Do any of you guys hunting cats have instance where the track goes "cold" within minutes due, not so much from time passed as to when it was laid down, but rather from the conditions it was laid down in?
For instance, have you ever been in position to see the game go by, you walk or call a hound to the line within say 5 minutes only to find the track has gone cold? (meaning of course the dog can't do a damn thing with it
) Or would you simply attribute such an occurrance to lack of ability (nose power) of said hound?
Something else I was curious about. When introducing your hound to a cold cat track and the dog starts walking the line out, do you assume or take for granted the hound can actually smell the track or has the dog been conditioned to recognize a cat track and walk it out by sight regardless of whether he/she can actually smell the track.
Is this part of what adds credit to a hounds ability to "cold track"?
How many guys out there acknowledge the difference if there is one?
Is it more important in cat dog to have one smart enough to train to walk out a cold track by sight until it can smell it.......or is it imperative to have the hound that has the actual nose power bred into them? Perhaps a combination?
!!
) I strongly believe in the terrain and conditions I run that there is a big difference between jumping and finishing a cat. The dog that can do both consistently is gifted, hunted with a couple but as of yet have never owned one.
