I run my beagles 3-4 times/week, and ran them the other day and they flat locked on a rabbit for 1 hr. 45 min.! I could have sworn they were glued to that thang! 1 more week, can't wait!!!

id love to hunt with some beagles. saturday was our opener...5 of us got together to do some brush bustin for rabbits and pheasants...ended up with 5 in an afternoon...2 of which were mine..and i got a squirrel lol. put out a couple more we didnt get...i only missed one and still cannot believe i missed. wide open woods...running dead away from me..pulled up..POW..buddy fired at the same exact time i did(it was safe for both of us to shoot) his pattern was right in there too...got there...no bunny...someone said they watched it run through the woods...bust flush all day and we both missed we were nearly to the truck...last brushpile we had...jumped on 30 other ones and didnt even have any come out...i wasnt expecting him to hide in the last one lol...

this winter the farmer trimmed his tree line and we spent a couple days making brushpiles out of the pine trees...the whole 300yd field edge is a giant brushpile now...im guessing they have holes in the brushpiles...but it will definently help the population in the long run...if we cant get them, neither can the foxes and yotes! but the rest of the woods and pasture weve noticed the numbers are already better than ever..i really think the brushpiles helped..

fun stuff..maybe do the same tomarrow...though im still cut up and digging thorns from my body from last week

I am taking my two girls (beagles) out with my cousins two boys(beagles) to see if we can get up some runny babbits. It will be my girls first year chasin em soI hope they get after em good and dont get spooked by gunfire (been working them with it but you never know until that first shot during hunting). cannot wait.

rabbit season has been on for 4 months here. I dont understand why though.... Being from Missouri I still wait for the first frost before going after them.

I think that it starts on November 5 in Illinois where I hunt, but I wouldn't be too thrilled about going if it stays this warm. I always prefer a good freeze, or at the bare minimum a hard frost before shooting them. We ran rabbit dogs for years, but over the last decades have just went out and tromped the brush. You just can't beat a good rabbit hunt with a couple of good beagles.

Unfortunately, far fewer people are willing to get out and tromp the brush, dogs or not. One year none of my friends or family wanted to go soI actually just started walking up and down the gravel roads hoping to wave down anyone with a dog box on the truck to see if they wanted to go.

I'll 2nd your opinion about not shooting them until after a good frost or two.

It's sad, but you are right, here in Northern VA, rabbit hunting isa dying hobby.

i always look forward to rabbit season but im not sure how much i will get to go this year. my last beagle died last year and the guy i hunt with is getting older and cant take the cold weather.