rabbits loosing scents

[ShawnS]

i was talking to a guy lastnight who said that this is the worst time to hunt rabbits..the female looses all of her scent while she is in heat. i have never heard of this and was wondering if this was true? what do u guys think?

[Cottontail Chaser]

Shawn, Rabbits breed a few times each year and during this process her scent diminishes for the breeds survival and stays this way through whelping of the baby rabbits. You don't want to run these rabbits when they are breeding anyway so your population has a chance to rebuild...The one good benifit is if you happen to get on a Buck rabbit that is out of his area breeding to resident does, he will give your dogs some great runs and they usually can run him like they are tied to him...You'll know its a female when you jump the rabbit and actually see him and you put your dogs right on his line and they will fumble with it, I always pull them off this line so the doe can rest and stay close to her nest..JMHO

[gus]

If she loses her scent how does the buck find her. If you have ever seen rabbits breeding there will be a half dozen or more chasing the doe around the yard. In addition I have seen bucks running around an area with their nose close to the ground trying to detect the scent of the doe that is in heat.
I don't believe they lose their scent. I believe they run more tricky patterns when they are nursing little ones. They become more difficult for hounds that run with a herding style to stay behind them.

[S.R.Patch]

i was talking to a guy lastnight who said that this is the worst time to hunt rabbits..the female looses all of her scent while she is in heat. i have never heard of this and was wondering if this was true? what do u guys think?

Shawn,
I don't believe the doe looses her scent, but her scent is overcome(or covered-up) by the scent she releases inseason and while pregnant. It's not a normal recongnizable scent to the hounds, that they associate with running a rabbit, so the little bit of the normal scent that gets through, only allows them to fumble along with it, and keeps the doe safe.
The buck rabbit, on the other hand, senses this sweet smell left by the doe inseason, as the nectar of love and follows to it readily.
Once she bears the young, she only visits the nest once a day to feed the young, and then, stays away so as not to draw predators or leave scent at the nest.
Amazing, this is all Nature's design... ...Patch

[Greg H]

Funny thing I just replied on the very subject on another post. I don't know for sure what happens when the doe's are in heat but my dogs can't seem to scent them as well. I had a pup out the other day that couldn't scent one but ran a second one for almost an hour. They were about 50' apart. I think this warm weather has them starting to breed. I wonder if thats a sign for an early spring.

[gus]

Sign of early spring?
Greg have you looked outside today? It appears on the weather map that you guys are getting some snow. Here in Tennessee it appears that Winter has begun. I sure enjoyed the spring in January. I too have noticed tufts of rabbit fur indicating the rabbits are breeding. I doubt many of those babies will survive if Winter sets in again.

[Greg H]

Gus,
I know what you mean. It started snowing here in Indianapolis around 3:00 am and hasn't stopped yet. I would say we have about 2" on the ground, no tellin how much melted before it started to stick. I'm hoping for sunshine tomorrow, it ought to be none stop action.

[D.Gross]

Females leave little scent at this time of year. Hunted Iowa a week ago and dogs would run the tail off one rabbit than the next one or two have a heck of a time. My buddy was not happy with his dogs and I kept telling him the ones they couldn't run were females. As far as breeding, it is not uncommon for them to start courting in late January and early February.

[wolfman]

This winter i think has been different for some reoson. My dogs have had troble all season running a rabbit after they get it up, i have seen the rabbit setting and the dogs go within 2 ft and not able to find them. I also seen 3 rabbits get in the water and set down with there heads sticking out never seen that before and i have beeen hunting for 30 years. But then agin my 9 year male decided to run deer this year so what do i no.

[Shooting Match]

I really dont know if they lose there scent. I can tell you I check my doe to see if they are in heat and if they are I can smell the strong scent from her. I can say that at times of the year my dogs too have a hard time running rabbits.

[HatterasBob]

Rabbits do lose scent, but it is not when they are in season, it is when they are whelping and nursing. If it was not for the loss of sent the young would be easy treats for predators.

[gus]

A couple of years ago I owned a couple of male pups by Sudduth's Mississippi Homer. After they were six months old, everytime I took them out one would dig up a baby rabbits nest. I would turn them loose around the house and the same thing happened. There is one doe that stays within about a hundred yards of my back door. I distinctly remember two nests they tore up behind the house that spring. I bred one of the male dogs last year and got a litter of six. When they were about four months of age, all were started. Each evening I would take them for a walk behind the house where they would jump this doe and run her for a circle. One evening a couple of pups opened and proceeded to carry the line off into the woods. A couple of pups, instead of hakring in to the running pups, were happy trailing in the opposite direction. I watched as they traveled about fifty feet into a downed tree top. Then they stopped and got busy in one area. I hurried over and sure enough they had found another baby rabbits nest.
They must be danged lucky because we know they can't smell a baby rabbit.
A few years back I owned a bitch out of Joe Hanlons hare bred line of hounds. She was also very destructive in finding baby rabbits nest. The only thing these dogs had in common is that they were close line running hounds.