George, very nice story and I can relate to it. It was fun listening to the barks get louder as they got closer and looking for the rabbit to get a shot. I also hunted with a .410 a Stevens 311 that my uncle let me use for quite awhile.
Later in my early teens I met and became friends with another teen who hunted with his dad and they had a beagle, when he was on a pheasant he didn't bark but his tail would be going like crazy. They were the days in the 60's and early 70's.

David