runnable tracks

[BrandonCombe]

Ive wondered quite often how old a track can be and still be runnable and im talking in hours I can always give my best gues on the age of a track but when it comes down to it its just that a GUES and im curious as to how old can a track be and you guys still can catch it or feal you have a good chance of getting it jumped. I know theres a ton of variables as far as weather (dry ground snow) area you hunt and so on. I gues what im trying to figure out is when some one says the dog can run a track good 5, 10 hours old a day or 2 old just as an example. Im trying to figure out a general idea or guide line if u will on age of track and the nose on a dog how old of a track can be pushed by what you consider your colder nosed dog compared to your medium nosed dog . I hope this isnt to confusing ive re rote it a half dozen times hoping some of you guys can make heads or tales on my ramboling non-sence. Happy hunting

[Dexter]

If I cant tell how old it is I like to let the dogs tell me. Turn um loose and see what they do.


Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[jcathunter]

In Norcal one time bear hunting, I saw a cat in the road at 6pm. Its illegal to run at night so I went back at 6am and struck, ran, treed, and shot that cat. Same dogs in oregon in better conditions couldn't get a 5 hour track going one day after I saw a cat in the road on the way to get firewood. Then, if you get a track froze down all night and can't move it very well, the dogs should be able to move it better once it starts to warm up in the sun. The list of confusion gets longer and longer. lol

[twist]

Factors all play into it but night old tracks for the most part should be runnable and catchable. Anyone running day old or two day old tracks are pulling someones leg and if so would be waisting their time in my eyes. Andy

[al baldwin]

When I first started hunting with experienced hunters in Oregon, most thought any track made the evening before, the hounds could track the next early am. I assumed they were correct, over the years I experienced dogs having to struggle with tracks I knew were only a few minutes old at times, leading me to believe the only time one can be confident how old a track is if it is a red hot jump race.
Long before measure 18, saw three cougar, pulled up with in a few yards of them, released best dog right where the cougar entered the brush, that dog screamed out of there and we dumped the box, after a race that lasted a half hour or so we treed a 17 lb bobcat. A few times before that experience, people had told me about seeing a cougar on their place, took me to the exact location & those dogs would tree a bobcat, I assumed they had seen a bob. My point is only believe what you see when hunting hounds. Not to dispute any one who has seen a critter one evening and treed it the next am, but must realize another critter could have traveled in that exact location a few minutes prior to arrival that am.
In cold snow conditions have experienced hounds being able to work an old track today, then return next day & the track was just as good as the previous day. Don/t believe there is a set answer to your question. Al

[mark]

My rule of thumb is: if the dogs can smell it good enough to run it they will and if they cant they wont. Everything after that is speculation and guessing.

[Dads dogboy]

Brandon,

Good advise has been given by all of the Posters.

Again this is a Subject that has been discussed several times in the past....hit the Search Engine a time or two to bring up some Threads where even more Houndsmen talk extensively about this.

Mr. Mike Leonard gave one of the best bits of Advise ever, I will paraphrase "Let Ole Blue's Nose tell you if it is a runnable track or not"!

[slowandeasy]

This is really way more complex than I ever really believed it could ever be. And never became more apparent than when I came to Arizona. I can put you on tracks verified by trail cam pictures. That some that make claims to be able to run a track from the previous night. Only to find the dogs can't pull a bark. Sent conditions are the true dictator as to what is runnable or not. What is even more enjoyable to watch that verifies this. Is how fast the hounds figure out where to go when the hit these different conditions on the same track. It some time pisses me off to see them go to all these areas where there is shade and moisture in the ground that retains better sent would be. Especially when my sorry ass figures I already figured where it was lined out and heading. Although I some times am instrumental in getting a few more barks on these type tracks. I have admitted that unless the guy upstairs blesses me with the ability to put my sniffer on the ground and do a better job than the dogs. As Mark said the cold hard truth is it is up to the dogs. But it still is fun to think we are instrumental in the success story.



