The American Beagler Forum

What is the most important to you. Running rabbits for the music they make or killing rabbits? How many would quit beagling if they didn't get to shoot a rabbit? I am not a tree hunger just wondered. 50 wonderful years with beagles.

i would not quit running beagles, i love to hear the sound of a good pack of hound's pounding a rabbit, there is nothing like it . it's a sport of it's own. don't get me wrong i like to shoot a bunny or two if i can, but a good day of running is a good day of rabbit hunting.

I love to shoot but the dogs run first. Never jump shoot and at least one big circle before we ever take a shot.

Don't think I could ever quit . Like Dan & Rabbit I love to hunt and they always get at least one good circle in first ! If you jump shoot you won't be invited back. Also we don't keep any dogs that can't trial and gun. Dave

I myself like to go to areas around home and run dogs I have a total of 26 hounds. 3 bassets and the rest beagles from thorn gap , colby hill and a litle branko grade mix dogs .And it gets hard to find enough places to just run dogs with out upseting some one because you show up so often to run dogs let alone shoot up all the rabbits .But when my friends come over and want to go shoot a boat load of rabbits that some farmer wants thined out, Im all for it thats what I train my beagles for and there are times the rabbit gets shot on the jump but thats rabbit hunting . and belive me every one gets there share of shooting and the dogs finaly get some hair in there mouthes not saying the dogs don't catch a rabbit once in awile . My friends often get mad at me cause I let the rabbit get by they think I just want to hear the dogs run they just don't realize Im not always a great shooter every day L.O.L but the dogs love it eather way and so do I.

Dog performance. If the dogs hunt, jump, and run the rabbit the way they should then I don' worry about the number of shots. I love watching the dogs and listening to the race. If the dogs have a bad day then I have a bad day.

I love gun hunting. I do not gun hunt as much as I used to and it kills me. I love running dogs, but there is nothing better than killing rabbits over a good pack of hounds.

As you get older the kill is not as inportent as it was when you were hunting to put meat on the table. In my family very few will eat wild game. So i only kill 5 or 6 rabbits a year. Now 50 years ago 3 of us hunted together every chance we got. There was times we killed 20 to 25 rabbits in a day. Back then i guess you would have called us outlaws due to our not reading the game laws or abideing by them at times. I will say this the game we killed back then was all dressed out and used. Today when running my dogs on public hunting grounds during season quite often you find rabbit or game bird hanging in a bush and left to rot away. Its a shame to waist the game when there or hungry people in this country who would be glad to have the meat.

Started rabbit hunting in 1964, did an amazing amount of shooting, found out about Field Trials, every since its running and icing on the cake is a rabbit on the plate,,.....
As and old Indian friend said " Why shoot this rabbit???,We only have to go find another one to run":D Makes sense to me
Enjoy the day,at my age they are numbered........

I had a great place to train young dogs that was just full of rabbits. Have ran it for about 7 years now. It doesn't belong to me but is in the family. Well here about a month ago I find out that some people asked if they could run field trials on this property and were give permission. Now I hear how a bunch of them are going to rabbit hunt it this comming season. I am not against anyone hunting and have killed a few off this property just to thin it out a little. I will bet anyone on this board my gun safe and all the guns in it that within two season this place won't be worth running. Not only that I bet that after all the trash and broken fences, tire ruts and all, there won't be anyone allowed on this place. It is just like a father and son here in this area who hunt one pack in the morning killing 10 rabbits and then hunting a different pack in the afternoon and killing 10 rabbits on a different place. And by the way, they use 12ga. Isn't that like pulling weeds using a backhoe ? In most places the rabbit population is so low that there are few rabbits to hunt or run. I wish more people who run beagles, did just that and saved the hunting for the coyottes. No you can't eat a coyotte but they are alot more fun to hunt then rabbits and besides you are doing the rabbit population some good by doing so. That's all !!!!!!!!!!!

Shooting rabbits is part of rabbit hunting. I don't shoot a lot of them, but I wouldn't own a beagle today if I couldn't shoot rabbits.
I got my first dog to hunt rabbits. I get a lot of joy training, running, and trialing.
The whole point to all that is to take a pack of good dogs rabbit hunting.
To me, that is the pay off for all the work I put in year round.

I just like working with the dogs and watching them run. Killing is a very small part of the equation for my enjoyment. It's all about the hunt for me not the kill and I would run beagles if it became illegal tomorrow to kill rabbits. It is an excellent way for me to vent and take my mind of the BS that I put up with in everyday life.

ROY PASMORE IS 100% ON THE MONEY. SHOOTING A RABBIT IS SECOND TO RUNNING DOGS. I KILL MAYBE 4 RABBITS A YEAR, I KILL 2 ABOUT TWICE A YEAR TO EAT. THE REST OF THE TIME I SPEND RUNNING. LIKE ROY, I'VE BEEN BEAGLEING AWHILE ALSO & I JUST LIKE TO HEAR THEM RUN ANYMORE.
MIKE

After many years of running dogs, I just don't kill that many anymore. But during season I feel like it's good for the dogs to get a little blood on their lips and hair in there teeth at the end of a race on occasion. If not it would be like working all week and not getting a paycheck on Friday

I'll agree with the majority on this one. When I was young I used to measure the days hunt on how many rabbits were in the bag. I've noticed lately that I find myself looking more at the number of races and how well the dogs hunted and ran. Don't get me wrong I still love gun hunting but I take more pleasure out of being outdoors, seeing a rabbit with a pack roaring behind it, and meeting and getting to know some very fine people I'd like to consider friends. If it wasn't for loving the sound of a good chase they are cheaper ways to get a rabbit than fooling with beagles.