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I hunted small game in upstate New York during winter (early January 2014). I was hunting cottontail rabbits and ruffed grouse for the most part, but I also would have taken a pheasant, gray squirrel, or red squirrel if I got a decent shot at one.

I walked probably around 2 miles each for the last 6 or 7 small game hunts I've gone on, but I haven't seen much in terms of small game, so this trip I decided I would walk all day until I saw a small game animal, if that's what it took. I started hunting by going up to Whitney Point state land, and it turned out that I didn't have to go far this time -- not even 20 feet off the road -- before I flushed the first grouse and took a snap shot at it even though it was a little too far when I saw it. I walked another half mile or so between the edge of a forest and some pheasant management habitat, and I finally spooked a cottontail rabbit out of the brush, but I missed 2 snap shots at it when it peaked its head out from a log at close range. I got lost and probably ended up walking 2 miles or more and stomping on tons of brush piles before leaving. I went to a new spot and noticed that there were lots of rabbit tracks in places where there normally aren't, as if the rabbits had been exploring new areas after the recent snowstorms and frigid windstorms. I found a brush pile that I've stepped on countless times before for rabbits, and for the first time ever, a rabbit flushed out from it, but I couldn't click my shotgun's safety off fast enough because my finger was frozen, so I missed my snap shot. I chased after the rabbit and saw it climbing a hill in the distance, so I took 2 more fast shots hoping a pellet would connect, and that's exactly what happened -- the first small game I bagged that day. I moved on and flushed another ruffed grouse, and it sort of glided in an arc through the woods as I took 2 shots at it -- good, careful shots -- but I guess it was more of a modified choke shot and the pellets just didn't connect. I kept walking through all sorts of saplings, brush, and pine trees, but I didn't see any more small game aside from a red squirrel in the distance. There were hundreds of grouse and rabbit tracks all over the place, and I tried to give some tips about grouse and rabbit habits. I probably walked over 4 miles while hunting before heading home, field dressing the rabbit, and vacuum sealing the meat.

It was a sunny, very cold day and everywhere was covered with snow. I was using my Franchi Affinity semi-auto shotgun chambered in 20 gauge. Considering how difficult the hunting has been my whole life, I've been learning a lesson lately to not hunt small game around here without a beagle or some sort of dog.

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