The American Beagler Forum

I live in va so i have never seen a hare more less run dogs on them.My question is?
Which is harder to run cottontail or hare just wondering??

Kinda like the difference in swampers and cottontails.

I agree that the snow and ice is probably the toughest conditions and most of what is run in those conditions are hare. However, from what I read, hare tend to run big circles like a swamper. Swampers can be tough around water but they run big, smell stronger because they are wet and around water, therefore, easier to run. Cottontails run them small circles, twist, cut and run over older scent. It takes a dog raised running swampers to do it right and I suppose hare would be the same way. Some cottontails run perfect but usually don't live long, while most give even the best dogs a hard time.

I find dogs seem to know what needs to be done in order to run either cottontail or hare, but run them on Jacks enough so they learn to run up on them . Then run either of the others and you will have some sorry dogs for awhile until they are retuned. A dog must learn to slash and take chances to keep from colding out on a Jack

ive only ran cottontail but a lot of guys who run hare have come here and ran with me. for the most part they say the cottontail is more tricky and smart, trying to fool the dogs. hares they say will (normally) make big circles, but dont pull to many tricks. there hare dogs usually are a bit faster on track, im sure on a hare they would blow mine away, but with their limited cottontail experience most seem to over run a bit. where my dogs seem to have more control of the line and clean up on the checks. both styles are good dogs, it just depends what you run. some guys can hunt both in their areas and i bet there dogs adjust easily.

I run both, sometimes in the same woods. Cottontails are much harder for a dog to run, everything else being equal. They also tase a little better although hare are pretty good if you cook them right.
On the other hand, hare are a lot more fun to chase, hands down.

I agree that cottontails are trickier for the most part. I like to start my hounds on cottontails to get them use to working close and with me and then go to hares. I have buddies that have hounds that have run only hare for most of their lives and when they try running on cottontails they fail miserably. Once my hounds have gotten the hang of cottontails they easily can switch over to hare although they sometimes are a bit reluctant at the beginning. They sometimes act like they think they are running off game or something and they look at me as if they are going to get scolded. Once they figure it is ok with me it is smooth running from there.
NYH

I run both quite frequently and a cottontail seems to be more tricky than a hare. A hare will flat out get up and run nice big looping circles. The thing to consider is when you run hare the conditions are usually not the greatest which makes it tough on the best of hounds. But with conditions equal a cottontail will leave a much harder line to run than a hare.

I have only run cottontail once. All we have here are hare. Like everyone else said, hare run bigger circles and don't hole unless wounded, so a hound has to have a lot of bottom. A hare may move out of an area so fast that on a tough day, the hounds must stay up close and push hard or lose the game as the scent grows colder. Hare CAN pull some tricks, and in a fenced area will double, jump up onto rocks, loop through pine needles and across water. We don't see that so much in the wild though. They tend to run more like a fox than a rabbit. In a perfect world, I'd start my pups on cottontail, then switch them over to hare. Every year several groups of hunters come north from cottontail country to hunt. The first day my dogs pretty much lead all day. The next day theirs will be mixed in the pack, and the third day you can't tell them apart. The one time I ran cottontail was in a SPO trial in Massachusetts. We ran hare in first and second series, then it was announced we would run winners pack on cottontail. I brought 4 hounds with me and they were all called for winners pack out of the 48 entries. I figured my goose was cooked as none of these hounds ever even sniffed a cottontail. When the dust settled, we took every ribbon but the blue. I was shocked, but I've always kept fairly clean dogs in my kennel. There have been a number of hare hounds who have placed and even won on cottontail, and one of mine later placed in Gun Dog Brace too! Of course he was 9 years old at the time. A good beagle is a good beagle, no matter where he's run. That's what I'm impressed with- the dogs who can get the job done on any type of rabbit, in any part of the country.

All I can say about this is ,I got a little female that never ran a cottontail ever ,she was put in a trial on cottontail at the age of 5 yrs and happened to win so I don't think personally they are that hard to run.lol

The Snowshoe in the hills and Mountains around here run big circles and have a nasty habit of runnin down steep hillsides and then cuttin back uphill so the dogs have to be in great shape. We run mostly cottontail and brushbunnys they are alot quicker and lots of zigzagin. so the dogs gotta really work on the scent. now if you want to see some flat out runnin put em on an old blacktail jack in the sagebrush country Totaly different kinda runnin! up, over, under, though the tough stuff and FLAT OUT I have seen em run 1/2 mile straight out before they start makin there turn! Gotta have the dogs in shape for them. They will give you one heck of a work out just tryin to follow the pack

I like running cottontail with the young dogs.

Once there are finished I'll take them up and run hare with them.

There both fun.

Here in the south we have both cottontails and swampers in the same area and the swamps seem to give you one big run and then get a bit harder to run while the cottontails will surprise you with big runs in open woods sometimes the opposite of what you would think.
HH.