I'm with Tazman in that I enjoy running hounds on rabbits. The great thing about beagles and their prey is that the rabbits seldom stray further than 200-400 yards in their circles so you're always right on top of the action. And a good brace of dogs lends itself to some awfully fun times. we usually run them in groups of two, be it 2, 4 or even 8 but hunting them in pairs is the key. it makes for better dogs I think because the competitive nature between them. I've never hunted deer with dogs but could see how they'd be advantageous for perhaps driving deer out of hard to hunt spots (i.e. grown over bedding areas) but I think as far as running them like you would a rabbit, I think it would be hard to stay ahead of your quarry. WR