Hey there...

Since I had off today, Iwent out and took my female beagle mix (Amber) rabbit hunting for the 2nd time at the local WMA. This time we actually saw a rabbit (well, my dog Amber did at first I should say). Wow, that rabbit took off like Mach IV, out from under a huge fallen oak tree in the heavy brush, jumped across the trail, and into thewoods to another rabbit hole somewhere. I took a shot at it with my shotgun (I missed...[&o] ) and believe it or not, my dog stopped dead in her tracks, almost cowering, wondering "what the hell was that?" Okay, okay, so she's a little gunshy.... But at least she didn't take off for the hills going, "yipe, yipe, yipe, yipe..."[&:]

After I reassured her that everything was okay, she ran into the woods and started barking and howling at the rabbit hole and trying to dig her way into it. I had a heck of a time trying to call her off it, but she finally came back to me and we continued on. Hey, if there's one rabbit, then there are more...

Anyway, we had a great time, even though we didn't get any rabbits. But at least I got a shot at one (wow, rabbits are fast!!) And, my dog finally heard a shotgun go off for the first time. It scared the heck out of her, but I am hoping she'll get used to it. We hiked all over the WMA and eventually made our way back to my truck.

And guess what... When we got back to my truck, wouldn't you believe... a GAME WARDEN was driving up the dirt road. Hey, I'm clean, I'm legal, and have all my licenses and stuff on me, and my blaze orange ball cap. Two game wardens got out and asked me how I was doing. My dog started barking at them too. I told them we were rabbit hunting and that I missed a rabbit, but we were having a good time. One warden asked to see my license, the other knelt down to give a dog biscuit to my dog. Believe it or not, this was the first time -ever- that I got approached by a game warden or wardens. They also checked out my Remington 870 12GA and saw that I had #6 shot and a full choke (which is probably why I missed...) and then had me unload it before getting in my truck (duh!).

Anyway, after the pleasant meeting with the game wardens, I asked a favor from them. I had an old digital camerain the truck and asked if one of them would take a picture of me with my dog Amber (beagle and german shepherd).....

Note to HNI... Look closely at the blaze orange hat. It says "Huntingnet.com" (I know... I know... brownie points...!)

Edit: How to you train a beagle to not be gunshy?