I decided to hunt rabbits at Beach City Wildlife area for the first time today. I found an access point in the southern most part at a well marked spot next to Dundee Wilmot Rd, right next to the railroad tracks. The parking area had what used to be an access road blocked with large rocks, so you had to park next to the road. The trail eventually leads in to some cut cornfields up on the top of a hill, surrounded by good rabbit cover.
As I was getting ready to head in with my 80 lb great dane mix that loves to hunt rabbits, (yeah I know) a guy coming down the road stopped to chat and warn me. He told me was hunting in there a few days prior with his dog, and it got caught in a snare, of the type that cinch up when they pull, but do not loosen when they stop pulling. He got to his dog in time, and saved it from choking. He decided to leave at that point, never to return, and on the way back out, found another dog dead in a snare. This dog had tags, so he called and notified the owner who was devastated. He had "lost" his dog two weeks prior while rabbit hunting. The man spotted a 3rd snare coming back and removed it.
I asked him if these snares should worry me with my "horse", and he said probably not, since the dog was so tall. He didn't know that my horse will crawl on his belly to get though a rabbit trail.
I hunted the parameters of one of the hilltop corn fields and my dog was busting the briers. He appeared to get "stuck". I waited and called him, but he couldn't seem to get out. As I approached he was gasping for air and fading, and had a cable cinched around his neck. I managed to get it off in time, and he was okay. Had I been a little farther away, it would have been a disaster.
I called the 1-800-poacher number and reported it. I wish I had contact information from the guy I talked to. He said he was going to report it, but apparently hasn't. Somebody needs to catch this jackass setting coyote snares in a popular rabbit hunting area. People using the Beach City Wildlife Area with dogs need to be aware and keep close contact with your dogs! They can't even bark once they get one of these cables pulled tight around their neck. If you spot a snare on a public hunting area, PLEASE REPORT IT, and REMOVE IT. Our canine hunting companions are family members, and I don't want to see another tragedy. If you spot the jackass who is setting these, I'd have no problem with putting one around his neck and yanking on it just to see if he could unlatch it fast enough while gasping for air.
As I was getting ready to head in with my 80 lb great dane mix that loves to hunt rabbits, (yeah I know) a guy coming down the road stopped to chat and warn me. He told me was hunting in there a few days prior with his dog, and it got caught in a snare, of the type that cinch up when they pull, but do not loosen when they stop pulling. He got to his dog in time, and saved it from choking. He decided to leave at that point, never to return, and on the way back out, found another dog dead in a snare. This dog had tags, so he called and notified the owner who was devastated. He had "lost" his dog two weeks prior while rabbit hunting. The man spotted a 3rd snare coming back and removed it.
I asked him if these snares should worry me with my "horse", and he said probably not, since the dog was so tall. He didn't know that my horse will crawl on his belly to get though a rabbit trail.
I hunted the parameters of one of the hilltop corn fields and my dog was busting the briers. He appeared to get "stuck". I waited and called him, but he couldn't seem to get out. As I approached he was gasping for air and fading, and had a cable cinched around his neck. I managed to get it off in time, and he was okay. Had I been a little farther away, it would have been a disaster.
I called the 1-800-poacher number and reported it. I wish I had contact information from the guy I talked to. He said he was going to report it, but apparently hasn't. Somebody needs to catch this jackass setting coyote snares in a popular rabbit hunting area. People using the Beach City Wildlife Area with dogs need to be aware and keep close contact with your dogs! They can't even bark once they get one of these cables pulled tight around their neck. If you spot a snare on a public hunting area, PLEASE REPORT IT, and REMOVE IT. Our canine hunting companions are family members, and I don't want to see another tragedy. If you spot the jackass who is setting these, I'd have no problem with putting one around his neck and yanking on it just to see if he could unlatch it fast enough while gasping for air.
