An Outdoorsman’s Journal Red, the Rabbit Dog FLATER’S RESORT - couriersentinel_20260319_ccs-2026-03-19-a-010_art_5.xml
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An Outdoorsman’s Journal By Mark Walters Red, the Rabbit Dog Hello friends, This week’s column is like my mind, all over the map. The main theme is chasing rabbits, and existing in Richland and Crawford counties, out of my truck, The GMC Hotel! Thursday, Feb. 26 • High 54, Low 33 Small air boats, like this, are fun, take a bit of maintenance and are not hard on the ice, where they are launched. With a dog named Red, in the back seat, and a shotgun and rifle in the front seat, and ice fishing gear and a sleeping bag in the bed, I headed south, from Necedah, down State Hwy. 80, in search of cottontail rabbits, and maybe some ice fishing and checking out new country. In this case, that meant Richland Center, to Ferryville. With zero plan of where I would hunt, melting snow and the tail end of the rabbit season, as well as a dog who hunts rabbits every day, on my property, but not at all, in reality, I had an excellent plan. When I made it to Richland Center, I headed northwest, on State Hwy. 14, then started looking for smaller roads, rabbit country and, hopefully, someone who was home, who would give me permission to hunt. Knocking on doors yielded either no answer; I read your column every week, but I cannot give you permission; and finally, yes, you can hunt on my 160 acres. After a positive conversation with a long-time reader, Red and I hit the ravines, and bluffs of a piece of property that looked the same as it probably did during the Civil War, in other words, unchanged. I have a buddy down here, who goes by the name of Gary Howe and he has killed some big bucks in his day, and always talks about how challenging it is to pull a buck up a bluff, if you drop one on the wrong side of a bluff. The next two days, I would think of Mr. Howe’s challenges and he has many, as I attempted to walk, negotiate very greasy ridge lines, with mostly melted snow, mud and most importantly, briars, that would, and did, destroy a pair of pants, the back of my hands and my neck. Red, on the other hand, had zero cares and what she did, was look for rabbit, as she does 24/7, when she is home and generally lose. For the most part, what I observed and it was interesting, were very few rabbit tracks and a variety of rabbiteating critter tracks. No. 1, over two days of hunting, were feral cat tracks. Hi, my name is Tom, the cat! I love eating rabbit, grouse, songbirds, squirrels, etc., and just as importantly, looking for Mrs. Tom, to make more feral cats with. Folks, this may seem harsh, but, if you hunted rabbit and there is snow, you would realize that unless there is very fresh snow, Mr. Tom or Mrs. Tom beat you to your quarry. I did notice an absolute ton of deer sign and to me, it was like how many whitetail deer can an area handle, especially with a new fawn crop, just 60 days away? Before I forget, that darn Red flushed a rabbit, and believe it or not, I got it with one shot. If you could ever see a genuine smile on a dog’s face, it was when she was carrying it around. After dark, I headed to Ferryville, hoping for some good chow and a beer, with a plan of sleeping in The GMC Hotel, at the boat landing; both goals were met, when I went into The Wooden Nickel and filled a very empty stomach. The next morning, I had a good chat, with a couple fellas putting in their air boat, for a day of fishing, and also witnessed a guide, launching his rig and loading up a crew of eager fishermen. The landing “ice” was toast, and not safe for foot or ATV, and as I have been told many times, the big rig’s “large air boats” take out the ice, when it is either not thick enough or weak. Friends, I am not getting on the owners of the big rigs, but everyone knows the weight and power take out thin/weak ice. Last winter, I was camping on the ice, near Trempealeau, it was warm and a big rig went by my camp. I noticed a literal wave under the ice, that made the ice roll. Later in the day, the same air boat came by and this time, the wave was very powerful. Not one minute later, I fell through, I headed back to camp, as I was messing with a tip-up and fell through the ice again. Though I wrote about falling through the ice, I never mentioned what I just wrote. The folks who run the big air boats, are, for the most part, very good people, but in reality, their rigs can sometimes cause ice to become less safe than it was, at launches, and on the lakes and rivers. Not trying to cause a problem, but what I just wrote, has no simple fix. Back to the rabbit hunt – I found a piece of public land today, that was south of Ferryville, loaded with deer and some rabbit. Zero rabbit whacking today, but I think I have to make an adventure down to Crawford County, hopefully, not sleep in The GMC Hotel and put an arrow in a deer, next fall. Take the back roads, go slow, enjoy the ride! Sunset FLATER’S RESORT Where the Chippewa & Flambeau Rivers Meet Advertise Here! Call 715-861-4414 581 Advertise Here! Call 715-861-4414 Joe Flater, owner Cadott • Cornell • Lake Holcombe Your Hometown Newspaper www.flatersresort.com 270 N. Cty. E, Holcombe, Wis. 715-861-4414 715-595-4771 www.centralwinews.com Open Year-around | Bar w/food | Gas | Cabins An Outdoorsman’s Journal By Mark Walters Red, the Rabbit Dog