Barometric Pressure.

[Warner5]

I would like to hear some thoughts or theory's on barometric pressure. How it affects our dogs abilities to box, start or locate. I think their is alot more to this than what I had origionally thought. Thank you. John.

[Unreal_tk]

Another factor that alot of folks don't think about is elevation. I am curious how this plays a factor. I think barometric pressure can change how scent moves thru the air, I don't think it can eliminate scent. Some days you can strike, other days you just better road your dogs or find snow.

[cobalt]

This is going to be a great thread!! Good job John!! If you've hunted enough to know there are subtle differences in hunting conditions day to day (or night), you have pondered the topic of barometric pressure. I honestly don't have a firm grasp of it, but I know it is an important variable in scenting situations. Maybe more important than moisture (ut oh)??
I pay little attention to barametric pressure until I'm out in the woods cursing the dogs for acting like someone had poured clorox down their noses and then later realizing every dog on the planet is affected by the fluctuations of BP. I don't gauge my future hunting trips by it, but rather by if I'm allowed to go lol.
I am hoping I will get a lot out of the information forthcoming. It is an important topic for all hunters and outdoorsmen, everywhere (even in Montana )

[Unreal_tk]

After reading, and thinkg about this. Is there a significant difference in pressure in different geographic locations or is it a somewhat same but based on weather, IE: Western Oregon compared to Eastern Oregon. I've never really checked that out.

[mark]

I think it plays a huge part in a cat hunting, especialy in the rigging and race part of a hunt. If there is a inversion i think the scent tends to hang close to the ground and not rise much if at all. The best example as far as being able to explain it came from a good friend that has hunted dogs his whole life.
His daughter usually has 4-6 beagles for running cottontails. They take the beagles behind their house on foot and hunt rabbits. He says some days the races sound like a bear race and some days it sounds like a cold traing track. Same dogs,same rabbits, and same briar patch, but 2 totaly different races.
I try not to let the conditions influence my hunting except the days that we get over an inch of rain, but when we are in a strong inversion i try to gain elevation to get to where the air is moving a little.

[CRA]

It’s always a mystery when we know for sure we have a fresh track in front of our hounds and they just can’t get a bark on it. I do believe that the barometric and atmospheric pressure plays a vital role in scenting conditions. I carry a barometer in my rig. I do believe that when the barometer rises the scenting conditions do also. I know good dog work is what catches game, but I do believe conditions play a huge factor in our success and the pressure systems do change the scenting conditions in my opinion. I know I’m always watching the weather. I believe most hound hunters are some form of meteorologists in some ways, if they want to hunt the best conditions which offer the most success.
When I lived over on the West side of California I ran a lot of grey fox and bobcat. If it was at all possible we jumped the varmint out for another race. There was times when we would run a fox or cat hard without many loses and tree them. By the time we fooled around finding the dogs, climbing to the tree, (which could sometimes take awhile with the thick brush), gathering gear up, leashing back dogs, etc, etc, and a considerable amount of time could pass. After we got to the tree and got the game to come out, there were times we couldn’t get a single bark on a jump out track. This is the same varmint that the dogs just ran the hair off of to get it to climb in the first place with little to no scenting problems.
I believe the barometric pressure and atmospheric pressure changed causing the scenting conditions to dive. I have absolutely no proof of this and it’s only my theory. What else could cause this sudden change in scenting conditions? It’s one of the scent mysteries that can only be theory.
One day my brother and I were hunting when the dogs rigged a track. The country we were in was high altitude, high desert / subalpine country which consisted of rock, sand, and bare earth for the most part. A few trees scattered but most were on the north sides of the hills and down in the draws. The country was extremely dry without having any precipitation for many months. It was also later in the morning way after the sun had been up and shined long enough to dry up any type of moisture there could have possibly been. To top that off the wind was blowing. It was bear season and this area had produced bears in the past. The dogs trailed the track they rigged for well over 2 hours through some god awful terrain. About the time they started picking the track up they went out of hearing down in a rocky draw with a few scattered trees. When we found the dogs they were treed. We got to the tree expecting nothing but a bear because of the conditions, but to our surprise they had a bobcat. If you would have asked me before I seen that cat in the tree, it would have been the last thing I would have guessed because of the terrain and dry conditions. I would have believed they would have had trouble running a cat that was 50 yards in front of them for too long. But for some odd reason even in the worst possible conditions they were able to rig, trail, jump, and tree that cat. Perhaps the barometric pressure played a big role in the scenting conditions that day? I have had many of those head scratching tracks over the years.

