# Any one kill any bunnies yet?



## fishintechnician (Jul 20, 2007)

My wife and I went out for a few hours today and hit a new set of (abandonded) railroad tracks today. We managed to jump roughly 10 rabbits and got one hen pheasant up today. I was the dog most of the day and my wife got 3 clean shots off. She hit one, but we didnt find it, found fur but no rabbit. Not sure how good the hit was. I let her walk the top flat of the track and I hiked thru the thick stuff to get them out. I am very proud of how far she has come as a hunter, this will be her third full season hunting and she has done extremely well. She never complains, except when she cant go. Her shooting is great and she is getting more comfortable with quick target aquisition every time we go out. She is willing and eager to learn new things about the sport and is always asking questions, she truely makes a great hunting partner. I was really surprised that we got that many running with it being so warm. If we had dogs we could have easily gotten 2 tickets no problem today. Did manage to get 1 for the pan. Plan to go back out sometime tomorrow to a small creek bottom that I have permission for. May go back to the tracks later in the afternoon. Plan to go to the woods and try for a deer in the evening. I love this time of year. I'm ready for a good snowfall to knock down some of the weeds and then it will really be on.


----------



## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

fishintechnician said:


> My wife and I went out for a few hours today and hit a new set of (abandonded) railroad tracks today. We managed to jump roughly 10 rabbits and got one hen pheasant up today. I was the dog most of the day and my wife got 3 clean shots off. She hit one, but we didnt find it, found fur but no rabbit. Not sure how good the hit was. I let her walk the top flat of the track and I hiked thru the thick stuff to get them out. I am very proud of how far she has come as a hunter, this will be her third full season hunting and she has done extremely well. She never complains, except when she cant go. Her shooting is great and she is getting more comfortable with quick target aquisition every time we go out. She is willing and eager to learn new things about the sport and is always asking questions, she truely makes a great hunting partner. I was really surprised that we got that many running with it being so warm. If we had dogs we could have easily gotten 2 tickets no problem today. Did manage to get 1 for the pan. Plan to go back out sometime tomorrow to a small creek bottom that I have permission for. May go back to the tracks later in the afternoon. Plan to go to the woods and try for a deer in the evening. I love this time of year. I'm ready for a good snowfall to knock down some of the weeds and then it will really be on.


Sounds great! Our group probably won't make our first trip till Thanksgiving morning. I usually like to get the dogs out for a little one on one time with me before the season really gets cranking. Good to here you saw some bunnies. They seem to be on the comeback from a few years ago. Last year was our best season in quite a few years.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

killed one on public land friday ran a couple but i was trying to get the beagles to run birds


----------



## ohiogary (Dec 14, 2006)

Been wanting to take the beagles out , but the places I hunt are still pretty grown up, hard to get a shot, between that and the rut coming on, its hard to find the time


----------



## fishintechnician (Jul 20, 2007)

ohiogary said:


> Been wanting to take the beagles out , but the places I hunt are still pretty grown up, hard to get a shot, between that and the rut coming on, its hard to find the time


I know eaxclty what you mean on that!! Went to 2 other spots today, jumped a few more, got one more. One of the spots is gonna be killer once it thins some....some place were so thick I could literally not walk thru them. I am sittin here debating what I should do this eve...go sit in the woods and try to kill a deer or go back out and try and kill bunnies??? Idk...seems like year after year im losing more and more interest in deer. I like to hunt them and really like to eat them but would much rather hunt rabbits or squirrels.. idk just seems to be alot more fun. On a differnet note I managed to jump a grouse today! that was pretty cool to see.


----------



## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

fishintechnician said:


> I know eaxclty what you mean on that!! Went to 2 other spots today, jumped a few more, got one more. One of the spots is gonna be killer once it thins some....some place were so thick I could literally not walk thru them. I am sittin here debating what I should do this eve...go sit in the woods and try to kill a deer or go back out and try and kill bunnies??? Idk...seems like year after year im losing more and more interest in deer. I like to hunt them and really like to eat them but would much rather hunt rabbits or squirrels.. idk just seems to be alot more fun. On a differnet note I managed to jump a grouse today! that was pretty cool to see.


