Crank's Chronicles

[ericwaddle3]

Thanks. Had a good time and couldn't of been happier with his performance. Hope I can make it to a few more with him. Know she will be a bit young still, but gonna take Pixie out with him a time or two next month before season goes out.

Ran today for a few hours. Jumped and bagged two, then called it a day. Pretty frigid out this morning. May try a new place out tomorrow, get some running in before this big cold front.

[ericwaddle3]

Yesterday was 16 degrees out, today was 45 but with a 30+ mph wind, so don't if the weather was actually nicer or not. Jordan wanted to go with me so we headed out at about 9. Crank got one up just about as soon as he hit the ground. Moved that one pretty good back around to us and shot him almost exactly where he got up from. Tried getting Jordan to take a shot at him, but she is still uneasy shooting a gun. Tally hoed him on a second but it went for a heavy brush pile. He couldn't fit in it, and I couldn't thrash it out so we moved on.
Crank jumped another and boy the chase was on. First it left the thicket and ran clear across the cemetery to a small briar patch. Crank had to gear down quite a bit to move the line due to the strong cross wind. Waited for him to come out and head back the other way but he took off across the road to an old homestead. Got there about the time Crank did but the rabbit again took to the open running to a small honeysuckle patch. From there it took off across an open bean field to a small tree line. I sprinted to the end of it hoping to finally cut him off and was semi successful. He came out directly in front Crank and I got a shot off a peppered him somewhat. After the sight chase back across the field and through the old homestead Crank worked a tuff check before moving the line back to the small briar patch. Crank caught him just as soon as he was heading out of it. Glad he did too because again he appeared as if we was gonna come out the opposite side I was and cut back across another field to a fence line. Did a really good job on that one, and no telling how far he actually ran him. I worked up a heck of a sweat keeping up and think it wore Jordan out a bit. Glad to see she was excited about all of it though. Crank jumped another out we called him off it after a while. We had to go back to the babysitter and get our little girl Ava who was excited to see the rabbits.

[Osborne's Beagles]

Sounds like Crank is doing a good job. Glad to hear your girl went with you and had a fun experience. Look forward to your next update.

[ericwaddle3]

Friday the temperature was just below 20 degrees with a 30+ mph wind. One got up way out in front of us so we tally hoed Crank and Copper on it. They put a lot of pressure on him and he took to a hole pretty quickly. Crank got another one up shortly after out of an old junk pile. They ran it for close to an hour over all types of terrain. Thru the honey suckles, across an old gravel parking lot, into a brair patch, under a monster brush pile, into some reeds and over a shallow pool of frozen water, across the weed patch, and up the hill side into the cedar thicket. They worked a couple checks in the cedar thicket but pushed him back out and brought him to the barrel of Richies gun. We were both about froze so decided to call it a day and hit it again the following day.
Saturday was a bit warmer,30`s with wind speeds of only about 20 (think by the time we left though they were closer to 40). Crank jumped one up and Copper harked right in. They ran three tight circles around the reeds and frozen pond before Rich bagged it as it made a dash for the weed patch. We decided to go to the west of were we`d parked but had no luck jumping any. Once we made it back to the starting point we went East and the race was on from there.
One darted out in front of me after calling the dogs on it I found a perch on some high ground while Rich was the cut off man if it tried to go from the weed patch to the pond. Along the south side of the cover was a brush pile that was about 15ft wide by about 100 ft long with briars growing up through it. Took the dogs a long time to push it out of there as they could hardly move thru it. When they did you could just barely catch a glimpse of him heading into a 5 acre weed patch, then up to the cedars, back down into the weeds, and again into the log jam of a brush pile. This cycle repeated time and time again. I had one shot opportunity but passed it up as I felt he was too close and didn't want to shoot him up. The chase lasted for at least two hours before the bunny tried going from the weeds to the pond, in which case Richie ended it once again. Dogs were beat down and thirsty after that one. Cooper was bloody from head to toe, and was more than happy to be loaded in the truck. Place has a lot of cover to offer, just hardly no shooting lanes. Decided that will be our top spot for next year when a snow is on and can see a bit better. Really pleased with the dog work though.
Plan on running Crank solo next couple times out, then try our luck at a couple upcoming trials.

