New hunting partner Cleo

When I was a kid I used to rabbit hunt quite a bit. Me and Ladybird terrorized the local rabbit population for quite a while. Then when I left for college I wasn't in position to do any gundog hunting. Nowhere to do it to be honest.

But last year I decided that I wanted to go back to my roots and got a little puppy from Hall Mountain Beagles in Virginia. Didn't know much about the kennel but got lucky as they really are a top shelf bunch. First registered dog I ever owned. I named her Cleopatra in honor of her aristocratic background lol. She has turned into a dandy little rabbit beagle. Still young and learning the ropes but she is an absolute wonder at finding and starting rabbits and she has a very nice/distinctive bark. Honest as the day is long on the trail and pretty quick as well.

Here she is relaxing after a run last week:

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I know running rabbits isn't as prestigious as chasing elk around the Rockies or reeling in salmon in Alaska but I have had a blast getting her trained. It really is something you get in your blood.

Will

I love hunting rabbits over beagles.

A buddy of mine had a couple that would even retrieve them for us and we’re surprisingly soft-mouthed for a beagle.

He also had one that didn’t have much patience for poor shots. If you kept missing the rabbits, he would quit and go back to the truck in his own.


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Hunting bunnies with a dog brings back many good memories for me. We had a cocker spaniel when I was a kid and he pushed a LOT of rabbits out of tangle downs for us. Also used to take off on his own and we wouldn't see him for a few days. Ornery little cuss.

Ha, Lady was a bit like that DD. She was stubborn as hell and would not come in at the end of the hunt. Many times I would have to fire a shot off at nothing and then catch her when she came in to see if I had jumped and shot a rabbit.

I'm not big on some of the new tech but I have to admit that training collars have really changed the game. Most dogs can now be easily broken from running deer. And even if you just beep them they learn to come in when you want them to.

I've heard other people say that cockers were good for rabbit hunting johnboy. I'd believe it in a minute, they are very smart dogs.

Will

She looks and sounds like a keeper!


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Love me some bugles! I raised the 11” variety when I was a kid. Out of a great little beagle bitch named Dolly. I was going to make a million dollars. But Dolly was a promiscuous little bitch.

Anyways. Sounds like a lot of fun, Willy! Bugles can also find more ways to get in the trash than any breed I’ve ever owned.

BKB

Cool! I’ve hunted rabbits over beagles many times in my younger years. It was always a blast with a good dog.

Congrats on the new hunting buddy!

I've never hunted rabbits behind a dog, matter of fact these days with my war on rabbits that like to eat my trees and garden goodies, I just step out on the deck with the 12 ga and give it a what for!

This is a clip I got last week of Cleo starting up a rabbit. You can see a couple of the dogs running to join in. She is already VERY good at doing just that: finding and starting them. A couple days ago we took out 2 of John's young ones and Cleo. Wanted to see how the pups did without having a full pack with the established older dogs. Cleo was great. Found and jumped the only mature rabbit of the day and those 3 pups ran it hard for 45 minutes until it holed up.

A good day in the woods. :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZtM...usp=drive_link