how cold is too cold to smell?

Marshall · Post by **Marshall** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 1:40 am

I ran a cat today and got it started about 3 they had the cat jumped and they were putting the pressure on but as soon as it got dark and i mean as soon as it got dark they shut up completely. i walked in and got them and they were all around the track which tells me that they couldnt smell it at all. the temp was going between 1 and in some spots -7 when i got them, It was 10 when i let go so this tells me that they were running it by site after the initial scent of it earlier. so i am just wondering how cold is too cold for the dogs to smell a track? any info on this would be great. thanks
marshall

U.R.E. · Post by **U.R.E.** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:01 am

Do you hunt your dogs at night much? This is a great question.....

Marshall · Post by **Marshall** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:33 am

yes, i hunt the dogs at night alot. weekends arent enough for me so i like to go alot after work. this has never happened to me before but i have never had them out when it was this cold and the cold temp is the only different factor from the rest of the nights that i have hunted

BuckNAze · Post by **BuckNAze** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:12 am

I wouldnt want to hunt my dogs till it was a little warmer out, snow like that doesnt hold a lot of scent, not saying its not possible to smell them. It just gets really dry when its that temp. Also was there much wind? You are tougher then me, haha. I mean I would do it but thats getting pretty cold.

Marshall · Post by **Marshall** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 3:48 am

there was a little wind but not much, havnt ben able to hunt for the last few weeks due to conditions and everything being froze solid and lastnight we got just a skiff of snow so i just had to go. i thought they would have a tough time but they took the track like they could see it running infront of them so i wasnt to worried but when dark came and they quit i knew that it was over so i went down the hill and got them. i know that in colder temps they have tougher times but i was just wondering at what temps can i expect this? they had a good race going and managed to spook some more cats in the woods that i saw had run across the road and for a bit there they were in the same spot for about fifteen minutes and my good ole garmin ha ha told me they were treed twice so i ran in there like a wild man and as soon as i could see them they took off again bawlin like that cat had just stolen the dogs food so im not sure if it saw me runnin toward them and jumped tree or what but they were flat out gettin it and it wasnt long after that when i had to go get them. frustraiting to say the least. I am glad that i did find them though because its supposed to get to -18 tonight without windchill so i hear and they might have not lasted the night. I was up in your neck of the woods (spokan area) sunday and it was real cold with that wind blowin a million miles an hour and that sucked. went up there to get a dog from brents big game hounds with a buddy and he ended up getting one of those ugly plotts so to say the least it was a waisted trip ha ha. c ya
marshall

Riverbottom · Post by **Riverbottom** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:23 am

I hunt snowshoe hare with beagles in below zero temps every year. I hunted this day last winter:

It was not my best day ever but they did manage to move a hare around some.

I have seen several times where hounds acted like scent was failing right at dark in cold weather. Both coyote hounds and beagles. Not every time, but often enough to make me believe something happens to scent when dark falls and the temps fall with it.

BuckNAze · Post by **BuckNAze** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 1:02 pm

Yeah that wind was blowing up here. 4 degrees when I got to work. My boss said it was -13 on the pass where we hunt a lot (without the wind chill). I need to get a damn cat dog, haha get mine started. Just wish I could move a track right now!

U.R.E. · Post by **U.R.E.** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 1:24 pm

I have had this happen more times than I care to mention. First I think it is hard to judge a track in icy conditions, especially if the wind is not blowing. I’ve looked a lion tracks and think that it is red hot only to trail it all day before getting it jumped.

It seems to me that anytime a track goes from old growth to second growth to logged unit it makes a difference in how the dog runs the track. I’ve had tracks that are spotty at best in the brush go to a fast moving track out in a unit and vice versa. It seems that a bobcat track holds fairly well as long as the temperature does not fluctuate more than about 5-6 degrees one way or the other. Add wind and the humidity level and now everything begins to work against the dog.

It can be damn frustrating for sure. I have to remind myself that the dog would trail it if it could.

Try this sometime......Take a piece of tainted meat that you can smell from 10 feet away. Put it in the freezer for a half hour then start checking on it every 15 minutes. You will notice that your ability to smell it diminishes each time you check it until it is froze solid. You might be able to smell it if you put your nose right on it depending on how "cold nosed" you are. Try it......I have.

Don

david · Post by **david** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:00 pm

southern dix wrote: so i am just wondering how cold is too cold for the dogs to smell a track? marshall

I dont think I have hunted in negative 30 like Riverbottom, but have often hunted at negative 15, and many times did not have any trouble with giving a bobcat a real bad day. (You want to use dogs that dont have a lot hanging off their body though, like females that have never been bred.) The question seems to be much more complicated than "how cold". As others pointed out, it must have to do more with changing temps, changing humididty, changing preasure, etc.

The meat illustration is a good one. I cant really answer it except that my dogs have often shown no problem following a bobcat in negative temps. I dont know how they do it, I cant seem to smell it at all in negative temps.

Did you find the track of the cat still on the ground and heading out of there?

Marshall · Post by **Marshall** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:04 pm

yeah i saw the cat track and they had that little bugger runnin all over the place. I guess my question is, at what temperatures do the rest of you have this problem if you even do? or are there too many factors to give a definative answer? I just have never had this problem before and i know that they were right on that cats ass and i was just looking to see if the rest of the bobcat hunters ever run into this problem. thanks

Kyle Reeves · Post by **Kyle Reeves** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:10 pm

Marshall · Post by **Marshall** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:11 am

Hey blueballs keep them camerons catchin elk and stick to that forum because this ones for the guys that cat hunt ha ha. good to see you remember how to type

Kyle Reeves · Post by **Kyle Reeves** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 12:22 am

Run to catch.

walkersrule · Post by **walkersrule** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 3:30 am

could it have something to do with the dryer weather and also the humidity going down at night? just something i was wondering that might factor in.
jimmy

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