A general forum for the discussion of hunting with beagles, guns, clothing and other equipment and just talking dawgs! (Tall tales on hunting allowed, but remember, first liar doesn't stand a chance)
BCBeagles wrote:The hounds I own have competed and done well in those conditions. They have big noses, but the two edged sword is that a cottontail can go to ground or refuge where a Hare cannot. SO on some cottontails, that early mouth, with a few pops may lead to you questioning the dog, BUT I don't have issues with it. When a hound can drift a track to a jump and open while doing it I enjoy that. It happens regularly when I run.
Happened today with one of the FC's I own. He drifted three rabbits with a few pops...then it is jumped.
I am here to say mine WILL OPEN early. They can also excel in dry and hot conditions...BUT what Ron refers to is the case if we are really being honest and critical I have yet to see huge nose with no extra barks...still looking.
I guess some of this terminology means different things to others. Imho, when hounds can drift a track, it means scenting is good and holding head-high. Body scent or the footprint does not hold or lift in poor scenting conditions.imho
Hare do go to refuge, when the snow was deep they took us to a beaver swamp full of dead falls, they were under the snow more than on top of it. The snow would fall in on the hounds and create check after check. One hare they caught had took refuge under a fallen dead spruce surrounded by juniper and when the hounds were hunting surrounding the spruce the hare decided to make a bound for freedom right into the mouth. Hare are known for their long meanderings during the night feeding. A hound that cannot recognize a feeder track from a fresh start would be short lived imho.
So hare can go to refuge...chalk that up as ignorance on my part.
And drifting scent that is sparse to better scent means scent is good? New to me as well. I interpret that differently and that is fine.
Eddy as far as a definition of big nose. I did not know what big nose dogs were until I saw them compared to average nose dogs...not rocket science..just what I have seen. I am ALWAYS looking to better my dogs when I see a dog that will not pull a bark until the jump and can run when it is hot and dry and when it is -10 below on powder then I would surely look at the dog to use as a potential stud. I am not kennel blind...but readily admit I am style blind.
And back to the topic at hand the IFC Captain Pickard pups I have seen had a bunch of foot and pull from the check. He has a bunch of hard hitters in his pedigree. As well as some control dogs as well.
I believe in breeding for more brains to clean up the mouth, not less nose. Dogs without brains are going to get confused running cottontail rabbits as much as they zig zag, backtrack, run over & across lines from just minutes before. You know they can smell those other lines, but need the brains to distinguish which line is true. Dogs also have to have the brains know when to slow down to pick up scent when rabbits cross tough scenting spots such as dirt, sand, creek beds or worn out paths. Same thing with cold trailing; most dogs can smell all those old feeder tracks from the night before, but the ones with the most brains, not less nose, hold their tongue until the rabbit is up. I've seen hounds that were the only ones not to cold trail in a pack, show more nose than any of them during the chase when the rabbit was finally jumped. The ones with the most brains are the ones coming up with those tough checks also. The other type of mouthy such as barking through the check or ghost trailing is overlooked way too much. How can a pack of hounds look for a check when a hound keeps yapping while having nothing. It isn't fair to the other hounds to leave them down.
Wells Woods Kennel Greg Wells
R.I.P. FC Brent's Prime Time FC Wells' Silver Spring FCGD Wells Woods Valentine
HAREHOUND wrote:imo plover river jack is a very good suggestion. i ran with him a bunch when he was a little over a year old and also a bunch with his sister plover river hotsy. both super nice dogs. bred to jack and i am very happy with the cross. just bred my double gator bred female to a son of jack today. nice stuff
here is the male out of jack that i bred to today (sprocket)
