who follows who

[bunnie harvester]

75 to 100 yds, thats really out there, here in South Jersey,we have hedge rows and nurserys to hunt , I want my dogs in the brush with me within site 15yds is plenty, if you allow more they leave out alot of the hunting, no-wonder when the boys run South to get dogs they range so far and go there own direction, thats there training...I guess diferent terrain calls for different hunting methods, and YES,, older we get the harder it is to follow hounds.....

[Incahoots]

lol If I have to get into the brush why have a dog? A dog that needs someone in the brush with it is useless to me. I don't care how far out they go if they produce rabbits.

[gus]

If a dog won't hunt with me, they don't hunt with me. I feed em so they better come when called and hunt in the direction I think is best. If not, someone else will be feeding them or they will be in doggy heaven shortly.

Beagling is supposed to be fun. If I enjoyed chasing dogs I would become a marathon runner and eliminate the dogs. There is nothing more aggravating than to call the dogs, that are not running a line, and they ignore me and head for the next county.

It's no wonder that the tracking collar industry is so popular, with beaglers breeding dogs that are too independant to hunt with their masters.

[beaglebill]

I care where they go and i like for them to go where i think there will be rabbits i dont think they have that ability. I hunted with a guy they call Big Mouth for a good time i sure miss going with him cause when he called them in boy they would be there quick...i would even jump when he hollered.....

[tnbeagleman]

First of all The handler needs to use a little common sense, If I go cast my dogs in an area where they have hunted a lot and have never jumped a rabbit and the dogs go acrooss the field to another area and jump a rabbit I need to think about who needs the correction in this case . I have watched for years and have learned very little, but one thing I have learned most dogs are smarter then their handler. Yea, I make my dogs hunt with me, but it is often just flat out, STUPID. Here is an example : I went gun hunting this past winter, and my oldest female wanted to go hunt these one certain fence row , she has hunted this farm for years , almost her whole life, But me being a lot smarter then her I made her go a different direction; because, I wanted to start in one area and work my way back close to the truck later in the day, and the way she wanted to go did not fit my plans. So , we went my way , there was nothing ,there no jumps ,not even a yip from any of the dogs , I moved them , and she wanted to go to the fence row but it was not part of my plans , well to make a long story short, this happened about three or four times and every time she want to hunt this short fence row and I would not let her. Finally, My son said " Dad let Queenie go hunt that fence row she is smarter then you are any way" and laughed, so I laughed and said I guess you are right , we jumped 5 and killed 2 rabbits out of that fence row and that is the only running there was that day. You figure out who the Dummy was!! This is just one example I could right a book on the times the dogs have been right and the handler wrong but only a paragraph on the number of times the handler was right and the dog wrong. Breeding is very important and I know that ,but the biggest cause of faults in beagles that I have seen in the last thirty plus years have been caused by humans. Make you dogs handle and obey , but if they want to hunt a particular area real hard you may well be paid to allow them,If the dog is a veteran well started dog they want to jump a rabbit just as bad as you do and they are doing the work, so they will take the best and quickest route if you will let them. To much interference from man is one reason a lot of the hunt is gone from our dogs today. When I was growing up you could get a beagle out from under any step and go run rabbits all day or night, Now we command them to the point they are not sure what they are suppose to do , They run around looking backwards wondering when that shock is coming! I watched two dogs run a rabbit right the other day, probably the best I have seen in years ,and I judged alot cast in the last few years, let me give you those two beagles pedigree : They belong to a boy over on the river, run loose all the time ,go run in the evening when it cools down and run in the morning before it gets hot. When they get tired they go home and rest and go back and run later . If he goes with them they want to please him and they hunt until he wants to quit. I don't enjoy saying it but they can OUT PERFORM MOST OF THE DOGS I'VE SEEN. So controll your dogs, BUT give them a chance to show you what they can do, You may like it!!

[gus]

Tnbeagleman, you said, "let me give you those two dogs pedigree"??

[MIKE]

BUNNY HARVESTER, YOU SAY 15 YARDS. WHAT DO YOU HUNT WITH,
A STICK ????? SOUNDS LIKE JUMP SHOOTING TO ME.
MIKE

[bunnie harvester]

NEVER JUMP OR BED SHOOT.................................................
Small hunting areas and only a few bunnies make things change in dirrerent areas....

[tnbeagleman]

Yea Gus here it is :They belong to a boy over on the river, run loose all the time ,go run in the evening when it cools down and run in the morning before it gets hot. When they get tired they go home and rest and go back and run later . If he goes with them they want to please him and they hunt until he wants to quit: Thats all they have. LOL unknow

[kjohns]

I have a few tight spots I hunt too, where I can't let the dogs get more than 20 yards away. We just don't shoot on the jump, we wait for it to circle. I also have spots where the dogs can hunt as wide as I let them. Just depends on where we are that day. If we are in the right spot, I agree, the dog has the nose so I'll tag along behind them. I learned that within my first year of running beagles. You'll get more rabbits up, no doubt about it! That being said though, when I call my dogs, they come to me.

[james wright]

maybe i was miss understood my dogs come when called tri tronics makes sure of it i was just wandering if they should lead or me you all have been great with answering my question thank you hope to see some of you all this weekend in ashland ky

[Big Dog]

I can control most of my dogs by talking to them when I am hunting. I have some that will get wider than others but as long as they are hunting the same block as me I don't care how far out they get. Normally they are within 150 yards, but they are looking for a rabbit and not standing under my feet so I don't care where they go. I trust them all on trash so I no longer worry about how far they get away from me. When I am running young dogs I try to keep them close so I can tell what they are doing, but my older dogs will range out and jump rabbits all around me, but if I am hunting a hedgerow in Iowa they will hunt right along in front of me.


Big Dog

[rhaley]

We have a lot of hedgerows here in DE. and I want them with me. That means within 20 yards or so. If they get too far ahead, they usually have went by some of the good cover and I call them back. I like to see what they are doing at all times. We usually have a person on each side and keep the dogs in front of us and we don't shoot them on the jump. They always go where I want them to go, or atleast they are supposed to. I am constantly talking to the dogs so they know where I am at. Tritronics has done a great job with the listening part. If we are hunting a grass field or small hollow, I may just let them go and hunt wherever they want and we will stand around the outside. And yes, I do get in the brush with my dogs. We work as a team but they find the majority of the rabbits.