I was reading a book called Gone for the Day that was written in the early 70s by a PA wildlife biologist and in it he briefly described the efforts being taken to reintroduce snowshoe rabbits into areas of PA where they'd once lived but no longer did and he stated that the efforts looked promising.

I'd never heard of snowshoe rabbits being in PA, but then I never really gave it much thought, either. Are there snowshoes there? If so, for you old timers that may remember the reintroductions of the 70's... did they work?

Have some rabbit hunting friends of mine from Pennsylvania that hunt snowshoe hare in Pennsylvania.

We use to have tons of snowshoes everywhere but in the 80’s they disappeared both here and in Minnesota including jackrabbits in the red river valley. They have come back somewhat with some areas having good amount but other areas almost none. It’s never consistent. They must be coming back in north east Minnesota because Canadian Lynx are showing up more now. A guy got picture of 4 Lynx with drone in one picture while looking for moose sheds.

Not a lot just in the northern part of the state I’ve always wanted to get one but never have had the opportunity

They flashed pretty good in the ANF
after the big blow down, then coyotes cycled high.
That is my ONLY experience.

A State WildLife Biologist that calls a Snowshoe a " rabbit" needs fireing El prompto..

The correct name is varying hare.
Because of their predictable population cycle.

I've seen a few running beagles in the winter. Only ever shot one. All these were in the northern part of the state in the ANF.

We used to drive around looking for them when we'd get warm spells. One year you might see 20 or 30. The next year you'd be lucky to see 1.

Like Boo said, their population fluctuations were fairly predictable. Talked to some of the old timers and they said there might be 2 or 3 years where they wouldn't even hunt them, because they had pretty well figured out their patterns.

I think he did call them snowshoe rabbits, followed immediately by varying hares.

Do you have any pertinent information regarding the "varying hares" population in Pennsylvania from 1970-present?

As a kid growing up in SW NYS, there were snowshoe rabbits that my uncle would go hunting for with his beagles. The county borders north west PA.

I grew up just south of Tionesta in President and my step dad would always take me up around marienville to hunt them back in the early 80's. I Haven't hunted them since then. But at that time there was a pretty population of them.

The book is based on Ned Smith’s long-running, monthly column of the same name in the magazine, Pennsylvania Game News. Ned Smith was not a trained wildlife biologist. The Ned Smith Center describes him as a self trained artist and naturalist. He was a very popular wildlife artist. I have several of his framed prints hanging in my cabin.

Between 1918 to 1999 the Pennsylvania Game Commission released 33,000 snowshoe hares into the wild in Pennsylvania. I remember hunting them out of our camp in Northeast Pennsylvania in the 70s. We currently have a short, weeklong season on them.



That may be true in the great white north, but I’m pretty sure the name refers to the fact that they change colors between summer and winter every year down here.

They were present in the NE corner of Ohio.I think they've pretty much given up on that project. Id imagine PA might still have some in the northern parts especially around Lake Eerie where they get lake effect snow

We had a few in NE PA growing up. The season was only 5 days if I remember correctly and a limit of 2.I remember they were tough to eat.

They were here in northwest NJ, just across the river from PA until about the late 1960's. Last one I saw here was when I was deer hunting about 1967.

You rarely hear people say they went varying hare hunting. It's an aggravating name. Bunny hunting covers all the bases.

I had them on my place in the northern Catskills in the 60's and early 70's. Then they disappeared, about the same time coyotes showed up.

The whole state of Maine call snowshoe hare rabbits.

The snow shoe rabbit or varying hare was common at least in some areas of PA at some time .We need to remember the habitat we have today is notte same as what PA was like in the late 1880's and early 1910's At one time much of what some call the Northern Tier counties of PA Potter Tioga McKean Clinton counties where logged off in what was called clear cut The resulting new growth provided a vast area of cover and food Deer thrived grouse where plentiful Bear where also a part of why many hunters from southern PA went to those logged off counties and built cabins If you wanted to get a deer in PA in the 1960's you did not spend your time in York or Lancaster county You went north Also I recall the PGC claiming there where no coyotes in PA WELL that may have been true somewhere back in time but not now I don.t know what the status of the varying hare is in PA now but at one time they were at least in some areas a rabbit that some hunters pursued on a regular basis AS for Ned Smith goes he is a national treasure to the state of PA A knowledgeable man that spend hours upon hours out in the wilds of PA recording the things he saw wildlife doing Everyone that hunts and traps in PA should read his book Gone for the day It is a book written by a genius And he understood the beauty of all wildlife

Varying hare is an important food in the northern bush.
People who winterd on their traplines depended on varying hare as an important part of their diet.
When the men were out running the traplines the women and children were the home guard so to speak,snaring rabbits and trapping closeby the camp.
Because of the low fat content on hares in winter the entire hare was eaten including the brain.
Skins provided warm light clothing(hats insoles and mitt liners for kids) and sleeping robes.

If a person ate just wild rabbits/hare/ and nothing else they would starve to death.

Maine does have rabbits but they're endangered. New England cottontails. They inhabit the southern coastal area and number around 300. I've seen them a few times.

I did an internship in Warren and Potter counties in the summer of 1984 for Hammermill Paper. We were working on the 5 strand electric fences to keep deer out of new clearcuts. We also conducted radio telemetry of does to see if deer migrated into the new clearcuts or the resident deer caused regeneration issues. At this time, Potter county was the leading county in PA for deer harvests. One day, we had lunch with a young man from Penn State who wanted to do his thesis on paper company lands. He was trying to prove that snowshoe populations were affected by the regeneration problems caused by deer. The meeting was conducted at the end of my internship, and I have no idea if the young man even conducted his study.
Presently, we have a small population in the NEPA. Some winters I see a few. Some winters I don’t see them. I see people hunting them during the fisher season when I trapping. I have even seen some harvested, as I like to work with the guys who run dogs. This past winter I saw a couple.
As far as I know, PA is the southern most habitat for snowshoes. We certainly have plenty of predators. It’s a tough life for them here.

Coincidentally, I am a member of a hunting club in Potter County that leases about 3500 acres from a timber company. Back when I first got my Camp in 2000 the land was owned by Hammermill Paper. The property has changed hands multiple times since then.

One thing all the owners have had in common is that they require us to kill a certain number of doe each season. Some of them even went as far as having us remove a lower jaw and list the weight of the doe we killed. They wanted to see deer that were big and healthy for their age. That told them that the population was low enough to not be decimating their valuable timber before it had a chance to grow.

that book was written by Ned Smith a well known wild life artist

There are some in the higher elevation areas of WV and VA.

I grew up in Cameron County PA. We hunted Snowshoe Rabbits in the North Creek area. Couldn't tell you anything about it now.

where I live now, the Tug Hill area of NY, we have plenty on Snowshoes.

I saw my first and only Snowshoe near Tidioute, Pa about 8 years ago hunting squirrels.

Spent a bunch of time around one
those solar deer fences at Nebraska Bridge.
A real eye opener to deer damage.

good read , thanks guys

Because I deer hunted i W VA both bow and rifle season from 1987 thru 2005 plus a few other random years This thread made me wonder f they still have a season on varying hare in W V And the regs list an open season And than because much of W VA and VA share the same mountain range and has a lot of similar habitat I looked at the VA DNR season regs VA also shows a season on varying hare Maybe a dedicated Varying hare hunter might try to take one in each state that has a part of the Appalachian trail in that mountain range A catchy name could put varying hare hunting back in fashion again You know like the Triple Trophy in PA or the grand slam of sheep .