Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game Chased beagles on Friday

I had never done it before, but some local guys with a good bunch of dogs were looking for a place to hunt. They brought 7 of these little spitfire buggers and the chase was on, all day long....




We wound up with a total of 12 and should have had about half a dozen more, but most everybody blew at least one "tater shot". It took me a while to learn how it was done, how to predict where the dogs were going, how hot they were on the rabbit, and how to cut them off and get a shot. I didn't get any photos of the thick cover areas, but it was slow going in those spots. Most everybody brought short-barreled 20ga shotguns but I made do with my old favorite, which is an A-5 Light Twenty. By the end of the day, I could see why those guys favored lightweight pumps with 20-21" barrels. Also, a couple of swamp rabbits in your game bag will start to weigh on you after a bit.




My 8yr old daughter, Kate, was out of school and was really excited about the idea of hunting with dogs. She had to learn all their names.

I thought she'd want to call it a day when noon rolled around, but she wouldn't have it, so we finished out the day running on trail mix and beef jerky. We were worn out, but are looking forward to doing it again soon.