How the contest came to be

Vern Mol and Gary Poliski opened Grand Valley Sporting Goods (GVSG) 21 years ago. The Rabbit Contest has been held just about as long. Matt Polisky, the son of Gary and current owner of the store, explained that in the beginning the contest was something to do as a community in the winter, which had been their off months. That was before they began running nine archery leagues that occupy their store all winter long.

Not just a rabbit hunt

Almost as much as the hunt itself, participants look forward to the food and raffle prizes on the day of the contest. Matt spends half the day before the contest smoking brats locally made at Mike’s Processing. By morning the archery range is lined with tables and tables of crockpotted sides brimming with all the fixins. It smells amazing—like, mouth-watering-good.

The hunters—who come from Coopersville, Sparta, Cedar Springs, Overisle, even as far away as Chicago—take to the woods at dawn, turning over every brush pile they can find in order to hit their Michigan daily limit of five rabbits. By 2:00 p.m. participants arrive at GVSG and have their bounty weighed, hoping to have either the heaviest or the lightest rabbit. There is a prize for each.

And then it’s time for brats and for seeing who won what in the big raffle. Prizes include anything from beanies to bows and rifles. Matt said he usually ends up giving away a couple thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise.

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Hunters look forward to the contest every year with typically 150 to 200 taking part. In December, the anticipation builds as Matt gets call after call asking what day the contest will be. Though he doesn’t do as much rabbit hunting as he does deer hunting, Matt did share how he likes to prepare the occasional rabbit he brings home—in a crockpot with mushroom soup, potatoes, carrots, and onions. Others like to try grilling or smoking it, but the crockpot method tends to be the tastiest.

While most hunt rabbits with a shotgun or bow, Matt said “the coolest” was one year when one of the hunters used a hawk. There is a falconry in Michigan that consists of a very tight community and requires those interested to apprentice for years.

Day of the hunt

This year’s weather was unseasonably warm and sunny, unlike so many years prior. One woman hunter said that in the past the snow has been deep and difficult to get through.

A hunter named Joe stood in the food line with his beagle, Murphy. Joe talked about how much he enjoys the exercise of rabbit hunting and getting out in the fresh air. He used to go every year with his kids.

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As in other years, there were several kids who participated. One young hunter said he’d been hunting since he was two or three years old. When asked how rabbit hunting compares to deer hunting, he said he thought rabbit hunting was “a little more fun because there’s less waiting.” You’re moving around trying to find them. He and his hunting buddy laughed about how one of the rabbits of the morning had run out of a brush pile, up his leg, and then somersaulted in the air. It was quite a sight, something they wouldn’t soon forget.

64-year-old Larry Timmer was a participant who has been hunting since he was eight or nine years old. It was his dad and uncle who first took him out. When Larry was a kid he said there were a lot fewer rabbits than there are today, at least in the areas he hunts. Where there used to be just cornfields, there’s more underbrush and a better habitat.  

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As a few others confided, Larry is not a fan of rabbit meat. He appreciates that Mike’s Processing and others will take the rabbits and extra deer he shoots and donate them to the VFW, missions, and nursing homes.  

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‍The winners

The moment they all were waiting for finally came. The 2025 winners for the rabbit weights were:

Heaviest rabbit: 3.92 pounds, hunter: Dan P.

Lightest rabbit: 1.94 pounds, hunter: Nick K.

The total participants for 2025: 150

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Another successful GVSG Rabbit Contest came to a close, with well-fed hunters being sent off with their raffle winnings and a briar patch full of memories.

Be sure to sign up next January and get in on the hunting tradition.

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