystem. According to your thought process, we should focus on exterminating more of the coyote species in order to ensure the survival of the European Hare population. So we should hunt MORE coyote? Got it ✅
IS THIS ENOUGH FOR YOU?....
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Hahaha. I shot these 6 coyotes in one stand!!! From what I understand. Not too many shot 6 in one stand. Within 20 mins. So If you have any more intelligent insights you’d like to share with me or the rest of the forum, please let us know.
There has been posts here before where the coyote problem was discussed far and wide.
Older members must remember them quite WELL..........
In general what i took from the threads is-the more coyotes are killed ,the more litter they have top make up the loss. Something in this ballpark.
Now-if that is true(so far i have no reason to believe it is not)then how on earth MORE hunters killing more coyotes will save the Rabbits-or the deer -or the turkey for instance????
The guys hunting and killing them are doing awesome job doing their part-please keep it up-but as long as there is not a REAL effort by the authorities,this problem is UNFORTUNATELY here to stay.
Game, set, and match I'd say...Quote:
Originally Posted by jackhunter
Boys, I’m jealous of your success on both fronts !
May I ask what general area of SW Ontario you are hunting in ? Just curious, pm me if you don’t want to advertise it
When everyone going out there gets a dozen or so "jacks" a year then it does hurt the population, I am not out of line.Quote:
Originally Posted by fratri
If you want the population to come back then stopping hunting them yourself is something you can do.
This is the same with moose but every year guys buy a license and go shoot calves then complain that the numbers are going down and blame the natives, wolves and bears.
If you want to bring the animals back then stop killing them, if you want to kill them then stop complaining the numbers are going down.
Study's have proven legal hunting has very little to no impact on game populations. Most of the land here in the south where the jacks live is private and lots of the owners do not allow hunting. Jacks have safe havens from hunters here in the south evan if hunting made a difference, which it doesn't. To all the jack hunters on here, keep at it and have fun hunting this magnificent game animal.Quote:
When everyone going out there gets a dozen or so "jacks" a year then it does hurt the population, I am not out of line.
If you want the population to come back then stopping hunting them yourself is something you can do.
This is the same with moose but every year guys buy a license and go shoot calves then complain that the numbers are going down and blame the natives, wolves and bears.
If you want to bring the animals back then stop killing them, if you want to kill them then stop complaining the numbers are going down.
So in turn the hunting of coyotes will have little to no impact on the game populations, the hunting of bears will have little to no impact on game populations and the hunting of deer, specifically does will have little to no impact on game populations.Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhawk
That makes no sense, we have seasons and bag limits for a reason, hunting does have an impact on game populations.
I really do not care, this is an introduced species, go out and hunt them.
Hey fox I’m starting to think you are joking. Nobody can be that dillusional. Do you realize that fratri is one hell of a hunter and has probably forgotten more about hunting then you will ever know my friend. Your comments are way off champ!!!
Well fox Coyotes are considered vermin in most parts of Ontario with no closed season or bag limit. You see the difference.Quote:
So in turn the hunting of coyotes will have little to no impact on the game populations, the hunting of bears will have little to no impact on game populations and the hunting of deer, specifically does will have little to no impact on game populations.
That makes no sense, we have seasons and bag limits for a reason, hunting does have an impact on game populations.
I really do not care, this is an introduced species, go out and hunt them.
I am guessing that the last jack I shot in the area we started to hunt yotes would have been in around 1980 to 85. We started hunting yotes not to kill them all but because there was a lot around and I also trapped. We will not shoot jacks or any other rabbit. If all the yotes were gone for now what would we hunt in our area. We try to kill as many yotes each year but we are not winning. I have seen more yote hunters this year then ever before.
I did attend every meeting for the moose tag introduction and population decline concerns. Sent letters and at each meeting we were promised great and wonderful improvement. All of us at those meetings voiced our concerns to the deaf ears of the MNRF.
Talked with trapper last nite where our camp is and they just cut an area 3km on each side of the bush road . How do you fix that? We have lots of moose browse but no moose to eat it.
Congrats on some exceptional hunts boys !!!.. I to as you know love the passion jack hunting brings and to be honest I don't know what I would do if I couldn't do it anymore. I stopped posting on the topic of jack hunting because of all the noise it brings. I guess we all have an opinion, my opinion is to tirrra on!!!
What a shame, on a hunting forum too....Quote:
Originally Posted by Longears
The hole point of the forum is to post your pics and talk about your experience good or bad so others can learn or just appreciate your pics and story . If someone doesn't agree then guess what who cares LOL don't get stuck in an argument just answer the people that you want to answer. Why be part of the forum if your not going to share your experience of something that you really love doing. Just my thoughts take it for what it is. Nice to see you back on the forum Longears, i was wondering why I haven't see any of your jack pics yet. Don't let the hatters stop you they are just jealousQuote:
Originally Posted by Longears
In all the years we've been running coyotes with hounds I've only seen a few jacks. I see their tracks all the time so I know they're out there and still amazed at how far they can jump! I've never actually hunted them. Looks like it would be a blast. I bet there's a fair bit of meat on em too.
Thank for posting jackhunter.
Some will never get it. Great stories and pics! Keep it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by jackhunter
Are you kidding me? Your posts and pics were great! Don't you dare stop posting on the topic of jack hunting. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Longears
Jackhunter and Longears I applaud you both for your hunting success as many have stated this is a hunting forum and we are on this forum to share our success and stories and to learn from one another a s a hunting community.
I for one have stopped posting because of all the negative feed back but I couldn't resist not responding to this post.