TBT: Using beagles for hunting

[MeghanOOD]

https://oodmag.com/tbt-using-beagles-for-hunting/

Hunt over beagles a few times and it becomes apparent why they've been called a Jack-of-all-trades, handy-dandy, endearing, and merry.

[Gilroy]

https://oodmag.com/tbt-using-beagles-for-hunting/

Hunt over beagles a few times and it becomes apparent why they've been called a Jack-of-all-trades, handy-dandy, endearing, and merry.

Well beagles can be a whole lot of fun however like eveything else they come with advantages and disadvantages as hunting companions and pets.

The pros are they are easy to keep health wise, can be excellent on rabbits and hare, will flush pheasants.

The cons these days are places to hunt where they can run without trespass issues, they tend to hunt for themselves and dont,t always want to stop when you do.

The field trials are good but to me way to fussy when it comes to all the points and demerit checks. The trials are good if this is what you are into but the dogs for hunting are way to slow.

A good hunting dog will bye pass a dodge made by a rabbit and simply air scent where it went, making for a much faster and exciting hunt.

Other draw backs to beagles is that in a busy neighborhood they are a bit vocal and of course hopeless on a leash for walking.

[Sharon]

https://oodmag.com/tbt-using-beagles-for-hunting/

Hunt over beagles a few times and it becomes apparent why they've been called a Jack-of-all-trades, handy-dandy, endearing, and merry.

and isn't that true. 20 + years hunting with beagles

and a story: My Dad sent me out to feed the dogs. I found 5 dead puppies covered in dead rabbits. The Motherebeagle shad chewed through the wooden gate , killed my rabbits and tried to save her pups.

[werner.reiche]

Well beagles can be a whole lot of fun however like eveything else they come with advantages and disadvantages as hunting companions and pets.

The pros are they are easy to keep health wise, can be excellent on rabbits and hare, will flush pheasants.

The cons these days are places to hunt where they can run without trespass issues, they tend to hunt for themselves and dont,t always want to stop when you do.

The field trials are good but to me way to fussy when it comes to all the points and demerit checks. The trials are good if this is what you are into but the dogs for hunting are way to slow.

A good hunting dog will bye pass a dodge made by a rabbit and simply air scent where it went, making for a much faster and exciting hunt.

Other draw backs to beagles is that in a busy neighborhood they are a bit vocal and of course hopeless on a leash for walking.

I'm on my third beagle going back to 1990. Barking wasn't a problem with any of them. The first two were kennel dogs. The current one is a house dog.
They were all leashed trained - although the current one needs spiked collar - she's only 3 1/2 and still has too much energy.
If you leash train them completely, they are ruined for tracking on a leash though, so be careful with that.
They do need big space to run free. I've had a GPS tracking collar since 2012, and use it whenever she's off-leash.
The first two beagles would get lost when we were deer hunting - sometimes for the day, sometimes overnight. The one I have now hasn't in 3 years. She'll run a deer for an hour and be maybe a couple of miles a way and she'll just follow her back trail - even knowing when to take the short cut if she's made a loop while chasing.
If you've never hunted over a beagle, you should add that to your bucket list, especially deer hunting.
..and the air scent thing - the first two I had were strictly ground scent. The one I have now runs on air scent if she can. She also likes to sight hunt. If she's picking up a very strong scent, she stands on her hind legs to see if she can see the deer. If she can, she just goes nuts and runs on sight. Not very good from a trialing perspective... but it works okay for hunting.
The trials are interesting...the dogs must pack up, and they must follow ground scent. If they are air scenting and running off the track, that's bad.

[swampsinger]

The article is a litn.

[Sharon]

Very well said.