Beagle Or Not

The pair of beagles had really put the heat on the bunny. Misty jumped the cottontail in a stone fencerow, and the sound of her first howl brought our second dog, Tinker, like she was shot out of a cannon. The two dogs quickly lined out on the hot track without missing a beat, the sound of their voices echoing through the abandoned orchard.

There are few sounds in the outdoors that can match the exhilaration of beagle music as they run a hot rabbit track, and these girls where singing at the top of their lungs. This rabbit ran big, taking the enthusiastic hounds clear out of earshot. It is unusual for a cottontail to take this large a circle, but the speed the dogs were pushing his track made him hightail it for the thickest cover he could find to shake the hard-hitting hounds. Time seemed to stand still as I strained my ears against the stiff winter breeze. As the January wind caught its breath for a second, I heard the distant bawl of beagles and knew the bunny had made his turn and was heading back to his old 'hood.

I danced with the thick jungle of thorn apples to get to a small opening a few yards from the jump point. The gals' song grew louder now as the dogs came straight back as if they had a waypoint. Fresh snow made a great backdrop as I searched the landscape for any movement. A flash of brown to the right caught my eye, and I turned to spot the cottontail hopping straight at me. I slowly raised my 28 gauge and let the Remington bark along with the oncoming hounds.

This was a classic run. The dogs circled the rabbit without missing a beat. No long checks (losses in the scent line) to slow down the chase, just constant music. It was the type of run that keeps beaglers coming back time after time.

Truth be told, though, it doesn't always happen that way. As a matter of fact, odds are against it. There are many things that make up a good beagle hunt: good cover, a good rabbit crop, good scenting conditions and, most of all, good dogs. All of these things have to come together to have a successful day in the field with beagles.

Do You Need Dogs?

When everything is clicking, rabbit hunting with beagles can be more fun than a clown on fire, but it takes hundreds of hours of work, not to mention expense, just to get to the fun part. To do it right is a major undertaking and not for the faint of heart. These little canines will test your patience at every turn. Unlike bird dogs, most beagles do not mature into good gundogs until they are in the two-year-old range. There are exceptions, but these are rare. Some beagles never make good rabbit dogs--no matter how much training they have.