Snowshoe Hares...wheres?

[Molasses]

Just how far north in this state does one have to go to stand a realistic chance of a successful hunt for said big bunnies?

[photogpat]

I saw one up by Longville over New Years. We regularly see them up there...just not while hunting them!

[Molasses]

I saw one up by Longville over New Years. We regularly see them up there...just not while hunting them!

Heh. Well, that's why it's called hunting and not just "getting". Speaking for myself I know I always do a lot of hunting for what little I get when I head out.
It recently hit me that having grown up a couple hundred miles south of the Metro, I don't believe that I've ever even SEEN a showshoe hare in the woods. I've brought home scores of gray and fox squirrels and a handful of cottontails (mostly back in my teen years), but I thought it might be neat to at least try and get a snowshoe this season. If nothing else, it'd be a chance to get skunked chasing yet another critter and on new ground.

[photogpat]

We "see" them most often in the early Spring when there's brown showing in the woods. They're usually still white, and stick out pretty well. This time of year, they're white on a white background....harder to see.

Mine was in a brush pile...I was jumping on one side while my dog was frantically trying to dig the sucker out from the other -- ran right out between dog's legs (I think)...thereby not giving me a shot. We tried tracking it for a bit, but gave up since it just kept running off ahead of us.

[smurfman]

Northern Pine county is about as far south as one can reasonably expect to see snowshoes. Go from the southern edge of Nemadji State Forest west to about Brainaird and then northwest to the Canadian border. Even inside this region there will be large areas without snowshoes as the habitat is wrong. Around deer season is a good time to look for them as they are turning white about then and theyc an show up pretty good if the snow hasn't fallen and are not all that tough to see even if there is snow as theya re not completely white.

I tend to find snowshoes in lowland areas which would appear to be like tundra except for some spruces and tamaracks. If there is a clear cut nearby you should find hares. I seldom hunt hares these days but I do see them pretty regularly at our cabin and when I am hunting grouse further north. Unlike rabbits, hares seldom den up under ground and one will generally fund them in shallow depressions called forms. As they are generally on top of the snow, the best bet is to move slowly and look for the black of their eye or ear tips. Look under low hanging spruce or firs and into semi-dense tangles of branches and dead falls.

I used to take nieces and nephews out after these critters back when they were younger. I had a setter which would point fur and it made for fun shooting for them. I haven't been out after them in the several years since that dog died.

[yukonjasper]

Lots of areas on the Iron Range have Snowshoes - that's up there and probably further than you want to go, but they are plentiful.

Lots of fun and lots of great memories.

[gearguy10]

I deer hunt off the Brimson road north of Duluth and see them all the time. I saw a nice Lynx the second weekend who was probably enjoying the fact that the snowshoes were already half white and it hadn't snowed yet. Easy pickens.

[Molasses]

Thanks for the tips and ideas, folks. I'm going to be spending part of the remainder of the evening looking at maps and such to try and determine just where I want to go, and if things work out, I'll head up nort' tomorrow for a day's hunting.

[SAM]

Tons of snowshoes on the western border of Mn. and just into N.D. Ortonville to Fargo.

[smurfman]

Tons of snowshoes on the western border of Mn. and just into N.D. Ortonville to Fargo.

I haven't seen any snowshoes in that area but I have shot a fair number of jackrabbits along that stretch of country. Jacks are hares, just like snowshoes, but they do not taste nearly as good. Also, unless young, jacks tend to be a lot chewier. I hope jacks are increasing, I know a couple people with greyhounds who would love to put their dogs on them.

[SSBotanyBay]

I shot one last week up near Baudette but I doubt that you want to travel that far for 'em. I have to admit, successful hare hunts can get addicting.

[Molasses]

I shot one last week up near Baudette but I doubt that you want to travel that far for 'em. I have to admit, successful hare hunts can get addicting.

I didn't travel that far this time, but I didn't see anything. Well, there were tracks. No tracks fresh enough to have bunnies standing in them.
I did drag the exhaust on the wagon hard enough in the snow at the pullout I parked in to separate a joint in the pipe and got to listen to a much more macho sound all the way home than that vehicle normally makes. I'm hoping that's one part of the experience that doesn't become addicting. However, now that I've started, I'll likely keep trying until I at least see one of these mythical creatures.

[Rem700]

Beagles

[bensdad]

Grouse hunting in the Grand Rapids area, I used to cherish the days when the snowshoes would change before the snow arrived. Any small cal. rifle with a scope could net a handful of them in one afternoon. They stick out like sore thumbs in the clear cuts, under smaller pine stands and even in the poplar stands.

[Ivan45]

I almost stepped on one in woods near Deerwood about a month ago. Surprised the hell outta me...