A general forum for the discussion of hunting with beagles, guns, clothing and other equipment and just talking dawgs! (Tall tales on hunting allowed, but remember, first liar doesn't stand a chance)
I am going to get back into hunting rabbits with a beagle, but circumstances limit me to only one. I had beagles years ago, but hunted a brace (two sisters) who did real well for us despite the fact we really didn't know what we were doing. Hopefully with the internet, gps collars, lots of books and beagle clubs available, this time will be alot easier.
My question is how successful can the one dog hunter be? There may be a chance down the road of adding to the pack, but it looks like just me and the beagle for now. I do have a springer that I hunt birds with, but I don't think she'll count as a bracemate
Very successful. There are a lot of folks that have just one dog and they do pretty good. It dont require a pack of dogs to run a rabbit it's nice to have a pack though.
A mans EGO is one heck of a weight for a dog to carry!!!!!
I run one dog all the time. I've had anywhere from 2 to 4 hounds in my kennel at one time. I like to run just one dog. You can evaluate the individual hound better. The hound a lot of times hunts with you more & behaves more like your hunting partner. You can keep track of the hound more. The rabbits don't seem to be running for their lives as much. A lot of times I see the rabbit more times when running one hound than when running a pack. Its all fun. Stan
It can be very effective, and you can put plenty rabbits in the bag. Sometime especially when conditions are tough one dog runs smoother because there are no other dogs pushing or competeing for the line causing lessing break downs and checks. The solo dog can run at its own speed and run a bit smoother with less losses. Thats just my opinion....DH
It will be very effective. Only drawback is that the hound may not pack with other hounds if you decide to add more to your kennel. So if you have friends with hounds hunt them together whenever possible.
I have hunted probally 80% with one dog and as previously mentioned you will see/kill more rabbits this way. I had a real good gyp and with her I could hunt a small area and in a afternoons time you could not find a rabbit when we left . She knew what I wanted and what to do. I have never been in favor of (4-7) dogs as a lot of times you have Rabbit dogs and followers. I like two, if they match good together, and I will sometimes pull one during a chase and let the other finish just to see the dog work by theirself. I always start them first, and make sure they can solo before I let them with another dog
Bottom line do what suits you best, Kinda like the fellow that kissed a Cow in the ARSE, each to his own taste.
Jim
I hunted one dog for a couple of years and it worked well, but I always wanted a pack. Now that I have a pack (3) the first dog is nowhere as good as she was alone. Hopefully they can eventually pull it all together.
A good hound ran alone will get you as many rabbits as a pack as long as it can jump them decent and you don't wear the feet down on them. I hunted many years with just one good hound. It's easier to stay with them, no splits as with more than one and the hound gets a ton of experience too. Got to have desire to hunt all day too. We had a few that were great at solo hunting.
