Cuz texted me at work last night around 11 asked if I wanted to come run rabbit dogs with him today. Said be at his place at 7 so got off at three , got home dug out one of the only shot guns I own and found a box of shells and here we are . Looks like my curse is plaguing us as usual but every one's having a good time....not to mention this place is COVERED WITH PREDATORS. Found four cat toilets and tones of coon fox and yotes tracks and trails

I have a beagle for a house dog the rabbits at the bird feeders drive her crazy in turn she drives me crazy.

maybe you can get permission to trap that ground so that they have more rabbits

your gun cabinet must look opposite what is common up here , 3 shotguns to every rifle is not at all uncommon

maybe time for a good multi species shotgun setup something with choke tubes and a 20-21 inch barrel

Got full permission to trap and call whenever I want Was honestly really suprised, usually get a hard no before I'm done asking and he came up to me after I mentioned all the tracks and said " imma need you to hurry up and get on these varmints little man , only thing I Alaska is you be care and don't get hurt" YES SIR I SAID
And yes definitely need to get a decent shot gun , honestly never really messed with them, just seemed..... Meh compared to rifles , but thinking about getting one of them $300 tristars possibly... I got bills and some car stuff first though sooo o the joys of adulting!

I grew up running rabbits with Beagles. My Dad bred and raised them. We'd have a blast hunting with them during the snow. In Summer we'd run them in field trials, sometimes at our Beagle Club where we had a fenced-n holding pen for rabbits. One year Eddie Mathews from the Milwaukee Braves snuck in there and took his toll on our fenced-in rabbits.

My Dad once had a big 15" male named Sussex Creek Blackie. Not only would he run pheasants and rabbits, he'd retrieve them as well. One time he disappeared for a long time, and finally came back holding a live rooster pheasant in his mouth.

Good times!

Moosetrot

Blackie needs an article written about him. Great dog story. I followed a few beagles as youngster. Mostly we just kick em up.

as likely to see a bigfoot around here as a rabbit.

Be careful, running rabbits with beagles. It can be addictive. I used to train beagles 7 days a week when the weather was decent. At least 27 beagles I produced championed out. I had 4 daughters of International Field Champions and Blue Mans Soda Pop, who was a champion in 3 fast formats and fourth in the world in 2012, plus a lot of other very well bred beagles and some excellent grade dogs.

Keith

I do know what you mean about Meh compared to rifles , but hitting moving targets is fun
I have a bunch of shotguns I could probably go down to 1-2
you may have noticed from other posts I do like my 20-21 inch 12 ga with a choke
I find most of my hunting is actually with a shotgun
I would go used 500 or 870 or even a new Mavrick 88 before I went for a Turkish gun.
very similar cost with so many more possibilities and should last you near forever even if you break something you can find parts.
I have a 500 that is my go to bird gun 20 inch vent rib
my son has the 21 inch vent rib 870
I also have a 20 inch 870 that I like it is just a little heavier than the 500
all of mine take screw in choke tubes , although I run a full most of the time

my brother got 2 of the Turkish guns over the years and they work but the day they stop they might be parts for someone else but there are basically no parts readily available that I have seen.

You gotta point, I really like everything I've seen about the maverick so might get one of those in .410 mabye 20... Or maybe I'll just be a normal person for once and just get a 870 in 12

well avoid 410 because you don't like spending way more money than you want last box of 2 1/2 inch 410 target loads I was Lucky to get them for 26 out the door for 25 rounds

12 if you want easy to find ammo

20 if you want a little smaller and lighter recoil for you a Youth 20ga 870 or 500 would be a great setup they typically come with a shorter barrel which makes them really handy

maybe MS is different but here you find the spot on the shelf where the spaces on hte shelf where 410 should be sitting and the guy behind you is looking for the same thing and there were two guys staring at the that spot when you got there.

there are about 10 places for 20ga 5 empty and 30 types of 12 ga loads available

What's wrong with that bolt gun ? Only need one shot why buy something else.

Is that bolt gun a .410? If so that is already a fine rabbit gun. My Dad's last rabbit gun was a .410 bolt.

Otherwise you can't go wrong with an 870.

Moosetrot

When you find the bunnies that's a lot of fun.

Low ammo availability, lack of versatility,high cost......you can never have too many guns lol

Yes sir was one of my dad first guns

i run a 22/410 old savage. many a bunny watches the dogs ,stops to look at them, and the .22 gets them!

I love running my rabbit hounds! I run them year around. I dont shoot too many because I like listening to the chase. When I do shoot them I like a small gauge, I use a 28ga. and hardly ever have bb's in the meat.
I keep spreadsheets on my hounds. In three years they have chase 576 rabbits and have had 54 killed over them. They are about 820 miles in rabbit chases.

What format did you run in Keith?

Had an old friend that loved to run rabbits

We would turn the dogs out and just watch when I went, had a good time just watching the pack work and the rabbit try and outsmart them