I'm sure some of you remember that last year, MHS member, Joey, brought his beagles down to our farm for the day to chase some rabbits. Well, we ended up having a great time and we managed to bag 19 rabbits that day; an amazing number of bunnies considering the terrain and cover available here on our farm (there are hiding places EVERYWHERE and it's tough hiking). Needless to say, we invited Joey to come back down for another hunt this year. At about 7:45 this morning, Joey and his friend Brian pulled in with Joey's pack of Beagles. We headed out to hunt at about 10 minutes after 8:00 and it took the hounds less than 3 minutes to get onto the first rabbit.
All in all, it was a very successful day and we managed to best our harvest of 19 from last year, with a total of 21 today. The hunting was a bit harder this year with the rabbits seemingly content to sit tight until you nearly stepped on them. Made it hard to get quick shots off considering there were always either dogs or people in close proximity to the bunnies. We also had a real problem with rabbits finding holes to hide in, deep enough that even a determined Beagle couldn't get them out. We had to put a lot of miles on the hiking boots today in order to try to stay a step ahead of these rabbits. Anyway, it turned out to be a wonderful hunt with the best of company and a first class pack of dogs. Hope you enjoy a few pics.
Part of the old lake bed we hunted. Always a good spot to run a few bunnies:
Joey with a live rabbit he caught with his hands. This bunny decided to try to hide from the dogs in a old stack of corrugated tin. I guess he didn't realize that Joey would come in after him:
A draw next to one of our food plots:
Joey, Tim, Brian, and the dogs immediately after a kill:
A couple of the dogs jumping in the air, trying to get a taste of the rabbit Joey had in his hands:
And finally, "the crew" with 21 bunnies at the end of the hunt:
The Great Outdoors: Hunting