Rabbit Hunting with Drahthaar

[uplandviz]

I know this is a dumb question- hence why I’m asking on here haha

Anyone hunt rabbits with a drahthaar? If so, what is the proper way? Does the dog point then flush and chase? Just chase?

I’m new to the drahthaar world and loving it. My dogs 1 and we had a great upland season. We are easing into waterfowl. She is obsessed with rabbits. Tracking them through the woods but she holds point and watches the rabbit run! Not sure if I should be training anything specific.

[Sharon]

I don't know anyone who hunts rabbit with a pointing breed except for maybe an accidental flush of a hare. If the dog just stands and points after the flushing of the rabbit, how do you get a shot away? The point of using a hound is that the hound brings the rabbit around so you can get a good shot. I'm confused.

[uplandviz]

Drahthaar isn’t a pointer. They hunt rabbits- that’s my question to those who have used them to hunt- was it natural for the dog to chase? Did you train to break?

[RatDog]

Seems like that’s just a fancy way of saying German wirehair which is a pointer, right? You hunt rabbits with hound dogs, most commonly beagles. It’s an absolute riot. Nothing funnier/cooler than watching a pack of beagles swarming all over the place. Once they get on the scent and flush the rabbit they chase and you try and shoot it without hitting the dogs. Probably not something you want to teach a bird dog how to do.


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[cjhills]

I never knew a Drahtaar was not a pointer. Kind of like the all pointers are not Pointers. But all Pointers are pointers.
A rabbit hound does not actually bring the rabbit around. Rabbits run in a circle when flushed and eventually come to where they started. Cottontails run small circles. Snowshoe Hares run bigger jacks run really big.
IF your dog holds point and you can flush the rabbit you should get a shot and if the dog is steady it should be no different than a bird. T and P probably have more experience with this. It might be a bit of a issue Pheasant hunting around old farms where Cottontails are thick.....Cj

[averageguy]

There are several very active DD groups on Facebook where you will receive much better input on the question you ask than you will on this board.

[Meller]

Several years ago I read an article where someone was using their pointing dogs to point rabbits, while they shot them with their bow and arrows.
If I remember right , they were quite successful.
They shot them while they were sitting.

[Pedro]

If they're bored my britts love to point bunnies. I can tell the difference.
In my case it would be point, flush, shot, run and get the bunny before they tear it apart.
This would open up a squirrel opportunity as well.
Birds would be largely forgotten.

[Sharon]

Drahthaar isn’t a pointer. They hunt rabbits- that’s my question to those who have used them to hunt- was it natural for the dog to chase? Did you train to break?

Now I am confused. It is my understanding that the German wirehaired pointer and the Deutsch Drahthaar are essentially the same. They point, although the GWP is considered more "versatile ".

[Sharon]

I never knew a Drahtaar was not a pointer. Kind of like the all pointers are not Pointers. But all Pointers are pointers.
A rabbit hound does not actually bring the rabbit around. Rabbits run in a circle when flushed and eventually come to where they started. Cottontails run small circles. Snowshoe Hares run bigger jacks run really big.
IF your dog holds point and you can flush the rabbit you should get a shot and if the dog is steady it should be no different than a bird. T and P probably have more experience with this. It might be a bit of a issue Pheasant hunting around old farms where Cottontails are thick.....Cj

Bred and hunted beagles for many year cj. Yes cottontails run in circles but the beagle definitely brought them around. Dad and I would sit on the hill watching the beagle bring the rabbit around for an easy shot.

[cjhills]

I too hunted rabbits and other game with beagles. And watched a lot of scent hounds trail game. Every one I ever saw put it's nose on the ground and followed the trailed where the rabbit went. Except some fox dogs who run on the down wind side of the trail and trail with their heads up. They are generally very fast and the fox goes to ground. I never seen any that herd the critter. Not saying it don't happen ,but I never seen it.
Back to the subject Drahthaars point and should be fine rabbit dogs with a little training......Cj

[cewoz560]

A Deutsch Drahthaar is a versatile hunting dog. Upland, ducks, tracking, predator, rabbit etc. I am new to the breed also my pup is turning 2 in April. I suggest you join the vdd-gna association Atlantic chapter as we have training days at Colliers Mills all summer. I do not know the answer to your question I know someone in our group does.

Have you done any training/testing vjp/hzp etc?
Does your dog know the whoa command?

