Report on Hunt Weekend June 2007
The weekend started off with several beagles chasing after the kangaroos who have taken over the farm since the cattle have been sold off the roo’s firmly believe it is their farm and often bounced through the areas where the dogs were. Luckily the beagles were all caught again and the roo’s bounced off.
All new beagles who arrived were met by the “Pack” and this time is essential for the bonding of the dogs for hunting they work out who the Pack Leaders are and form social bonds that continue for the weekend, many of these dogs only see each other at the hunts (or walks) and they really do meet their “mates” like long lost friends, the play and socialisation that takes place is very important to the weekend and the working of the pack.
The beagles are hunted in light coats which are brightly coloured so that they can be spotted at a distance and are distinguished from each other.
We had our first drag early Saturday afternoon and for a first run the pack worked really well, most of the dogs ran the line and found the food at the end as a reward. The second hunt was a little messier but it was run in the area where the kangaroos have inhabited and many of the beagles started well but were torn between the dragged scent line and the interesting kangaroo scent. A few did finish this run, at different speeds, and some worked in parts and worked well
The Third run was held after a good break for owners and dogs to recover and form some more bonds, this was a harder run and part of it ran up a dry creek, the start was abysmal and most of the beagles took off in the wrong direction, we tried to restart this run but it is hard when the scent is contaminated by dogs and humans. Many dogs did work back over the line and picked it up in parts. It was fantastic to see some of the beagles who were at their first hunt picking up the scent and working it in their own time.
Saturday night was spent relaxing round a blazing fire and time for the humans to meet and bond, some of the beagle owners who come to this event are now good friends outside of walks and hunts and it is fantastic to meet up and be able to share dog’s stories, and life tales with everyone. The night was chilly but the fire was warm and the meal as usual fantastic. Indi, Davey, Kizmet, and Archie decided they had not had enough hunting and went up the hill to explore on their own. Indi and Kizmet we first to return and put on leads or to bed, Archie returned next and Davey was in the car with David England and Darren – all good news. When David and Darren returned to the bottom of the hill with Davey once he was out of the car he promptly decided that he has defiantly not had enough hunting and took off up the hill again, we could hear him for the next hour and a half to two hours and I would love to know the distances he covered, he hunted the whole time and we could hear his “voice” ringing over the hills and vallies most of the time so we knew he was safe, he flushed out more kangaroos who bounced through the farm paddocks and also flushed a young fox – goodness knows what else he found on his hunts, but he came back eventually and had a huge drink and got into the trailer and fell asleep 9.30PM saw most of head off to bed to rise Sunday morning around 7AM to a slight frost, but the promise of a fantastic clear day with blue skies and little wind..
We headed off “up the Hill” for the 2nd day of hunting, and thanks to the fire brigade re-working the road, all the cars made it up even ours with the dog trailer on the back, Davey could still be heard barking from the trailer all the way up the hill. The Views from the top of the hill are fantastic, over to Mt Buller with just a touch of snow, conditions were perfect for the hunts, enough dew on the ground to hold the scent and not to cool for the handlers.
The first hunt of around 500m was a great success with only a few beagles being lured off into the state forest, Davey ran true to the line giving voice all they way, he was working with a small pack of hounds with him his adventures the night before leaving him a bit footsore, but keen none the less, a pack of around 6 beagles came in true to the line and a few others ran off into the state forest to chase those interesting “other” smells. Archie again went MIA and David had to drive to the bottom of the hill to retrieve him. Archie was a rescue dog and David & Magarite have put a lot of working into him and his is now a very settled loving dog, he had a wonderful time and was not missing for long on any of his jaunts.
The second run was again a shorter one of 500m in the same paddock and was worked quite well the wind has picked up a little and blew the scent higher so those dogs that worked the ground scent were running lower than those were air scenting but both packs worked well.
The planned third run was delayed while another pack of kangaroos bounced through the paddock many of the beagles spotted them and were keen to give chase. While Doug & Darren chased them off into the state forest we decided to move to the next paddock to give the beagles time to forget and work the scent not chase kangaroos into the state forest. This gave us time to give the beagles a quick swim and a drink while they laid the drag in the next paddock. The drag is made up of cooked liver, and tuna oil in an onion bag dragged behind the 4WD at a steady rate.
By this stage the beagles were tired and working at a slower rate and following the line better, many also learnt that if you run off and then cut across to the middle and pick up the scent at the end you get to the food faster. We ran 5 drags up the hill the longest being just on a kilometre, unfortunately this was the last hunt and the all ran off in the wrong direction from the start, not sure if this was due to them being tired or the wind blowing the scent further and also the scent of rabbits, wombats, deer and kangaroos but all the beagles worked parts of this drag and all had a fantastic time.
The views from the farm are fabulous, and thanks must got to Doug & Gwen Ford for all the work they do towards this weekend, the dogs and owners are all exhausted but exhilarated – for some beagles this is the first time they are off lead and for some 4WD cars this is the first time they are put into 4WD ! This is a fantastic weekend and enjoyed by everyone.
There were no official awards made this weekend, apart from Pack Leader to Davey even if he is my own very special boy he really did work fantastically well this weekend, he has loved going to the hunts since he was a baby and has been Pack Leader many times but I think this was one of the best weekends I have seen him work truest to the line. He always gives voice and loves these weekends.

