Copper

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

Yes - she runs rabbits as well. We have cottontails here in Kanata and when she sees one when were walking her she goes nuts.
Where I deer hunt - 55B - rabbits (varying hare) are almost extinct. Its been years since I've seen a rabbit up there.
She did chase one last fall though - you can tell the difference in how she runs - moves slow and in a small area.

When she's on a deer they both move pretty quick. The first deer we shot in front of her she ran 690 yards in a straight line in about 2 1/2 minutes.
She's learned a bad habit from a purist perspective but it works okay for hunting. She sight-hunts if she can. When she sees a deer, she sight hunts it instead of using her nose. Piled on top of that, when she picks up a strong scent, she stands on her hind legs to get a better look around. Twice I've spotted deer watching us when she did this (but it hasn't happened during deer season).

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I had a beagle/walker mix that looked a lot like your dog and I wanted him for rabbits. That dog would run deer clear across the country, excellent trailer and would even put up Moose and run them. But when it came to rabbits did not seem at all interested, it was pretty strange. Anyway I found a nice home for him down in Bobcaygeon at a long running deer camp and he worked out good for them.

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Originally Posted by Gilroy

I had a beagle/walker mix that looked a lot like your dog and I wanted him for rabbits. That dog would run deer clear across the country, excellent trailer and would even put up Moose and run them. But when it came to rabbits did not seem at all interested, it was pretty strange. Anyway I found a nice home for him down in Bobcaygeon at a long running deer camp and he worked out good for them.

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I have a walker/rotti mix. Not interested in rabbits either but he is hell on coyote.

Great looking dog and one tired pup
I sure miss hunting deer with hounds love to hear the baying

From my experience and observations Beagles or beagle mixes that prefer to run Deer, Fox or Coyote don't have the nose power or determination it takes to run snowshoe hare. Deer, Fox, Coyote have a huge vapor trail of scent compared to hare, especially when its -20 on old snow. Its easier and more fun for hounds to run head up with a snoot full of scent.

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Originally Posted by swampsinger

From my experience and observations Beagles or beagle mixes that prefer to run Deer, Fox or Coyote don't have the nose power or determination it takes to run snowshoe hare. Deer, Fox, Coyote have a huge vapor trail of scent compared to hare, especially when its -20 on old snow. Its easier and more fun for hounds to run head up with a snoot full of scent.

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I think we could also make a second category a beagle or beagle mix that would prefer to run snowshoe hare over cottontails as its easier to run snowshoe hares. I had a beagle who was real good on snowshoe hare but not nearly as good on cottontail because of the way they run. He was also real good on European Hare to my dismay. LOL

It has been my experience , after many years with beagles, that they will run what they are trained to run. We started them out on penned rabbit ( old days way), and they found rabbits. Never took them deer hunting, so I doubt they would have had much interest in deer.
Werner uses them on deer , so they love deer.

Three different members pointed out that their dogs prefer to run deer over rabbits. Just giving my explanation for that.

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Originally Posted by Sharon

It has been my experience , after many years with beagles, that they will run what they are trained to run. We started them out on penned rabbit ( old days way), and they found rabbits. Never took them deer hunting, so I doubt they would have had much interest in deer.
Werner uses them on deer , so they love deer.

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If you get a puppy I agree training in a penned area on cotton tails for instance they figure it out. I adopted a couple of beagles and a beagle/mix that were both over a year and they basically were set in their ways. Not saying with a bit of effort I could have turned them around. Unfortunately time and area was not available to me then.

Great post Werner. I like the way you hang the deer up. Beauty dog.

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Originally Posted by swampsinger

From my experience and observations Beagles or beagle mixes that prefer to run Deer, Fox or Coyote don't have the nose power or determination it takes to run snowshoe hare. Deer, Fox, Coyote have a huge vapor trail of scent compared to hare, especially when its -20 on old snow. Its easier and more fun for hounds to run head up with a snoot full of scent.

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I'd agree with that. Rabbits have very little scent compared to deer. A good hound should want to hunt *everything* and it's up to the trainer to break them off what they shouldn't change. This may not be required if you only run the hound where there are target animals - for example pens where there are only rabbits or in areas like 55B where there are far more deer than rabbits. That's what I mentioned about copper - she will run rabbits, but she moves slowly at it as compared to a deer. She can follow deer scent at a full run.