When seasons on and you hit a dry spell of hitting tracks or striking them what do you change? This could be going to snow, roading, striking, time of day or any many different things. But what is it that you think makes the difference.
When snow is old and no fresh coming but its staying soft enough for tracks or even frozen hard, I usually hit the same canyon over and over to know I have a fresh track. I also try to hunt at night as well. If there is no snow or patchy, is the only time I road a dog other than exercise.
Sometimes Ill change my drainage I like to hit as well but ill hit it constantly instead as well. But I wouldn't do this to a canyon unless I know there is cats there.
This was something I thought about alot early on in our season with lack of snow.
What do you change when ?
Re: What do you change when ?
Unreal,Unreal_tk wrote:When seasons on and you hit a dry spell of hitting tracks or striking them what do you change? This could be going to snow, roading, striking, time of day or any many different things. But what is it that you think makes the difference.
When snow is old and no fresh coming but its staying soft enough for tracks or even frozen hard, I usually hit the same canyon over and over to know I have a fresh track. I also try to hunt at night as well. If there is no snow or patchy, is the only time I road a dog other than exercise.
Sometimes Ill change my drainage I like to hit as well but ill hit it constantly instead as well. But I wouldn't do this to a canyon unless I know there is cats there.
This was something I thought about alot early on in our season with lack of snow.
The huge difference is preseason scouting trips. "Locating your cats" is very important. It prevents these dry spells. Finding heavy cat sign like toilets, scrapes, claw trees, tracks, heavy prey species, high tall thick cover, water, cat crossings etc. etc. Knowing how a cat travels and feeds through an area will increase your starts. Cats will very seldom commit out too far from cover, tree lines, heavy brush, or rim rocks. Look for cat features that standout to you. This could be thick heavy covered draws with water, to big rock jumbles near the tall brush where heavy concentrations of game birds, mice and rabbits hang tight to. Cat's hang out in rough rocky or thick terrain. Heavy cover allows cats protection from their enemies and is where the prey species hang out. Don't hesitate to walk your dogs into cat "standout features". I call this having a cat's eye. Ive said before road cats are the first to go. Sometimes it's a must to get in beyond your competition if your not hunting private ground. In your state you have a lot of competition (Caller's, Trapper's and some good cat hound hunter's).
Also keep in mind that Out West cat's do migrate. Heavy snowfall will bring them to the lower elevations for feed. In the hit and miss snowstorms where it snows then melts off it won't force cat's out of the higher elevations. This last winter was a prime example of that not happening. I was hunting cat's in country that would have normally took a Sherman Tank to get into. The cat's were high and near or over the 7000 foot elevation level. All the lower easier access country had few cat's. Not near the cat's as normal when we have our normal heavy snowfall in the higher elevation's. Cat's were spread out alot more due to not being forced out of the higher country and food still being abundant in the high country.
Cat's will avoid walking in snow or muddy sloop if possible. This is why cat's will always walk on bare exposed rocks first and avoid the snow covered rocks if possible. I call this cats picking its steps. Cats hunt their prey by stealth and concealment and walking in snow cover isn't the quiet way to travel though an area to ambush prey. In snow cover cat's will travel differently than without, because they don't have to pick their steps as much. This is why in snow cover cat's will often walk packed rabbit trails, deer trails, snowmobile tracks, tire tracks, and quad tracks rather than break trails. Cat's will be found more on the south slopes due to more sun exposure and less snow. South slopes are the first to melt off and holds the most prey. Unfortunately south slopes are tougher to get a track started due to the faster melting conditions. So if you only have a skiff of snow on the south slopes and the forecast is calling for temperatures near of above freezing I would advise you to get an earlier start. As soon as the sun rises the south slopes rocks will heat up and start to melt fast. You can almost watch the rocks melt and the steam rise off the rocks and vaporize, so will the cat scent. During the cold days this isn't much of an issue.
Adjust your hunting tactics when you hit these dry spells in locating cat's and always changing weather and scenting conditions. The cat's are out there you just have to hunt for them. Putting in the extra scouting and knowing where the cats are hanging out and finding their crossings will increase your odds of finding cat's. Always have a start dog either on the box or on their feet. I have caught alot of cats that I never seen their tracks in the snow because the snow being super dry and the wind blowing and shifting and filling up the tracks full making them impossible to see. Also alot of cat's won't cross the road but may walk parallel to it and a cat dog will let you know that. Hope this helps.
Re: What do you change when ?
CRA,
Awesome information all around. The problem about south slopes here, is that they are very open. No cat dare goes into those places unless being chased. The draws on a south slope will have cats though, and I have seen cats use them.
When october brings the first snows, I try damn hard to get out and find cats. November is a better month but im usually elk hunting(I do scout while hunting though). As you said cats migrate, and they do as well here. Last year I found very few new cats in a area, most stayed in there normal territory.
I agree 100% about the road cats being first to go. Last year a canyon a buddy traps, he saw only one track actually cross a road. But caught all his cats off the road.
I also do agree when you see a spot you say to yourself, god there's a cat there. You had better check it... my inspiration of this post was more about changes in cat movement more so than scouting.
Awesome information all around. The problem about south slopes here, is that they are very open. No cat dare goes into those places unless being chased. The draws on a south slope will have cats though, and I have seen cats use them.
When october brings the first snows, I try damn hard to get out and find cats. November is a better month but im usually elk hunting(I do scout while hunting though). As you said cats migrate, and they do as well here. Last year I found very few new cats in a area, most stayed in there normal territory.
I agree 100% about the road cats being first to go. Last year a canyon a buddy traps, he saw only one track actually cross a road. But caught all his cats off the road.
I also do agree when you see a spot you say to yourself, god there's a cat there. You had better check it... my inspiration of this post was more about changes in cat movement more so than scouting.