Speed & Cottontails going to hole?

Colorado_Beagler · Post by **Colorado_Beagler** » Mon Dec 30, 2002 9:30 pm

Will a fast hound cause cottontails to go to ground faster than a medium speed hound

Post by **Bev** » Mon Dec 30, 2002 10:44 pm

Yeah, at times. They are certainly a little flatter and stretched out when they run by, lol! Harder to get a shot at. Just ask Glomski.

Seriously, they will push a rabbit harder and sometimes to the point that they leave the country and don't circle. Med-medium fast dogs are the most fun to hunt over in my opinion.

bowhunter59 · Post by **bowhunter59** » Tue Dec 31, 2002 9:21 am

i think so mine sure doers when they get on it hard seems like ever 5th run it will go in ground not sure what others odds r but that mine

Colorado_Beagler · Post by **Colorado_Beagler** » Tue Dec 31, 2002 11:44 am

I seldom shoot the rabbit, so almost every race ends at a hole. Some days the rabbits circle several times and stay up 45 min. or so and other days they go to ground in 5 to 10 min. Lately I'm lucky to get a 20 min. race.

It seems that 4 to 6 inches of fresh snow causes them to go down quicker. Maybe because it's more work for the rabbit to run in it? My longest races were earlier this fall when the ground was wet and no snow.

I ran beagles years ago in Oklahoma and it was sure different than here in Colorado. I don't remember them going to ground so bad there. Maybe there weren't as many holes where I hunted or I just had slower dogs back then.

DG TX · Post by **DG TX** » Tue Dec 31, 2002 7:27 pm

Always felt that heavy predator pressure had some to do with runs like this.

Colorado_Beagler · Post by **Colorado_Beagler** » Tue Dec 31, 2002 9:02 pm

Predators sure might be the problem. We have a lot of coyotes and fox here. Now that we have snow, I see fresh coyote tracks going through my running ground every time out.

Chuck Terry · Post by **Chuck Terry** » Tue Dec 31, 2002 9:42 pm

Dave Fisher has a good article on this topic (PLEASE DON"T BAN ME BEV!) in "The Rabbit Hunter". Of course, the rest of the magazine does not compare the "The American Beagler" LOL!

Post by **Bev** » Tue Dec 31, 2002 10:01 pm

Chuck, really - I'm not that insecure, lol! I print The Rabbit Hunter, Better Beagling, and the other mag's names in The American Beagler all the time. January I printed Bob & Pearl Baker's pictures in TAB. I also take all those magazines myself.

The American Beagler is about getting news and info out to the beaglers. If that means talking about other sources, no big deal - gotta do it. Besides, I really don't consider any of those magazines competition.

snowshoehareguide · Post by **snowshoehareguide** » Wed Jan 01, 2003 6:51 am

yup i think fast dogs put them down th hole quicker. sometimes running dogs and harvesting game is very different. i dont like a terrible slow dog. and i guess everybodies version of what that is could be different. i used to hunt cottontails and i had a dog that i bet i could have run beside then and shed circle a cottontail two-three circles- where same time i had some dogs bred for lph trials . i called them worthless for hunting cottontails. i dont doubt your predator theory either used to hunt foxes with hounds rare for them to go in a hole twenty years ago . coyotes moved in and they are almost as bad as cottontail . well now we just hunt coyotes instead . coyote hounds are trialed just like LPH only a bigger pen. some have just amazing speed. well they dont hole up much but a slower steadier hound will make a better hunt of it . you can stay in one swamp and shoot the coyote not much different than a hare hunt. fast dogs you need a race car to keep up with chase sometimes. fast or slow dogs will catch a coyote too. sometimes the slower dog catches more cause he doesnt make a loss so much. i know a lot of places the dogs are used to catch the coyote all the time. its different style of hunting than we do. i always get side tracked. the answer to your question in my opinion is yes a medium slow hound is best for rabbit. a medium fast dog for hare. in VT .breed dogs that work the best for the hunting you do. too many breed dogs to out run their buddies dog. if you need more speed than go for it. i hunt bear alot. we have a lot of small bear that believe it or not can out run a deer. i breed the fastest i can and have used some of those super speed coyote hounds. i dont want them for hunting coyote. pete

Joe West · Post by **Joe West** » Thu Jan 02, 2003 6:23 am

That is the definition of a fast hound. That is they go so fast as to catch or put the rabbit to hole too quicky to provide good sport.

Colorado_Beagler · Post by **Colorado_Beagler** » Fri Jan 03, 2003 4:28 pm

It seems logical that a fast hound would put a rabbit to hole quicker than a medium hound, but will a fast hound CONSISTENTLY put a rabbit to hole quickly?

I just don't think my dogs are fast. Medium or maybe medium fast. I don't have anyting to compare to so I don't know for sure.

I read Dave Fisher's article about rabbits going to hole and he thinks a hound's speed is the least important reason. Of the six reasons he listed I think "too many holes" is probably my problem here.

I went out this morning to the same spot I've been running on sicne October. We have 10 inches of three day old snow. The temp was just above freezing and the snow was packy. The dogs ran 5 rabbits to ground. Three of the races lasted only 4 minutes or less. One race lasted 8 minutes and one lasted 12 minutes.

While they were on one of the longer runs, I saw a sixth rabbit that they weren't running come out of the brush and go in a hole on the opposite hill side from me.

I also found several holes where the snow was packed with rabbit tracks going in and out. Looked like they were living in them and coming out to feed. Didn't see any coyote tracks this morning either.

I'll try some other place next time. Maybe I can find a place with fewer holes and see if that makes the run's last longer.

DRamey · Post by **DRamey** » Fri Jan 03, 2003 11:08 pm

Last Saturday we had a lot of rabbits jumped, and they all acted differently. I tried to stay as close to the hounds as I could, and made some observations. See if any of you have drawn similar conclusions or had similar occurrences. I noticed that if the hounds jumped a rabbit in a clump of cover in the open, it ran straight to the hole. I actually observed three rabbits in a 50 yard radius go in 3 different holes after running less than 50 feet. If I had not been with the dogs, I would have been pretty disgusted with their performances, assuming that they had lost them and couldn't run a hot track. Others jumped from the middle of huge blackberry patches ran for several minutes, even if they crossed roads. One or two ran forever before going into the ground, when they came out of blackberry patches. I have one hound I would consider fast, one medium fast, one medium. My partner had two med. fast hounds. Most races were 5-dog runs, all hounds singing out beautifully, even if briefly.

Colorado_Beagler · Post by **Colorado_Beagler** » Sat Jan 04, 2003 11:04 am

DRamey,
I assume rabbits going to ground so quickly isn't normal for you. Was there a significant change in the weather or a storm moving in? Dave Fisher believes weather is the main reason for rabbits going to ground.

Do you usually run your fast hound with the others?

It just seems to me that if a fast hound caused cottontails to go to a hole quickly, then it would happen consistently.

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Speed & Cottontails going to hole?

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