O/T Rabbit Hunters

I know a lot hunt deer and a few hunt birds, does anyone hunt rabbits with beagles?

Larry

I used to lost my beagle sammy to cancer a little over a year ago. Sure miss the song when she would get on a track.

My son has a group near him that uses his farm for some Beagle/rabbit trials. So yes rabbit hunting is alive and well in Southcentral Iowa. Doesent seem to be as many rabbits as used to be. Predators, red tailed hawks, coyotes, bobcats and changes in farming (glyphophate/round-up)I believe have cut their numbers. cwazy wabbits lol gobble

So many coyotes around here, bunny rabbits are a thing of the past. Hunting them would be an exercize in futility. Saw a coyote in broad daylight running up a lane in the back field last evening, while doe hunting. Getting bold!

Ron;

Sorry to hear about your loss. I usually run four pups--I have three adults--at a time. They are all less than a year old and running well. I plan to enter one of them in a trial next week-end. I have a friend who breeds beagles. Last year he had a couple of guys come from Wisconsin, Ohio and Kentucky to get pups. He runs the beagle trial circuit so he meets lots of beaglers.

Larry

No, I generally use a shotgun, sometimes a .22 .

Time to start hunting Coyotes.

I have a brace. The yotes have put a real hurt on the bunnys. Either way it seems I don't have the time to hunt any more.

I hunted and field trialed beagles all over the southern states for 30 years but quit recently due to lack of rabbits. I sure do miss that hound dog music. KR

We use to hunt Rabbits and birds with a Border Collie -Springer Spaniel cross she was a great dog.We had several friends that hunted rabbits and they would only hunt with Beagles. In the last 10+ years between the Coyotes and the new combines that pick so clean it's rare to see a rabbit around here.

Coyotes, Foxes, and Fire Ants The only place you see rabbits is residential neighborhoods. I have not heard of anyone hunting them in years.
Ron

I have a couple of nice striaght leg registered Beagles I hunt with,not really hunt just like to hear them run don't shoot the rabbits.
Used to be very few rabbits here but after Coyotes moved in I got a group of Grt Pyr LGD to guard the cattle and meat goats and now there are lots of rabbits as the LGD will chase and kill Coyotes and Foxes but don't bother the rabbits so more rabbits here now than in years.
Growing up here years ago most everyone around had dogs to run Coon,Rabbits and Foxes in the hills and Mountains.

After the coy-wolf invasion. I"ve only seen 2 or 3 rabbits or hares in the country a year. In the towns and villages we see bunnies several times a month.

not with Beagles - going out this morning with grandboys and my Golden Retriever and their German Shorthair. We have not seen many rabbits for a few years now and my contention is the coyotes. I was just talking to member of the dept of conservation the other day he thinks the problem is habitat more than predators. I disagree. I don't know of anyone in the area hunting or trapping the varmits. I have killed 3 coyotes coming into my fawn in distress call - so I am going to dispath as many of them as I can.

Not with any kind of dog, been a long time since any pheasant and bird dog hunting around here, same with rabbits.

I used to around this time of year, walk and root them out, using a shotgun, light load of which I cannot recall its been so long, also used a .22, friend uses a .410 or I believe so from casings I have found. 2 friends use to come over when there was snow cover and do the same, always a game bag full after, and I would usually hear, "the place is infested with them!"

Coyotes are around, sometimes quite a bit, other times it appears they are not here, really hard to say what goes on after dark out there. The rabbit population is thick here, just like the cover from overgrown fields, brush piles and similar habitat whereas vines collapse in a net like fashion, making all kinds of suitable habitat. All you have to do hear is walk around, disturb any of those piles, or thicket, always a rabbit in there. I have a few near the house that hide under the pines, I left all the branches on and to the ground, perfect cover for them, then snowblow areas on the lawn for access to and around the house, exposing grass and clover underneath, they're out every night on it. Deer too ! We have an abundance of owls, hawks of several species, abundant vole population and those darned white footed or deer mice, the menu is loaded for the predators here, even with fox around rabbits have always been thick around here since as long as I can remember.

and I am sure the drought is not helping either!

I still have a couple of friends who have beagles, but I lost my best friend and hunting buddy last summer. The other guys still come to my place to hunt, and I try to keep some good thickets and hedgerows to hunt in. While the foxes and hawks get a good many young ones, we still have great hunting. But the critters have to have some 'rabbittat' to thrive in. Nothin better than settin and watching a good dog work...

I do not hunt rabbits anymore, but am seeing more. I built some small brush piles last year for them. They like those for cover.

they do a lot of it in mid-Tenn. but not for Cottontails. They're after Swamp rabbits here; are bigger, run forever & almost never hole up.

We have a lot of coyotes that are a big problem, but there are still plenty of rabbits. All of the rabbit hunters I know use beagles. I have one that runs rabbits a lot when no human is around but if you try to take him hunting he just wants to play.