[ericwaddle3]

Last day of season in Illinois. Jordan and I loaded up Crank and Pixie and headed to some ground her co-worker gave us permission to hunt. Lot of CPR fields and small wood lots. Started at 9, had my limit of four by noon. Took Crank awhile to circle the first, brought him around the second time quite a bit better before I bagged him. On the other three he ran really good, circled each one a couple times before I got a shot off. Pixie didn't seemed phased by the gun at all, think she had a pretty good time out there too. Great way to end the season.

[Osborne's Beagles]

Awesome hunt to end the season. Keep us updated on how Crank and Pixie progress during the offseason. Best of luck whenever you trial Crank. Let us know how he does.

[ericwaddle3]

Ran Crank in Lynnville, IN. at the Western Kentucky Beagle Club's SPO trail. Really pleased with how he ran, placed 3rd. When we got home and told my little girl Ava that he did good, she just HAD to go out and give him a hug.

[foxxy]

And now. Crank is ukc pp world. Champ

[ericwaddle3]

We had a very nice weekend in Sullivan IN. Was full of excitement and nervousness, lol. Everyone there was extremely nice and friendly .Met a lot of new people and saw several we already knew. It was an experience I'll never forget. Thank you all, especially the Central Indiana Beagle Club who hosted the hunt, the guides who took us out, and to all whom judged.

[ericwaddle3]

Ever since I got back into beagles, a friend from work Chester, has been on me about going rabbit hunting together. We Had made plans on a couple different occasions last year, but something always cam up and we weren't ever able to make it out together. The Sunday before Christmas we were finally able to get together. Chester made arrangements for us to meet up with an old friend of his after church and hunt some ground he had behind his house. We arrived at Kevin's a little after 12:00. Kevin's future son-in-law, Clint would also be joining us for this particular outing. After formalities were exchanged and we got suited up we followed Kevin's lead. Since my dog Pepper was laid up expecting pups, our success for the day was solely riding on Cranks shoulders as he was the lone dog.

It wasn't very long before one got up in front of us and the chase was on! This particular rabbit was definitely not afraid of running. It was no time and Crank was completely out of ear shot so we decided to make up some ground and close the distance. We all took positions for when the rabbit finally turned around and made is way back to his home base. Crank was working a long check in some cane near the edge of the cover when the rabbit made his get away and bolted out between Kevin and Clint, not offering a safe shot. When he picked up the line he carried just as far in the other direction!
We held our positions except for Kevin and when the rabbit came back our way Clint unloaded his semi-auto and ended the first chase of the day.

It wasn't too much longer we had a second rabbit up. Kevin positioned us out to cover all his possible escape routes once he entered a certain thicket. Crank really hammered on this track and after a very quick circle, Clint once again ended it. This made him the recipient of some friendly jesting for getting all the shots early one. Took awhile for Crank to find bunny number 3 for us, but once he got it going, he didn't disappoint. After two quick circles the rabbit came out right underneath Chester's feet. He had to yell and shoo it off before being able to get a shot off at it. This made for some laughs but none the less, rabbit #3 was in the bag. Crank nearly caught the fourth when it got up out of a fallen cedar tree. Kevin put an abrupt end to the chase as the rabbit bolted from cover to try and distance itself from a beagle in hot pursuit!

We decided to end the day at a different location just down the road. It was an old abandoned railroad bed that had been taken over by deadfalls, honeysuckle, sumac, and saplings. Crank was working his butt of with no luck. The rabbits must have been sitting extremely tight as I almost stepped on one as I cut across the cover to get to the other side. Tally hoed the dog on the line and he was off with it. The thick cover made for a slow chase as Crank really had to dig to get through it. The rabbit offered several fleeting glances though out the chase but no ethical shots presented their selves for some time. That is not until Crank was in a really long check and I'd almost lost hope for a recovery. He finally rejumped the rabbit and it headed straight for Kevin. It was a long shot and he wasn't able to make a clean kill but had slowed it down enough to allow Crank to catch him.

As the sky began to turn orange moments before a setting sun we decided to call it a day and head to the trucks. Listening to Chester and Kevin reminisce about the past and how they used to hunt together as kids and with each others dads make the trip all the worth while. They realized it had been some 25 years since the two of them had rabbit hunted together. Chester stated that getting out and going rabbit hunting again was the best Christmas present he could of asked for. As we neared the trucks and unloaded the guns, Kevin joked that Crank would jump another. Guess what, he did just that! He ran if for a while, but I was forced to handle him due to darkness and our hunt was officially over. Chester took home all five rabbits so he could cook them up for his dad as an extra special Christmas present since it had been years since he'd had any. Hopefully over diner they will relive some of their old hunts and memories.

