The American Beagler Forum

Ok, I'm fixing to move I'm afraid.

Got to do what I got to do I guess. Anyway, when I move, I plan on buying land and building a running pen. I need rough estimates on cost per acre. I'm looking at a small pen to simply keep the dogs in shape around the house but seems to me 10-12 acres will be plenty. I run in a 100 acre pen now and rabbits rarely cover more than 5 acres in there. May build a 1-2 acre starting pen as well.

I'm dreaming this yes but that is the condition that I move with the better half and she has agreed 100% because she knows a miserable Swamper means a miserable Mrs. Swamper and I will have a place to run my dogs without idiot deer hunters bothering me.

It' will cost you roughly a thousand dollars an acre for posts and wire. You can do all the research and work you want trying to work it out for less, but you'll just be wasting your time. Budget with that number, if not more, and you'll come out alright. Don't go cheap on wire or you'll just be doing it again later on.

10-12 acre running pen should be fine. More is always better, but when isn't that the case. Adding a 1-2 acre starting pen off the side with a large gate opening will be a major plus. Leave the gate open when you're not starting pups and you just increased the size of your running pen. Create a small opening to the starting pen from the running pen that only rabbits can get through and you've created a rabbit sanctuary. Make sure this small opening can be closed when needed.

I highly recommend a sanctuary if you're going to leave hounds in the pen running over night on a regular bases. This helps to limit the pressure on the rabbits (when needed) and the large gate opening helps keep them honest and not always running for the sanctuary (when needed).

Best of luck to you! One of the most fun things is having a pen out your back door. Step out on the back porch cold beer in hand and just listen to the music, ooooooohhhhh yaaaa!

I was figuring somewhere around 8-10k without doing any research. Sounds about right. I'm actually thinking I won't have the pen at my house, except a starting pen would be. Unless we found "the" house with the land with it. That would be ideal but may not be realistic. More realistic is not at the house but build at the land the pen is on later.

Lots of factors of course. Starting pens are getting rare around this part of the country, good ones anyway so I figure I can help folks out and help pay for some of the costs in the process.

Swamper,
I've been looking for and pricing apron fence now for about 5 years and have had many suggestions. I have learned ALOT about apron fence since first started researching it and there are many choices that needs to be made. I am in the process of clearing for fence rows and pricing apron fence to enclose about 10 to 12 acres and am looking at the price of the apron fence alone at between $4000.00 to $5000.00. This stuff has doubled in price since I first started looking at it and what I quote you now is the cheapest I have been able to find good quality fence.

Here is an alternative to a starting pen. There is a man in my area that will house your beagle, feed it, break it from deer and he charges $5 a hunt. All this is done in the wild and guaranteed. If he doesn't hunt it on any particular day, you don't pay. You can leave it as long or as brief as you would want. If it isn't worth training, you don't pay. He guarantees his work or you don't pay. He does require it to be up on shots and not be a fighter.

Ran me right around a grand an acre swamper LOVE having my pen right out back its only 3 acres but THICK!! Trapped some wild rabbits year before last and found nests last year (the hard Way) I can run 2 to 3 of the big Dogs in it for a few hours before they start catching rabbits but for PUPS its Fantastic. Gonna do the rest hopefully in the next year or So and just be able to cut a few loose at a time..