# 1/26/22 Bunny Hunt



## GalionLex (Oct 19, 2014)

I, along with my buddy Dave (pictured to the right) and the photographer (dog owner) had a great bunny hunt this afternoon. The star of the show in the background of the pic is Banjo. He is a 1.5 yr old male beagle. Banjo does a tremendous job for any beagle of any age let alone a youngster with his prime ahead of him. We started our hunt around 1 pm and quit around 4pm. From the pic you can see that we harvested 7 rabbits. We saw that many more that were "side hoppers" that Banjo got up while running others. A sun soaked, windless, snowy afternoon is hard to beat when it comes to rabbit hunting. As mentioned, Banjo earned extra treats today. The humans on the hunt never jumped a rabbit. Banjo did it all which is typical this time of year because the bunnies are typically buried in dense, thick cover. Rabbit season goes through the end of February. Hope many of you can get out there and enjoy similar fun as what we had today.


----------



## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Great hunt and pic.
Brings back some great memories as well as thoughts about getting another pup.


----------



## PromiseKeeper (Apr 14, 2004)

It doesn't get much better than a nice winter day with Beagle music! Nice job! Glad to hear there are some bunnies out there!


----------



## GalionLex (Oct 19, 2014)

A GREAT Bunny Hunt


I have posted in the past about the fun we have with two little beagles that I and a good friend own named Ticker and Sadie. Ticker turned 13 on August 28th of this year. She can't keep up with Sadie on every track but for the most part she does pretty good. Yesterday (12/10) Sadie's owner...




www.ohiogamefishing.com





I went back through the pages of this forum to find a post that I made in December of 2016. The 2016 story and today's post is from the same farm. Where has the time gone? Over 5 years ago. The dogs that were hunted on the 2016 hunt are both gone now. This farm is a great example of habitat. It's really not that many acres but the rabbits have GREAT cover with surrounding crop fields and plenty of ground hog holes to escape predators and Mother Nature when she gets angry. I hear a lot of hunters mention that they never see rabbits anymore. The coyotes have them eaten up. I feel that a lot of hunters would be surprised what a good beagle and some good habitat would turn up. Don't get me wrong, I don't see near the numbers of "summertime roadside" rabbits that I use to when I was younger, but I blame a lot of that on habitat loss vs. predation. Just my opinion. There are still honey holes out there that hold bunnies. Get out there and chase em around!!


----------



## FortySix (Jun 13, 2019)

That’s fantastic! I stomped around Salt Fork for about three and a half hours yesterday just by myself thinking that as thick as the rabbits were every time I’d take the boat to the lake that I’d surely kick at least one out but I didn’t see a single one. It was a beautiful day out so I just chalked it up to a good day of exercise and the rabbits were sitting tight. Sure do miss having a beagle to get snagged up in the briars with.


----------



## Jim white (Feb 19, 2018)

GalionLex said:


> View attachment 482265
> 
> 
> I, along with my buddy Dave (pictured to the right) and the photographer (dog owner) had a great bunny hunt this afternoon. The star of the show in the background of the pic is Banjo. He is a 1.5 yr old male beagle. Banjo does a tremendous job for any beagle of any age let alone a youngster with his prime ahead of him. We started our hunt around 1 pm and quit around 4pm. From the pic you can see that we harvested 7 rabbits. We saw that many more that were "side hoppers" that Banjo got up while running others. A sun soaked, windless, snowy afternoon is hard to beat when it comes to rabbit hunting. As mentioned, Banjo earned extra treats today. The humans on the hunt never jumped a rabbit. Banjo did it all which is typical this time of year because the bunnies are typically buried in dense, thick cover. Rabbit season goes through the end of February. Hope many of you can get out there and enjoy similar fun as what we had today.


Nice job guys. I've gotten a little female (Daisy) beagle she's 3 months old an taking her out for the first time tomorrow with a buddy an his two beagle's we'll see how it goes👍


----------



## BankAngler (Aug 20, 2008)

Great story GalionLex. Sounds like fun. Glad you got to reminisce on the same farm as a few years ago.


----------



## GalionLex (Oct 19, 2014)

Jim white said:


> Nice job guys. I've gotten a little female (Daisy) beagle she's 3 months old an taking her out for the first time tomorrow with a buddy an his two beagle's we'll see how it goes👍


Best of luck with your new pup, Daisy. It makes me think back on all the hours I spent with my pups over the years. I will never forget the advice an old timer gave me early on in my beagle days. He said when you get a beagle pup make sure you buy two pairs of boots. The first pair of boots better be wore out before your pup reaches his/her first birthday. The message hit home. If you want a top notch loyal companion and a great hunting dog it takes TIME !!!! That first year is so vital. Once the training wheels get taken off you're good to go for many years of fun days in the field.


----------



## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Bunnies are what I cut my hunting teeth on! The next door neighbor's Dad ran beagles, and his Son was my best buddy! They were running a new female named Molly in a field behind a nearby steel plant. It was loaded with bunnies that would hide under the steel piles when they weren't out. One time, his Dad had him bring his shotgun, and told him to cut the rabbit off, shoot it, and let it lay so the dog could trails the scent all the way to the rabbit. We knew where to cut the rabbits off, since they would head right for the steel piles. We heard the dog make the turn and start heading back our way. I happened to look to our left, and my buddy looked to our right, and I saw his eyes get big. I knew what to do. Hit the ground! He shot the rabbit, Molly got it, and we had a hunter!


----------



## Kenlow1 (Jul 14, 2012)

GalionLex-what county are you in? Sounds like that farm is a magnet for mr. rabbit? Hard to find good “bunny cover” these days.


----------



## GalionLex (Oct 19, 2014)

Kenlow1 said:


> GalionLex-what county are you in? Sounds like that farm is a magnet for mr. rabbit? Hard to find good “bunny cover” these days.


Kenlow: I live in Morrow county. However, the farm we hunted is technically in Crawford county. You can probably reason from my OGF name that I'm half way between Galion and Lexington. In fact, the southern boundary of this particular farm is county line road...... (Morrow/Crawford county).


----------



## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Oh man! We used to have a place that housed a hydroponic greenhouse that grew tomatos. My buddy managed the place as part of his job duties. It was surrounded by fields. They would prune the plants and throw the prunings outside, and the rabbits would come! They also threw out any fruit that didn't look good. That place had more bunnies than any place I've ever seen! So, I got us permission to hunt there. One day, the 4 of us headed out, and my buddy brought his Beagle. We could hear that Beagle bawling the whole time we were there, and we never shot a rabbit off of it! There were so many, that it kept getting sidetracked by a hotter scent! Didn't matter, the 4 of us limited out just walking around the fields! 16 bunnies and we could have shot more. When the last guy limited out, we listened and heard the dog, and said "Well, let's go get Mack!" His throat had to be sore by then! He never stopped bawling the whole time!


----------



## Moo Juice (Jan 20, 2021)

My boys went out this morning. The oldest got three and had two misses. The youngest never got a shot. They said the place was crawling with bunnies. He got them with his 870 in 20ga. Don't mind the mess. We are in the middle of trying to restore a farmhouse built in 1862. Quite a challenge.


----------

