Not as good as I wanted but not bad as I feared.

For the dog’s it must have been a frightening experience. They had only been hunted by the owner and with the same two partners. Three of the four little ladies, Maizey, Dixie and Julie, were less timid near us as the day wore on. Only Sugar proved difficult to get up at quitting time.

The rabbits were scarce today, so they only ran two races. One thing I didn’t like was how close and silent they hunted till they hit a really hot track. The first race was in a pin oak bottom with patches of honeysuckle vines mixed in with some really nasty briars. The rabbit made two narrow loops on the facing hillside before crossing the narrow bottom to enter the thicket that Brag had kicked him out of. I was setting on the ground about 15 yards from Brag when I saw the rabbit coming down a trail head on toward me. A thin screening of briars only inches from me gave me to camouflage I needed. “There’s the rabbit” I softly said to Brag. “I see him.” At the softly spoken words the rabbit froze in his tracks as he tried to divine where the danger was. Deciding that it was safer to go back the way he came, he turned around and headed back down the trail before turning and going into a two hundred yard long stack of pine logs and debris. Created by the timber company by pushing a acre of pine beetle killed pines into a row, they werean impossible situation. We didn’t shoot because we wanted to see how dogs did.

We decided to stop on our way out at spot that always gave us a race. Today was no different . Brag jumped a rabbit from it’s bed . He whooped for the dogs and they came willingly although silently. Hitting the hot trail, they started bawling up the trail the rabbit took. After only a few minutes, they lost him. I hope it was in the water pit and not because they over ran the track and couldn’t find it again.

Now we wish we had shot so we could guage their reaction. Nothing worse than a gun shy “hunting” dog. Now we'll have to wait till the Gray hunt tomorrow before we find out. If we don't get rained out.