The hay days of jack rabbits in my area

[trappermatt]

Back in the 60,s , we used to hunt in the Stratford, Sebringville area for jacks , it would be an extremely rare day that 6 of us would not have at least 2 jacks for each of us.

I’m a little north of there , trap plenty in that area , like you have said Perth county used to have lots of rabbits , not anymore unfortunately

[Fox]

I’m a little north of there , trap plenty in that area , like you have said Perth county used to have lots of rabbits , not anymore unfortunately

Still hares in the swamps

[tracker]

I started hunting them when I first got my lic in the mid 60's. Dad and I hunted with a group that did jack drives in Perth and Huron Cty. Back then it was legal to sell jacks, 50 cents for ones with rifle holes to mink farms and a $1.00 for ones shot with shotguns at the stock yards. I remember a CO helped us keep jacks from crossings a road while we did a drive. We were never checked by a CO or had issues with trespassing. The daily limit was the same back then as it is now. I have not seen a jack in two yrs pushing yotes, but I did see a fresh track this month. MNR has no interested in jacks numbers.

[jaycee]

Still hares in the swamps

They [ snowshoe/varying hare] are also on the decline, now where near as plentiful as they used to be.

[Fox]

They [ snowshoe/varying hare] are also on the decline, now where near as plentiful as they used to be.

Yes, varying hares, they still exist in the swamps, the thick swamps that are almost too thick to pass through. The numbers may not be as high as they used to be but they are heavily cyclic too.

The ash die off is changing a lot of things in that area with the swamps, what they looked like 10 years ago is not what they look like now.

My dad is down in Perth East, I have first hand knowledge of the varying hare and cottontail numbers down there, as well as the coyotes.

Saw 1 pheasant on a deer hunt a long time ago and a huge European Hare while deer hunting another year, nothing like the numbers we saw when going hunting for the big old bunnies in Grey County.

It seems as though Perth East has some of everything but not a lot of anything, fair numbers of all game animals.

[greatwhite]

I've only seen a Jack once in Lindsay

[kk1]

The mid winter thaws are also hard on hares. No snow makes them stand out like a sore thumb. Easy targets for yotes and hawks. Still lots of hare around just have to dig a little deeper.

[Fenelon]

I worked with a guy who was born in 1940. He showed me pictures of him as an 8 year old boy, sitting in the back "rumble seat" of his uncle's Model A Ford. He has a double barrel shotgun in his hands, and he's packed into the seat with close to 40 European hare. All you can see is the tip of the hair on his head and the barrel of the gun. The rest is a solid six foot pile of "rabbits"!. His father and a group of 5-6 farmers used to group hunt the farms around Sandford, Leaksdale, Uxbridge, Lindsay. They'd never use dogs. Just walked the treed fence lines with two guns sitting at the end of the fence. He remembers seeing 6-8 hare running ahead of you at the same time ! There were no coyotes back then, but fox numbers were high. Boy the times have changed. Coyotes are everywhere and gone are the fence lines.

[Couliewalker]

The New Brunswick MNR has stated that New Brunswick does not promote hunting.Why would the MNRF in Ont be any different? Native or non native species does not make a difference in policy,only in the stories they tell.

[fishing1]

do not remember seeing a jack track in snow in long time. in windsor area back in 60,s and 70,s it was not uncommon to see 30 to 40 a day while we hunted cottontails with are bows. no one hardly shot them they were to heavy to carry,and we did not like the strong taste. they are only in our memories now,plus you never saw a coyote back then also.