Shuuting Off Scent

[a-dog]

A rabbit running is only hitting ground with bottom of feet ,plus in most cases where you would shoot at rabbit there is low grass or bare ground ,common sense tells you the rabbit will leave less scent .A rabbit hopping along in thick brush touches grass and and is generally moving slower and touching more ground, hense leaving more scent ,also hitting ground with his butt.now back to my theory about different scents on a rabbit ,i have on many occasions seen experinced dogs determine rabbit direction by putting their nose in single track and spinning their back legs till they get the direction right ,think of triangle of rabbit gland by their tail and bottom of feet ,that is how they get the direction right ,watch closely the next time your most experinced hound comes to a track that one of the other dogs is started ,usually first thing they do.I do agree that does feeding young leave very little scent ,natures way.In my area pine needles and certain shale are hard to run on also leaves if they in a certain stage of breaking down,which makes these areas great places to prep for a trial.

[S.R.Patch]

I would offer reading, "A Study in Scarlet"
Identify the problem at hand, lay out the facts we know and through deduction, eliminate all possibilities except the obvious.
Quite "elementary" my dear Watson...

[rackhntr]

rackhntr, Are your hounds hot nosed, leave the check type, as this could explain it, as I understand. I don't know why they couldn't find it right away though or why they even paused. Perhaps someone else can explain it ! You know this doesn't really happen don't you!

I think I know why they couldn't find it.

Well lets hear it then Norshore!

[Dan R]

I have to say this is a great topic of discussion and so divided on the results. Could someone explain how a hound is able to track the rabbit in the correct direction? This is surely common knowledge I am a little slow. Also if you could add why a hound backtracks.
Thank you,

Dan

[Little Indian Creek]

I am not saying that they shut their sent off but anybody that thinks something does not change with the rabbit in these situations has not ran very much or doesn't pay attention when they do. If you think there is unused gun powder creating this issue its no wonder you are missing, you may want to consider a new load lol.

[Mr. Bowman]

i think gun powder could mess with a run, ran a big runing one yesterday let em pass me 3 time in the same spot as the dogs were runing it to good to wana stop em 4th time aruond couldnt help myself and took em took dogs forever to track the last bit to the kill when other 3 times in same spot they blowed right through, maybe the over laying previous tracks confused em or maybe gun powder, def never saw me and was dead n its tracks when the 410 barked so wouldt say i scared it to shut off sent

as far as having trouble right after a jump could it be a rabbit siting tight for long time in a dry spot with very little moister to none put off very little to no scent untill it picks up some moister a little later down the trail

though i would have to admit been in plenty of tough checks that neither one of those situations would acount for

[Crow]

I'm in the NO off switch camp.Most dogs I've been around can't smell SH** for a ways after they run up on a line where a rabbit has been shot at.How many times have you seen them not be able to take the line to a dead one that they were running the fire out of.Different patches of ground holds scent differently.I can think of several places that I run that if a rabbit goes thru there the dogs will have trouble almost every time.They have to slow down and grub it for a ways.Then it's fine again.The ground all looks the same.If a guy is going to make excuses like rabbits with off switches for his hounds.Why not rabbits were abducted by aliens? My dogs will loose one from time to time.No need to make up excuses though.They're just dogs.

I think rabbits figured out what deer hunters have been using for years. Tiny scent lock suites & 4 little rubber boots strategically placed in the thick stuff in case of emergency. That's the only reason I can imagine why my dogs would lose one That or just good ole lack of dawg power.


It happens to us all, I chalk it up to the dogs just couldn't hang on that particular incident.

[gwyoung]

little indian creek, your post shows not only your experience, but your attention to detail.

Mr Bowman, Good post, but if the hounds jump the rabbit this usually does not occur , It is normally only when hunters are in close proximity to the rabbit that it occurs., ( jumped by a hunter, shot at, or run up to a hunter on occasion. So I guess our dogs are as good as everyone else's when no-one is around!!! and their nose only goes bad when a human is present, now, that makes some sense right there, doesn't it! Since it happens frequently to a lot of us, and not ever to others, could the explanation be, that they have always had good dogs and we have always had bad dogs. Not being a smart aleck here just trying to dig into it and get the answer, that is one possible answer, one thing is for sure it does happen and regularly. So those who have never seen it probably can't be much help in trying to sort it out, as they could not possibly know what we are talking about. So I think to solve this puzzle as always it will take someone who has been there and done that! Thanks, for genuinely trying to help seems like you know what is being talked about.

Someone, asked a question about how a dog knows the correct way to go and why a hound backtracks, First off a hound backtracks because it does not know the right way to go, generally. As far as how a dog knows which way is the correct way to go, I would like to hear that explained myself!

[Parker7]

Five pages! WOW! I knew it it would go five! Ok I'm calling myth busters to see if a rabbit can turn his scent off maybe they can settle this because thats what it is a myth. Lol lol lol

[Parker7]

I would like to answer the question, how do hounds know which way to go? You see gwyoung in one direction the scent gets stronger in the other it gets less or colder. Pretty simple

[Newt]

I would like to answer the question, how do hounds know which way to go? You see gwyoung in one direction the scent gets stronger in the other it gets less or colder. Pretty simple

I'd like to add, when a dog stops to smell the first track, if the scent is stronger in his left nostril, he turns left, if its stronger in his right nostril, he turns right. Unless the dog is dyslexic.

[rabbitearl]

I cannot believe he did not know that.WOW.We found something the great almighty houndsman don t know.I am

[tom summers]

Been giving this some thought since this post came I did vote that they shut scent off, but been wondering?
What if the rabbit releases a secreation when alarmed that throws hounds off? I really dont think they shut scent off but not sure what else to call it. There are other animals that do this allowing them to escape i.e. the squid I know it is not a scent but releases ink cloud when alarmed so why cant the rabbit do something similar? Just food for thought still do not know what really happens just know something happens for those short distances.
Tom

[Parker7]

Well I just asked my 14 year old son this question, with a straight face. Because I didn't want to alter his response. He gave me a deer in the head light look and started laughing. He said dad that's retarded! So I said explain it to me??? He says they are covered in fur and all that fur holds scent an that's what the dogs run. NO WAY they can just turn off or mask that much scent. I think he might qualify as a houndsman! Lol lol lol (my ribs are starting to hurt) lol lol lol

[rackhntr]

Well guys Ive talked to a old vet about this and I think Ive got it figured out! When the rabbit gets a sudden scare it sends its body into shock! For a few seconds its adrenaline kicks in and everything else except its legs shuts down! Scent glands stop producing scent to conserve energy for the escape!