The American Beagler Forum

In the past year or so i have noticed in my area that the rabbits don't seem to hold the rabbits like they used yo be. I have an area around 11 acres or less that is insanely thick of honey suckles. Anyone seeing the same thing in your areas?

I can't speak for any other part of the country, but here in Virginia, I have never seen honeysuckle hold rabbits. They also don't seem to want to run in it when they are jumped somewhere else.
I know one thing for sure- it's tough to get rid of!

One of my best places on state ground is Honeysuckle. Always has rabbits.

I'll tell you whats worse is the russian or autumn olive bushes. These things are so invasive they will take over in a matter of a couple years. What they do is spread so thick they then choke out ALL the under growth. The hunting lease we belong to has it so thick in spots there are absolutely no rabbits there when it used to be loaded. If left to continue to spread it will be so thick even deer hunting in it will be impossible. It makes great cover for them but provides little nutritional value other than it's leaves as it kills everything under them.

I dont know why but i have never had any luck at all in honeysuckle You would think honeysuckle would hold rabbits for some strange reason it doesnt here

In the winter they like to chew the bark and roots around here. We olso have same problem with autumn olive .took an olive thorn deep into my forearm and within ten minutes i couldnt move my hand right. It was weird for a couple days.

Nothing sits tighter than a cottontail in honeysuckle, you'll need a "rotor rooter" hound to jump and roust them out of there for a run. It will give you a taste of what running a bluetail is like. Long live the jumpdawg and the honeysuckle...

S.R.Patch wrote:Nothing sits tighter than a cottontail in honeysuckle, you'll need a "rotor rooter" hound to jump and roust them out of there for a run. It will give you a taste of what running a bluetail is like. Long live the jumpdawg and the honeysuckle...

I have to agree with sr patch here. Ive seen dogs hit a honeysuckle patch the size of a truck hood 3 times before they finally jump the rabbit. They sit extremely tight in honeysuckle. Dogs pretty much need to run there nose in to them before they move. Its worse in areas of heavy hunting pressure and predation. Have to be hard hunting dogs with bo quit for success in honeysucle.

One time we was hunt'n ole Ben 1 down at the coal mine, we all was stand'n round a patch of low honey suckle with saw brier mixed in. We was call'in the hounds to move down the road and my ole pop fannie bitch came in first. Well, while we was wait'n on the others, she got to swing her head back and forth moving out into the honey and saw brier and the other hounds were showing up...well all the sudden she drove her head into the vine and brier and straight up jumped a cottontail and they was 4 hungey hounds snapp'n at the air try'n to get hold of that ball-o-fur...and it all happened right in the middle of our circle while we stood wait' on the rest of the hounds. Everybody was so stun at what just happened, no one thought to throw lead at it as it bound off over the hill but we got a little chase to a hole in the woods after it.
One time I seen my gyp snatch one out of the air that sit to tight for a second to long in the honey suckle...
Honeysuckle is one of them places where you got to pull out yur stool and sit tight as the rabbit, an give the hounds time. We kill alot of rabbits behind people that won't stop walking to let the hounds hunt...

I hate to hunt with folks that walk through the area like a freight train and not give the dogs time to hunt an area to THEIR satisfaction. I don't know about anyone else but thats why I have the dogs and a 410 pistol as I'm more interested in the dogs doing their thing then me loading the tailgate up.