I posted this in the equipment forum also. I'm gonna start rabbit hunting next season & I want to get a couple beagles. I don't have a clue what to look for in a hunting dog or what is a fair price for a good one. If anybody has any experence with beagles I could shure use some pointers, THANKS

Well, i wish we all had the good answer for this question. Best thing is to ask back ground info about the pups mother and father. Did they run rabbits in there time or were they just breders. More than likely it will be in the dogs blood to run rabbits. Just stand back and watch the litter of pups. Look for somthing spunky but not too spunky. But you can't always predict what they will turn out, you can pick the best looking most strongest best quality and they may mount to nothing. Alot of it can be fixed just by the time and training that you give the dog. The dog that i just got about 6 yeaers ago turned out to be the best dog i ever had. He seemed half like a runt but really he was a go getter. The guy said his father and mother were rabbit hunters and he said they were paperd dogs, and no the dogs dont have to have papers, and i didn't get papers along with the dog. I paid $100 bucks for my beagle. But today's society, its hard to tell what you might pay, I would not pay any more than $300 for a dog. And training the first beagle you ever get is hard, make so many mistakes, but if you keep at it, you will have succes.

i think that furbandit7 pretty much covered it all and what i have always been told is that papers dont run rabbits meaning that all good dogs dont allways have to have papers its all in theway you train them yuo have to start at a young age. i would say anywhere from the 200-500 range would be a fair price range depending on breeding

i have 3 beagles and my father n law has 4 . we have been in rabbit huntin business for bout 6 years now. here in mississippi a grade dog usually cost around 200$ if they are runnin there own rabbit and 350 - 500 for a reg dog. the best way for a guy to start out rabbit huntin is to get a good runnin dog (3 or 4 years old) and then get you 3 or 4 puppies and let the older dog train your puppies ... do not ever buy a dog by the word of mouth . always try out the dog to see if it will run.... and if you get a pack of beagles a good set of shock collars are a must .

I wouldn't say a shock collars are a must. Trained many without, but i will admit it is a plus exspecially if you run where there might be lots of deer. Let em know that is not what they want to run after. Deer scent is stronger than rabbit you will know when a dog picks up on deer, the hair risses on there backs.

6 month old puppys ready to run somethin with a thicket full of deer ... shock collars are handy. it makes things alot easier ... thanks for straightenin that out for me fur bandit... by tha way do yall have the big cane cutter rabbits up in PA

I got my kids a beagle for hunting rabbits 2 years ago. When I picked him out, I first called the local hunting club to get suggestions as to where to get one. Then when we went to pick him out, we put all the pups on the ground outside and let them run around a little bit. We had 5 to choose from and chose the only one that had his nose to the ground looking for something. The others were playing and scrapping with each other. At 4 months I took the dog out to see what he would do and he hit a rabbit track that I new was there because I saw the rabbit earlier. He followed that track like an arrow. We did this on and off the next 2 months. A few times he would kick up the rabbit, beller and take off after it. At 6 months we were hunting and taking rabbits. He is now 2 years old, he will hunt rabbits and squirls for me and the boys. Had only one problem running a deer track, I hit the shock collar and he came back and hasn't run a deer track since. BTW I paid $100 for this dog, and we are about to breed him with a buddies hunting female to get another.

Good luck.

i got one in january shes 8-9 monthes now 300 bucks with papers her dad and granddad were feild champs i started off takein her with us on hunts and let her play with the rabbits after the hunt then gave her heart or the liver we kept the hides and feet of some let her play with the feet and then got some rabbit sent at gander mountain and put it on the hide and dragged it around started lil and now cover a big area then let her run witha 3-4 year old a rela good dog like hot shot said those shock collars come in handy and work if theres alot of deer you better have one or try differnt spot if you want the dog to retreve sp the rabbit all you gotta do is play fetch with a hide pr start with acat toy and work up then when she findds the hide after you get done draggin it around just say bring it here or suttin like that and if she does give her a treat and you got a fetchin dog it works well when it really thick and you got a wounded one

Yeah, I am guessing you thinking of the what they call big ridge rabbits! They run a circle so far that you can't even hear the dog bark anymore. Its like a 3 minute pause that you can't hear nothing then all the sudden he comes around. I love it!! But if the ridge rabbit an't it then i probly never herd of it. We have what we call blue belly's, regular cotton tail and the big ridge rabbits!!

ha we have different names down here but sounds like the same types of rabbit... down here regular cotton tails are called hill billys and tha big rabbits are called either swamp rabbits or cain cutters ... and yes our big cain cutters can take a pack of beagles on 1 heck of an adventure !!!! some will call a swamp rabbit race a deer race but we have learned to be patient and sure enough about 4 or 5 minutes they will be right back pretty close to were he was jumped ... no doubt tons of fun