The American Beagler Forum

i got a question for the serious bunny hunters on here. what do you prefer to hunt with/over. females or males? now i know there is good ones in both sexes, but for day in and day out hunt, handling, and so on what do you folks prefer? ive talked to alot of old timers who tell me females make the best hunters, also had a old timer tell me if you want to whip a dog better get a male, females cant take it (feelings). anyway any info appreciated. Jon Cornett

I gun hunt pretty hard all over the US and I can honestly say that I feel that males are a little tougher on a day in and day out basis, but not enough to be a major concern. I keep more males than females, but I cannot differentiate between my dogs ability based on their gender. All of them are go all day type dogs or they wouldn't stay here. I see no difference in their performance, but I prefer males because they do not come in heat the week before your big hunting trip or a big trial as females always seem to do.

Big Dog

Jon, I do alot of hunting and I will take females over males any day, because over all I think females are better all around hounds. I will say that a good male is very hard to beat but as a whole I think the females are better. I've chased bunnies and a ton of deer with hounds (hopefully not the same hounds)lol and I've always kept alot more females than males. Now I have buddies that I run with that only run females but the hard core rabbit hunters I run with mostly use females. Most of us keep 2 or 3 males to 15 females but that's just me. Thanks Eric

A pack of hardcore males is tough to beat.

females all the way .

for just out and out gunhunting day in and out, id take a pack of males. i think its easier to "finish" females in my opinion but when you get a "finished" male, you have a better caliber dog i believe. personally i keep about a 50/50 mix for breeding purposes but for your question, id say males have a slight edge.

I prefer females, but I like to hunt a even mix if I can but I have not had a real good male in long time.

I like to mix it up.

I personally don't care...male,female, 13 inch, 20 inch, black, blue, tri, purple...I just don't care. I'll take any dog who can hammer a rabbit. The rest is just fluff. I'm not sure if there is a consistent difference between male or females. The only reason I see to choose one over the other is the female will have a heat cycle which will lay her up. But if she's a good hunting dog, I'll live with it. Happy Hunting Everyone!

Well fellows,its like this,I like males more then females,BUT whatever fits in the pack stays here to hunt..........

aside from the heat which can be a problem at inopportune times i find that a good pack of females is tuff to beat. Now i keep mainly males and that is what i use for both hunting and trialing however, gender induced personality traits can lead to over competativeness in a male pack, not all the time but individual dogs put together will result in some mighty sloppy runs. This can also be the case with some females but not as frequently as I have found with males.

Good rabbit dogs no matter what sex provides for a real nice day afield!

I always base it on the traits and abilities that compliment the pack on the ground at the time. Gender is not even considered when I put the pack together. I like to look at speed and hunting ability rather than gender.

I usually will run at least one big male that will push the rabbit and a good tight to the line female about med speed that will keep all the dogs honest and on track. I fill in the rest of the pack with whatever I think compliments it from there.

A higher percentage of females definitely turn out to be a more solid and consistant hound that you can rely on day after day under the gun. Thats why gun hunters prefer females over males, a lot less nonsense ( sniffing backsides and pissing on everything in sight ) with females....they just go right to work.

I like to hunt females a little better as they seem to be less hard headed and a little quicker to start. They do always seem to come in heat at the most inopportune times and we normally run a combination of both genders.

females they get out of the box pee once and might take a crap and its time to hunt

males seem to spend the first 15 minutes to an hour peeing on everything in sight before the hunt starts

other than that i see no difference