Rabbit hunting
- Thread starter nmkid
- Start date
Rabbit hunted with beagles for years till work got in the way.. good dogs you could stand where ever they jumped one at and shoot them in the head with a 22 pistol when they came back around.. best way to get a male dog to come back to ya when you holler at him is to reach down there and jack him a couple times before you turn him loose.. lol
I’ll just take your word on that one. I’ll stick with the shock collar. Lol
Riesel
Gold $$ Contributor
This really wasn't me, just somebody I knew. One of 'em had a 51 Chevy with the rounded front fenders and the headlight that would shine between your legs as you sat on the fender.
They would usually road hunt rabbits during the Christmas Holidays using shotguns with open chokes. I hear they went out one cool country evening, started about 11 when everyone is in bed and hunted till about 3. They collected somewhere in the neighbor hood of about 38 rabbits and worked till sunup cleaning em. I was told that one of their Moms was ecstatic about getting a dozen freshly cleaned cottontails. Some in the freezer and some on the dinner table. She really knew how to cook them up and were great with the new spinach coming from the garden.
I heard they were delicious.
Riesel
They would usually road hunt rabbits during the Christmas Holidays using shotguns with open chokes. I hear they went out one cool country evening, started about 11 when everyone is in bed and hunted till about 3. They collected somewhere in the neighbor hood of about 38 rabbits and worked till sunup cleaning em. I was told that one of their Moms was ecstatic about getting a dozen freshly cleaned cottontails. Some in the freezer and some on the dinner table. She really knew how to cook them up and were great with the new spinach coming from the garden.
I heard they were delicious.
Riesel
pikespeakgoat
Gold $$ Contributor
Grew up in NE Ohio, hunted bunnies behind beagles most every day after school and on Saturdays. The sounds of a beagle on a rabbit was music to my ears..... I to this day love to hear a beagle talk!!!
And the other perk was the tasty table fare, preferably fried or grilled.
Been probably 35 years since I spent time chasing bunnies, but definitely have many great memories.
And the other perk was the tasty table fare, preferably fried or grilled.
Been probably 35 years since I spent time chasing bunnies, but definitely have many great memories.
Schandler
Silver $$ Contributor
Never owned beagles but have hunted with the older generation that had dogs all their life. Saw stacks of hundreds passed for one puppy and heard some pretty big tales. Went a few times to the mountains or around Sparta NC where you could get up high and watch the show right in front of you. There’s the rabbit - makes a u turn and dogs follow exact path right behind rabbit. Shot a few but the old guys fed them to the dogs . Most fun I’ve ever had - as much fun as dove hunting with fellas. Only rabbits I’ve had were fried with gravy but came from rabbit gums my dad had out. It blows my mind that at some time in the past that people relied on such to put supper on table. No food lions back then and no cash. Things have changed just in my lifetime but love to hear the stories
snert
Silver $$ Contributor
I had a little runt female beagle named...snert...
Early on I think i terrorized her by sneaking up on her pen and yelling at her when she barked (we lived in town). She NEVER barked after that. The only noise she made was a single pitched whimper (loud) on rabbits and a double pitched higher sound and more rapid on pheasant. That dog didn't have a lot of hunt in her but had a lot of trail in her. Hound hunters will know what I mean. Once on a rabbit that i bounced she was a terror. She was what we called an "underfoot". Always nearby. But never gave up on a rabbit. Just faast enough to keep em moving, just slow enough that they didn't hole up. Tiny little gal who never weighed twenty pounds, she lived 17 years and hunted a lot of rabbits and birds for me. Guys would look at her and dismiss her out of hand. I once watched a guy work a whole hillside for pheasant with a really expensive somethin dog. He pulled out without a single flush. I watched that dog work and realized that at the end of the field there was a house, a lawn and little cover. However, there was a culvert under the road, and it led to a ditch between a harvested corn field and a horse pasture. Snert, being a bit timid and underwhelming was my ticket to permission to hunt that ditch when I asked the horse owner. She was at my feet looking like she wanted a leash and a milkbone. My partner and I snuck up on the ditch, he on one side and me on the other. We literally tossed Snert into the ditch. We went one hundred yards and had limited on three ringnecks each. That dog went nuts. We had to rush ahead and jump in the ditch to stop the runners, which flushed at 410 range. In that hunt I actually shot the head off a flying riser as it winged up and over me. The head landed about four feet from the bird and Snert ate it. She was a perfect beagle for me. She was my last dog.
