Passion Pursued: Smithfield鈥檚 Fisher, national authority on rabbit hunting with beagles, reveals greatest pleasure
Fortunate is the person who carries an unquenchable passion throughout their life. Fervor for that pursuit adds spice to their days and can transcend setbacks.
One local man鈥檚 passion has lifted him to prominence, a place of respect among peers. He鈥檚 Dave Fisher of Smithfield, one of the nation鈥檚 authorities on the simple, and once more popular, passion of hunting rabbits with hounds.
Years ago, when life鈥檚 pace was slower and when access to hunting land was easier to find, Fayette County was at the core of rabbit hunting culture. Our hard-used landscape grew thickets of briars and blackberries where cottontail rabbits found cover, big game like deer and bear had not returned in numbers, and most rural homes kept a pack of beagles for the fall rabbit chase. Stewed, fried, or baked rabbit, too, brought a boost to frugal home budgets.
Today, few have the time or inclination to care for a pack of hunting dogs, and those hunters who persist know it鈥檚 harder to find places where dogs can range widely to follow a rabbit wherever it runs.
Fisher and a few close friends, like Dave Pezze of Greensburg, keep the tradition alive. Both continue to follow their passion in the field, and Fisher has also shared that zeal with thousands all over the country through his magazine articles and published videos and books on the finer points of hunting small game, rabbits especially.
Fisher鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淎 Hunter鈥檚 Journal; 50 Years of Hunting,鈥� follows four other titles about rabbit hunting with beagles, including a rabbit cookbook. All are set mostly in the woods and fields of Fayette and surrounding counties.
鈥淚 loved all hunting,鈥� Fisher wrote in his latest book鈥檚 introduction. 鈥淢uch of what you will read here will deal with rabbit hunting. It was a delight to be in the woods with great dogs and to see their desire to hunt and just spend time with them. Many became very close friends, and they knew it.鈥�
Rabbit hunting drew Fisher so strongly that for years he made annual treks to the woods of Michigan and New Hampshire to hunt snowshoe hares, much larger than cottontails and rare in this part of the country. Some of those hunts are chronicled in Fisher鈥檚 books.
In the early 2000s, the Pennsylvania Game Commission added a month to the winter rabbit season, extending it through late February. Dave Fisher was solely responsible for that change, doggedly campaigning for the extension. He presented testimony at commission meetings and wrote letters. He made the argument that, so few people hunt rabbits today that the additional hunting time granted those remaining stalwarts was justified.
Having known Fisher for years, I was pleased to get a text from him inviting me on a rabbit hunt in Greene County early last week. Fisher, Pezze, their small pack of beagles, and I met at the Sheetz store near Carmichaels, then proceeded to an old farm with brushy thickets near Garards Fort.
Pezze turned the hounds loose, and I flanked him into the thickets. Fisher stayed back at the truck due to chronic back pain. 鈥淚 won鈥檛 even load my gun,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just want to hear you guys get a rabbit going and listen to the dogs sing.鈥�
The day was very warm, dry, and bright for February, not ideal conditions. But we enjoyed two good chases where the pack chased rabbits in wide loops across the hills. It鈥檚 easy to see how hard-core rabbit hunters get addicted to this style of hunting. The beagles, which require long hours of work and training, pick up a rabbit鈥檚 scent, then follow, broadcasting the quarry鈥檚 movements by constant howling. Eventually, if all goes to plan, the pack will chase the rabbit back to the waiting hunter for the shot. I missed my chance at one of these rabbits, but Pezze shot true on both.
As evidence of how seriously Pezze and Fisher take this, Pezze saw three other rabbits during the chases, which he did not shoot because, 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 the rabbit the dogs were chasing,鈥� he explained.
During a break, we enjoyed a visit with state game warden Brandon Bonin, who patrols Greene County. Bonin had seen us hunting and stopped. I鈥檓 sure he noted that we wore the required blaze orange and unloaded the guns before assembling to chat. He鈥檚 a dedicated officer and we鈥檙e fortunate to have him in this region.
For Fisher and Pezze, this kind of hunting is about so much more than acquiring rabbit meat 鈥� though rabbit is excellent fare on the table.
Fisher quotes his wife Linda in the book. Someone asked Linda what Dave would do when hunting season was over. 鈥淗unting season is never over at our house,鈥� Linda replied. 鈥淗e just goes to another state or goes on to something else鈥搒couting for spring gobblers or late goose hunting, something.鈥�
Dave Fisher credits Linda as his irreplaceable production team in their publishing company, LinDavid Productions, which has produced all Dave鈥檚 books and videos.
鈥淢y beloved wife Linda has always helped me with unwavering dedication in every single endeavor,鈥� he wrote.
A passion came Dave Fisher鈥檚 way early, and he鈥檚 followed it to this day. Staying true to that passion brought him some degree of modest fame, and a lifetime of irreplaceable pleasure.