Beagle Hunting in Victoria, Australia
Jill Farley
The Victorian Beagle Club have been drag hunting for over 6 years now and have come a long way from our first hunt. We are lucky enough to have a club member who owns over 400 hectares in the beautiful Victoria high country area of Mansfield near the base of the ski fields. We usually hold two hunt weekends a year with an overnight camping stay which gives the hounds and the people time to bond. The club supplies dinner Saturday night and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. These weekends are a high light of the year for many beagles who normally are not allowed off lead in the suburban areas where they live.
We usually have an attendance of around 20 people and 25 – 30 hounds of all ages. On Saturday we do smaller shorter drags to give the beagles the idea and show the beagles who have never hunted before the idea of the chase. Our beagles hunt in colorful coats as we quickly learnt that when they are over a kilometer away it is hard to distinguish one beagle from another.
We have only one beagle who gives voice and he can be heard all over the farm, he is usually near the lead but unfortunately most of the beagles have not learnt to respond to him and do not come when he calls. Davey has been pack leader or best dog at every hunt he has been too and loves to run and chase the scent, he often gets over excited just at the sound of the 4 wheel drive that we do the longer drags from, and will chase it the 1 1/2 kilometers up the steep hill, I am not sure what he thinks he will do with it if he catches it, but he certainly perks up at just the sound of it starting up, I guess after being at most of the hunts he knows what is coming.
Our weekend starts with all
gathering at the fire/camping area and setting up their tents and camping areas and letting the people and beagles bond, usually a walk down to one of the dams for a swim and a romp around works wonders, and beagles who arrive new and clean are soon introduced to the wonders of rolling in cow manure and the joys of a swim in the dam. We find this is an important time for bonding between the dogs and formation of the pack. Although we do not allow bitches in season and stop all dog fights you do have to let the dogs form their own leader and sort out their pecking order so that they learn to respect the dogs who have been there before and know the routine.
We start our hunts in a V shape and release all the beagles together, the ones who are proven hunters at the front and the newbies and those that are “après hunters (only there for the drinking and socializing towards the rear of the pack. We have tried many formats for the release with letting the new dogs off first, which did not work or setting them all off in a line which also did not work, the start is always a jostle and we now find that the V format (like geese flying) works best.
This is usually when the dogs get the most excited and most of them barking and pulling to be released, we have found that a soft slip lead works best with one end being released that easily pulls through their collars, unclipping them resulted in many fingers nearly being broken and after trial and error, we have made leads with a soft rubber end that we can use to let the slip from, this also stops the dogs being hit in the head by the clips from their leads or breaking collars.
On the first day we do shorter drags with liver soaked in fish oil placed in an onion bag these runs are usually fairly straight and simple to give the new beagles a chance to catch on and if we have several young dogs we will sometimes run these on their own to give them the “idea” We find that the beagles that come up to the hunt weekends from a young age (6 months) and are given the chance to chase the drag for short distances make the best hunters as they get older.
We leave dry food scattered at the end of the hunt so that the beagles get a reward and also so that they can be caught by their owners and walked back to camp. Most of the time the beagles are loose and running free, however we do insist that during times that humans are eating that all beagles are confined to cars or crates this stops any fights over food. These hunts are all done down the bottom of the hill, near the farm house and are shorter hunts with less turns and although the first hunt is usually short and straight we go onto a circular hunt with begins and ends roughly in the same place, sometimes we will add a zig zag or curve to show that the beagles are working properly. It is wonderful to watch beagles running then stop to cast for the scent, re-pick it up and off again., to the finish. Some beagles are not interested in the food rewards at the end they just live for the chase.
On Sunday we head up the hill to the spectacular views over the Victorian High Country and here we do longer drags and make them more complicated. We do not run the hound
through fences as many come from suburban backyard where electric fences are used to keep them in and we found that these hounds simply would not go through a fence. We usually hunt in 4 different paddocks of hilly grades where sometimes we lose the dogs from site, but you can always hear Davey to know that they are on track and they soon come back into view. We have several hounds that just come for the social time and although they do not hunt to the end they take off with the pack but never seem to pick up the idea, others who come to their first hunt and “get it” immediately. There are a few distractions being a working farm, like cows to bark at or wombat holes to explore or even one hunt we had some beagles flush 6 full size deer from the state forest much more exciting to chase those than a scent on the ground. Of course there are also kangaroos, real rabbits, foxes who leave scents around and those beagles who have been hunted after live game find the drag boring and will zoom off after the real thing!
Our Sunday hunts are usually up to a kilometer and we do 4 or 5 early morning while the ground is damp and the scent will hold. We have hunted the beagles in all sorts of conditions desert dry drought conditions where there was nothing on the ground but dust and lush tail high grassy conditions where you certainly find out why beagles have white tips on their tails. We find early morning when the dew is fresh on the ground and before the summer starts the best so that the scent holds and the beagles can do what they do best.
We award Pack leader, best Dog, Best Bitch and encouragement but all the beagles have a great time and there is nothing better than seeing a pack of enthusiastic beagles coming over the brow of a hill and full pace noses down and doing what they were bred to do all those centuries ago, chasing a scent