Last March, I was invited to go on a late season Jackalope hunt and decided it would be a perfect opportunity to bloody my new Trade Gun. I had a great hunt, camped out all week and enjoyed the full range of Texas weather. When we arrived on Friday it was 70 degrees. Saturday, we got sleet, snow, and hail. The high was 13 degrees and the wind chill was reported to be -2. Perfect weather for Jackalopes, not so perfect for a Texan. The dang wind was straight out of Alaska and blowing about 30 mph. I just about froze my never-minds.
For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of hunting Jackalope, let me fill you in some. Jackalopes are tough, vicious, critters. A lone coyote won't mess with them. An entire pack will take one on the odd occasion. A Jackalope will eat a bobcat for breakfast. Wounded Jackalopes have been known to kill a man and they routinely cripple horses if they happen to wander too close to their nests. Their back legs are long and powerful. They can jump higher than a kangaroo and they will kick you harder than a Texas mule. They have long teeth in the front of their mouth which are razor sharp. They have been known to chew their way into hog traps and eat any hogs contained inside the trap.
The bucks have hard antlers which they shed and re-grow every two years. Some bucks shed their antlers on even numbered years and others will shed on the years that end on an odd number. The odd bucks nearly always have non-typical racks. There's lots more to say about Jackalopes but for now, let's get back to my hunt.
I loaded my Trade Gun with one and one eight ounces of number 6 shot and 70 grains of FF Goex. My partner loaded his smooth bore about the same and we set out to jump up some Jackalopes.
We hunted along the edges of wheat fields staying just inside the line of mesquite with the sun in our eyes, and the wind at our backs. (The best way to jump shoot Jackalopes and avoid frost bite to your face.)
The first Jackalope I jumped must of seen us coming. It launched out of a clump of buffalo grass at the far side of my guns' killing range and by the time I removed the frizzen cover, cocked the lock, and got ready to shoot, there he was, gone.
I was more prepared to shoot when we jumped the next one and got my shot off before the Jackalope vacated the County. However, I was still a little too slow and my shot was a little too far behind and I only wounded it. Did I mention that Jackalope run real fast? Nobody knows for sure just how fast they can run but I've heard tell that you can't catch up to them in a pickup truck if they get a tail wind going.
Anyways, my wounded Jackalope ran into a big clump of cactus and mesquites and there he was, thrashing around and growling like a demon in all them cactus stickers and mesquite thorns. I was re-loading my Trade Gun as fast as I could while keeping one eye on that clump, expecting a full out head on charge at any moment. My poor hunting buddy was covering that clump just in case the Jackalope commenced his charge before I could finish loading. He must have been plenty scared because I could hear his teeth chattering he was shaking so badly. Latter, when I questioned his bravery, courage, and ability to back up a hunter in such dangerous circumstances, he swore at me and said he weren't scary he was just freezing his never-minds.
Eventually, I got my gun re-loaded and we began sneaking up on that clump of cactus, guns at the ready. By this time things had gotten much quieter in there and I was hoping the Jackalope had expired. We looked, we threw rocks, we poked at the stickers and thorns with sticks, but we could not find my Jackalope. We did discover a big deep badger hole way down in the cactus. Neither of us had the courage to crawl into all them stickers and thorns after a wounded Jackalope. It embarrasses me greatly to have to admit to it, but we decided to save our own hides and leave that Jackalope alone.
Continuing on our hunt, we moved up about a hundred yards when my buddy jumped up another Jackalope. This one decided to make its run across the open wheat field on my side and I happened to be ready for it. Somehow, I managed to keep the muzzle ahead of the fleeing Jackalope and the gun fired at just the right moment.
There I was, tagged out on Jackalope. We were not far from camp so after taking a couple of photos we retired for samwiches and hot coffee. The next day, the weather broke sunny and calm and my buddy filled his Jackalope tag too.
Here's the photo of me with my Trade Gun, it's fixin's, and my Jackalope. (That white stuff on the ground is sleet.)
Now, before anyone asks "where's his antlers?" Let me say, yes numb skull, it's a doe. Every experienced Jackalope hunter knows; late season Jackalope tags are "antler-less only".
P.S.
In the interest of truth and justice, my hunting partner for this expedition wishes to remain anonymous. I can’t say that I blame him, but I might be convinced to “spill the beans” after the statute of limitations has expired.