Hello friends, This week’s column is like my mind, all over the map. The main theme is chasing rabbits, and existing in Richland and Crawford counties, out of my truck, The GMC Hotel! Thursday, Feb. 26 • High 54, Low 33 Small air boats, like this, are fun, take a bit of maintenance and are not hard on the ice, where they are launched. With a dog named Red, in the back seat, and a shotgun and rifle in the front seat, and ice fishing gear and a sleeping bag in the bed, I headed south, from Necedah, down State Hwy. 80, in search of cottontail rabbits, and maybe some ice fishing and checking out new country. In this case, that meant Richland Center, to Ferryville. With zero plan of where I would hunt, melting snow and the tail end of the rabbit season, as well as a dog who hunts rabbits every day, on my property, but not at all, in reality, I had an excellent plan. When I made it to Richland Center, I headed northwest, on State Hwy. 14, then started looking for smaller roads, rabbit country and, hopefully, someone who was home, who would give me permission to hunt. Knocking on doors yielded either no answer; I read your column every week, but I cannot give you permission; and finally, yes, you can hunt on my 160 acres. After a positive conversation with a long-time reader, Red and I hit the ravines, and bluffs of a piece of property that looked the same as it probably did during the Civil War, in other words, unchanged. I have a buddy down here, who goes by the name of Gary Howe and he has killed some big bucks in his day, and always talks about how challenging it is to pull a buck up a bluff, if you drop one on the wrong side of a bluff. The next two days, I would think of Mr. Howe’s challenges and he has many, as I attempted to walk, negotiate very greasy ridge lines, with mostly melted snow, mud and most importantly, briars, that would, and did, destroy a pair of pants, the back of my hands and my neck. Red, on the other hand, had zero cares and what she did, was look for rabbit, as she does 24/7, when she is home and generally lose. For the most part, what I observed and it was interesting, were very few rabbit tracks and a variety of rabbiteating critter tracks. No. 1, over two days of hunting, were feral cat tracks. Hi, my name is Tom, the cat! I love eating rabbit, grouse, songbirds, squirrels, etc., and just as importantly, looking for Mrs. Tom, to make more feral cats with. Folks, this may seem harsh, but, if you hunted rabbit and there is snow, you would realize that unless there is very fresh snow, Mr. Tom or Mrs. Tom beat you to your quarry. I did notice an absolute ton of deer sign and to me, it was like how many whitetail deer can an area handle, especially with a new fawn crop, just 60 days away? Before I forget, that darn Red flushed a rabbit, and believe it or not, I got it with one shot. If you could ever see a genuine smile on a dog’s face, it was when she was carrying it around. After dark, I headed to Ferryville, hoping for some good chow and a beer, with a plan of sleeping in The GMC Hotel, at the boat landing; both goals were met, when I went into The Wooden Nickel and filled a very empty stomach. The next morning, I had a good chat, with a couple fellas putting in their air boat, for a day of fishing, and also witnessed a guide, launching his rig and loading up a crew of eager fishermen. The landing “ice” was toast, and not safe for foot or ATV, and as I have been told many times, the big rig’s “large air boats” take out the ice, when it is either not thick enough or weak. Friends, I am not getting on the owners of the big rigs, but everyone knows the weight and power take out thin/weak ice. Last winter, I was camping on the ice, near Trempealeau, it was warm and a big rig went by my camp. I noticed a literal wave under the ice, that made the ice roll. Later in the day, the same air boat came by and this time, the wave was very powerful. Not one minute later, I fell through, I headed back to camp, as I was messing with a tip-up and fell through the ice again. Though I wrote about falling through the ice, I never mentioned what I just wrote. The folks who run the big air boats, are, for the most part, very good people, but in reality, their rigs can sometimes cause ice to become less safe than it was, at launches, and on the lakes and rivers. Not trying to cause a problem, but what I just wrote, has no simple fix. Back to the rabbit hunt – I found a piece of public land today, that was south of Ferryville, loaded with deer and some rabbit. Zero rabbit whacking today, but I think I have to make an adventure down to Crawford County, hopefully, not sleep in The GMC Hotel and put an arrow in a deer, next fall. Take the back roads, go slow, enjoy the ride! Sunset FLATER’S RESORT Where the Chippewa & Flambeau Rivers Meet Advertise Here! Call 715-861-4414 581 Advertise Here! Call 715-861-4414 Joe Flater, owner Cadott • Cornell • Lake Holcombe Your Hometown Newspaper www.flatersresort.com 270 N. Cty. E, Holcombe, Wis. 715-861-4414 715-595-4771 www.centralwinews.com Open Year-around | Bar w/food | Gas | Cabins
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Since the hunter education program’s creation in 1967, more than 20,000 volunteer instructors have trained and certified more than 1 million hunters across Wisconsin. WISCONSIN DNR PHOTO
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