Early on I think i terrorized her by sneaking up on her pen and yelling at her when she barked (we lived in town). She NEVER barked after that. The only noise she made was a single pitched whimper (loud) on rabbits and a double pitched higher sound and more rapid on pheasant. That dog didn't have a lot of hunt in her but had a lot of trail in her. Hound hunters will know what I mean. Once on a rabbit that i bounced she was a terror. She was what we called an "underfoot". Always nearby. But never gave up on a rabbit. Just faast enough to keep em moving, just slow enough that they didn't hole up. Tiny little gal who never weighed twenty pounds, she lived 17 years and hunted a lot of rabbits and birds for me. Guys would look at her and dismiss her out of hand. I once watched a guy work a whole hillside for pheasant with a really expensive somethin dog. He pulled out without a single flush. I watched that dog work and realized that at the end of the field there was a house, a lawn and little cover. However, there was a culvert under the road, and it led to a ditch between a harvested corn field and a horse pasture. Snert, being a bit timid and underwhelming was my ticket to permission to hunt that ditch when I asked the horse owner. She was at my feet looking like she wanted a leash and a milkbone. My partner and I snuck up on the ditch, he on one side and me on the other. We literally tossed Snert into the ditch. We went one hundred yards and had limited on three ringnecks each. That dog went nuts. We had to rush ahead and jump in the ditch to stop the runners, which flushed at 410 range. In that hunt I actually shot the head off a flying riser as it winged up and over me. The head landed about four feet from the bird and Snert ate it. She was a perfect beagle for me. She was my last dog.
joshb
Gold $$ Contributor
There was one day a friend of my father came to hunt. We lived on 20 acres of good bottom land and were surrounded by a dairy farm with lots of hedgerows. The friend brought his prize new German Shorthair Pointer so the beagles stayed in the pen and off we went. We worked a couple hedgerows and got a couple cock birds. Then we hit one spot, the dog pointed but the “bird” wouldn’t flush. I even tossed a couple rocks in. Nuthin! The friend urged his dog and into the hedgerow he went. There was a hell of a ruckus, then the poor dog backed out with the largest wild cat I’ve ever seen latched on his head, biting and scratching like mad. The friend jumped in to save his dog. He slapped and hit the cat so the cat let go of the dog and attached itself to his arm and the fight really took off. He’s screaming and jumping around, smacking the cat. The cat’s biting and scratching like crazy. It was a horrible thing to watch a grown man scream like that! Well, finally the cat let go and ran back into the hedgerow. Luckily I had a hold on the dog ‘cause he wanted some payback. We all calmed down a little and decided to head for the house for some medical treatment. The cat had done considerable damage to the dog and the arm. Before we left tho, my Dad’s friend emptied his gun into the hedgerow. I’ll never forget that hunt. It was probably 50 years ago, too.
I own a real nice place to hunt rabbits, but I haven't owned a beagle in many years. The boys I let hunt here have some of the best dogs I have ever seen, but they hunt them a lot. One of the reasons I have so many rabbits is because I do a lot of fox hunting and keep them thinned out. Way back in my "lawless days" I also shot the hawks and owls too. Back in my lawless days was about three days ago!!! Here is some of the boys, that little fella walked the entire hunt with us. The last rabbit ran 800 yards {on the Garmin tracker} out in the woods before he finally turned and came back. We could barely hear them. I would have bet money it was a fox they were on. But, we finally shot the rabbit. As far as eatin' goes, I like to fry them up in a nice beer batter and apply mesquite seasoning.Grew up hunting rabbits. My cousin was the man when it came to beagles. His name was
Gary phillips. He was a judge at many field trials in the eastern states . Sadly while judging a trial in west Virginia, he suffered a massive heart attack in October and passed on. He'd always hunt our land in grant count, wv, with his .348 winchester and drill deer with open sights. Great times . I don't think
I can ever stomp the bushes again eithout him. Enjoy every hunt with those you love, our time here is so short.
Gary phillips. He was a judge at many field trials in the eastern states . Sadly while judging a trial in west Virginia, he suffered a massive heart attack in October and passed on. He'd always hunt our land in grant count, wv, with his .348 winchester and drill deer with open sights. Great times . I don't think
I can ever stomp the bushes again eithout him. Enjoy every hunt with those you love, our time here is so short.
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