This month I will talk about one of my favorite hunting practices, rabbits with Beagles. If anyone has had the pleasure of this adventure you will surely appreciate the next few paragraphs. There are many aspects to running hounds, and we will talk about some of my favorites from trials to tribulations!

First of all in order to be a houndsman or woman you have to have a tremendous amount of patience, intestinal fortitude and love for the sport. This may well be listed as some of the tribulations of running hounds. The fact has always been stated to the absolute truth by two quotes ubiquitous in the hound world. They are: "Hounds are the best at what they do, but are as stubborn as the worst mule, and if you want to run hounds, you better not be afraid to grab a hold of a dog." Now in this ever-increasing world of animal rights, the latter may not be acceptable. I would never argue that with anyone. I would only tell you not to hunt with a hound. I have personally never had to use force on my beagles, but I have chased them for miles, especially up here on the snowshoe hares. Again, this is only a minor set back when running hounds that is far outshined by the great times you have with the dogs. I will also say that the majority of houndsman actually never strike dogs anymore; the most common training for chasing deer or not coming back is a training shock collar. That is a must with a hound.

The benefits are so great that the above is hardly an issue unless you don't want to take the time and effort to properly train any dog. The trials and time spent with a pack of hounds is just unmatched in any other hunting to me. I have participated in field trials with my older male Beagle and really enjoyed the experience. It was a lot of fun and camaraderie with people from all over the Midwest. Another benefit is that you are probably very near a local Beagle Club that you never even knew about in the community. As far as hunting with a pack of hounds, it is breathtaking to watch as many as three to six Beagles running a scent line and hearing them howl.

I had a lady once comment to me that she was totally opposed to using any dog for hunting. Her point was well taken; it should be you vs. the animal. She was not against hunting at all, and understood both the necessity and sport of it. She only opposed using dogs. I then explained to her that her opinion was merely based on an uneducated misinterpretation of this form of hunting. She then allowed me to explain that the majority of people I have ever hunted dogs with (including larger Walkers on Bear) actually shoot far fewer animals. Not because of lack of opportunity, but because you almost become a spectator in this grand arena that is the old chase. The hunt actually does become a chess match between the dogs and the hare.

One thing I should mention is the chased has far superiority over the chaser. It is amazing to stand on a ridge where you can observe down into the Cedar swamp and watch this all play out. It reminded me of a song I have enjoyed for years and only recently was able to grasp the actual power of the words sung. One verse that totally hits this from Lynard Skynard is…. "when the hound dogs start singing I ain't got them big ol' city blues..".

You may email Capt. Perry at perry@lakeshore guardian.com.