Where have all the Snowshoe Hare's gone????

I remember in the 80’s and Early 90’s there were snowshoe Hare’s everywhere. I would see lots of them while deer hunting, Grouse hunting and just in back yards. These days I can’t tell you the last time I saw one. You would think a animal that can have 3-4 litters a year would have a high population. I don’t think hunting has had much of a roll in the decline as I don’t know many people who hunt them. I know they are know carriers of some disease’s so that may be the cause of the decline. I also know they tend to have about a 10 year cycle, but the decline is going on 30 years now so I doubt its just a poor cycle thing. Curious what all of your thoughts are on the reason for the decline.

That’s a good question. I dont recall the last time I saw one but then again I am not in their territory that often. I dont see any sign of them in NW Wisconsin. Just cottontails. I remember one by our appt in Woodbury 30 years ago. Shocking.
I also remember a population explosion at my in-laws near Motely.
I would love to hear from someone on the north shore because I have seen population explosions there as well.

Primarily related to the number of predators. Here in WI bobcat population is huge compared to what it used to be. Same with wolves, bears, coyotes, fishers, and pretty much every other meat eater there is. Add to that owls, hawks, and eagles and they don’t stand much chance.

There is some other component that I can’t explain however because in my area we have cottontail numbers increasing where we used to never have any.

suzuki wrote:

I also remember a population explosion at my in-laws near Motely.

Suzuki – What are your in-laws name. I grew up in the Staples / Motley area. That is the area where I remember the huge population of Hare’s. I still have lots of Family and Friends who live in that area.

Joel W Taylor wrote:

Primarily related to the number of predators.

There is some other component that I can’t explain however because in my area we have cottontail numbers increasing where we used to never have any.

I kind of thought that Predators also played a big role. I guess I just didn’t realize there had been such a huge increase in their population. But I’m sure that would explain the decrease in Hare #’s

In the late 90’s early 2000’s there were a ton of them around my office in St Cloud. We would watch them out the windows all the time. Then, the area around our office slowly developed with other buildings and that is essentially when they disappeared. Our office relocated to the large main office, but I havent seen one in probably 15 years.

Eagles & Hawks.

I have deer hunted the same land for 45 years. I have always seen Snowshoes. This year ZERO. But I did see 6 coyotes, a bobcat with 2 young ones and a fox.

Their numbers are definitely not what they used to be. They are the bottom of the food chain. They don’t stand a chance. Everything eats hares.
The last time I ran into an area that had lots of hare sign was about 4 years ago and I spend a fair amount of time in hare territory.
I walked about 10 miles on Saturday deep into the woods near McGregor. I found a lot of tracks from about everything you can imagine.
Deer, wolf, bear, bobcat, fox, fisher, pine marten, weasel, turkey, grouse, and squirrel. I didn’t see a single hare track……

I have seen a few hunting grouse with one seen on Saturday along with a few cottontails. I’ve heard a few of the local beagle heads talking about the good hunting in the past. Gotta believe this is related to predator’s filling there belly with delicious hare.

The alder swamps used to be thick with them back in my bird dogging days chasing Ruffies.

I still see them in St. Louis County. My Springer ran a few this year while grouse hunting and I saw a lot of tracks in the snow while deer hunting. The hare population is very cyclical, similar to that of grey and snowy owls and lynx. When hare populations in Canada crash there are owl irruptions. One of my deer hunting buddies saw a grey owl the last weekend of deer season. We have in recent years seen lynx on trail cameras. Seems likely that those predators come south and hit our local hare populations.

They do not exist down here. But I saw a ton of them northeast of Ely, MN this past Sept and my buddy in the U.P. told me the population is high near him this year. Love the tenderloins out of a SSH!

Snowshoe hares have a 10 to 12-year cycle as far as populations go. 2021 will be the low point of the cycle in MN.

We have one snowshoe hare up at the farm who has a den underneath the brush hog mower. He is the only one I have seen for several years now. I’m assuming it’s a male because we never see any others.

I recall a friend of mine who lived in Alaska had said there will be years when lynxs and other predators in Alaska are starving because it’s at the low point of the cycle for the snowshoe hares which makes up most of their food.

Grouse

We had a lot of them at the deer shack along the Itasca/St Louis counties line. Each morning while drinking coffee on the deck we’d count 4-6 of them at any given time.

Buggers dig big holes as well.

I did see a snowshoe on Fri while grouse hunting. Coat was all white. I generally see a number of rabbits on the trail cameras but I think more often than not they
are cottontails. I doubt the predators would discriminate.

I have a cabin in nw WI. In the 70’s and early 80’s they were everywhere in Bayfield, Saywer County area. We are lucky to see any now. More predators now. Used to be a lot of trappers then. Same with grouse more turkeys than grouse now.

Mwal

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>

I also remember a population explosion at my in-laws near Motely.

Suzuki – What are your in-laws name. I grew up in the Staples / Motley area. That is the area where I remember the huge population of Hare’s. I still have lots of Family and Friends who live in that area.

Schulz. Inlaws retired there but were from Alexandria. Its super funny seeing them in a no-snow December. Actually you cant NOT see them!
I remember my buddy and I grouse hunting by Finlayson and we kept hearing each other laugh every time one popped up.

I remember forty years ago my parents coming home with gunny sacks of hares. Now there is a hawk on every pole and tree at every field. Muskrats were everywhere, now a eagle watching over every bay at every lake. Owls have made a huge comeback. DDT was banned in 1972 because it was found to make egg shells thin and the birds in question would crush their own eggs sitting on them. I blame the birds ! We need to control the birds of pray just as we need to control the wolves.

Gino wrote:

I remember forty years ago my parents coming home with gunny sacks of hares. Now there is a hawk on every pole and tree at every field. Muskrats were everywhere, now a eagle watching over every bay at every lake. Owls have made a huge comeback. DDT was banned in 1972 because it was found to make egg shells thin and the birds in question would crush their own eggs sitting on them. I blame the birds ! We need to control the birds of pray just as we need to control the wolves.

I agree, Bald Eagles taste better than chicken too. There is someone here that will take you right to them.

It’s likely a combination of things, the natural predator/prey relationships, habitat, disease, etc.. It’s natural for wildlife populations to be cyclical.
Nature has a way of creating a balance just as it did prior to the interference of artificial wildlife standards set by man.

I saw a nice s’shoe last week on my way into my deer stand in far NW Wisconsin. It was in a wet, popple slashing, where I also saw-or heard- plenty of grouse as well.
Side note – I heard more folks talking about seeing bobcats this year than ever before, either in person or on camera.

I have never seen one in 26 years of hunting. Ever.

I guess there used to be a lot more jack rabbits in western MN too than there is now. Never seen one of those either.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>

I also remember a population explosion at my in-laws near Motely.

Suzuki – What are your in-laws name. I grew up in the Staples / Motley area. That is the area where I remember the huge population of Hare’s. I still have lots of Family and Friends who live in that area.

I used to see quite a few around Pillager/Lincoln lakes area. Thats been 25 years ago now.

My dad’s where I lived and have hunted for 25 years is sw of Motley by 20 minutes. I’ve never seen a snowshoe hare there. We actually have very few cottontails either. I definitely haven’t put much of a dent in the predators. Maybe this winter.

After snowshoeing and sweating under my beanie cap all I have to do is look in the mirror at my “snowshoe hair”…

Attachments:

1. 

   D7717EAA-4A32-4FE5-9E17-B737576DC051.jpeg