Rabbit Hunting - 1/17/2010

James and I went up to White Memorial Conservation Area on Sunday morning. We pulled up to the CA around 7:15. Temperature was right at freezing and there was a lot of fog in the area. Beautiful day for hunting. As we started the day the dog was really anxious and was barking on just about any rabbit trail, new or old.
It took some time to get our first rabbit up. Chip (the dog) was working in a thicket on the edge of the woods while James and I were walking the outer edge. Chip had pushed a rabbit out of the thicket, and was on it's trail. However, he ran the rabbit down through the woods then just stopped and came back up towards us. I have no idea what happened with that rabbit.
Because of the way Chip was barking on every scent, we didn't pay much attention to him as we crossed over a grass field. He took off away from us baying and going crazy. As we listened to him, we realized he was circling and decided he was actually on a rabbit. We staged ourselves on either side of a brush pile where we thought the rabbit came from. As Chip approached we never did see the rabbit and had to move on.
Not much further across the same grass field Chip was in front of me working a thicket and I watched him get a rabbit up and start the chase. He ran the rabbit in a huge circle for about 15 minutes. We setup on either side of a small depression that lead from the woods back to where Chip jumped the rabbit. Unfortuneately, James saw the rabbit on another deppression that was just out of shooting range. Chip stayed on him, but we never saw this rabbit either. (there is a video of this chase. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSpC9pCuqC8)
As we were making our way back to the truck Chip jumped another rabbit in a brush pile and was right on him. However, this one crossed the road outside of the CA and we called the dog off. I'm not losing my dog over a stupid rabbit.
It was a great trip and I am really impressed with how well Chip worked. It usally takes him about 4 or 5 outings to start turning the rabbit, but he proved me wrong this trip.