I say it all depends on what you expect outta your hounds. If I were greyfox, bobcat or deer hunting I'd say yes sir, go for it. If i were a redfox coyote field trialer I think I would steer away from it as it ~may~ teach them to not pick there head up enough. Right or wrong that is my opinion.

Rooster, that is kinda what i was thinking. they will be field trialed so I am kinda on the fence about it. Just waondering if any of the field trialers out there have tried it

Logan, I start all mine outside on bunnys. They, at first try and run them too fast for their nose. They then buckle down and start catching them. Rooster is right about keeping their head down. But, if the hound is smart, it doesn't take but a few trips running reds or coyotes for him to pull his head up and when he makes a loss he then will rely on his training on those bunny's to find it. Most that i've seen trained on coyotes just throw it away and continue on.

Thanks for the input Mr. Barry

Barry, You are right on as far as not hurting 'heads-up' hounds by starting them on rabbits.
I believe a hound is born with a natural inclination to be 'heads up' or 'heads down'. How you start and train them can push them in a direction you hope they'll go.
Putting too much pressure on young, competitive hounds can result in road-running, throw-away hounds that are useless without a pack to run it for them. On the other hand, if you hope to compete natural track runners, you have to put some heat on them to see if they can learn to get their heads up.
In pens, I prefer to start my pups on foxes -- cross foxes work really well. With the blood lines I fool with, it's much more important for them to learn how to run a track properly. For the most part, 'heads up' came in the pedigree.
One other point -- as you know, Sheridan and others used to use snowshoe rabbits a lot to train young hounds.
That was when we had a lot of rabbits, foxes and coyotes and relatively few deer. For those wanting straight fox or wolf hounds, starting them on rabbits can work against that.
Some hounds that are started on rabbits adjust quickly to the desired game. Others have a real inclination to be 'trashy'. Any foxhound that runs a rabbit is a prime candidate to run a deer. Depends on what you want.