Over the years I have had the pleasure of introducing a good many people to hunting rabbits, specifically hunting them with a pack of Beagles in hot pursuit.  I have been surprised at how little some of the Big Game hunters know about this when it is something I have done most of my life.  As outdoorsmen and women we have an obligation to introduce as many willing participants as we can to all types of hunting (and fishing), and I truly enjoy helping them become respectable rabbit hunters.

This is the way that my husband, Jim, and I introduce new small game hunters to cottontail hunting with beagles.  We first let them get to know their four-legged hunting guides.  Beagles being beagles are always willing recipients of a good ear scratch or tummy rub.

After all of the introductions we set out some Mandatory Rules.  We have two VERY important rules: 1) DO NOT shoot ME; and 2) DO NOT shoot my DOGS.   Most of the time when we go over these first two rules we get a chuckle.  This leads next into gun safety in the field when there are hunters in close proximity to each other.  The standing back to back (about 5 feet apart) giving you 180 degree shooting lanes when covering a road or larger trail or fanning out in a line and demonstrating what a shooting lane of 45 degrees is when in this set up, and everyone getting as much blaze orange coverage as possible on their bodies.  We carry inexpensive orange vests and everyone gets a new blaze orange hat.  Most of the folks we have taken to introduce to our sport do not seem to appreciate the little safety course but they all like getting a new blaze hat even though it has a beagle on it.

 One of our “other” rules is that the newcomers are not allowed to make fun of the way we call or command our dogs in the field.  We use a series of calls including “hear hike” repeated four or five times in a row which tells the dogs to get down to business and hunt.   “Heara, heara“ means come to me from where you are at.  “Hike em up or Hunt em up” means to search in a different direction,  and “hear go, hear go” tells the dogs that the person calling has located a rabbit, and they need to come running to pick up the chase.  Of course “with me” tells them I want them to walk with me where I am going until they are told to “hunt em up”.  At the end of the day “let’s go” means just that head to the truck.

The next discussion we have, after the mandatory rules (and other rules) are understood and we feel that our new hunting wards are in a safe frame of mind, is the Rules of Engagement for the hunt.  First we all need to decide if we will jump shoot rabbits or not.  We personally do not shoot rabbits on the jump (this is when the dog first catches the scent, starts to bawl or bay and the rabbit starts to flee from the dog) but we let the dogs circle the rabbit back to us.  Our new rabbit hunters are usually allowed to jump shoot a rabbit if they want.  Most of the time they have come to kill a few rabbits, and there is no problem with them doing so as long as mandatory rule number 2 is not broken.  The second part of these rules is if we will shoot any other game than rabbits if the opportunity presents itself.  (Some of my best rabbit hunts were ones when we came home with a few quail, pheasant, or woodcock.)  The rule of thumb for this is if it has feathers, and it is a legal hunting target go ahead.  Shooting a few birds in front of a pack of beagles does not make much of an impression on the dogs.  They want to run something with fur on the ground. 

We do not allow squirrel hunting in front of them because we do not want our beagles to think that if there are no rabbits in the cover in front of them a squirrel will do.  For a rabbit hunter, a beagle trashing (jumping or running off game) on squirrels is a burning point, and not tolerated.  Trashing on fox, coyote, or deer is a bigger aggravation than a squirrel.  And by the way, having to de-skunk one of our hounds ranks pretty low on our list of post-hunt pleasures too.  So, now we understand the engagement rules.

Now the newcomer needs to understand Rule Book: Bunnies, Rebels and Rogues.  A few years ago we took a good friend on his first small game hunt of any kind, which in this case was a rabbit hunt.  He was an accomplished deer hunter, knowledgeable outdoorsman and crack shot on the clay target range with his shotgun.  The beagles had a hot rabbit up in very short order, but our friend was standing there listening to the dogs with a confused look on his face.  Now it is time to understand how the beagle/bunny game goes.  Not everyone knows that a cottontail (swamp rabbit, jack rabbit and snowshoe hare) tend to return to their home territory after the dogs have chased him for a while.  This is how the “classic” rule book bunny chase is supposed to work.  The hunter has the best chance of bagging the rabbit if he takes a position at a good vantage point very close to where the rabbit was jumped and waits for its return.

