Run to catch

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Found !
They'd been stuck here for 5 hours.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Tess catching a ride with my wife.
The old girl looks done in.

[Beagle Huntsman]

Great story. Sounds like something that would happen to me.

Your wife is a pretty lady. Don’t think she looks “done in” at all!

[Shady Grove Beagles]

The dog Tim. The dog.

[Hare Chaser]

One more adventure on a list that must be approaching a mile in length!

Glad you got them home safe and sound bud! Ah.........the adventures of a hound man!

Maybe a book in the making???

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Stay at this dog hunting stuff long enough and you're going to have some stories.
I started hunting with my dad and his friends and their beagles when I was 13-14 years old in Jr. High. Then saved up my own money and got a retriever pup that I trained my self and did the up-land bird hunting thing through High School shooting a lot of pheasants over him. Next retriever I was living on an island smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic Flyway and became an avid waterfowler on the ducks and geese.
Left the coast in the mid '70's and headed for the White Mountains of New Hampshire where I got introduced to coon hunting which as you know Dan was an addiction we both shared together for 20 years.
Along with the coon hunting I was spending a good amount of time bear and cat hunting with the big hounds hunting with Leet and Willard Ware across the river in Vermont.
Had some fun AND funny times hitting the competition coon hound Nite Hunts with old Frank Higgins. What a piece of work ol' Franker was.....
The onset of rabies in the north country coon population and the approach of middle age convinced me that my night ramblings behind the hounds was coming to an end.
The alternative for a die hard hounds man? The beagles of course ! Been enjoying them here in Tennessee, with some side trips north to get after the hare and Mississippi to test the dogs on the swamp rabbits for the past 27 years.
Everyday that you turn a hound loose is an adventure. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His Creation ,the wild game that we have, the laws that still allow me to pursue this sport, my continued health that at 70 I can keep on trucking and especially for all the really good friends I've shared hunts with along the way.

[Aubrey Holcombe]

Dana
What kind of Tape Worma, you use? i am experiencing a problem, trying any that works. Bayer has a new one out very costly $25. for box of(5) i f they done any good, not bad but they don't get these Tape Worms

D.R.

[Mike McPherson]

I have had good luck with an all wormer I get from Fox Hollow dog supply. The more you buy the better the price. Around $2.50 a pill which is good for 22 pounds. Hunt-Em-Up

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Daddy Rabbit
I'm using the same thing that Mike McPherson is mentioning above. It's a generic Drontal Plus that is being made in Australia [at least what I'm getting is ]. Most all of the dog suppliers are carrying it.
I've ordered it from both Okie Dog Supply and Plum Creek Dog Supply.
The vets. are getting $7.00 -- $8.00 a pill for Drontal Plus which will get all the gut worms a dog has. The Dog Supply folks I think are getting around $3.00 a pill and if you buy more than 10 pills it drops down to about $2.80 a pill. One pill does 22 lbs. and they are scored so you can break them up easy and get the right dose for the weight.
I've had good results with them.
They have praziquantel which is the ingredient you need for the tapes.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

WARNING! Be careful. This is the danger season with the coyotes.
It's been unseasonably cool here this week with with several frosts. Too good running weather to pass up and I've run every morning this week.
Had just turned Josie and Fly loose and they were quick to jump. Hadn't gone 100 yards with it and shut down. Here comes Josie busting it right to me with her hair all standing up straight. I heard Fly let out a scream and I started hollering. Here comes Fly busting it to me and got right between my legs with her hair standing straight up. You ever smell a dog that has let it's anal glands discharge? That coyote scared the stink right out of her.
I glanced up under the cedars and here comes that coyote right down the dog's line on the run. I let him keep coming and then started to bang away with the little .380. He put it in reverse and was getting gone.
This is the second time this Spring and in the same spot that a coyote has come for the dogs. I believe I know where the den is and I'll be staying away from that running spot for a while. That coyote is way too aggressive.

[Beagle Huntsman]

I have been seeing trail camera photos on my farm of at least one coyote who was obviously nursing pups in the last two weeks.

