A general forum for the discussion of hunting with beagles, guns, clothing and other equipment and just talking dawgs! (Tall tales on hunting allowed, but remember, first liar doesn't stand a chance)
If any of you guys have a good brush busting dog you wanna get rid of let me know cause I'm thinking I need one. Four dogs down yesterday and they barely "hunted" a lick until we got the first rabbit jumped!!! These dogs aren't the hardest hunting hounds I've ever seen or owned but they're usually pretty fair. I will admit we made the mistake of taking 2 young dogs that kept wanting to dink around so that was our fault. But the other 2 are far along enough that they should've been hunting harder than they were yesterday. I've had mine put up for a month because of deer season and yesterday was Trixies first day out since so I would have thought she would have been raring to go but I was wrong.
The place we went to had tracks all over the place, thickets along the edge, cattails and cedar trees out in the swampy section with good cover......it was our first time to this spot and it looks promising. The tracks all led out into the cattail areas but the ice was too thin for us to walk out there. Plenty thick enough for the dogs to be on but I'll be darned if they'd get out there..........so again . Just a little frustrated with their performance...........I'm thinking I should've taken Hemi and Sadie instead.
Bunnyblaster
"You can't change the past but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future."
This does tend to pea a person off .Im not saying this to be a smart azz but in my opinion you need a different blood .My dogs arent perfect but the bloodline I run will HUNT AND SEARCH and arent bad in the other areas .I stand while they hunt
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Sometimes I wonder in my infinate knowledge if the dogs don't know more than me.I have six and two are hard workers that are reasonably reliable at jumping rabbits, one decided this year that she was going to follow suit and and start working hard too. This was after the introduction of two pups, I believe they motivated her for some reason,prior to the pups she worked but stayed close and produced little but was good on trail so I put up with her. The fourth has always "appeared" lazy but somehow does manage to jump rabbits often enough that I do not fault him and definatly want him down when a rabbit is running.My 2 pups are doing fine as far as I can tell at this point. Where I am going with this is I have been more than dissappointed with each and every one of these dogs at some point yet most of the time I would not part with any of them. I no longer try to figure them out I let them do it how there gonna do it, I never have helped any dog jump a rabbit and even if I did doubt I could help them all that much unless the place is holding a ton of rabbits.All the time I was analyzing the dogs I was not changing anything and was just frustrating myself when things were not going as I planned.I came to the conlusion that my expectations could be part of the problems if and when I had them.I really can't say much about your situation, but I do know it took me awhile to figure out I was over thinking mine.
Steve, I agree whole heartedly, I have been out with mine kickin an stompin the brush could not get any thing goin.They hunt good most of the time,I am more critical of my own hounds than any one. Ask Hammerenpatch, I have learned to keep my mouth shut pat them on the head ,hope for better next time. Well most of the time Watch it now reddod1.
Tsa la gi wrote:Steve, I agree whole heartedly, I have been out with mine kickin an stompin the brush could not get any thing goin.They hunt good most of the time,I am more critical of my own hounds than any one. Ask Hammerenpatch, I have learned to keep my mouth shut pat them on the head ,hope for better next time. Well most of the time Watch it now reddod1.
Tsa,
I am just like you. I tend to forget that my dogs are not machines and do get tired after hours and days of hunting and running in all the rough stuff they have to hunt and run in. When they stand for a minute and look, I just give them a pat on the head and then say "look in here" or "hunt em up"
I have noticed that my hounds hunt hard right out of the truck every time they are turned loose BUT if the weather is bad, rabbits are just not out/cant be found, pour conditions, they only hunt hard for a 1hr or so then its like they are telling me "lets go and try again tomorrow" as if they know its not a good day
An dto think some say Beagles are dumb.....
WHAT!! is this Swamp I guess you and Reddog1 will really have sumpin ta gab about this week end.I betcha Spook is gonna feel at home when she hears my whistle and a few words from me. Glad to get her back,hope you guys haven`t pampered her to much. Probably just about ruint her makin her run the track an all that.