I'm in the same boat as you. I used to take vacation days for the rut and the first 3 days of gun season. I've all but given up deer hunting and fish as late into the year as possible and save a few "short notice" V-days for those "perfect" rabbit running days. The ability to walk and talk with friends and dogs is just way more appealing to me than sitting in a tree in dead silence, freezing my butt off!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## Java line (Mar 14, 2012)

Just got back from the U.P. a week ago go every year to knock the dust off the beagles, it's a blast.















Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## Shaun69007 (Sep 2, 2009)

jumped 15 killed only 2. hunting a pretty thick swamp. did kick a grouse, coyote and had 3 deer come running and stop about 5 yards away looking at me for about 3 minutes. shocked to kick a grouse.


----------



## ggcanteri (May 17, 2012)

we have had non stop action, but unfortunately the vegetation is very heavy. so far, 4 times out 8 rabbits and 1 pheasant. monday night and tuesday should knock down the vegetation with the wet snow. if that happens it's game on for the weekend. By the way Java line, thats a pretty impressive pack of beagles in that pic. good luck and shoot straight.


----------



## Java line (Mar 14, 2012)

That's really two five dog packs, up there I only run them half a day and then break out fresh dogs. They will easily cover twice as much ground running hare and twice as fast, an average day they will log 25 miles on a garmin and if you don't give them a break they will be done in a couple days.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## ggcanteri (May 17, 2012)

thats a great set up Java line. I have 2 beagles and hunt them every other day when I can.


----------



## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

What is your guys definition of a perfect rabbit running day? Sunny and cold, cloudy, snowy, windy? Thanks!


----------



## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

Mushijobah said:


> What is your guys definition of a perfect rabbit running day? Sunny and cold, cloudy, snowy, windy? Thanks!


Ha ha! $100,000 question.... we've had nice, semi warm days with a good blanket of snow down that we thought would be just dynamite, yet turn out to be a bust. One of the best days I can remember was a few years ago on Thanksgiving morning. Wind blew 25+, rain turned to sleet, temp dropped about 15 degrees from sun up to noon. We started out at 8:00 and couldn't buy a rabbit in the thick stuff, wood piles or our planted Christmas Tree piles. We hit the edge of a power line with about waist high grass around 11:00 and had our first rabbit up. While the dogs were running, we killed 3 that were trying to sneak back into the woods. After that we stayed in the power line grass with a flanker on each edge and killed 14 rabbits between 5 guys by 3:00. Probably the best single day we've had since. We've tried to duplicate it when the weather turns sour, but it think they caught on to us. 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## ggcanteri (May 17, 2012)

I thought this past weekend's weather would be perfect, but it turned into a bust. We shot 2 rabbits out of 3 runs. We hunted for 5 hours in an area we usually get at least 10 runs.I really don't know if there is a perfect weather day to hunt them. Maybe I'll start keeping a log with weather info vs. number of runs. cold and windy this weekend! good luck and shoot straight.


----------



## Java line (Mar 14, 2012)

I like over cast and cool, that being said you can't go by high pressure, low pressure, wet, dry, warm, cold it doesn't matter, the days you thing would be great some times aren't so great other times you think you will be wasting time turns out to be the best. I played this game for 40+ years and had a lot of beagles and half the fun is trying to figure them out. 


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## ggcanteri (May 17, 2012)

I agree Java line


----------



## mudkings (May 11, 2010)

Mushijobah said:


> What is your guys definition of a perfect rabbit running day? Sunny and cold, cloudy, snowy, windy? Thanks!


All the above. Lol the kids keep me busy so anytime I can run my beagles I so it.. well or fish..

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

mudkings said:


> All the above. Lol the kids keep me busy so anytime I can run my beagles I so it.. well or fish..
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T989 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


I agree. There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing... dress for the conditions and go. You can't kill them from the couch, and I've never owned a beagle that was picky about weather.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## mudkings (May 11, 2010)

I do love a fresh snow on the ground
When running though
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Ohub Campfire mobile app


----------



## Java line (Mar 14, 2012)

I'm not so much into the kill as the running, I like a driving dog that wants to be first and can run a track, I like about 4 dogs on the ground, in the snow things tend to slow down for the most part, and one or two dogs works better it is nice to see the rabbit in.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------

