AU bass bum
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Anyone still do it? I've never been able to experience a rabbit hunt with dogs, but I'd love to!
Rabbit hunting w dogs a dying art
- Thread starter AU bass bum
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I did it from since I could walk to 36 years old. Got out last year. Just to much going on to take care of the dogs all year and then only get to hunt a short time. Deer hunting conflict wasn't such a problem 20 years ago but it is now. It just got to where deer hunters didn't want anyone rabbit hunting.
AU bass bum
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You know anyone willing to let me tag along?
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For many years it was a family thing for me. My uncles and my grandpa always took me along. We'd take 4-5 beagles and give em heck- I've got a ton of memories from those trips.
I've got a buddy who lives here in Crossville and he keeps 4 rabbit dogs. They hunt at Bridgestone quite a bit, I've gone with them a few trips, it's always a blast. He said they're managing BS/FS for Quail now, and the rabbit habitat has been demolished, so I don't think they don't go much anymore.
We've had some wild trips for sure.
I've got a buddy who lives here in Crossville and he keeps 4 rabbit dogs. They hunt at Bridgestone quite a bit, I've gone with them a few trips, it's always a blast. He said they're managing BS/FS for Quail now, and the rabbit habitat has been demolished, so I don't think they don't go much anymore.
We've had some wild trips for sure.
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I remember once the dogs jumped a coyote and it ran out on my uncles side.
I could tell by the way the dogs were acting and also by The was firing that it wasn't a rabbit.
He shot all 5 rounds, about 40 yards away, from his 1100 at it, and the last round finally knocked it down.
Another trip the lead dog caught a fully grown rabbit, and was carrying it in her mouth, running from the others. That was interesting to watch.
Back around 1997 we hunted an overgrown junkyard, and the 5 of us killed 27 rabbits iirc. They'd been raising their young under the brush and all those old cars. Now that was a pile of rabbits to clean.
I could tell by the way the dogs were acting and also by The was firing that it wasn't a rabbit.
He shot all 5 rounds, about 40 yards away, from his 1100 at it, and the last round finally knocked it down.
Another trip the lead dog caught a fully grown rabbit, and was carrying it in her mouth, running from the others. That was interesting to watch.
Back around 1997 we hunted an overgrown junkyard, and the 5 of us killed 27 rabbits iirc. They'd been raising their young under the brush and all those old cars. Now that was a pile of rabbits to clean.
Not up in your area. But if you don't mind driving 3 hrs you can pm me your number and maybe work out a hunt
I always kept a good pair of beagles back in the day. My college roommate and I had BBQ rabbit on more than one occasion. Absolutely love hearing beagles run. I have not went in years but there are still guys out there that start opening day and go all season, just not near as many.
My Dad and Uncle still have beagles but very few places to hunt anymore. A bush hog and bull dozer being the result of big farms selling have hurt rabbit hunting around here. I always enjoyed a good hunt and beagle race.
Growing up, we raised Beagles and rabbit hunted all fall and winter. Didn't have to worry about deer hunters because there were very few deer.
Nothing like it for sure...
Nothing like it for sure...
quackaholic
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Beagles were always a part of my life growing up. I would turn my dogs loose before bedtime just to raise my window and listen to them run until I fell asleep. Pinned them back up in the morning worn and bloody. Even until probably 1998 I had some. They were picked up by some one when they got out and I never got any more. I had some pups later, but found all my spots were manicured lawns by then. The problem with rabbit hunting is loss of good habitat. Gone are those old junk piles already spoken of. No more cedar and blackberry thickets, to protect them from raptors, which are too plentiful by the way. And fencerows are sprayed and manicured. Throw in the coyotes and the rabbit is hurting, and unfortunately nothing will be done to fix it until it's too late. Just like the quail. As far as hunting, the days of neighbors not caring about your howling hounds and them running through the fields are also over.
Boll Weevil
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Yep, there's still a few of us.
My grandfather was a true houndsman. Made the switch from walkers to beagles when he got too old to lay out all night listening to a fox race, and work the next day 
. That was in the late 1940's. He was born in 1900 in what is now LBL. 4/6 of son in laws followed suit, but only 3 of us grandsons kept it going for decades. Sadly, none of us have beagles now. I truly miss it and thought has crossed my mind several times about getting another pair.
. That was in the late 1940's. He was born in 1900 in what is now LBL. 4/6 of son in laws followed suit, but only 3 of us grandsons kept it going for decades. Sadly, none of us have beagles now. I truly miss it and thought has crossed my mind several times about getting another pair.The beagles love it so much. It's fun to listen and watch them work.
That's a shame. I've spent plenty of days hammering rabbits at Bridgestone with my dogs. It was an awesome spot to rabbit hunt! It did get beat to death by people though. I've had 3-4 different groups pull up and turn out right on top of me mid race before lol.
