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)
Well I just got back in with my brainless beagles. Wind was whipping and rabbits were sitting tight and I'll be darned if over the course of 2 1/2 hours I didn't get a quick bark here and there 3-4 different times on some old or not so good scent without producing a rabbit. But the 2 they did manage to get up and run they circled 3 times each before I called them in to head back to the house. They did have a couple of ugly, lengthy checks but figured it out and continued on the track. I guess I'll have to live with my dumb ole hounds cause it's the best I've got for now. I really hope someday I am fortunate enough to own one of these hounds that never ever barks out of place. Or maybe I'll have to move to the south where the conditions are a little more favorable for my style dogs.
Bunnyblaster
"You can't change the past but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future."
i have a couple hounds that dont bark till its up and running.but i will say,i love a dog that will get in there and work a track out.as long as they produce the rabbit in a timely manner.now a dog that will go out and bark on every track it smells and hardly ever produce a rabbit in my book doesnt have enough brains.
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Bunny, a couple of winters ago we had an unseasonably cold winter and got some snow on several occasions. Well, most of my running buddies stayed home but I saw it as an opportunity to get to hunt in conditions I have never hunted in before and I also wondered if my dogs could run one in snow because most of them havent seen snow in their lifetime, much less ran in it. I took the pack out 2 different times when it was snowing hard and the wind was blowing. Their was several inches of snow already on the ground when I turned out. After initially having a little trouble jumping a rabbit, they ran pretty well for the most part but my big nose male dog excelled in it. Their was a couple times when I saw the rabbit and when the dogs came through he was runnin it just as good as ever but the rest of the pack was not giving very much mouth at all. I honestly believe if he had not been leading the way, they might not have been able to run that rabbit in those conditions without him. This is what sold me on his nose power. Since that hunting season, we havent got any snow really to speak of but I can tell you that if I lived up north where there was snow on the ground all winter and the weather was always nasty, I would be looking for some more hounds like him. We just dont have that many bad weather days down here in southeast louisiana so the type of hound that I run works well here on most days. I have also seen this dog in mid July with the heat hovering in the mid 90's run a rabbit right down the center of a gravel road with the whole pack being quiet except for him. As soon as they followed the track into the brush on the side of the road they all chimed in and the race was on. I wish I could get that good nose bred into my hounds without that fault of opening a little early. Maybe 1 day I will find it but til then I will have to put up with what I got.
Lee Cockman wrote:Ok here is my two cents. If a dog opens he needs to porduce. Call it brains or nose. But if a dog opens on ten different lines. The dog better produce me 8 rabbits or better. If not he can not eat my dog food. But the next persons dog food may not cost as much as mine I have learned.
I agree with Lee...the dog needs to produce and not take long to do it.
bring your fast harg hitting hounds to mi where they won't bark at all in the winter when it is 5 degrees and 4 inches of crusty snow and then look like crap. and i didn't say i like them to babble all over either. like bunny said there is a diffrence of opening a little early or barking the woods up.
Guys thanks for the good & for the most part respectful responses! This great country was founded on freedom of speech & I enjoyed & read everyone's comments! My son is now 10 years old & plays a lot of sports! When we get to go pleasure running or hunting I want dogs that can put on a show each time out! I had a male that I loved due to his hunt but over time showed he didn't have enough nose to circle rabbits consistently so I had to let him go! I have also had dogs that would bark several times then just pick their heads up & move to another spot without producing anything! They also had to go! Based on my experiences, my breedings are now based on the following & in order!
1) HUNT: No game no race!
2) NOSE: If you can't smell it you can't trail it!
3) BRAINS: Know an old track from a hot track! Run only rabbits! Don't hunt where game isn't! Good kennel manners, etc
After this IMO everything else is personal preference! Size, color, speed, pedigree, etc.
Thanks again & feel free to keep this going respectfully! Happy hunting & trialing to ALL.
i run two. one very hot nose male and a cold nose female. sometimes my female will cold track for 1.5 hrs. before she jumps the rabbit. when my male opens i know its hot. its kind of a pain sometimes but we don't have many rabbits here so it works out ok.