[Westridge Beagles]

Glad to see you bring this thread back! Looking forward to more stories and pics.

[ericwaddle3]

We got together early the day after Christmas. Chester and I meet up at Kevin's and took a short drive to some property Kevin got permission to hunt on. After greeting the landowner and thanking him for allowing us to hunt we got started. Crank got one started right away in a cane patch and after two fast circles I pulled the trigger as he popped outta the cover underneath a large cedar making for rabbit number 1. Crank got a second up in a large brush pile moments later. We got a short glimpse of it before it made its way to a large pile of trash, brush, and all sorts of junk. The rabbit dug in tight and Crank just couldn't squeeze in there so he decided to leave that one for seed stock. A third got up in front of Chester and Crank brought it around the pond right back to him for a quick chase. All the commotion got a fourth rabbit up and it took practically the same circle, with the chase once again ending in front of Chester. With in an hour we had jumped four rabbits and bagged three. So the excitement and expectations for the day started off really high.

We made our way to a patch of native grasses the landowner had planted and hand managed for several years. Crank got one up and going shortly after we entered and after check free run I ended the chase on a long shot as it was running down one of the mowed paths. I stood beside the rabbit waiting for Crank to run up on it and praise him like always. After bending down to give him a rub behind the ears, he had another going before I even got that one in my vest. This rabbit ran big and eventually cut across a cut bean field to some heavy cover that consisted of pushed up autumn olives and honeysuckle. He made a few small passes trough the thick cover before trying to cut back across the field to were he was jumped. With the third shot of the day from my faithful 870 wingmaster, I had my third rabbit. AS we made our way back up to the native grasses Crank ran ahead and got one up from the edge of the cover. It took to a small woodlot, and then back to the thick cover were the previous rabbit had ran. This one tried making its escape from the far side through some corn stalks and Kevin bagged it for his first rabbit of the day. Kevin jumped another rabbit walking across a weed patch and tally hoed Crank on it. For some reason he didn't quite move this one as well as the previous ones, but he was able to bring it back around none the less and Kevin got his second of the day.

We dropped the rabbits we had already taken off at the truck and headed across the road to a thicket that was split in to by a powerline right of way. A hundred yards in Crank got a rabbit up and was hot on his tail for the whole chase. He offered Kevin some glances but it was Chester who bagged this bunny as it ran up the hill. Crank was working the powerline cut, which hadn't been bush hogged in quit some time so it provided excellent cover. The next one got up right in front of him and must of got him pretty excited as it took him a while to get in lined out. Once he did, we got to listen to a very long chase. Chester seen a couple squirrels off in the distance. I told him with Crank running it wouldn't him if he wanted to go and give them a try, which I know he was, lol. He got the squirrels, and I got the rabbit as he tried sneaking across a four wheeler path making for my fourth of the day. Crank was pretty wore out after the last rabbit so we started hunting our way back to the truck. We didn't get another one up, but we had a great day bagging a total of nine rabbits along with the bonus of Chester's two squirrels. On the way back to the truck Chester told us how his dad had ate two whole rabbits all by himself on Christmas and how much he enjoyed them, so we decided to donate the entire days bounty to him once again so he could surprise his dad with a few more.



A few videos from the first rabbit..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVIO0Ra36ZQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i9qIxZHPek

[ericwaddle3]

Ran Crank today with a pack of three females. All dogs ran pretty good. Was really impressed with one 10 month old female that is Cranks half sister. We ran 6 rabbits, Crank jumped one, and she jumped the other 5. Heavy frost this morning but the dogs ran really well. Chester ended up bagging 4 rabbits, they holed one, and we handled them off the last one. Got to listen to some really nice races.

Crank's real success of the day though was realized when I got back home. Ol Crank daddy, is well, actually a daddy now, lol. Pepper had 7 pups sometime today while we were out hunting
.

[Westridge Beagles]

Grats on the litter of pups. Best of luck with them! Maybe their is a Crank Jr in there?

[ericwaddle3]

Took Crank and Katie out today. Hunted hard for this rabbit, and once they got him up he ran really good for them. Chase lasted just over an hour and a half. Finally presented me with a shot that I just couldn't pass up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_qn-6UmK6U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WF99_ShDv0