Rabbit hunting

fishinty · 10-21-2010, 01:52 PM

Just wondering if any of yall go rabbit hunting with dogs?If you havent then you should.It is one of the funnest things I have ever done.I use beagles,you can use just about any dog.The only thing you need is a couple of dogs and a shotgun.If you have any questions about rabbit hunting just post?

dixiedawg80 · 10-26-2010, 08:37 AM

I grew up chasing rabbits behind my dads beagles and of all my childhood memories these hunts are the fondest. Just purchased my first beagle and fully plan to take my 4 kids out after bunnies. My father and brother and I all hunt regularly together and you're right, rabbit hunting is the best.

mac266 · 10-26-2010, 12:36 PM

I've always done it without dogs because I haven't had a dog since I was a kid. I'm sure I'd be more successful with one, but I still get a few.

rgs1975 · 10-26-2010, 03:41 PM

My grandad had a dog that loved to hunt rabbits (and racoons too). His name was 'Ol Blu, no reason why. He used to ride in the back of a stakebed truck. One time a stake popped out on a bump and landed square on his tail. Broke it like a twig and once it healed his tail made a 90 degree turn about half way down. Hillarious dog, not brilliant but brave. He ended up slowly being able to see less and less. He locked on to a rabbit one day in the yard and chased it like he was 1 year old. Chased it right into a wood pile. The rabbit ran into a hole between logs in the pile. Blu ran head first into the wood pile going full bore. That was it for 'Ol Blu. Killed by a rabbit, irony.

ButchA · 11-02-2010, 02:11 PM

Rabbit hunting? It's a blast and can be really funny and hilarious too.

Since it's now rabbit season here in Virginia, I went out rabbit hunting with my 3yr old female beagle/shepherd mix (Amber). We had a great time in the woods at the local Wildlife Management Area. She stayed with me and didn't take off or worse, jump a deer and be gone into the next county...

Anyway, since we were rabbit hunting, I concentrated on areas that I felt would be good for rabbits. I kicked fallen logs, brush piles, and big thickets, briars, and pricker bushes. Amber was cruising all around with her nose on the ground, sniffing for anything she could sniff. We worked like a team and were about 20-25 yards apart, as we slowly walked down the trail in the woods.

Soon enough, I found a big dirt mound by some rotted tree stumps and logs, covered in pricker bushes. Jackpot!!! I reached in with my leg and kicked one of the logs. ZOOM!!! A rabbit came busting out at like Mach IV, zipped right by Amber, who went instantly nuts and tore after it. What's interesting is Amber is silent in the woods, unlike a pure bred beagle which will bark and howl its head off while it runs. (Amber will only bark her head off once she trees something, or traps a rabbit down in its hole.)

Amber had the rabbit run in a zig zagging circle, up and around, across the trail, back into the other woods, etc... and she couldn't keep up. Once the rabbit came back out towards me, I think it spotted me standing there, so it zigged and zagged again, and I tried shooting it, missing twice. Jesus, those things are fast!

I didn't take any more shots, because by that time, Amber was running back at top speed and I obviously didn't want to shoot her! She came right back to me panting real hard, and looked around for the rabbit, looked at me, and then gave me the most hysterical look. I swear, if Amber could talk she would have said, "You missed? You idiot! How could you miss? It was coming right back to you!".

So then, she ran over to the big dirt mound and was pawing and digging at it and getting all caught up in the pricker bushes. I called her off it and started walking back to the truck. I looked at her and said, "I'm sorry... Let's go get some water and we'll try again".

LOL....