With all these swamp rabbit posts I've been having recollections of when I had dogs and hunted them. Something I haven't seen on here and something that I confronted off and on was how a swamper would take cover. I've had hillbillys go into holes in the ground a few times but never swampers unless they were shot and crippled. When I hunted bottomland with alot of timber and a swamper was hit but still able to run some times they'd try to hide inside of trees. Any tree around with a hole at ground level was a candidate. The rabbit would run in the hole and literally climb up inside the tree as far as he could go. Sometimes you could take a stick and run it up inside the tree and twist it round and round until you could wrap some of his fur in it and pull him out. Other times he'd be up inside the tree too far to reach. Then you could build a small fire just inside the hole with leaves and smoke him out. I've had to smoke several squirrels out the same way.
Hunted swampers in La.I was fortunate never had any dogs but the old men liked to take me because I wasn't afraid to go into the briers and carried a 22 pistol that didn't miss. Had some old timers teach me the same tricks.One old fellar always had a few rags soaked in kerosene to stick up in the hollar trees.. We also would check all the hollow Cypress stumps.
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