Jim Dearborn

Received the following note from Jim Dearborn.  I thought it was an inspiring story.  It is great to see the passion and ferver being handed down to the next generation and being shared with family.


Chris, 

Thanks for the pics.  My kids are excited to see them.  I belong to a Beagle Club in Maine.  It is about 30 minutes from my home.  We have two fenced areas- one 120 acres and the other 100-105acres. We also have a Derby area of about 40 acres.  I started my two males on San Juan cottontail in my yard and then moved to the derby area at the club.  I had owned Springers before owning Beagles.  Four years ago in March  a friend that grew up with Beagles took my sons and myself out for a late season  hare hunt.  My daughter, 3 at the time, wanted to go but the snow was still  pretty deep and I told her that I wasn't going to carry her and that she had to  be able to walk in and out on her own.  Well, she was pretty upset she didn't  get to go.  That following week she proved to me she could get around in the  deep stuff without help by breaking trail ahead of her brothers in the fresh 16"  of the white stuff that fell in our yard.  So I told her she had earned the  right to go the following weekend when we had made plans to hunt again.  Off we  went with Meg in the lead.  As soon as we got into the cover the dogs opened and  not 20 seconds past and the hare came out of the cover up near where we were  standing.  Meg got to see her first hare in the woods.  She had amazing patience  and she stayed quiet as we just watched as the hare past until the dogs got a  real good nose full and put on a heck of run.  Half an hour  later the hare was  circling back toward us and we were set to shoot.  Down on one knee with me,  there was my 3 year old daughter saying shoot it Daddy, shoot it as the hare  made his way toward us.  I fired and folded the rabbit and she was on her  snowshoes faster than I and headed for the prize.  I told her to wait and let  the Beagles come out to the hare as their reward for running it. 
Once the  Beagles came out there was a heck of a celebration with Meg and the Beagles.  Right then my daughter had me hooked.  How could I not get a Beagle or two and  enjoy weekends with my family in the hare woods near home.  The whole
family  enjoys getting out, my wife, two boys and two girls.  It was a weekend that  changed our life together as family forever.  I hunted alot before that but  mostly with just one of my sons, my dad or by myself. Now it is all of us together all the time with the Beagles.

When I started reading up on Beagles the Patch hound came out  in one of the articles I read.  After reading some of the history of them I decided that was what I wanted to pursue.  
 
Jim