Finally Got the Dogs out!! PIC

[B-man715]

Well guys I'm glad to say that deer hunting is finally over with. I spent every weekend chasing deer for the last 3 months, now the dogs finally got their chance to run! I ran them all summer and into September, but I have been out chasing everything but bunnies for a while. (Deer fill the freezer a lot faster than rabbits do)

I met up with some friends today and we had a blast! (So did the dogs ) First we hunted a property that has rabbits, but also a lot of hiding places. The mis-matched pack of seven dogs managed to hole up 4 cottons, and the mis-matched gang of hunters managed to kill zero .

One of my buddies had to take off, so it was me and two friends with 5 dogs total that headed to the next spot. They had hunted the small area (5 acres) a few days ago and shot 3. They said that there were rabbits everywhere when they left.

We were still opening the tail gates when the first rabbit jumped out of the brush behind us! The hunt started off good and ended great. We finished with 6 rabbits and the dogs did all right, considering they have never hunted together, and are all young (1-3 years old.)

We are headed up to the cabin on Wednesday to chase some snowshoe hare. It will be the first time my two buddies and their two dogs will have ever ran hare. It should make for a few laughs and a lot of excuses LOL.

[mcgarth]

i bet rabbit hunting isn't as hard on a guy as chasing cats with dogs. well maybe it is i have never chased rabbit before and only chased cats once and that was 2 weekends ago,i'll tell you dogs and cats don't take the easy road.but it was a blast and a work out.

[icehousebob]

Hey B-man, that's a great looking bunch of Beagles you have there. You seem to be knowledgable on bunny dogs; have you ever known anyone to hunt bunnies with Bassett Hounds? My wife decided we needed two of them and I figure they should earn their keep. They do have some amazing noses.

[B-man715]

Hey B-man, that's a great looking bunch of Beagles you have there. You seem to be knowledgable on bunny dogs; have you ever known anyone to hunt bunnies with Bassett Hounds? My wife decided we needed two of them and I figure they should earn their keep. They do have some amazing noses.

Thanks for the comments!

As far as hunting with bassets, I personally don't know anybody, know a few guys over the internet that run them. Although they are not nearly as common, I'm sure you could find a breeder with hunting stock in their bassets somewhere in the midwest.

Give me a call and I can point you towards a bunch of good info and guys to learn from!

715-553-0556

Brandon

[Gordie]

nothing better than a good ole bunny hunt great pics and nice looking dogs we hunt bunnys with 2-6 guys and drive them like deer down by Rosecreek MN its a blast, I did once run my chessie and she was to bad but she sure was no beagle. good luck Hare hunting

[dan z]

love that pic great job!

[Muskie456]

That's great!! It just cracks me up to see those dogs. Do you need that many begals to run bunnies? What exactly do they do for you? I think they run them back to you so you can get a shot but i'm not sure. What do you use to shoot them with a 4.10? I am looking for good hunting opportunities to get my kids into. I will be doing small game of course but to have a hunting exsperence using dogs would be great. They are young and with the way waterfowling is this looks like a vaiable option. Thanks for the photos and let us know how the season goes.

[deerminator]

That's awesome. We got a beagle from a rescue organization this year. He's one year old and an awesome family dog. He looooooves rabbits. He'll sit like a cat on top of the couch looking out the back window until he spots one and then starts jumping up and down and baying and going nuts. Then I let him out so he can chase it around the yard. He's never caught one but I thought it would be a blast to take him out to a wildlife and go rabbit hunting. I've got to do some studying up first, though. Do you use a radio collar of some sort to keep them under control a bit. Our dog would keep running after the rabbit off our property forever if not for the wireless fence we have.

[B-man715]

That's great!! It just cracks me up to see those dogs. Do you need that many begals to run bunnies? What exactly do they do for you? I think they run them back to you so you can get a shot but i'm not sure. What do you use to shoot them with a 4.10? I am looking for good hunting opportunities to get my kids into. I will be doing small game of course but to have a hunting exsperence using dogs would be great. They are young and with the way waterfowling is this looks like a vaiable option. Thanks for the photos and let us know how the season goes.

You don't need 5 or 10 beagles to run a rabbit. One beagle with average skills is all you really need. Just about any beagle will track and bay, but try to find one from a breeder whose goal is in hunting beagles. People rate hounds on speed (1-10) and many guys are striving for a super-fast 10 hound that can do it all, but you will be much better off with a hound that is bred from parents that are a 5-6. They seem easier to handle and push the rabbits slower, resulting in more shots and smaller circles.

As for how a hunt plays out, you usually have your hound hunt "with you", meaning in sight and hearing. While hunting cottontails I like the dogs to be within say 50 yards, and I try to point them into the right cover to get a jump (thick grass, brush piles, fence rows etc.) Once a rabbit is jumped, all the hunter has to do is get a good vantage point of the area the rabbit jumped from and stay put. Rabbits have a small homerange which varys on how much available cover there is and the distance between cover. Generally they will stay within a couple hundred yards, sometimes several hundred and sometimes a 30 yard circle, depending on cover and how fast they are being pursued.

The most important thing having a hound is getting it to come when called. This requires training beginning when they are pups, all the way through adulthood. I implement a whistle and e-collar. They were trained to come to the whistle with treats and a check cord. They know if the whistle is blown and they do not come that a correction will follow. I never shock a dog off of a hot track, I go in and get them. But if they are at a breakdown in the race they are expected to come to the whistle.

The collar will also stop any unwanted chases, such as a deer run.

As for a gun I use a 20 gauge pump, but plan on purchasing a .410 single shot pistol to have as my primary weapon. I don't hunt to kill all of the rabbits, its more about the dogs to me!

You will find yourself running your dogs year-round without a gun 90% of the time! It's that much fun!

Do a search on youtube to watch a few races

I would also like to add that my three hounds area all house pets too. They love sitting on the couch watching football with Dad or hoppping into the boat for a day of fishing! They may even sleep in our bed........??? LOL

[Ely Lake Expert]

Slightly off topic, but how do you cook dem rabbits?

[B-man715]

I usually make a soup or stew with them. Boil the meat for two hours and it will fall of the bone, or put in the crock pot on high for the better part of a day to get the same result.

I then use the broth for a base and get creative with veggies and sometimes other meat too! I will use "soup starter" sometimes for an easy meal.

[walleye101]

How did your hare trip turn out. Here is our pack of harehounds.

[B-man715]

Hey Walleye,

Haven't checked in for a while.......

The other two guys in the photo bailed last minute, but myself and another buddy ran all of our dogs. I think we only killed one but ran a few! Glad to see you are doing well

Are you coming down for the hunt in March? It should be a lot of fun!

-Brandon

[Browning83]

Hey B-Man....I was wondering if you know of any beagle breeders in your area that have a hunting line of beagles. I have been interested in rabbit hunting with beagles for a long time.

[walleye101]

Check this out in the classified section

http://hsolist.com/classified.php?n=347

Sounds like a decent pair to get started with.

[walleye101]

B-man

That was actually a photo from last winter. I haven't killed 4 all winter this year. Hare are pretty scarce around here this year.