Afternoon cat hunting

nmrookie · Post by **nmrookie** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:26 pm

I get off work early sometimes(2 or 3 in the afternoon) and like to load the dogs and go road them and look for cat tracks in the snow I know my chances of finding a hot track are slim but we can usually find a cold one from that morning or the night before that they can move. Is it bad for my dogs to put them on a cold track at 3 or 4 pm when I usually just have to pull them off the track at dark. We can't hunt at night here. I'm just wondering if my dogs might be getting discouraged on these short afternoon hunts when I pull them off a track they're still moving. Any help is greatly appreciated!

scrubrunner · Post by **scrubrunner** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 9:00 pm

I don't think it will hurt a thing, we pull our deer hounds off of 99% of the deer they run some within 10 minutes after the strike when it turns out to be a doe and pops right out to the road

pegleg · Post by **pegleg** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 9:36 pm

Well some types of dogs yes it will absolutely wreck them. I'm not going to name them since it would be seen as negative. But other hounds trail day after day working tracks for long periods before they ever get on a fresh one much less catch. And they do fine. I will say it can make a dog a bit to sticky and exacting on track for some bobcat hunting. But as long as they're willing to pick up and run when they can it doesn't hurt them in anyway. You'll probably see they handle poor tracks better after the practice. A lot of my running is like this and the transition is the test for most dogs. Enough nose to move a sorry old track and enough speed to run a hot one. Then only brains and drive to finish it however they can is left

dhostetler · Post by **dhostetler** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 12:54 am

I don't like doing it but I occasionally do. I want my dogs to expect to catch it when I turn them on a track and not get picked up part way through it. Does it affect there desire to catch? I don't know but I personnally believe that dogs do better in general if they are successful in catching at least 50% of the time.

pegleg · Post by **pegleg** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:50 am

A lot of this answer lies in exactly what terrain your hunting and what type dogs your running. I don't like calling a dog of a track its moving. That said there's been a lot of dogs called off tracks in the southwest. But its a little different for a tired dog and one just getting fired up. On the other hand I'm also a firm believer that the more often a dog gets out the easier it is for them to figure things out and benifit

david · Post by **david** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:39 am

NM, there have been a LOT of hot cat tracks started at three in the afternoon. I commend you for getting out there.

I won't make a suggestion to you about pulling dogs off cold tracks. What has been said makes a lot of sense.

But here is a story for you to consider. I knew a government hunter who trained his two beloved house cats to come home from two miles away. At least twice a week all summer long he sent a cat home and he put his hounds on that track so they could practice cold trailing. The cats were already safe at home and never once did the dogs get to see them.
He had top bobcat dogs.

I guess I might say, you yourself will learn a lot more out hunting than sitting at home watching tv. One thing you might learn is how this practice affects your dogs. When you do, let us know what you found out.

david · Post by **david** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:54 am

I might say one more thing. When I was a youngster I had a Freind who I could almost never get to go hunting with me. He was always afraid of something happening that might mess up his dogs. All kinds of things did happen those nights that he feared and he and his dogs were safe at home.

Six months later, guess who had the hardened reliable dogs? A hint, it wasn't the guy with dogs who could never go hunting because something bad might happen to them.

david · Post by **david** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 4:25 am

dhostetler wrote:I don't like doing it but I occasionally do. I want my dogs to expect to catch it when I turn them on a track and not get picked up part way through it. Does it affect there desire to catch? I don't know but I personnally believe that dogs do better in general if they are successful in catching at least 50% of the time.

I keep thinking about your desire. The above reminds me of a trainer of champion Drauhthars training for the versatile competitions. He made sure everything he ever put his young dogs on was a sure catch situation. And they really do grow up believing they can and will catch everything. They actually have to track and catch a rabbit. His dogs had unheard of scores in competition.

Do you have access to a hotter nosed dog that will not fool with an eight hour old track. ? Let that dog down, and keep the others in the box until he takes a track with enthusiasm.

I don't know your cat population, but if you are working a bad old track, you are no longer looking for the hot fresh afternoon track.

I don't know how much snow you have, but in a lot of snow, the cat could be close, even if the track is old. Especially if he has made a kill.

If you keep doing it, and check the hunt/fish time tables and go when afternoon times score high; I would expect you to find one moving in the afternoon/evening.

twist · Post by **twist** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 4:00 pm

A hound can't learn to catch nothing at home or in the box! The more they trail the better they get!

catdogs · Post by **catdogs** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:12 pm

Hunt em all you can. We will turn out an hour before dark all day long. Sometimes we have to pull em off and sometimes they catch it. The idea that dogs always need to catch is not true, I don't think. Especially the idea that they need to chew on a dead critter to be good. Our dogs probably get to chew on 10% or less of what they catch and they still have all it takes to catch game. Especially now with these GPS collars, rounding them up is a piece of cake. We can tone our dogs off a track. We also have them trained to come to the car horn if we start honking. Having a good handle on your dogs is key. They should come when called. Even if they are on a tree or in a bayup. We do leash young dogs off the tree, but once they are solid tree dogs, a "that'll do" . And "let's go" and we are outta there. The only time I've seen Diva loose her drive is when it drops to -20 below....lol

catdogs · Post by **catdogs** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:16 pm

I do agree that setting young dogs up for success is key!!!! I wouldn't wanna pull some pups off a track if they were still moving it.

mark · Post by **mark** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:27 pm

Question for you guys that cant hunt past dark with dogs. Whats the worst than can happen if you dont get the dogs stopped and they tree an hour or so after dark if you go in and get them with no weapons or anything that could be considered a weapon on your person?

david · Post by **david** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:33 pm

That is what I was thinking Mark, but I am glad it wasn't me that said it. Lol. Hard to think there would be a law against collecting your dogs.

NMrookie,
Just to further stress that you should hunt expecting to find an afternoon track; a lot of cat hunters do not like hunting in the dark, and it sounds like you cannot. But in some regions they do most of there bobcat hunting in the dark for a couple different reasons. But they will start liking for a track in the afternoon, and often find a fresh one.

When I am far from home and planning to stay in the hunting area more than one day, I will hunt the morning till around eleven and then nap and let the dogs rest also until two thirty or three and then start hunting again. And I am not just killing time, I am expecting to find a cat moving. It doesn't always happen, but it sure happens enough to keep me doing it.

david · Post by **david** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:37 pm

And just to further make the point, if you go hunting with Mark you will meet after work about 4pm. go tree a cat and be home in time for an early supper.

bearsnva · Post by **bearsnva** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:42 pm

post by mark » Sat Jan 16, 2016 5:27 pm

Question for you guys that cant hunt past dark with dogs. Whats the worst than can happen if you dont get the dogs stopped and they tree an hour or so after dark if you go in and get them with no weapons or anything that could be considered a weapon on your person?-Mark

In Va. during our bear training season (no guns allowed period) we have a 10pm quitting time for hunting. If we turn loose before 10 we are hunting, after 10 going in to get the dogs that are treed we are "retrieving". Yes, to some degree it is just the wording but I don't know anyone that has been ticketed when they explained it this way. It is kinda like a dog not being able to read a posted sign, I have never seen one carry a watch either.

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