Seven rabbit hunters, “Skip” Parent, John Parent, Jeff Watson, Chris Martin, Shawn Fogg, Bruce Reynolds, and a stray “sport” followed three beagles, “Smokey,” “Dottie,” and “B-B,” into the woods on Saturday morning. Not a wisp of cloud wrinkled the canopy of bright blue sky and the warm smile of the sun was softening the snow on the tote road. In the thickets, however, the shadows were blue with cold and boots crunched on the crusted white carpet.

If you’ve never hunted rabbits (snowshoe hares) you can’t appreciate the expression, “Wild as a March hare.” Long-legged and long-winded best describes the bounding white “ghosts” that kept the hounds and hunters on the move that day.

While they walked a tote road in the direction of where the hounds were heard last, the hunters laughed as they talked about people who claimed that there was nothing to shooting a limit of rabbits. “Sure,” Skip Parent allowed, “All you have to do is turn the dogs loose and they’ll run the rabbits right by you. All you have to do is shoot them.”

“They actually believe that,” said Watson.

“You know why, don’t you?” asked the sport.

“No, why?”

“Because they’ve never been rabbit hunting.”

“Or hunting period,” Reynolds said.

Six hours later, the beagles’ tails were bleeding and the hunters’ legs were lame as they left the woods toting six rabbits – 22 short of their limit. Nothing to it?

At Reynolds’ den on the Monroe Road, the hunters relaxed their aching muscles with appropriate refreshments and sandwiches served by Bruce’s wife, Cathy. How can you beat that on a Saturday in mid-March?

I’m sorry to report, though, that Skip Parent’s promising pup, “Suzie,” was put to sleep after being struck by a vehicle a week ago. The 9-month-old beagle that was hunting like an experienced hound, was struck as she crossed a road. To make matters worse, the dog was left lying alive on the shoulder of the road. Obviously, the driver never stopped. Pity that person. – – –

Maine’s bear hunters, outfitters, and guides will be interested to know that the S.D. Warren Co. has announced changes in its rules for baiting bear on company lands. The changes were brought about by new bear hunting laws, litter problems at bait sites, and conflicts between land-management activities and bear hunters.

Anyone who intends to bait bear on S.D. Warren Co. lands this year must apply for a permit before July 15, 1991.

According to the new rules, bear baiters will be required to locate their baiting sites on a map at the time of application. A tag will be issued for each site and a fee charged accordingly. Commercial baiters will be charged $25 per site. Hunters who bait for themselves will pay $5 for the first site and $25 per site thereafter.

Interested parties will be referred to the office supervising the area in which bear baits are to be placed. The offices and phone numbers are: Jackman, 668-2041; Johnson Mountain, 663-4406; Greenville, 695-2241; and Bingham, 672-5512. – – –

Speaking of bears, last week I received a letter from Harold Schmidt. You may know that Harold’s den is the Driftwood Lodge on Upper Shin Pond outside of Patten. He wrote: “…After reading your bear article I just had to go back into my record books and locate the bear from Spectacle Pond that was 40 feet up a tree for hibernation. This could be the bear Craig McLaughlin referred to in your article. It made my day to go back in my record books and look the information up, and I wasn’t long in finding it.

“This female bear had a radio collar No. 185, left ear tag No. 0115, right ear tag No. 0114. She was taken at Rowe Brook west of Patten at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 6, 1983.

“I talked with the bear biologists and they told me she had hibernated 40 feet up in a tree and they couldn’t change her collar. They also had been looking for her, and she was far out of the range of travel for a female bear. They let me use her collar, along with a new style, at the outdoor shows to show people the different types of collars used. I later returned both collars.”

It’s amazing what a few words in this newspaper can scare up in the way of response and followup stories. Also, Harold sent along an account of a recent encounter with a moose that I will relay to you in a future column. You’ll find it interesting and entertaining, I’m sure.

And don’t you wish that all the retired Maine guides would write down at least some of the unusual experiences they encountered in a lifetime of rummaging around in Maine’s great outdoors? There is so much wisdom and information contained in those stories, not to mention educational and historical value. What a shame to have time rob us of it all.