Hunting/Training Tips
Teaching Your Dog to Hunt Rabbits
STEP 1: As soon as we get a puppy, usually around 8 weeks old, we begin training them to hunt rabbits. We begin by allowing the puppy to play with a rabbit skin or a foot of a wild rabbit we killed previously. During this playtime, the puppy learns the smell of rabbit and wants to chase the fur. After a week or two of playing with the skin, we play hide and seek with it. We do this by teasing the puppy with the fur as he/she is tied up, then dragging the fur along the ground to an out of sight position. The puppy will hopefully put their nose to the ground and begin to track the scent trail. The first few times we try this they generally don’t stay on the line of scent, but hopefully put in a good search for the fur. We help the puppy search if they have trouble, which is usually the case early on. As this process continues, we drag the fur/foot further out of reach. STEP 2: When our puppy takes an interest in rabbit scent, we find wild rabbits around our yard or neighborhood to smell and chase. During these early stages we always make sure see the rabbit first before letting the puppy search on their own. This prevents them from learning to run any unwanted game. After seeing the rabbit take off, we place our puppy on the track and allow the dog to track the rabbit. Again this process will take several attempts before the puppy is able to track the rabbit properly. So keep trying. In this phase it is better to not allow your puppy to see the rabbit so that he/she learns to rely on their nose alone. STEP 3: After several weeks of placing your dog on fresh rabbit scent, your puppy is ready to search for a rabbit on their own. The safest way to do this is to only hunt a small area where you know rabbits are abundant and other animals are not. We usually ensure a good search area by seeing a rabbit dive into the brush and releasing our puppy nearby. At this point the puppy should be able to run a rabbit for several minutes at a time. STEP 4: When your puppy is able to run a rabbit for a moderate duration(about 10-20 minutes), we begin to run the puppy with a good rabbit hunting dog or group of dogs. At first your puppy may not run with the other dogs or respond to the barks of the other dogs. This too will come with time. It may take up to a month or two, before your puppy fully responds to other dogs and is willing to run with other dogs. Although it is important for dogs to “pack up,” it is also important for your puppy to receive a descent amount of solo time out in the field. This allows the puppy to grow in their confidence and learn not to only rely on the skills of other dogs. Note: Even after “starting” your puppy at a very young age, it usually takes up to a year to completely train a dog for rabbits. Even after this point, puppies to continue to hone their skills and become more true to the scent line and become faster. |
Links for Training PuppiesBeagle Boys' Tips |
Snowshoe Hare Hunting Techniques
FINDING HARE HABITAT: The first step to hunting snowshoe hares is to locate a place where hares live. Hares can unusually be found at high elevations in groves of spruce trees, cedar swamps, or any place that has thick low level confer trees. Finding places such as this can be tedious and difficult, since they may be far between. What we suggest is using “Google Maps” online to find these types of areas. Not only can you find swamps and dark groves of confer trees, but you can also identify areas of State land by using the basic map. We use this frequently to locate hunting areas where we have never been. (Note) Even with the perfect habitat, snowshoes still may not be present, so we suggest hunting them in the snow to see tracks. Apart from this, hunting in the winter allows the hunter to see the hares more easily since the tree cover is minimal. CHASING HARES: After placing your dogs in a prime hare area, they should be able to find the hares in the densest areas. Hares typically run large loops attempting to out run the dogs rather than fool them on the track or hole up. This makes for a great chase. As long as your dogs are fast enough to keep the hares on the run, your dogs should have no problem bringing them around. We frequently chase hares over a half mile away, so don’t get worried if your dog gets out of hearing distance. HUNTING HARES: Occasionally, hares will not run to the place they were jumped, so you may have to adjust where you wait. Hares are also very sensitive to movement and noise. Therefore, you need to stay as quiet and hidden as possible. When hunting with other people, communication is critical. Since the hares’ circles can be so large, we recommend that your hunting partners all have walky-talkies to have a more coordinated attack. |
Links for Snowshoe Hunting |
PROTECTING A BEAGLE’S TAIL
REASON: The reason many beagles need to protect their tail is because they hold their tail high when chasing through thick brush. There is nothing wrong with a beagle who holds their tail a little higher, but it may cause the dog some discomfort after the hunt. In the case of our dogs, Beau and Willie tend to beat their tails more than the rest. Especially, when we hunt in dense cover, these two dogs tend to come back with bloody or worn tails. SOLUTION: Depending upon the severity and location of the beat tail, there a few different ways to solve this problem.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
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Links for taking care of a Hunting Dog |
Training Dogs to Not Run Off GameTips from Us
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Creating Rabbit Habitat |
Beagle Boys' Tips |