I first talked with and met Jeff Powers, who operates Powers Tractors and Equipment Company in Vinton, several months before the various hunting seasons began last year. While we were talking about outdoor related issues, the Moneta resident mentioned that he enjoyed chasing after rabbits during December through mid-February. So I mentioned that perhaps he could drop me an e-mail if he wanted to go sometime.

And they're off! Wayne Booth releases his beagles for a rabbit hunt last February. Photo by Bruce Ingram.

Imagine my anticipation when I received this post.

"You're not going to believe this," wrote Powers. "Last week, I spoke to my cousin, Wayne Booth, who is in his 60s, and made plans to go rabbit hunting before the season ends. He called me this morning to see if I wanted to go. With about a dozen small beagles, Wayne, my 8-year-old son, Josh, and I went hunting around our barns and the old farmhouse. In about three hours, we jumped 13 rabbits. I shot at four and killed two; I was a little rusty. Josh shot at one with his gun. It was the first time he had been rabbit hunting and he's still on cloud 9.

"Wayne doesn't even take his gun anymore. He was telling me about how rabbit hunting used to be like a ritual where members of the Booth family would get together many times a season to hunt, and everyone treated it like a family outing. Every time I go hunting with Wayne, I feel like I'm in a history class.

"The other reason he wanted to go was to take Josh. Our family has always believed in teaching the next generation about rabbit hunting and its importance to our family's heritage. My 17-year-old daughter, Joy, also loves to rabbit and squirrel hunt. Wayne never had any kids, so his dogs are like his kids and my children are like his grandchildren."

So this past Feb. 14, I joined Jeff, Josh, Wayne and friend Jeff Dillon, all of Moneta, for a Bedford bunny brush-buster. As the beagles came streaming out of the truck, I noted that they were all of the short-legged variety. I had to ask Jeff why he and his family preferred this kind of canine.

"Short-legged beagles are absolutely the best kind of rabbit dog," he said. "Long-legged beagles move too fast and will quickly run a rabbit into a hole. Long-legged dogs also have their noses too far from the ground, so they miss a lot of trails.

"Short-legged dogs also move through thickets and briar and bramble bushes better. And they don't get injured as much because of that."

While the five of us were walking toward a thicket on the Powers family farm, I made a good decision, probably the only one I made all morning, stating that my reflexes were extremely slow. The statement turned out to be a prophetic one.