Gunner

Thanks everyone. I survived another year to explore NY & beyond ; and hunt with my best friends>>>> Beagles . They hunt till their tails are bloody for me.

We were just west of Lowville actually . We didn't weigh them. They were very lean though. Hardly any fat.Cottontails seem to have more fat on them. I'm guessing around 4 lbs. ? I'll have to take a scale of some sort along next trip.

Tug hill region . I only saw one other guy with Beagles. Also saw guys running coyote with big hounds. There's plenty of state forests to hunt in that region. I only bought a pair of snowshoes 4 days prior to the trip. Glad I did though.Snow was 3 -4 feet or more deep.

I didn't expect the chases to be great after saturday's slow running and no sightings. But with fresh snow on sunday and 78% humidity the conditions were perfect. The 1st Hare sounded like a deer chase. It was a straight line out to 400 yds . Thankful for the Garmin astro to track my dogs. At one point during a chase ;one dog broke off from the pack during a short check and soloed a hare; but I never seen it . It was my 1st time walking on snowshoes and I only fell once. What a workout those snowshoes give you.

Absolutely ! Guess where 13 yr.old Beagle slept on that trip??

I thought I'd share a little story and pics from a late Feb. 2018 Hare hunting trip to northern NY. I live in S. central PA ; and it's a 5 +hr. drive. I arrived on a sat. at 11am and not familiar with the area ; but a friend gave me a few spots to hunt. I hunted with 2 beagles age 11 & 13 yrs... They still hunt like fools ! We hunted a spot for 3 hrs. with a couple slow runs . Plenty of Hare tracks but no sight of any Hare. I decided to try across the road from where I parked . I walked the edge of a swamp and with 3-4 feet of snow my snowshoes were fine until....I stepped down into a frozen waterhole and broke through. I extracted myself from the knee deep water and headed to my truck . Numb feet by the time I walked the 650 yds. and it's 3pm. No extra boots so.. Day over . . Day 2 arrived with 4 in. fresh snow ; and my friend with his 3 younger beagles. We tried a spot I scouted before getting to the motel sat. night. We weren't in the woods 5 min. and my 13 yr old beagle opens on a fresh track. As the other dogs harked in it sounded like a screaming freight train of beagles ! In less than a minute they were outta hearing and at 400+ yds before the Hare turned and headed back our way. It evaded us 2 circles around; but the 3rd time my friend connects. The rest of the day was outstanding running ; with 9 Hare chases and 3 taken in Approx. 6 hrs. Here's a few pics. I will be back in the fall for sure.