BM Orchard wrote:Guys thanks for the good & for the most part respectful responses! This great country was founded on freedom of speech & I enjoyed & read everyone's comments! My son is now 10 years old & plays a lot of sports! When we get to go pleasure running or hunting I want dogs that can put on a show each time out! I had a male that I loved due to his hunt but over time showed he didn't have enough nose to circle rabbits consistently so I had to let him go! I have also had dogs that would bark several times then just pick their heads up & move to another spot without producing anything! They also had to go! Based on my experiences, my breedings are now based on the following & in order!
1) HUNT: No game no race!
2) NOSE: If you can't smell it you can't trail it!
3) BRAINS: Know an old track from a hot track! Run only rabbits! Don't hunt where game isn't! Good kennel manners, etc
After this IMO everything else is personal preference! Size, color, speed, pedigree, etc.
Thanks again & feel free to keep this going respectfully! Happy hunting & trialing to ALL.
you will never find the perfect dog, but you said it right.
GuysI am not tooting my horn just discussing ,I have watched my Tuna dog run in these 5 to 10 degree ramges with out extra barks moving the track drifting ..... in wind and snow I have peope that hunt with me that have witnessed this I have watched him and his offspring run a rabbit circle in 6 in of snow but they are clean you can watch them smell a rabbit move it till they jump it or the track is right .They can run a rabbit in snow or frozen ground ,I have watched our Cletus dog in a small pack nose on the ground not barking while others bark seemingly having the bunny before him but then al of asudden shut up and go to searching then a squall mouth by Cletus opens driving out ,sometimes this is a minute sometimes more .Now is this Brains and Nose ?As for Mi. running I am not going to be out under 5 degrees or at 5 gegrees much if at all and I usually am not out in 4 in of snow or more so I am content with Brains and Nose in my hounds for the most part .I hate running in snow lol
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Bunnyblaster,
Come on down South. The best reason we cannot have a trailing up dog is it will trail for a little while and then come to water where there is no trail.
Lot of time wasted.
Better to cross water, swim to tree limb snags, roots of trees in water, etc, and look for the rabbit.
Hounds from up north do good here once they get used to water instead of snow. They enjoy the cold while ours are freezing.
We did run ours up north once but didn't like the way they changed their mouths. Sounded sorta, well, sorta, yankee accented. Glad to get them back South where we could understand what they were saying!!!
BM Orchard wrote:I have noticed the trends of beagling! Lately everyone is saying their dog will NOT open until the rabbit is up! A lot of the best dogs I have seen & hunted with that finished for FC or RCH had excellent noses! This also meant they opened early on track at times! Everyone is looking for the dog that has enough nose to run in any condition without the extra barks but it is hard to find! I have a female that is the closest to this that I have owned! Most of the dogs I had that didn't open until the rabbit was up struggled in bad scenting! The ones that didn't struggle in bad scenting opened early on the good days! So is this too much nose or not enough brains! Please keep it clean here guys, just an honest question! Would like to hear from everyone elses experiences!
Ain't hard to find you're just looking in the wrong places....Come on over I'll show you a few. I'm in Ohio I don't run in frozen arctic tundra, but I won't keep a dog that does'nt have an honest mouth and does'nt bark till the rabbit is up. Barking and not producing is lack of brains. I don't care what anyone says. Nose does'nt control the mouth the brain does. Only reason you need a "cold nosed dog" is up North in Hare country that does'nt have very many hare. end of the story. If a dog gets in the briars in ohio it'll jump a rabbit you're wasting time boohoooing and not producing rabbits. How much a dog barks does not in any way reflect how good it's nose is.
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Wind was whipping and rabbits were sitting tight and I'll be darned if over the course of 2 1/2 hours I didn't get a quick bark here and there 3-4 different times on some old or not so good scent without producing a rabbit. But the 2 they did manage to get up and run they circled 3 times each before I called them in to head back to the house. They did have a couple of ugly, lengthy checks but figured it out and continued on the track. I guess I'll have to live with my dumb ole hounds cause it's the best I've got for now. 
I really hope someday I am fortunate enough to own one of these hounds that never ever barks out of place. Or maybe I'll have to move to the south where the conditions are a little more favorable for my style dogs. 
I own perfect beagles they do no wrong when ur not watching 