Beagle hunting for RabbitsI

[rangerGSP]

I would greatly appreciate a chance to accompany a person with beagles in pursuit of rabbits In exchange I would be willing to pay for gas, or take you pheasant hunting behind my German Shorthairs,  or a trip to the refuge for waterfowl. I live in  Southwest WA just North of Vancouver.

[BigDaddySweet]

Dont you love how you can get 50 views on a topic like this and no replies?

[rangerGSP]

it is kind of funny. I am not looking for the grid coordinates to their secret elk wallow

[runamuk]

I think it is more an effect of hunting with beagles is not real common up here and we only have a tiny handful of people on here that have ever mentioned they do.  I bet if you were back east and south you'd have way more luck, PNW just does not seem to be a big rabbit hunting with dogs area

[ORCA_SIX]

Yeah, not a lot of beagle hunters up here. You want to get into some rabbits you need to head to the San Juan Islands or wait till it snows on the East Side.

[rangerGSP]

Thank you for the advice. I have only been up here a few years, I was never a big rabbit hunter, I got to go a few times when I was stationed in the south and I love to hear them work a track. the only reason I was interested is i was pheasant hunting out at the refuge and there was an older gentleman who had a pair of beagles and i watched him thru binoculars harvest a rabbit. Unfortunately he was about 400 yards away and  I had to walk another halfmile to get to where he was at and he was gone. If I wanted to go coon hunting to hear the hounds, if i made the same offer as far as gas or a pheasant/waterfowl trip would i have more takers?

[plottwalker]

when the deer and elk hunting is over, you can tag along when i go. no need to pay for any gas. if you got some good spots for pheasant we can put a few beagles down and see if theres any bunnies. Brian

[Donaye37]

i got my beagle who is good on rabbit and squirrel.i am in cheney near spokane and the only are i know that we will definitely strike is yakima valley.

[BigDaddySweet]

hey plott which side of the stare are you on?

[BigDaddySweet]

To all of you veteran beagle runners:
Gave a rabbit to my beagle yesterday and today. Probably taught some bad habbits because she will learn to hunt by sight, but I figured it would help with enthusiasm and prey drive. She was really happy to chase but she didnt take to killing too well. Maybe it will come with time. She chewed on him a little with encouragement but mustly just tried to hold him down. I killed him and kind of used him as a play toy to make it fun and hopefully once again increase prey drive. Any tips? She doesnt really have her nose to the ground when she comes out of the door. I usually put her in the house and show her the rabbit so she knows that I have one then let it out in the back yard for a bit. When finished I cut the rabbit in half and feed to both dogs hoping that they will make the connection between hunting and food. It certainly worked with my Australian Sheo but not so sure with the beagle. Tomorrow i will drag a rabbit body across the ground with treats along the trail and hopefully get her to learn trailing. Any other ideas on getting the dog started? I think that she is happy to chase but not all to interested in the trail or she just hasnt figured that part out yet.

[plottwalker]

I'm on the NW coast of Oregon, as far as training the dog, best way is to put her in with another finished dog. if you cant do that, then i would turn a rabbit loose in a brushy area, let the dog see it run away, wait until the rabbit is out of sight, and let her go, if shes got any natural ability she will have her head down and try figuring out where the rabbit went to from the last place she seen it. then i would try turning the rabbit loose again with out her seeing it. wait 5 mins. and turn her loose.
 i wouldn't worry about killing every one. most guys dont kill every rabbit they can to there dogs, i know a few guys that might kill one or two a year, they just like to run the dogs.

for example, i have a training pen, (1 acre) that is fenced in with 2 good size brush piles in it. i turned a first timer in the pen, a 3 month old female with a rabbit yesterday. she seen the rabbit hit the brush, then i turned her loose, once she got in the brush she started using her nose and not her eyes, she jumped it and she knew what to to do after that. i dont know if your using tame rabbits, or catching wild rabbits, but i would start with a slow tame one a few times, like a Californian breed. so you can grab it out of the brush after she runs it for a while. then try a faster breed, like a San Juan rabbit. or nothing beats getting out in the woods and walking threw some brier patches. you might have to jump the first few rabbits to her, but after that she should be in there finding them for you.

Brian

[BigDaddySweet]

Thanks for the tip! I have been using tame rabbits that i got off of craigs list. the first one was pretty slow and the second had a little more spunk. I will try what you said. Have to find a training pen with some brush in it. Hard finding guys on here right now that are taking their dogs out because of deer and elk hunting so I imagine I am on my own for a couple more months. I will do what you said for a while and see how she does.