Karen Wils photo A snowshoe hare freezes for a photo.

ESCANABA — It was the plaid flannel rustic ritual of autumn!

The country gentlemen of old made it posh.

The “Field and Stream”-type magazines for many decades featured grouse feathers, pheasants, woodcock, spaniels, shot guns and game bags.

Small game season was a rite of passage in our grandparents’ day. Hunting for partridge (grouse) and rabbits (hares) was as much a part of fall as raking leaves. Back then, almost every young hunter started out by bagging a few rabbits or bringing a bird or two home to be made into supper.

I remember as a small child, watching my dad get ready to go to camp in bird season.

His usual Yooper wardrobe took backseat to red flannel shirt, suspenders, leather boots and a sash full of shot gun shells.

Dad was the kind of hunter who never shot anything he wasn’t going to eat. My mother could prepare an awesome rabbit stew and the tastiest roast grouse.

Back then, with eight or more around the supper table, a meal of game once in a while was a good and economical thing.

Back in the day, pictures of bird dogs, like plumed tailed setters pointing to quails and long eared spaniels retrieving pheasant, were found on everything from calendars to curtains.

Here in Upper Michigan, those fortunate enough to have a bird dog hunted for woodcock and grouse.

In October, the merry little beagles took to the woods with their owners. Their prize was the snowshoe hare. Back then, hares were much more plentiful. In the last 50 years, the cottontail rabbit has expanded its territory by leaps and bounds in the U.P. Both bunnies are very good game animals.

In oak country, gray squirrels were harvested and made into meals, too.

The neat thing about small game hunting is that it got folks out into the fantastic fall-time forest. It gave young hunters time to learn the woods and how to get around in them.

It taught survival skills. I wonder how many people today know how to skin, dress and prepare a bird or animal to make it into a delicacy on the supper table?

Today, small game hunters are at an all-time low. Most Michigan hunters stalk only the white-tail deer.

People talk about eating organic and locally grown plants and animals. Small game is both.

There is a “circle of life” just like in the “Lion King” movie. Predator and prey makes for a beautiful balance of nature with just the right amount of everything.

If you hunt with a shotgun, be careful, good luck and know the rules.

If you hunt with a camera, like me, that’s great! Get out and get to know our small game.

——

Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.