Yea exactly. I started mine lamping off lead and he will do it but I know for a fact if some daft bit of vermin comes trundling along like it owns the place it would be crash bang wallop what a picture
As for the hunting up just try and slip on on rabbits it has a good chance of catching also and it sounds daft but leg it after the dog while your running the rabbit then as soon as it loses it your close by and its more likely to listen. Don't worry about noise you just got to get the pattern started.It you firmly call it from ten yards its more likely to listen than down the