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Rabbit hunting and gear

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Joined
Nov 21, 2021
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MA
Getting into rabbit hunting and I'm.
Trying to figure out where to put them.
I have the ammunition bag tactical messenger and I have upland jackets it's gonna be a little cold.

Do I use a backpack for the rabbits?And my messenger bag for the ammunition.

Or do I get an Upland vest to go over my warmer clothes.

Do I want more or less orange... it's required hat in Pheasant stocked lands during the season.. so no orange required where I'm going.
 
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I have a deposit on a beagle.. started beagle.

I've been out twice with beagles for bunny so I don't know everything.

It's just me hunting.. so I figure one beagle is good to get started.
 
During cold weather I always wear a smaller back pack to put rabbits in. If there's snow on the ground, I put a smaller, plastic unscented trash bag in there with a little snow. As soon as I kill a rabbit, I first remove the head, skin it and gut it but do not cut the feet off. That way no holes will get in the bag. Then I wash my hands off with snow and put the rabbit in the bag in my back pack.

During warmer conditions, I would wear a game vest.

Orange, I wear the bare minimum. I hate the stuff.
 
Is not easy finding hunting dogs.

I found a beagle breeder not to far... hunting. pets and show advertising...
Waiting list too... 2500 bucks. Fake for sure. I don't think they even hunt.

The other place I found is real good sounding. Is allot better for the right prices.. the guy had allot of info hunting and all. Said I can call him anytime with questions and been doing it since he was 14 and sold over 100,000 beagles running rabbit.

Who would you buy a hunting beagle from huh.
 
Is not easy finding hunting dogs.

I found a beagle breeder not to far... hunting. pets and show advertising...
Waiting list too... 2500 bucks. Fake for sure. I don't think they even hunt.

The other place I found is real good sounding. Is allot better for the right prices.. the guy had allot of info hunting and all. Said I can call him anytime with questions and been doing it since he was 14 and sold over 100,000 beagles running rabbit.

Who would you buy a hunting beagle from huh.
A good stock of hunting dog is important, but not absolute. However, all hunting dogs need good training to be the best they can be. This most of the time requires starting them off young while hunting with other well trained dogs. Fortunately, beagles are fairly easy to train and are often naturals. Most will run a rabbit to some degree but when running them with other well trained beagles they learn how to stay on the trail and/or back track if they lose the trail. I had one beagle that would somewhat run a rabbit but ultimately failed as a good rabbit dog. Most any beagle will run a rabbit, but to what capacity they run one can be a different story.

I really enjoyed rabbit hunting with beagles. The bad part is, despite what some beagle owners might say, many beagles will run deer. Not all, but most. I spent the night in my truck one night after my dad’s beagles ran a deer and didn’t come back. Finally, the next morning we found them on a road several miles away. Dad swore his beagles wouldn’t run deer.

Rabbit hunted with my cousin and the beagle got after a deer. The dog was never found.

The last time I rabbit hunted with beagles was with a friend that bragged his beagles wouldn’t run deer. I watched those dogs chase a deer that day.😁
 
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I grew up in the 1950's - '60's hunting rabbits. The ONLY thing you really need is a gun and a pocketknife to gut them. I strung them on a piece of vine between the lower leg bone and the tendon and hung them on my belt. (Got my pants leg all bloody from the rabbits dangling there. My mother had a few things to say about that.)
I grew up with beagles. $2500. for a beagle is outrageous! Check out your local dog pound. Start with a puppy if you can find one. Do the yard work teaching it basic commands such as to come when called, slowly work up on the gunshots so the dog learns not to be gun shy and give it lots and lots of field time. A beagle will naturally develop its own hunting ability. (You can both learn together.) You just have to give it plenty of opportunities. If you can pair it with an experienced dog, then so much the better.
I had one beagle that had a different sounding bawl when it was chasing a rabbit, or a pheasant. I could tell if it was after a pheasant I needed to run and be close for the flush. For a rabbit, I just stood still and waited for it to come around.
Of course, some beagles are better hunters than others. You just have to take your chances.
Adhere to your local game laws. Wear whatever orange is required. A vest with a back game pocket is nice.
One of the worst cases of poison ivy I ever had all over my hands came from skinning a rabbit that had been sitting in a poison ivy patch.
 
We've switched to Bassets. Scent tracking ability second only to blood hounds. Won't run rabbits out of the county, but will keep 'em moving (sometimes slow enough to shoot with a pistol). Roscoe was our Beagle/Basset mix who died of old age. A hunting dog. Max is our present Basset - in his second year. I "run" him every night. Not gunshy. At the sound of a shot, he'll come running out of the house to see what needs chasing. Bassets are hilarious.

