We had our first run of the season today. Brad and Jay brought Maggie, Ernie, Buster and Patch along with myself and Chip and we headed down to Hi Pointe which is part of the Pea Ridge Conservation Area. It was a beautiful day to hunt. We got down to the hunting area and headed east from the first parking lot. The dogs were working well together. They had spread out to cover the back side of the lake dam and continued to work that way most of the day. As we were walking through the southeast portion of the CA, we noticed the Conservation Department had done a controlled burn in the area last year. The area was growing back nicely, but we were covered in soot. We didn't see any rabbits until we were almost back to the truck after working the entire south side of the CA. I actually nearly stepped on the rabbit before he jumped. Chip, Maggie and Ernie were immediately on the scent and tracking nicely. Buster and Patch soon joined in the hunt and all 5 dogs were baying and chasing. We stopped and ate while they worked the rabbit, but the rabbit was smarter that the 5 dogs and got away. It wasn't to much longer after that and Brad stepped on one (possibly the same rabbit) and the 5 dogs were off again. But once again the rabbit out smarted the dogs and got away. Those were the only two rabbits we saw. The dogs didn't even pick up on any other trails. All-in-all it was a good day. Not bad for the first time out in the season.TEMP: Near 35° rising to around 50°
TIME: 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM
CONDITIONS: Most everything was frozen when we started out but the top 1/2" started to thaw throughout the day. It went from sunny to overcast as a front moved through just after noon.
