RUNNING A RABBIT STIFF

[billy boy]

iv'e heard this phrase many times. most say if you keep constant pressure on a rabbit for 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. it will cramp up. from what iv'e experienced from playing and watching sports, that is totally opposite. most athletes start cramping after they rest and start to cool down, the muscles start to contract , that's why you see them covered up or riding a bike on the sidelines to prevent cramps. i believe when the rabbit squats for a while after having been run hard alot of times he will cramp up and get caught when re jumped. jmo. what's your theory ?

[South Woods kennel]

Sounds about right to me!

[bigdogpace]

I KNOW WHEN I FOX HUNTED IF YOU RAN THE FOX 4 OR 5 HRS AND DIDNT CATCH HIM YOU COULD GO BACK NEXT DAY AND GET AFTER HIM AND CATCH HIM IN ACOUPLE HRS .

[TOBY]

I've done this twice in the last 2 years. Both times was in the spring with mild temps and atleast a hour+ running. The times it does happen my hounds kept constant pressure on the rabbit wirh very minimal if any breakdowns and by breakdowns I mean 10sec or less.
I usually know when it's gonna happen because the dogs keep getting closer and closer to the rabbit and the rabbit will start circling tighter and tighter. The last time it happen I actually called my buddy on the phone and said they are about to catch this rabbit. 2 minutes later he was caught and stiff as a board. Like I said rare that it happens but when it does the dogs are pounding as hard as ever.

[LR Patch]

In my 50+ years of beagles I've seen it a lot , but only ever seen it when it was a half grown rabbit so I'm saying warm or hot weather . Running would be steady & long . I'm thinking 1 hour + run . Never saw a grown rabbit stiffen up . Maybe others have , would like to here about it if so .

[TOBY]

Every rabbit I've ever ran stiff was a full grown rabbits but it was always in the warmer months. Spring/summer. Never ran a rabbit stiff in the winter but I usually don't run rabbits very long during hunting season. 2-3 circles and there shot

[Slaux]

I've seen it a couple times. Very rare, but it was always on big hare, who had been run hot and heavy in warm weather for a long time. Stiff as a board from head to toe. Dehydration, stress, a combination of the two? Strange, but true.

[Rcoff]

The thing of it is this; out in the wild no one knows what happened to the rabbit prior to the chase. We all assume that our dogs jumped a fresh rabbit that was well rested, but who knows for sure if he was ran all night by a Fox or coyote and rested a little while, of maybe he could have had a narrow escape an hour ago. Just saying, we don't know.
Thanks,
Bob

[T Hynes]

Last week before we had any snow on the ground my male came back with a half grown one that was stiff as a board. It was about 40 degrees out but the dogs didn't run him very long and I thought they lost the rabbit or holed him until I seen the dog with the rabbit. I even cleaned it and made sure it wasn't one that they found that died.

[Aubrey Holcombe]

I have seen it a good many time back when I was a young man, on the Cotton farms here in Ga. those were some very big fields, and sometime we would be late in November when cutting the cotton stalks, after picking cotton. Jump a rabbit inside these big fields and they would, run for ever with noting to hide in, but the cotton stalks, hounds could run full throttle and sooner or later they would catch one,, after it got so ran down it was trying to slip and slide! Fun running in them Big old fields, nobody farm here in North East Ga.. like that anymore. Oh buy the was I was born the year Moody Dick was a minnow, yep Patch 50 years, you still a young man!! I even owned a Patch male back in the days, his name was "White Moon" I wish I had another just like that big old boy, came from Mr. Willet Randell stock, in N.Y.

Keep Looking Up
D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>

[Alabama John]

Aubrey, I was about to post the cotton fields running as you did. I have many times had a rabbit in those fields come by getting stiff and walked over and picked it up and put it in my jacket pocket. Later walking over to where a young hunter was standing would wait til the dogs ran one close by me and run toward them pulling that pocket rabbit out and show the youngster I had caught it.
You ought to see their eyes!!!
Now its done almost as good in the tomato and soybean fields. Just need long clean rows.

[TVE1998]

ON TWO DIFFERENT OCCASIONS I HAVE SEEN A RABBIT JUST COMPLETELY LOCK UP WHILE AT A FULL RUN. LAST WINTER I LOST TRACK OF TIME WHILE CUTTING WOOD LEAVING MY 1-YEAR OLD FEMALE IN MY STARTING PEN. THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND SO THERE WAS LOTS OF SIGHT CHASES AND HARD RUNNING. WHEN I WENT TO GET HER SHE HAD JUST JUMPED IT AGAIN AND I WATCHED IT GO UNTILL IT JUST STOPPED. SHE BROUGHT IT BACK TO ME AND HE WAS DEAD. ANOTHER TIME WE WERE HUNTING A PATCH OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF SOME BIG CORN FIELDS. THE RABBIT DARTED ABOUT 500YDS OUT TO A BRUSHY HILLSIDE CIRCLED THERE A COUPLE TIMES AND HEADED BACK. HE COLLAPSED ABOUT HALFWAY ACROSS WITH THE DOGS CLOSE BEHIND, HE WAS DEAD STIFF.

[bluemouse]

The only rabbit I have ever seen caught and stiff was a cottontail. Has anyone ever run a hare stiff or run a swamper stiff. I have run marsh rabbits for years and never run one stiff.

[Budd]

The only rabbit I have ever seen caught and stiff was a cottontail. Has anyone ever run a hare stiff or run a swamper stiff. I have run marsh rabbits for years and never run one stiff.

Dogs caught several spring of 2014, they were catching 1 or 2 about every day and like a dummy I kept running. Hare numbers are weak here and my old running grounds never recovered. This spring as soon as they caught the first hare I quit running. Here is a clip from this spring and last spring. Hare is caught at the end and were stiff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jbhGakX1RE
Summer 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGozS-e-Mvc

[WELLS WOODS]

Scenting conditions have been so good here lately with the all the rain we've had, our hounds can put nonstop pressure on the rabbits. Some rabbits can run longer than others, but we've had to catch the dogs a few times when we could tell they were about to catch the rabbit. Most rabbits will hole after an hour or so of hard driving , but unfortunately the dogs have caught a few. Rabbits & good running grounds are scarce where we live, so we hate to see a rabbit get caught or killed by hunters.