I guess the size of my pack scares them away because I never see or hear or have any problems with them while I am hunting. Not running after dark probably helps too, as well as staying fairly close to the hounds most of the time. Some of these spring chases are hard on me trying to keep close enough to see something, especially in this hill country! I need a pony.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Curious as to what some of your thoughts are when selecting a stud for your female.
Do you insist on a stud who has proven himself in competition? Does he have to be a Field Champion or an International Field Champion? If you go in this direction is it because of his reputation, because the pups will be more saleable, because of his demonstration of superior ability, because he is line bred similar to your female, or a belief he will reproduce his like?.
Do you line breed within a family of hounds or outcross the "best to the best?" Do you use compensation, breeding strengths to strengths and not doubling up on any weaknesses? Is the stud's brothers and sisters of the same quality that he is? If he has previous litters on the ground are they the type you are looking for?
I am a line breeder and feel I've been able to produce rabbit dogs that satisfy under the gun. Gun hunting and pleasure running with friends my main use of my beagles. I have trialed in the past with some success but I don't try and produce dogs to fit a format. I won't ever tell a prospective pup buyer "this is a Large Pack on Hare dog, this will make a Mid-West type or this one should do well in Little Pack".
When it comes to looking at studs here are some thoughts for your consideration.
What is the magic combination? As most of you should know , just because a stud has sired some good pups from some female is no guarantee he'll compliment your female. Some dogs just aren't genetically compatible no matter how good they are in ability or how well they are reproducing singularly. When combined the magic doesn't click. The ones who are reproducing are generally doing so when combined with select bloodlines rather than random lines. NO stud is the ideal mate for all bitches. Our first consideration for the stud - does he produce quality AND consistency? If he get's some good pups and some litters of so so pups then I'd look elsewhere.
Successful breeders are those who select their prospective breeding stock from the best bloodlines rather than from the best individuals. If there are eight pups in a litter and only one of them turns out to be a good one - no matter how good he is, he's not breeding stock.
The hopping and skipping around done by many breeders these days may prove interesting and it is a way to always have whatever bloodline is popular at that moment, but is almost a guaranteed method for not obtaining what you want.
When breeding dogs, we are concerned with preserving and transmitting to future generations, those traits or characteristics that we find most favorable.
It is important to pay attention to the whole family rather than just the individual. The genetics of the entire family line factor in to the puppies that you'll get from a particular breeding.
A prepotent reproducing stud's descendants continue to produce his characteristics and breed on to future generations.
I've used Field Trial Champions and I've bred to several young males before they were two years old that nobody had ever heard of and got good results from both.
They were used because some were known reproducers, some I'd raised and knew most of the dogs behind them, because they all share a similar background and exhibit the traits I'm looking for.
As always, JMHO
Curious and would love to hear others thoughts.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

WOW ! I posted the above post 8 days ago and it's had over 1,000 views.
And NOT ONE RESPONSE !
Come on folks. This site can be a good place for beagle chat, exchange of ideas and just staying in touch with like minded folks. But it only works if you participate.
I know a lot of beaglers left this site and have gone to Face book for their beagle fix. I too check some of the beagle doings on Face Book. Some of it is worthwhile and some of it isn't.
I started this thread almost 3 years ago to get some discussion going but it certainly isn't MINE. Feel free to post anything of interest or start a new one of your own.
I wrote a monthly column for the Bluetick Breeders and Coonhunters Association in Full Cry magazine for 8 years and I wrote as a contributing field editor for Better Beagling magazine from 1995-2013.
It's something I've always enjoyed but it's more enjoyable when you connect with others.

[Beagle Huntsman]

Dana, I can’t speak for everyone else, but when I read your post from 8 days ago, I saw a lot of questions, then answers to them also. I didn’t feel there was much left to discuss.
Come over to rabbitdogs.net. There is a lot of activity on that site and some good discussions. You are almost single handedly keeping this one alive.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Beagle Huntsman
You're probably right. Didn't mean to answer my own questions and not leave others room to give their in-put. Just trying to initiate some discussion with the random beagle thoughts that bounce around in my head......
When I see that a post has had over a 1,000 views I know this site isn't dead yet and just hope that it doesn't go the way of Better Beagling magazine.