Seasoned rabbit hunters know that there are rabbits out there that have never read the rule book or are either too ignorant or cantankerous to want to read the book and follow the rules.  The rebel rabbits are the ones who tend to make a half run and then dive into a groundhog hole, deep brush pile or under a pile of old junk cars bringing the heated chase to a sudden, disappointing end.  The rogue rabbit seems to enjoy the chase and makes the event as difficult as they can without playing by the rules.  They end up frustrating the dogs and the hunters.  They know lots of tricks to throw the dogs off the track and make the best beagles look bad.  These bunnies know every piece of ground in their vicinity and run back on their own tracks, cross beaver dams, swim streams, run along the tops of down trees, jump sharply in one direction or the other all to confuse the dogs.  They know the best places to run that will not hold a scent, causing the chases to break down and the dogs to search out the area over and over again.  I have seen these rabbits crawl on their bellies under thorns and briars that a mouse would not try to squeeze through.  These rouges rarely circle back to the area where they were jumped unless the hunter moves toward the chase, and then they will sneak back to home base to start all over again.

Our friend’s first kill was the rule book bunny that circled right back to where it was jumped.  He had a clean shot with his 20 gauge at about 18 yards.  My husband commended him on his “nice shot” and he was a bit too proud of himself telling us “piece of cake”.  The next rabbit that was jumped was a big buck (yeah males are bucks and females are does) rougue rabbit…we all followed the sound of the dogs and no one had gotten a glimpse of the rabbit even though the chase had been going for almost 30 minutes.  The three of us circled the rabbit’s briary playground as best we could and waited for a shot.  We heard our friend shoot twice quickly; my husband shouted, "did you get him"?  The answer was no and a few other choice adjectives.  Of course my husband’s answer was “piece of cake huh?”.  That rabbit then headed back to where he was jumped and was finally downed by me 15 minutes later.  We had a few other heated chases that afternoon with our friend killing two more bunnies and my husband one.

The funny thing about rabbit hunting is that the only person who cares about missing a shot at a rabbit is the person who missed.  His buddies don’t care, but it just gives them something to tease him about later.  The beagles really don’t care because it gives them more chase time and that is truly what they love.

Now, there is one more lesson we always save till the end of the day. Most of our pupils ask what could be left.  Our reply…”How to clean rabbits”.  That is always the new comer’s job.

Here are some additional tips for the new comers to bunny hunting.  First, choose a light weight shotgun.  Any gauge you have will do and include a shoulder strap.  We usually pick a modified choke tube and load up with number 6 shells (number 5’s for the bigger snowshoe hare).  We wear shooting vests over our hunting jackets with a good game pouch attached; our vests have blaze orange on the shoulders, and we wear blaze orange hats.  We save bread bags, and when we kill a rabbit, we place the bunny in the bread bag and then into our vests (no blood on your vest and if the rabbit has fleas, no fleas on you).  Wear thick hunting clothes or briar proof clothes because rabbits like the thick sharp stuff.

If you get the chance go rabbit hunting this season.  The dogs will keep your day moving quickly and the table fare isn’t bad either.

By Luanne Bragg

TalkHunting Pro Staffer, Luanne "Beaglepup" Bragg, started hunting (going hunting) with her Grandfather in the fall of 1965.  He loved to squirrel hunt and would carry her into the woods and sit her on a rock and let her hold his prizes.  He took Luanne on her first Pheasant and Rabbit hunts when she was 7.  Shortly after that he had a massive stroke and was never able to return to the woods again.  When Luanne was 9 her Father, who was about to retire from the Marine Corps after 20 years active duty, and Uncle decided that since she could shoot she could remove the ground hogs and crows from the farm fields.  Luanne spent the next few years watching all the wildlife and removing varmints from the farm.  She took herself deer hunting for the first time when she was 15 and took her first deer at 17.  There was a long time between Luanne's first deer and her next deer due to college and work and general life.  She did a lot of small game hunting with her ex-husband starting in 1985 and killed her next deer in 1988.  She has not missed a deer or turkey season since.  When not hunting she is fishing or working in her garden (when not WORKING...).

Luanne has raised, trained and field trialed Beagles in the UKC and ARHA formats for 20 years and has produced several Field and Show Champions and Grand Field and Show Champions.  There is usually at least one litter of puppies born on her place every year.

She holds a Real Estate License in Virginia and owns a Dog Boarding Kennel.  Luanne belongs to the National Association of Realtors, Central Virginia Beaglers Association, NRA, NWTF and Buckmasters.  She was born in East Liverpool, Ohio,  and started showing Appaloosa horses in 1969 and was the Pennsylvania Appaloosa Queen in 1980 and runner up to the National Queen Title the same year. When she gets the chance she still enjoys a long trail ride.  She graduated from Kent State University in Kent Ohio in 1982 with a degree in Applied Science. Luanne relocated from Ohio to Virginia in 1984.