I would hunt a rabbit until to your pup knows the whoa command which is for the dog to immediately stop what it's doing and lay flat down. That way you do not shoot your dog.


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[Steve007]

Seems like that’s just a fancy way of saying German wirehair which is a pointer, right? You hunt rabbits with hound dogs, most commonly beagles. It’s an absolute riot. Nothing funnier/cooler than watching a pack of beagles swarming all over the place. Once they get on the scent and flush the rabbit they chase and you try and shoot it without hitting the dogs. Probably not something you want to teach a bird dog how to do.

+1. Perhaps it might clarify things for the OP to say that a wirehair is a pointing dog, which they certainly are. A Pointer is a breed, and that, of course, they are not.

I am reminded of the comment in the classic James Lamb Free book "Training Your Retriever", where he addresses selecting pups based on their pedigree. His comment is that you should ignore the title of TD, which stands for Tracking Dog, as it is below a retriever to ask it to do the work of a hound. Same with allowing a wirehair to hunt rabbits, which most dogs will do if you let them. And, of course, you're asking for trouble if you want it to do proper work on upland birds.

[bobman]

I’ve shot lots of pointed rabbits and whitetail deer over my shorthairs when I was younger. Just teach them not to break and chase until after the shot. And have a solid recall because they will sometimes chase

During pheasant season when I get a rabbit point I just tell them “ah ah leave it” and they go back to hunting birds (mostly lol)

I never let them run a deer and would call them back and never shoot if they broke and ran after one, same with rabbits

FWIW I hunted with my drilling 12ga x 12ga x 3006 during deer season and killed a lot of pointed deer, deer will hold and lie down hoping you walk past them in a clear cut

It was legal still is in the county I was hunting in Georgia

[Featherfinder]

I agree with CJ, cewoz, bobman, et al. Your Drahhtaar or GWP (most well bred versatiles) should be able to do birds, rabbits, track big game, waterfowling, etc. The thing is, the answer is not far from, "How do you hunt your DD for birds?" Do you let the dog break on the flush or on the shot or is it steady?
If nothing else, I'm guessing it would be safer to shoot downwards at rabbits over a steady dog but that's just me.
One of my bucket list items is to hunt rabbits over beagles or bugles as I endearingly like to call them! ....one day!
I'd follow Averageguy's lead. That other source will have more expertise specific to this and related topics.

[seadog]

It is desired that a DD goes what we call " loud " on fur . In testing they check to see if the dog is loud ( barking ) on sight or fresh scent or both , IMO both is GREAT . So the dog points siting fur , the fur wild flushes the dog gives chase , the race is on . The fur can be feral cats , racoon , yotes , rabbits , fox , etc .

[oregon woodsmoke]

All I know is how to hunt rabbits with a flushing spaniel.

The dog flushes the rabbit and just like flushing a bird, the dog is supposed to sit or down at the flush. The gun shoots the rabbit and the dog runs out and fetches it up.

If your dog is chasing the rabbit, you aren't going to have much of a safe shot at the rabbit. Myself, I don't want to be shooting at fast moving game that is at the same level and close to my running dog.

How you hunt rabbit with a large pointer, I don't know. Perhaps some German hunting sites would go into details. I don't want my gun dogs hunting rabbits, but I know they can be trained to do both jobs.

[Sureshotshane]

I too am interested in a little more clarification and hearing from people who have hunted rabbits with “versatile” breeds.

Some have eluded to the idea that it would be difficult to steady the dog to flush, wing and shot if you also encourage it to point and chase rabbits. Can’t have the best of both worlds?

The ideal situation for me would be a dog that points the rabbit, lets me get up near it and with a command have the dog flush the rabbit and chase it around for a good shot, at that point it wouldn’t seem much different than with beagles, except a DD will be faster. I wouldn’t mind if the dog caught the rabbit even. Where I hunt, it’s so thick and brushy that just having the dog point where the rabbit is might not very beneficial, if I had to go in and flush the rabbit out that often puts you perfectly in the worst place for a shot - the middle of a thicket with the rabbit running toward another thicket. When dogless I like to hunt cottontails with a buddy and about 30 yards apart, while one person walks the other sits still and watches for rabbits going out of the brush. It’s almost the only way to do it without a dog where I’m at.

Any more examples of dogs that are steady to birds and understand the rabbit game? Surely they can differentiate the different game (games)?