RabbitHound (i know its not biggame)but i got some questions

[OO BUCK]

I have a bluetick that i run on coons and she does really well. i trained her allot running rabbits up to camp when she was a pup. Will she be able to run the rabbits in circle or will her longer legs give her speed enough to be close to them and make them run straight out. i know they usually run circles but when i was training her she usually made the rabbits run in a straight line straight out to 1000 yards away. That was also in the summer. Will the snow slow the rabbits up and make them go in circles. I know nothing about rabbit hunting but last time i went with beagles i had a blast so i want to try it again. and she,s got a great nose for it. What do u think? i know this isnt small game forum but i thought this would be the best place to ask things like this

[pegleg]

the dogs style has a good deal to do with how they run rabbits. as you guessed most full sized hounds push a rabbit hard enough it runs hard and burrows up real quick. if you remember the beagles you hunted with their style was very different then a big game hound. most rabbit dogs stay on line period go track to track turn by turn. some not as slow and accurate as others but all very similar. on the other hand some slower hounds "large" can be used on rabbits or hare the hares are usually a better choice. if your hound is running rabbits already take it out walk one up see what happens and make a decision. most hounds men would just sneak a brace of beagle pups home and spend a few days talking nice to the missus.

[Houndman99]

I taught my dog not to chase rabbits. He's a bluetick too. The way I did it was to put him on the leash, and if he barks or howl and if i see a rabbit pop out. I kicked him. It worked. He doesn't run rabbit anymore. Rabbit is trash. All hounds will chase them. The hard thing is to train them not to chase rabbits or deer. That's why they're called TRASH. it's not good for your dog to chase rabbit unless you want to, because when you are hunting you don't want your dog to open on a rabbit or deer if you are going after bear. Just my opinion.

[pegleg]

it's only trash if you say so. probably more people hunt rabbits with dogs then any other furred species.

[OO BUCK]

I taught my dog not to chase rabbits. He's a bluetick too. The way I did it was to put him on the leash, and if he barks or howl and if i see a rabbit pop out. I kicked him. It worked. He doesn't run rabbit anymore. Rabbit is trash. All hounds will chase them. The hard thing is to train them not to chase rabbits or deer. That's why they're called TRASH. it's not good for your dog to chase rabbit unless you want to, because when you are hunting you don't want your dog to open on a rabbit or deer if you are going after bear. Just my opinion.

yea i said nothing about trash. I want my dogs to chase rabbits. their isnt any around my house, i havent seen one in the last 10 years, the coyotes got them all. I hunt raccoons around my house and do well. But i also have a camp up north and there are rabbits everywere. My question was more about how will the faster dogs run rabbits compared to slower smaller beagles. Because i like the taste of rabbits and i like shooting them. And im not to worried about my dogs running rabbits while coon hunting because like i said i havent seen a rabbit in the last 10 years

[Conejos]

I got a bluetick that was turned loose on the ranch for 3 years and just learned to go hunt for himself. I remember seeing him run rabbits alot and it didn't work anything like a beagle. Like pegleg said the hounds are faster and put alot of pressure on a rabbit so the rabbit either finds a burrow or culvert ect. or gets eaten by a bluetick! Lol

[pegleg]

i was thinking about the rabbit thing and usually any gamey pup runs them at first and its not one of my biggest worries as I've never had one that didn't break off them easy. skunks on the other hand will get a dog a REAL talking to quick.
I had a litter of pups about five months or so running around the place and ended up acquiring a fox terrier. well real quick rabbit heads and what not started showing up in the yard and porch. I was sure those pups weren't that quick yet and got to watching what was happening is that terrier would get to yapping in the early morning/evening and round the pups up and head to the barn. they would jump a cottontail, then that little terrier would zip up catch hold and promptly get kicked all over the yard until the pups got there and stretched it for him. up he would pop growling and chest puffed out and push the pups back and start dragging his prize to the house. those pups where a bit harder to break off rabbits . I always hoped to see him catch a black tail jack but he never made the mistake.