The Hunting Dog Roy Rust Crosslanes, West VA

I decided to go rabbit hunting when I got home from school one day. I called a buddy to see if he would like to go with me. It was a cool day with light winds and the scent would carry well. His dad had some work for him to do so he wasn't able to go, but said that I could use his dog. Now, this was not the best rabbit dog in the world, state or anyplace else for that matter. This was a full-blooded beagle and the laziest dog around. We always brought the dog with us just to have him around.

After hunting all day and not jumping a thing, I told the old dog that we'd go up the hill and sit down for a bit and then maybe do some squirrel hunting. He couldn't jump any rabbits... For some reason, after hunting with this dog for a while, I always started talking to him. Never did understand that.

We got to the top of the hill and I sat down near a small brush pile. Suddenly, the dog got up and went over to the side of the brush pile. He paced back and forth several times, then jumped into the brush pile and grabbed a rabbit just behind the head, killed it, and then brought it over to me. I removed the rabbit from the dog's mouth and started laughing so hard and so much that I almost rolled over the hill.

The Hunting Dog

When we got back, I told my buddy what had happened and he said it was the dog that took me hunting.