The American Beagler Forum

Does anybody have any experience with Beagles flushing birds (pheasant, grouse, etc.) I just got a pup not really with the intention of hunting rabbits with it - more so cuz the wife thought it was cute. But I do hunt and figure I might as well train the dog to hunt too. You can probably tell, I'm not a die-hard beagler or rabbit hunter because I'm wondering if a Beagle will hunt up birds too. Is it possible that training it with different scents (rabbit, pheasant, etc) will condition it to chase anything. I don't necessarily want it to be great at either but maybe it can do both just good enough to be better than me randomly stompin around the woods all by myself. Just a thought. Thanks in advance,

Gil

We had a couple when I was a kid that would jump and track birds. We never tought them to do it. We just didn't break them from it.

Brian

a lot of the time if you just stick close to the dogs when they are in a grass patch they will jump birds up last year i had 6 pheasant kicked up by my beagle all within shoting range but i didn't shot at any of them

My beagle does it on pheasant and grouse we didn't train him to he just does it ad we didn't break him of it so he still does it.

my beagles will track and jump pheasants.but sound the same as runing a rabbit.some dogs will change there bark.i sold a guy a pup a wile back and he got 26 pheasants off her this year.

We got 3 pheasants and 5 grouse of my dog this year.
He changes his bark when he is running phesants.

Beagles can be effective on birds. Snow helps in training them to slow down so that you can follow if on a bird track. We encourage silent trailing when on a bird track. If the dog is barking stand and wait for the rabbit. If it is silent walk with it till the bird flushes. A bird often runs a more zig zag pattern than a rabbit. They will learn to hunt anything you shoot for them.

if u train them to run birds, especially chinese chickens, u better have track shoes, and the dog better be real fast! A pheasent is a natural born runner, rather than a flusher. After the first few hours of the opening day, all the birds that flushed are dead or wounded. Only the runners survived, and they can run with amazing speed, and agility,through any type of cover,field, brush, corn, open woods etc., and unless ur beagle can corner them in a thicket, and they have to flush, the ordinary dog will never push them hard enough to make them fly in range of ur gun. U will think the dog is tracking a deer, but in reality he is just tracking the pheasent, only a long, long way away from u. I grew up in Pa. and hunted beagles on birds, and rabbits in the heyday of the 50s, and 60s. I only ever met one beagle that had the qualifications to tackle birds successfully. Just my opinion, Good Luck.

My hound,in his first year, ran turkeys. He still likes pheasants. But it's not something I encourage. Lol.

My beagles are mostly rabbit dogs. The one dog, we can tell him to hunt a bunny or hunt the birdies. We live in PA & have shot Pheasants off them. They have flushed a turkey & other birds as well. You can hear a pheasant before they take flight and if your beagles are taught to hunt near you, it shouldnt be a problem. Yes, pheasants can be hard to shoot. If you can release birds that will land after a short distance while showing your dog and asking him to hunt 'em up, this may help.

First let me say I'm no expert dog trainer. My family has raised bird dogs and beagle in past. So I've seen both operate in the field. I have seen bird dogs that would trail and Chase rabbits good enough to hunt over. German shorthairs are the breed I've seen rabbit hunt. As far as bird hunting w a beagle I'm not sure. You could probably train your beagle to flush birds like a Labrador. And some trainers train their beagle to retrieve dead rabbits, so a flush and retrieve style may be possible. But a beagle natural instinct is to pursue and catch the game it is trailing, so I wouldn't hope for your dog to point a bird and hold the point long enough to flush the bird yourself. I have a dog that is half beagle half German shorthair pointer. He is capable of trailing rabbits and pointing birds. But he ain't great at either one. He is my girlfriends spoiled house dog. But if you want to try birds w your beagle just remember to play to his strengths. Try training dog to run figure 8s or just to search for birds at close range. 40 yards or closer. Goodluck!

My dad had one when i was a kid would trail, flush and retreive quail. I had a female a few years ago that liked both quail and pheasant. She would make a weird squall and you would know. Even caught a couple. My grandpa said that in the depression they depended on their dogs for rabbits, squirrels and gamebirds. Whatever they could put on the table.

i got 1 thats trailing turkeys think i got her att now though