Beagles chasing bunnies creates the sound of music for hunters in the field
There’s something special about the unique bond hunters have with their dogs.
When it comes to rabbit hunting, there’s nothing better than hearing an excited beagle baying on a fresh trail.
In my younger years, I was fortunate to have two different beagles that would circle rabbits and pheasants for me. But it’s been more than a decade since I owned one of these gentle hounds.
On Monday, those memories quickly came back as I spent the day with Travis Lau and his three beagles in Fulton County. Lau of Hanover is the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s communications director and an avid rabbit hunter.
With the small game season coming to a close Feb. 27, he was willing to work with me on a story about this fun pastime. We met on State Game Lands No. 53 next to Meadow Grounds Lake, a public property neither of us hunted before.
His beagles, Rose, Betty and Eddie, were eager to get started as soon as they hopped off the truck.
Their noses scanned the dry leaf-covered ground and brush piles for the scent of elusive wild cottontails. As soon as they found a hot trail, they would sound off to let the others know they found one.
The melodic harmony of beagles slowly working a scent is music to the ears of anyone who enjoys canines.
Listen to them in the video in this story, as Lau talked. They were in their glory. Throughout the day they would crawl over and under brush piles reminiscent of the courses for athletes on the American Ninja Warrior television show. They don’t give up even after walking 8 to 13 miles.
The dogs work with the hunters. The rabbits bolt out from the dense brush and can stay 20 to 50 vards or more ahead of the slow moving hounds that work from scent, not the sight of the rabbits.
With the rabbits mostly staying in thick cover, it can be difficult for a hunter to get a shot.
One scent the dogs trailed for close to an hour as the bunny circled around us several times. Lau was fortunate that the rabbit tried to sneak by him too close and he was able to make a clean shot with his .410 gauge pistol shotgun.
“Those beagle chases are quite exciting, especially when they go for a while” he said. “(The rabbit) had his bags of tricks out there, he reversed directions a couple of times, he was running out about 200 yards and cutting back through.”
He prefers the short firearm over a traditional shotgun as it’s lightweight and he can keep safely stored in a holster until it’s needed.
He walks with a long stick as he works brush piles to find rabbits and having his short gun in a holster keeps his hands free.
It’s been a good season for Lau and his four-legged posse. The rabbit was his 30th of the year, and he still has through Monday to add to his tally. Over the past nine years, he said this season was one of the better ones for finding small game. One year he bagged 37.
Lau has GPS collars on each of his dogs that help him monitor their locations at all times. If a dog strays too far, he can see on his screen where it is and give commands the dog understands to return toward him.
“Rabbit hunting I think anymore is probably my favorite. I was brought up a deer hunter, I got my first bow when I was 13 and was a bowhunter all those years. I still love to hunt deer and big game in general.” The difference between big game and small game, he said, is the dogs. “They are the best hunting partners I have.”
Late season rabbit hunting is also a fun way to exercise in winter. “Just the excitement with it, it is so much fun. It’s a good way to get out and relax if you don’t mind being shredded to pieces by briars,” Lau said with a smile.
I agree. Rabbit hunting is a great way to connect with nature and bond with your dogs while getting the exercise we all need this time of year.
Good luck hunting.
Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors ,Twitter @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Hunting rabbits with beagles in Pennsylvania. Small game hunting
