2009 COTTONTAIL SEASON ENDS

TALLY HO!! TO THE LOYAL ORDER OF THE BIG WOODS HARE HUNTERS OF THE ALLEGHENY.

THE EASTERN COTTONTAIL WILL SHINE AGAIN!!

The 2009 "first" cottontail season is now history.

The season was another great time to enjoy the great outdoors. My great hunting friends and I enjoyed more than 112 hours on 22 days afield during the course of the season. No, this is not a great amount of time spent. But, you know, we are all slowing down. The hounds chased more than 81 cottontails, most of them good to great runs. The hunters, although not as skilled as the hounds by a long shot, killed nine rabbits, missed 12 and only lost one or two. The excuse for not killing more rabbits has to be one of "we have lost the killing spirit in our old age".

The weather for most of the first season was warm and dry. At least two days were deemed hot.

One of the highlights of the season was a day at John Norberg's Laural Mountain Winery. The hunting was great, the runs were good but the wine tasting was better.

Another highlight, I got to meet and hunt with Wayne's brother Allen. We had a slight run in with a porcupine which Allen dispatched. Luckily no hounds took any quills. The hounds seem to be getting smarter, especially when it comes to the porcupine. They, the hounds, did have a chase or two which were deemed not to be cottontail rabbits. One day I did see the deer but on another day we still do not know what they might have been chasing. I killed a gray fox on the road that very evening and so I deem this an omen. The red gods of hunting allowed me to get even just this once.

All in all we all had a very enjoyable first cottontail season. At least it was for me. I hope everyone else who hunted with me feels the same.

For the next two weeks (Nov. 30-12) we have to endure deer season. The "second" cottontail season will open on Monday, December 14, 2009. If we get some tracking snow we will be out scouting for hare sign.

If no snow we will be back hunting the Eastern cottontail.

Jim Hanson (L), Jim Kazmareck (R) and I spent many enjoyable hours afield during the "first" 2009 cottontail season.

I "harvested" this cottontail while hunting with Jim Taylor (L), Vic Taylor and Jim Hanson near John Norberg's winery. Kaz was with us earlier in the day. The hounds, Kipper, Blacky, Sheeba, Angee and Jim Hanson's big hound Lucky did a great job on this run.

Later, after a good day afield Jim, Jim, Vic and I enjoyed some wine tasting and a bottle of John's best. The museum was great too. We certainly enjoyed John's hospitality and are looking forward to returning to the Laural Mountain Winery.

Wayne Wilson bagged this big cottontail in the "Big Valley" near Mt Zion Hill on SGL (State Game Lands) 330 after a great run by Wiggles, Patch, Gracie, Tia and Wayne's hounds Freck and Frack.


On Monday, November 2, while hunting by myself I managed to bring down this cock pheasant. Of course it was a magnificent shot.



Friday, October 30, 2009 Jim Taylor and I hunted SGL 244 near Emerickville, PA. The hounds (Angee, Sheeba, Kipper and Tia) had a couple of good runs. Jim brought down two pheasants as show in the picture. A hen pheasant on the left and a cock bird.

On November 12, 2009 Jim Hanson (L), Jim Taylor (r) and I hunted SGL 54 near the village of Sugarhill, PA. Also seen in the photo are Gracie (L) and Speckles (R). It was a beautiful "blue bird" day.

It was a great season. I am looking forward to the next season.

A TRIBUTE TO A TRUE SPORTSMAN AND HUNTER

A TRIBUTE TO A TRUE HUNTER, SPORTSMAN AND PIONEER.

Doyle Thomas Wolford was born April 28, 1913 near Sigel, Barnett Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania and died July 27, 2002 near Shippenville, PA.

His parents were John Henry and Rebecca Jane Asel Wolford.

Tom's ancestors came from Ireland and Germany.

"Tom" as he was always known by his friends and family left Jefferson County as a young boy with his family moving to McKean County and settling in the village of Walkertown, in the "oil patch" of Pennsylvania.

Tom worked and played in the woods all his life. From a young age he always owned fox hounds, bobcat dogs, squirrel dogs, "coon" hounds and dogs as family pets. He was also a deer hunter.

Tom worked on the oil leases of South Penn Oil Company which became Pennzoil Company. During WWII he worked the "Victory Shift" at Dresser Manufacturing plant in Bradford, PA.

It was in the thick woods and on the steep hills of McKean County, Pennsylvania where Tom hunted with his many hounds for fox, raccoon, bobcat and squirrel. And many hounds there were. I have pictured only a few of these great animals.

I enjoyed many of his wonderful hunting stories and wish I would have written them all down.

As with all houndsmen and hounds some were happy stories and some were not so happy. Losing a hound to whatever is always a sad story. Stories of successful hunts are the happy stories.

As they say, "One picture is worth a thousand words."

Below are many thousands of unspoken words in picture.

Some of these pictures we know the year and some we do not.

(Below) Tom with red fox 1939.

(Above) A young Tom and "Joe". Look at Tom in his Sunday Suit.

(Above) "Lizzy Lee" 1937.


(Above) "Butts"

Note the outhouse or privy to the left and the push type reel mower on the right. This was the only type of lawn mower we had before gasoline self propelled mowers.

Tom Wolford with bobcat. (circa 1943)

Above: Tom and Simon Young with red fox and bobcat around 1943. Simon reports the cat was treed by the hounds while hunting for fox in the Farmer's Valley region of McKean County. He also remembers the bobcat was old with worn out teeth.



(Below) Tom with "Hi Noon".

(Below)
"Tommy"

(Below) "Rattler"

"Rattler" was a squirrel dog. Tom used a ".218B" hunting rifle for everything from deer to squirrel including deer, turkey, fox and bobcat.

(Left) Tom and "Rattler". Rattler was a Rat Terrier, hence the name, Rattler, apparently.
(Note: The modern day name for this beautiful dog is "Jack Russell Terrier".
















(Left) Tom, Noon and Joe.























(Below) A young looking Tom and a beautiful hound named "Speed".

Left: Great old fox hound Buff.

Left: Tom, far right, Jack Bishop, second from left. The other two are unidentified.

Jack Bishop was a good hunting buddy of Tom's as they hunted fox night and day. Jack and Tom traveled to North Carolina to hunt fox.