<-back to articles

Liberty the Beagle

by Harvey Cain :: Featured: March, 2003

It was one of the coldest mornings of the year as John and I traveled north to a location just a few miles from home.  The temperature was in the upper twenties, which is considered very cold for south Mississippi.  John is my neighbor and good friend.  He is also the one that has taught me much of what I know about rabbit hunting.  We were on our way to a spot we had hunted many times over the years.  At this location a large rattler was killed back in October.  We were sure that we would not encounter any snakes on this cold morning.  This area is very thick, so we did not expect to do very much shooting, but were sure to jump and run a number of rabbits.

Earlier, when I was loading up dogs, Liberty, my 11 year old super hound made it very clear that she wanted to go.  I could not resist her.  She is a great little hound that I received from John more than 10 years ago.   She is the last of six dogs that he let me have back in 1992.  At that time, Liberty was just 14 months old and already running like a champ.  Her dad, Scooter and her granddad, Duke were part of that six-pack.  Those little hounds were straight on rabbits and could run from first light to dark.  The time I spent with these rabbit chasing hound dogs left me hooked on this wonderful sport for life.

Just a few minutes out of the truck, the dogs had a rabbit up and running.  The, pine covered, hillside that they were working was thick with under brush which allowed very few opportunities to see a rabbit.  After running a couple of circles, the first rabbit is lost, but another is started up.  During these first two races, Liberty stayed with the pack and sounded good.  I could here the distinctive sound of her little sharp mouth as she helped to push the rabbit out of the thicket and across the branch.  About an hour into the hunt, the third rabbit of the day went for a long run.  When the younger dogs picked up the speed, Liberty dropped out of the race.

After four hours of hard hunting, John and I had enjoyed a number of fine races, but had not seen the first rabbit.  I was near the trucks, when we decided to call it quits.  I loaded two of my little hounds, Peaches and Brown Sugar, into the truck.  John called me on the FRS radio and said that he had the other dogs with him and that he was walking out on the other side of the woods.  I drove around to pick him up.

When I met with John, he had all the dogs except Liberty.  This was to be expected, she had not run with them for several hours.  We went back to John's truck, to call her out.  It would be nice if you could just call and they would come running. Over the years, I have spent my share of time setting on my dog box, drinking coffee and calling for the last dog out.  We called and waited for over and hour but she did not show.  If she would just open with a bark or two, so I could hear her, then, I could set my compass and go to her.  We were close to home, so we decided to go home and that I would return later to pick Liberty up.  This too, I have done many times through the years.  Very often, you can return after another hour or so and the little hold out hound will be there waiting for a ride home.

When I returned, around 1:30 PM, Liberty was not there.  I called and called but she did not come.  Now is when I started to get a little concerned.  There had been three other hunters in the area.  They were two men and a boy, with four or five dogs that liked to run up and down the road.  I had talked to them earlier and they seemed to be nice enough.  I would like to think that they were honest and would not take my old dog.  Sometimes when you have a dog out and you consider all the possibilities, you can think the worst of others.  They may have taken your dog and will call you or they may have just taken you dog or they may have not even seen your dog.

Several years back, Liberty was gone for over a week.  I was sure I would never see her again.  She and another hound named Daisy were picked up by a foxhunter, not long after they were put out to hunt.  In our efforts to cut off some dogs that jumped a deer, we left Liberty and Daisy behind.  When we returned, they were gone.  The foxhunter was looking for his dogs that were out from the night before.  When he saw Liberty and Daisy without anyone around he assumed they were looking for a ride home.  He took them home with him, and tried to call me.  He had to go out of town for a week, so he put them in a large training pen.  He called a friend and left a message for him to call me about the dogs.  The friend did not get the message, I did not get a call and when he returned home from his trip, Liberty and Daisy were still in his pen.  I was very surprised to get his call more than a week after I had lost these dogs.

After a while of calling and waiting, I retuned home to feed the other dogs.  At 3 PM I was back looking for Liberty.  I walked off into the woods to where I had last heard her.  I looked around, called and called, but found or heard nothing.  The woods were very quite and she should be able to here me for miles.  She is so old, maybe she is losing her hearing.  Before it got dark I took a long walk down the road that John had walked out on.  She was just not to be found.  I went back to where we had put her out.  About dark I left some food for her, in hopes she would find it.  I did not want her to spend a cold night in the woods, but what could I do.

The next morning, at 7 AM, I was back looking for liberty.  When I pulled up to the area, I could see that the food had not been touched.  I was hoping that she was near by, down in the brush, trying to stay warm.  I called  but she did not come out.  I was starting to lose hope.  She was so old and that hard run may have been her last.  As I stood there watching the sun come up, thinking of the many fine times we had together, I could here a large pack of hounds running in a fox pen some mile or more away.  I listened close, but did not expect to hear her voice among these hounds.  She has always been a true rabbit dog.  She never has and never would run any other critter.

I remember many years ago when she was around two years old, I saved her life.  We were hunting near a fast moving creek.  The rabbit went into the water.  All the dogs including Liberty went in after it.  All the other dogs were able to find a place to get out.  Liberty did not.  She found herself in swift water where the banks of the stream went up about eight feet.  She was swimming hard to just keep her position.  I tied my lead rope to a small tree and repelled down the bank to save her.  I took her by the collar and pulled her from the water.

I remember some years later, she saved me.  I was lost in a very thick area.  The wind was howling and I could not hear the dogs.  The sky was over cast and I could not see the sun.  I was as lost as I had ever been.  I don't know why I did not have a compass.  After wondering around for quite some time, I sat down to think about my situation and to come up with a plan.  I was sitting on a log with my head in my hands, when up walked Liberty.  She did not act lost.  I was glad to see a friend.  I got up and started to move off from where I was setting.  I moved very slow, allowing Liberty to walk ahead of me.  She led me out of the woods and back to my truck.  Who knows, without her help, some other lost soul may have found my skeleton setting on that log.  

As I stood there watching the sun come up and listening to the dogs in the fox pen, I was made to be a little sad knowing that I would never see this fine old dog again.  As I formulated her obituaries in my mind, I remembered the good times.

She was born the 4th of  July 1991.  This is why John gave her such a fine name.  Eleven years five months and a few days later she is gone.  She has earned a special place in dog heaven.  Those rabbits up there better look out.  Liberty will give them a run.

Just as I was about to give up and go home, I looked down and there Liberty stood, ready to go with me.  I am happy to report, that she is doing well.  She spends her days laying in the sun, dreaming of when she was just a pup.  She may have another rabbit or two to run before she is ready to go lay beside her dad and her granddad.