I never did run her on swampers so I`m lookin forward to it.
Just out of curiosity, do you solo your hounds? I find that if I start to get a lazy dog I solo them and it helps, when they hunt in packs all the time they get used to having rabbits jumped for them with minimal effort on their part....when they hunt solo the only way they get to chase a rabbit is by them jumping it themselves.
Tsa la gi wrote:Steve, I agree whole heartedly, I have been out with mine kickin an stompin the brush could not get any thing goin.They hunt good most of the time,I am more critical of my own hounds than any one. Ask Hammerenpatch, I have learned to keep my mouth shut pat them on the head ,hope for better next time. Well most of the time Watch it now reddod1.
Tsa,
I am just like you. I tend to forget that my dogs are not machines and do get tired after hours and days of hunting and running in all the rough stuff they have to hunt and run in. When they stand for a minute and look, I just give them a pat on the head and then say "look in here" or "hunt em up"
I think our expectations and ego's can be a pretty big load for our dogs to carry.Better days are always ahead, glad you found one so soon Bunnyblaster.
Thanks steve, it was nice to get some good runs in yesterday. The 2 young dogs I took got some good lessons yesterday.....and bloody tails to go with them.
Dixiedog, I have to admit I don't spend much time soloing a dog once it's ready to run in the pack. IMO I don't think I should have to but at the same time I'll say I know I'm not always right either. I would like to think a dog that wants to "hunt" will always hunt and a dog that has mediocre "hunt" will tend to get lazy if given the opportunity. I do often wonder if a dog has average to poor hunt in a pack how do you make it hunt harder when you take it solo? I would think it would still hunt the same but I don't know that for sure I guess other than the few times I do take a dog out solo it seems to hunt the same or in some cases less than when I take it with the pack. Sometimes it seems that being in a pack makes the dog search more but again I don't know for sure I guess.
Bunnyblaster
"You can't change the past but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future."
Dogs are like people:
Some work hard, some don't
Some gain weight easy, some don't
Some pace the kennel, some don't
Some stay in the house, some are always out side
Sometimes we think we can change a dog from what it is.....
Some we can, some we can't..
Be honest with yourself about your dog, and you'll find you eventually get what you want.
I`m new to this board . I have some really nice Brush busting dogs i got a litter of puppy`s that should be some outstanding little dogs both Sire and Dam are relly nice dogs these pup`s should be ready for this rabbit season and they should start fast if anyone is looking for some great little hunting dogs for this rabbit season you can call 1/870/347/6414 me anytime i will show Sire and Dam in the field before selling you one of these pup`s Thanks Jimmy Leach
Im not boasting but feller i was to the point i was bout ready to throw in the towel i was used to hard huntin slobber mouth turn inside out rabbit dog and my bloodline played out bought a few that was suppose to bees but had ther blooming head stuck in a hole instead of gettin on to another one or trottin around like they was lost o yeh if they stubble on to one they would run it like a pro Then someone give me Larry perrys # and the first male i got off him was one hunting machine and then got a female same way started raising my own again now and im not blowing smoke you CANNOT hunt my dogs in the hot summer they will absolutely kill themselfs they have white eyed on me 2-3 times they hunt so hard it is unbelievable now thats what im talking about HUNT Ole Missy and Burt would getr done while them others was pittle fartin around in a hole them 2 would be ginnin a bunny
These dogs aren't the hardest hunting hounds I've ever seen or owned but they're usually pretty fair. I will admit we made the mistake of taking 2 young dogs that kept wanting to dink around so that was our fault. But the other 2 are far along enough that they should've been hunting harder than they were yesterday. I've had mine put up for a month because of deer season and yesterday was Trixies first day out since so I would have thought she would have been raring to go but I was wrong.
Glad to get her back,hope you guys haven`t pampered her to much. Probably just about ruint her makin her run the track an all that.