Every year a group of us hunt rabbits and play poker over a weekend. This year, I did not expect to even see a rabbit as the population is way down for some, unknown, reason.

But we did luck out and jump one bunny in the darkest thickets. It was unexpected by both parties and the huge bull bunster thrashed through the undergrowth untouched on first encounter. But there was a fresh snow on the ground and we fell up on his track until we caught up with him a second time.

And yet again, he dodged a hail of bullets, probably untouched, but now it was not certain that we had entirely missed. So we once again took up the track, though much more nervously,knowing that this time he might be wounded and dangerous. We went in with our Dangerous Rabbit rifles at the ready, fanning out slightly in our search for fresh spoor in the dim light of the thicket.

And a crafty ol' bull rabbit he was. He gone to ground and got behind us to lie in wait. I was circling a particularly dense clump in the darkest heart of the thicket when, only a scant 2-3 meters on my right, he shifted his weight slightly in final preparation for his final charge. I spun to the right, shouldering my trusty Marlin 39 just as he launched his dire attack. The bullet hit him solidly in the body, and knocked his attack slightly offline as I levered in another round and placed the coup de grace just behind his ear - and it was all over.

A very close call, but me and my trusty Marlin got the job done and another season now comes to a successful conclusion.

Yep, you need to watch out for those man-eating cotton tails. They are mean. Great story.

Our cottontail season is open year-round. Sorry about yours ending.