I got out of rabbit dogs last spring. I have a lifetime of great memories and owned some fine hounds. I like to think I'll be back at it one day but it was just getting harder and harder to find good spots to hunt, then it got harder and harder to find good spots for pleasure running/training.
A good way to enjoy the hounds is look for a local beagle club close by and attend a field trial. You can watch dogs run all day, enjoying the hound music for free. You will meet some great people and eat good food. The odds of them inviting you on a hunt afterwards are pretty high. There are lots of different clubs with different styles/speeds of hounds all over TN
AU bass bum
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I hope to experience it some day. I have started to really enjoy small game hunting as I've gotten older more than deer, etc.
Boll Weevil
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Quackaholic, not so in SW TN and N MS (yet). There's some habitat mgt involved for sure but seem like we've ran/killed more canecutters in the last few years than we did in the whole previous decade. Heck with as much timber being pulled off the Hatchie in the last little wihile gettin bad thick regrowth, the swamp rabbit numbers boomed (minus what the yotes snatchin up of course).
This buckrabbit ran slam outta hearing twice, swam the river before coming back home to within yards of where we jumped him. Took forever but got it done. 6lbs o rabbit is a lotta rabbit lol
This buckrabbit ran slam outta hearing twice, swam the river before coming back home to within yards of where we jumped him. Took forever but got it done. 6lbs o rabbit is a lotta rabbit lol
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quackaholic
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Love to have that here. I sure miss running my dogs.
MickThompson
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Managing for quail won't get rid of the rabbits. There's still plenty of briars.
someone had a good chase going weekend before last while I was scouting at Bridgestone
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That's what I would have thought also. According to my contacts who are regulars there, there was a change in management of BS/FS and they've bush-hogged most of the thickets.
Had a beagle when I was a kid, had a lotta fun hunting just me and him. I got a pair again about 1999 but like everybody said the thickets were hard to come by and sold them. The only dog hunting thats still around and has a future is squirrel dogging imo.
We mainly hunted the Forked Deer River bottoms south of Jackson and the Hatchie Bottom around Hatchie Station.
We would kill so many swampers that we would sling the guts out of them when we had three or more to carry just to lighten up the load. :p Amazing to watch those rabbits swim across a river or an old slough.
Probably around 1972, my Dad bought a six year old red beagle and paid the unheard sum of $50 for her. All his hunting buddies thought he had lost his mind. She was red with a white tipped tail. Best jump dog we ever saw. When she hit a thicket, just watch her tail, when that white tip started swaying back and forth, get ready...within two years he had turned down $500 for her.
She had her last batch of pups when she was 14 years old. By that time, Dad was selling her pups for $50 each and had people lined up to buy them. When she was 16 years old, opening day of rabbit season, Dad was running the cotton gin in Bemis and had to work. I opened the pen to load the dogs up and old Red didn't come out. She was dead in the dog house. I went in the house to call my Dad and tell him. He left work and came home crying like a baby. He went out back and dug a grave and buried her with her nose to the ground, went back to work still crying his eyes out. Won't ever forget that...
Good, I hope some is left for the rabbit dogs. I'm happy to see quail being managed there and also happy for the bird dog guys, but I'm also afraid what happened to the quail/people who hunted them is fixing to happen to the rabbit dog guys.
The wardens I would I run into at Bridgestone were ALWAYS hands down the best of any others I've met. Period. Extremely friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. The ones I spoke with were passionate about small game hunting and cared about the small game hunters.
Got a buddy who still lives and breathes rabbit hunting. I get to go with him some. Have done Bridgestone several times. Nothing like hearing those beagles in a good race
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A hunt that stands out was with that beagle I had when I was about 13, we'd hunted in the bottom without any luck and went up by the railroad tracks to a section of big never cut timber, oaks/hickories/ash. It was a little thick in the understory and was raining real light. The dog started one in there and about 10 min later I see it coming, not fast just easing along. It'd scoot 15 or 20 yds and pause the 15 or 20 more. It came by at about 25 yds and I whistled at it to stop it then shot it with my single shot 22 short. It bolted about 10 yds and rolled kicking.
DeerCamp
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We do it every year! My buddy typically raises 4-5 beagles every year, and we have some really good rabbit spots.
Last year to mix it up we hired Billy Montague to do a hunt with us. He has 10 or 11 dogs.
I look forward to it every year!
I'm getting back to small game and leaving the big game for my northern trips where the deer are bigger and I have help to get them out of the woods.
I would to get a beagle again and hunt rabbit. They taste far better and have more meat than squirrel. When my current pet dogs die, and if I'm still able, I will most likely get a beagle.