[al baldwin]

Thanks CRA for that post. Know nothing about Barometic pressure. Have several experiences dogs not able to run a track well on a jump out cat. One that sticks in mind happened years ago. One dog had ran this cat for couple hours. Hunting with a friend & his first cat hunt. We had heard most of this race & when the dog started treeing was a short distance away. Arrived to find him barking at a small log lying on the ground. Thinking no way a cat is under this log, droped on knees to take a peep, cat shot like rocket, barely missing my head & was gone. Niether the dog or my friend saw the cat. Try as I did, could not get the dog to trail that cat. To this day I suspect my friend thinks no way a cat left that log. I was a greenhorn & friends first hunt. Believe that was my first such experience. Have had many experiences trailing bobcats simular to the one you & your brother experienced. Forgot to add of course did not always get them treed and not in high desert. Al

[tmalone]

i am a coyote hunter in new york, i have seen things happen that you could hardly believe ,snow on the ground and a visual of a coyote the temp was 32 and rising , put a hound on it and they couldnt even smell it a 5 min old track, there are days the hounds cant run one unless they are right up on it, when the smoke from your chimney hugs the ground grab the hounds cause the running going to be good!!

[johnadamhunter]

Thanks, tmalone. I thought the smoke thing was just a 'deep south' thing. Old time fox hunters used that as a good sign.
John

[slowandeasy]

i am a coyote hunter in new york, i have seen things happen that you could hardly believe ,snow on the ground and a visual of a coyote the temp was 32 and rising , put a hound on it and they couldnt even smell it a 5 min old track, there are days the hounds cant run one unless they are right up on it, when the smoke from your chimney hugs the ground grab the hounds cause the running going to be good!!

Thanks, tmalone. I thought the smoke thing was just a 'deep south' thing. Old time fox hunters used that as a good sign.
John

Take care, Willie

[Warner5]

I dont really pay much attention to the BP either, but the more a guy knows about the affect of BP on our dogs the better he might understand why the dogs are doing what their doing.

I have noticed dogs that are usually accurate locate dogs, have a difficult time. Seeming to be content choosing an area instead of a tree, usually the lowest point around that tree. The taller the tree the bigger the area. I believe I am seeing the affects of BP in this scenerio. Scent from the treed cat settles in the low spot like a fog.

Or I could be making up new excuse's for these sorry dogs of mine. Thank you. John.

[driftwood blue]

barometric pressure surely has an effect.. there are certain times that a hound cannot move a track. here in Kansas it has been very dry....last week we had a slight misting drizzle, just enough that the leaves were damp..
a neighbor had gave me a pretty good sized coon in a live trap---- I thought --- "perfect chance to get some quality training on the young starting dogs" Wrong... I really do not have an Idea what the barometer was but there was that EAST wind... usually associated with changing weather..

let that bugger out and waited just a very short time...hot track became a very poor track in about 2 minutes trailing time... then lost it after maybe 10 minutes.

yesterday in the dry south wind, those same 2 dogs ran for the catch and just missed catching it on the ground.. seen it go up a tree about a foot ahead of them.!

shoot if I could smell them I would not need a hound!

[Dan V]

The info on the smoke is great. It is a great visual tool to help explain what is going on with the air. Also, think about how smoke acts when the source is next to a creek vs up on a high ridge.

I was thinking about this the other day when I was watching a show on back country pilots who fly into the wilderness. They were talking about the differences in the air from morning to hot afternoon, and the differences between flying up drainages that have water in them vs flying up dry drainages. For these pilots, air conditions are a mater of life and death. I think they were saying afternoon air was light, which makes the difference between being able to take off and climb out of the canyon or crash and burn into the mountain.

Are there any pilots on here that can shed some light on this?

In Wiley Carrol's book, he said "an hour of hunting in the morning is worth two in the afternoon." He might not have been only talking about temperature and animal behavior.