---
title: "Mid-Winter Humility"
date: "2007-09-18"
modified: "2007-09-18"
authors:
  - name: "Bryce Towsley"
    link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/bryce-towsley/"
url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/bryce-towsley/2007/09/mid-winter-humility/"
categories:
  - "Hunting"
  - "Rabbit Hunting"
  - "Small Game Hunting"
---

# Mid-Winter Humility

![](<https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/22/WZ2CXK3PP4J2AQZD4F4WZQQ3NU.jpg>)
*Outdoor Life Online Editor*

Snowshoes are tri-directional vehicles. They go forward fairly well and acceptably to the right or left if steered with careful execution. But backing up is not something built into the design.

I demonstrated this failing when a rabbit came sneaking in behind me. He decided to find a healthier habitat just as I decided to make him my dinner. My first shot missed and he drove into a deep trail in the snow, so that only his ears were visible. I instinctively tried to back up for better alignment, but I did what you always do when attempting to back up fast on snowshoes: I fell. As I extended backward I had a full view of the departing rabbit. Calculating a double lead for the running hare and the falling hunter I pulled the back trigger, and scored a hit!

I spent the next 10 minutes wallowing like a beached whale in the 4-foot-deep snow. The problem is that snow is like very cold quicksand. The best approach is to find a small tree and pull yourself up. But unless said tree is close, it's a tough task. The good news is that if you don't succeed, the snow will melt by June.

Hitting a hare is as tough as shotgunning gets, but hunting rabbits in front of a pack of beagles is the most mid-winter fun allowed by law- provided you're willing to accept humiliation as part of the deal.

For more information on hunting in Vermont, call or e-mail Pete Richardson (802-744-6174; kimnpete @together.net)