One of Dalton Rivers' favorite beagles, Heather, accompanies her master down a dirt road to retrieve a downed rabbit and join the pack. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

A shotgun is cradled under his right arm. He is wearing canvas trousers, a hunting vest bulging with ammo and a broad smile.

Up ahead, obscured by flowering wild plums and swampgrass, there is motion - and the sound of baying beagles.

``Heavenly music,'' Robinett laughs. ``Heavenly.''

Heather and Mandy are in the lead. Bounding close behind are Spike, Curl, Pete, Jane, Princess, Jerri and Katie.

The sounds move closer and the overgrown meadow is transformed into a blur of briars, broomstraw and wagging beagle tails.

Soon their quarry darts across an opening, and Robinett fires.

``I been doing this since I was 6 years old,'' he said, retrieving a fat cottontail and waving it above the excited dogs. ``When I was too little to carry a gun, I carried dead rabbits for everybody else.''

Eager beagles await their turn in the field as rabbits killed on the first hunt await cleaning. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

Rabbit hunting with beagles is a tradition as old as the South itself - and a pastime Robinett and his friends celebrate together as often as possible.

``The only time I didn't rabbit hunt was two tours in Vietnam,'' he said. ``But I've done it every year since then.''

In addition to missing several rabbit seasons while in Vietnam, Robinett was wounded - and lost a leg. ``So I can't run,'' he shrugged. ``But by George I can still walk and hunt all day.''

Wednesday was the close of Georgia's rabbit season - reason enough for Robinett to join his friend Dalton Rivers and a few others for a final hunt.

``I spend all my time fooling with beagles,'' said Rivers, a retired math teacher and coach who breeds and trains the rabbit-rousting beagles. ``I'll run dogs sometimes and not even take a gun.''

Beagles love their rabbits, and Rivers loves his beagles.

``Been rabbit hunting all my life, and I'm 67 now,'' he said. ``I got my first beagle in 1959 and I've had them ever since.''

The good-natured, non-aggressive, attention-loving dogs also make wonderful companions. ``I've given away a lot of puppies to people over the years, just for pets.''

Nothing makes a pack of beagles happier than being turned loose in thick cover teaming with rabbits.``Once they get started, they'll go all day.''

Gunning for rabbits isn't easy, though.

``Sometimes they're not but a few yards out in front of the dogs, sometimes they're a quarter-mile or more,'' Rivers said. ``But you always have to be ready.''

In general, there are more rabbits in the woods than you see, and you see more than you shoot, and you shoot at more than you kill, he said.

``Shooting rabbits is like shooting doves,'' he said. ``You do it by instinct - just point and shoot.''

Once the hunt is over and the rabbits are cleaned, it's time to cook them - an art that Robinett characterizes as a lesson in simplicity.

``The saying is, `take a skillet away from a Southerner and he'll starve to death','' he laughed.

The fresh rabbits are rinsed and quartered, and tenderized 30 minutes in a pressure cooker. Then they are rolled in flour and salted and peppered heavily.

``You put a little oil in the skillet, brown 'em up and save your drippings for gravy,'' he said. ``That's all you need, by George, and we're going to have us a rabbit eating!''