Take care, Willie

[CasB]

Best I've seen was taking, running and jumping a cat on a confirmed 12 hr track. One thing I've seen this year with the bitter cold temps we've had, is my dog being to take a track when it's minus 10 degrees and running it better than when it's 25 degrees and getting warmer as the day goes on. I always figured it would be the opposite and that they'd have more trouble when it was so cold.

We just put down on a track if it looks good. If we don't have one, we'll free cast and let the dog find the one they can take.

[deuce]

We have ran a good number of day old tracks that ended at the tree but have had just as many of those tracks that never did heat up. I guess I would rather run a old track than drive around all day and run nothing. Our bobcat numbers are are pretty bad right now so we can't be to picky about our tracks.

[DunDealHoundHunters]

I love the post and replies everyone has. Every opinion has been witnessed by any man who has ever hunted a lot. I also agree the colder the better when.it comes to cold trailing. We have brutal temps this winter again here in wisconsin. Majority of the days we turn loose its well below zero n my stud dog will bark wide open a track n.never miss a beat. But thats expected of pur dogs to take ne track we put them on tjats made from the night beore. A great tool tjat i use to show guys the nose on my dogs is a trail camera in the summer. Because of the cameras i have proved that my dogs can trail and jump a 12 hour old bear track but like many have mentioned the moisture in the ground humidity temperature all play a key role. Very interesting topic that will make anybodys wheels turn.

[Jkohnke]

Thought I would add my two cents not that it's worth anything to anybody other than me but what I've noticed over the years of running different types of critters is I believe that pretty much all hounds be it a running dog (breed of my choice haha ) or a tree hound all posess the same nose and same smelling capability. Now I know at this point most of you die hard cold nose hound people are saying I'm crazy but that's what I believe. They can all smell that old track but different smells of scent excite different dogs in different ways. I have a female that is 10 years old and when I turn her out she will be trailing and opening on game in minutes and usually no other dog will even check her because it doesn't excite them to fool with a track as old as what she's opening on. Most times she jumps what she starts other times she dead ends on it. A lot of times the other dogs jump it way out in front of her because they went heads up hunting covered ground and started trailing further down the track where it smelled better. Different scent conditions and different terrain play a big part in all of it. I know from watching dogs trail that scents not always laying in a animals track here in ms. It may be on bushes or hanging in the air or even laying off the track several feet. How old is too old to run ? Easy answer. Turn out on it. They either gonna take it and go or they not. Happy track hunting.

[pegleg]

i don't think any of us know half as much about scent as a shitzu and not much compared to most hounds. i've had dogs i thought of as good. look at me with that look, over a half hour old track. then turn and run one older in different conditions. bobcat scent has to be different then most animals but why i can't truly say. i know that didn't help. but its all true. i'm currently speculating on how to catch a few cats in the wind and rain and its sure different then other days. but your dog makes a huge difference. that one tidbit can't be over stated, but in my area if your trailing tracks in a couple hours your doing pretty good. although i have seen a couple dogs singly do much older tracks but it was obviously just bits of scent and lots of desire and intelligence. or if you get a dew and get out before it burns of and the cat is skirting brush and tall grass your dogs look like champs. i think tomorrow im going with the shotgun approach and if the dogs say different thats what we'll do. i think getting into those areas cats travel is your only good choice which isn't easy in some areas. then hope the cats are leaving tracks. after that its all dog but watch and see what is really happening. this will help in the future to tell hat the dogs are really doing and capable of. i get kinda skittish about letting dogs work out of sight if i'm not familiar with them in all conditions. good luck.

[ands]

Loving all the scent and hunting talk men, i only keep one dog to hunt with so scent and hunting conditions are important. Have any of you found your hounds hunt a trail better after say 12 hours than they could have possibly hunted it when fairly fresh ? Seems to have happened a few times lately, i,m guessing dogs that struggle early morning fly on scent in the afternoon when humidity drops?