Wrong way.

[david]

As far as Scrubs original post, I have been wrong so many times about my dogs. Often I have even had tracks in the snow proving I was right, but I missed something or other and it ends up the dogs were right. I guess if you turn them around and catch something, that is pretty good evidence you were right, but still doesn't 100% prove you were right. I have been wrong so much that I really don't turn my dogs around any more. They do it on their own/or not, and I just watch. Just because I find tracks, it has not always meant they are the tracks the dogs are working on. I mean I gather all the evidence I can, but...

If I was a lion or bear hunter maybe I would feel differently.

[Andyva]

I didn't do all of that thinking completely on my own. I used to coon hunt with a guy that spent a while man tracking with bloodhounds. That man told me a lot about how a dog tracks.

Something else to take note of. The way an animal has his hair laying has something to do with how he gives off scent. I had some curs that were fair at treeing lay-up squirrel. One morning with nothing better to do, it was somewhere about the single digits, I decided I would squirrel hunt. It was still as could be, right before a snow, grey and cloudy. Hadn't seen a squirrel stirring all morning. I was heading home and I saw a big fox squirrel flat on a limb. I was not in the habit of shooting squirrel that my dogs didn't tree, so I just waited until the dogs went down there, they worked all around that tree. They couldn't smell him. He just layed flat and didn't move a muscle. I waited til the dogs had gone on and I tossed a rock up there and made him hop up to the next limb. I didn't call the dogs, I just walked around where they could see me and when they started following me I headed back over there. They went to treeing like crazy. Making that squirrel move and ruffle his fur made him give off scent. I've seen rabbits set in a briar patch with beagles all around them. Until he moves, they can tell one has been there but they have no idea where he is. Once he is jumped they can smell him, but as long as he clamps his ears down and keeps his legs under him, it's just a cold track. These are just some observations I have made.

[scottb]

Going off of the scenario from the 1st post...I would guess the critter spooked from the rig approaching and ran. Based on similar scenarios I've seen, dogs really struggle to cold trail something that's jumped making the back track easier to start. Never know for certain but this also explains why dogs lose jumped cats, yup...some of us lose some! Cat throws dogs for a loose then makes a break for it, if they don't hit the scent column they never get back under it. I think a dog or pack has to cast out to where the critter got back to walking to trail it right. Always gonna be exceptions to anything like this.

Great topic!

[dhostetler]

Andy, I agree with you on layups not giving off much scent. You can rig down a dead end road and not a peep and on the way out get a redhot strike. I think more often it is a strike off spooked game beside the road than a cross behind. Several years ago a friend of mine treed a lion on a half mile race in the morning and I couldn't find anything else to run so that evening I turned out where he did it took my dogs a long time to get it located. I called my friend and described the tree and he said it was the same tree. Apparently that lion stayed in the tree all day.

I have a dog that does really good on cats but has major issues on road crossings (which for me is very frusterating). Other dogs I have will cross a road without missing a beat. Last year I cold trailed a bobcat through a large culvert and my one dog went slipping and sliding through the culvert breaking through the ice, the other dog just went over the top of the road and started it again at the bottom end of the culvert. I think some dogs are just a lot smarter and more cat minded than others.

[merlo_105]

Dhost, Your hot strikes when you turn around could be a wind factor. You boxed them up the road with the wind up there butts then turned around and boxed them face into the wind. For the dog that went threw the pipe that's just a track for track or a tight track dog. Nice to have some if they can run. I have seen some odd things but when yuh work one one way and then work it the other and still can't get them going that makes me laugh every time.

[dhostetler]

June who went over the top is actually a tighter track dog than Diamond who went through however June is 4 years older than Diamond. I think June just knew that she could get the end of the track at the end of the culvert rather than go through it.

[mark]

Or June wanted the front and could see no way to pass in the pipe.

[dwalton]

If the dogs didn't back trail you could sure catch a lot more game. I have dogs now that are pretty good at turning themselves around, they seem to do better the hotter a track is but have had then turn around on a cold track quick a lot of times. I have seen them come back and trail out from the start three different times on the same strike and never get anywhere with anyone of them. In the 50 plus years I have been around hounds I have owned 4 dogs that I would bet would not go 50 yards backwards on a track, even if the rest of the dogs went on the back track. Three of those dogs could count, they would go back to the tree and tree again if there was another cat,coon or bear up. One would stay at a bear tree when a sow would come out and leave with the pack as long as there were still cubs up. One would go back down the back track and take the other cat after you killed one at that tree if two cats were traveling together. That one you could take back to where you turned out on a track in the snow with 2 or 3 cats traveling together and catch each cat after you treed the first one. I have taken her back 4 hours after treeing the female to where cats crossed, send her down the track and have her go down to about where they jumped and sit down and tree where the other two were up. Some dogs are just smarter than others and have more savvy then others. The problem is when you have owned a dog like that it is hard to accept anything else from your dogs. As I have said before it sure would be easier if I could smell a track or the dogs could talk, you know just maybe they do if we are able to see or understand them. Good hunting guys Dewey

[merlo_105]

I'll solve this Mark, Dhost what color is June and Diamond what breed?

[dhostetler]

June is the center dog. Diamond on the driver side and Ranger on the passenger side. Ranger has the road crossing issues. They all have the same sire a grandson of loose Bruce. Diamond has a 1/4 Plott and a 1/4 bluetick. June is a 1/4 bluetick & 3/4 Walker. Ranger is 1/2 Walker & 1/2 bluetick.

[dhostetler]

The culvert is large enough to walk through a under a 2 lane paved road. I think June just didn't want to her feet wet

[merlo_105]

Well I see the problem. There's Blue tick in them dogs. Lol You got some good looking dogs there.

[dhostetler]

Dewey, I must say that is some impressive dog work. I never had a dog close to what you described wish I did. Some of my bobcat races end in lion trees it would be nice to have dogs go and sort that bobcat out of there.

[dhostetler]

Well I see the problem. There's Blue tick in them dogs. Lol You got some good looking dogs there.

Ya the Walker blood is what catches my stuff. Give me 10 years and I will have all walkers. The dogs I want are of limited supply so I just have to muddle through with my mutts until I get my pack transformed.

[merlo_105]

Sounds like they do a good job for you. Cant go wrong with what's catching game. I just got a bunch of Culls that are smart enough to only start the senile cats so there catch percentage is tolerable.