As far as carrying rabbits, sharp stick through the back legs. Maybe a bit of heavy string to tie them together works for me. Those duck carriers also work.

Best idea for carrying rabbits while hunting is a kid. They'll have fun and carry your rabbits. Take a kid with you. Borrow one if you don't have a child or grandchild. Make them leave cellphones at home. Fill 'em with candy and they'll carry rabbits all day.
 
After gutting we always hung ours in the shade on tree limbs stuck like mentioned above through the back leg tendon. After the days hunt we would go back and collect them. The main reason was the rabbit cooled very quickly so it didn’t get musky from all the heat in the game bag. Also as the rabbits body cools all the fleas would jump off instead of filling your jacket. Still hang them today as well as squirrels!!! Ain’t no bugs on me “Aint no bugs on me”
 
We've switched to Bassets. Scent tracking ability second only to blood hounds. Won't run rabbits out of the county, but will keep 'em moving (sometimes slow enough to shoot with a pistol). Roscoe was our Beagle/Basset mix who died of old age. A hunting dog. Max is our present Basset - in his second year. I "run" him every night. Not gunshy. At the sound of a shot, he'll come running out of the house to see what needs chasing. Bassets are hilarious.

As far as carrying rabbits, sharp stick through the back legs. Maybe a bit of heavy string to tie them together works for me. Those duck carriers also work.

Best idea for carrying rabbits while hunting is a kid. They'll have fun and carry your rabbits. Take a kid with you. Borrow one if you don't have a child or grandchild. Make them leave cellphones at home. Fill 'em with candy and they'll carry rabbits all day.

I was thinking Bassett... I couldn't find anything being sold by a hunter.

I told her there for rabbit hunting..
daughter wants to go.. I told her they chase the bunny around the woods howling and we try to shoot the bunny.

She's dreaming rabbit now...

She's watched and came with me a few times for birds. She's going 😆

She's funny tells me often she needs a real gun daddy.. I'm looking at the pedersoli 20ga for her but I have a few years. She's 6.

I would like to have her carry a bb gun to practice carry and all but I don't know if it's legal for her to carry.

I might buy a fake gun.. wood Shotgun or something fake Shotgun... anything to learn a little safe carrying.
 
Here is a pic of my Grandad and two of his beagles from many many years ago. This is right beside Andrew’s AFB in Maryland. All we did was rabbit hunted with a covey of quail here and there. If you shot a rabbit on the jump or sitting before his dogs got to do there thing he would plant his foot in your butt area and ask you to leave! My Dad was a teacher and asked one of his teaching buddies to go once, wouldn’t you know it the first”THERE HE GOES” of the hunt was from this guy followed up by Bang! My Grandad walked right up behind him and planted one followed up with” You are done see you at the car”!!! I will never forget the look on this guys face!!! Grandad always let the dogs make three circles before taking the rabbit. Then he shared the liver, heart and kidneys between the dogs.
 

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I like to hear about the dogs eating good too.

My dog eats her kibble so she gets spoiled too...

I can't eat that many birds to be honest.. I share them all... I take a breast or half a breast. Little sauce add cheese on it for me with pasta.

it makes sauce good. I used to use a whole bird in the pot... it's good.

The dog eats. I don't let it waist.

The rabbit I like.. I can eat rabbit yea. So sharing is tricky 😆
 
During cold weather I always wear a smaller back pack to put rabbits in. If there's snow on the ground, I put a smaller, plastic unscented trash bag in there with a little snow. As soon as I kill a rabbit, I first remove the head, skin it and gut it but do not cut the feet off. That way no holes will get in the bag. Then I wash my hands off with snow and put the rabbit in the bag in my back pack.

During warmer conditions, I would wear a game vest.

Orange, I wear the bare minimum. I hate the stuff.
Don't care for the orange either. But if someone else with a gun will be within a mile of me I wear it. I did not survive being shot at on purpose to be shot by accident.
 
Max (Basset) found turnips to his liking. He started going out to the garden, digging them up and bringing them into the house to eat. This winter, he dug up every left-over turnip in the garden & brought them inside. Some, he hid various places. Piece by piece, he also drug three deer carsasses back to the house. His breath is awful most of the time.

Right now, the several rabbits he chases every day are the same rabbits who mostly sit in the same place and run the same way. Never the less, he always tracks using his nose once he loses sight.
 
I like orange. But I think it's safe most the season most places without it..

I thinking of 4 places to run them.. I'd feel safe during any season. I know who's going there to by truck and trail cam. Kinda funny when there's someone new. You like hey who's this usually hiker.
 
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Years ago I hunted with a friend in Pa. Who had beagles, the only problem was the beagles would chase the rabbits into groundhog holes. I started still hunting rabbits and had better success, i now use the same technique in Alaska for snowshoe hares.
 
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