cold trailing

[Joe West]

The only explanation I can come up with for scent stopping after the rabbit is shot at is adreniline. The adreniline rush a rabbit gets when scared is all can think of. It would also explain why the scent comes back after only a short time.

Your hounds not getting the scnet when you saw game cross right in front of you but then they do get scent a few minutes later is probably because the hounds were up above the scent and it took it a few minutes to rise up to the level where your hounds were.

One of the things that always amazed me about the hounds ability is their ability to tell the difference between two rabbits. Many times you'll see them jump a side jumper on a check but then leave it to find their original rabbit. Just smelling the rabbit is one thing but telling the difference from one rabbit to the next is really something.

Or how about scenting on water? Had a rabbit swim across a pond once and the hound swam right after him. I understand swampers do that quite a bit.

They do many things that are just incredible.

[Guest]

this is the best discusion that i have read,I usually never reply because of all the name calling,dog slaming etc. my hat is off to everyone in this thread.keep them running and to all a merry christmas and hope you get that super dog under your tree if you do please let me know. GREAT DISCUSSION.

[steve]

I've had the dogs loose the hare to all kinds of different situatons last year whether I shot at them or not I almost all ways hunt with ruger 10/22 so the gun powder theory doesn't cut it for me. Warm days colder days not shooting, but the hare seeing you make some kind of movement seems to me this is some kind of defence buildt into their survival considering all the predators after them. I've watch the dogs come in on th line at the point of hare being frighten and take any where from 30 to 75 yards sometimes before recovering the track. Just my two cents.

[Chris]

I think you're right, Steve. That would explain why hounds have a lot of trouble at roads -- whether you're running hare, bear, coyote or whatever. Have seen them struggle a lot of times at a road. The animal must get nervous crossing. Makes sense. I've heard old-timers talk about them 'shutting off' their scent for short periods, but being momentarilly scared (and mother nature helping) would make more sense.

[snowshoehareguide]

chris i cant resist this one . ever see dogs come to road and lead dogs lose and all of a sudden a dog pops out of woods and runs that track like it was leaving a blood trail. yup ive seen this many times on all kinds of game i wonder why that one dog can smell it and the others cant. i pretty much agree with you guys that gunpowder theory is a lame one . cause your right it happens a lot when you turn an animal back at dogs and didnt even shoot. think joe may be closest to the mark on this one. could be adrenaline is high although im not real sure because i think adrenaline is pretty high already . i do know hes right about dogs disquinguishing between animals . ive seen a coon dog ride in back of truck with a half dozen dead coon and strike another. i like to let my dogs sniff the dead hare and it seems to prevent them from running the same hares old track. have had coon hunters tell me that porcupine smell like coon thats why their dogs bother them and i just laugh cause dogs can tell one coon from another and one porcupine from another . they even can tell the sound and or smell of your vehicle over another almost the same . the reason dog is bothering porcupines is because hes not quite trained yet . pete

[steve]

Have to tell this one. Decided to go hunting today and just got back. The conditions for this hunt where as follows a little bit of sun temps about 35 deg. wind about 15 to gusts of 25 miles a dusting of snow here and there in the woods and I have 3 females with me a 4 yr old her daughter thats 14 mths and a 1 1\2 yr old. the 14 mths starts the track followed by her mother and the 1 1\2 the rabbit makes a small loop but is not seen the track is taken almost out of hearing all 3 dogs start to bring the rabbit back where it was first started and i'm still there havn't moved yet 1\12 takes control of the lead and is driving hard leaving the other 2 behind all of a sudden i see the rabbit and get ready to shoot with my ruger 10\22 the rabbit spots my movement and gets out of dodge fast as he turns to leave I notice a small patch of white and that this rabbit is the size of a hare but no harein this area only cottontail and jackrabbits so the dogs are on a young jack any ways the 1 1\2 comes in on the track 30 sec. behind and when she gets there looks like she is standing on her head running back and forth around in circles going nowhere looks just terrible after doing such a nice job up to that point. Now the other 2 dogs come in and its only about 2min old and they can't find it either I walk 25 yards to where the jack headed out the 2 dogs have to go about 100 yards before they reopen on the track again. All 3 dogs on the track again but every time they get close to me the track brakes down. I still think it's a scent thing just my two cents???

[Joe West]

We like to watch our hounds work a marked line. Since we're always getting in front of the rabbit to mark his line to see what the hounds are doing there have been many times when the rabbit has turned or doubled because he's seen us and the vast majority of the time nothing odd happens. The hounds just continue on with their run. I can recall on one occasion when a group of us were running hounds together and we got in front of the rabbit and the hounds were pouring it on. One guy was knelling down on a small old access road and the rest of us were standing right there with him and the rabbit busted out of the brush and leapt into the guys lap and then on across the road and the hounds never skipped a beat. The rabbit actually landed on his lap and then jumped off his leg with one fluid motion as if he were just and old tree stump or something.

[Bev]

Bringing this up to the top for Scott B.

[Phillip Smith]

I have a little male that was the worst cold trailer I've ever seen. He's less then two years old. I gave a big price for him because of his intellegence, and big nose. The first thing I did was put a shock collar on him, it took a while but he's about 95% broke from cold traling. I too hate a cold trailer but I've seen him many times walk a rabbit down the middle of a dry dusty road and keep the race going. Also have seen him go through water smelling the rabbit all the way and keep it going. He has a ton of brains and seems to always come up with the tuff checks. Maybe if he was brain dead I couldn't have broke him but I did and now he's a vauable dog.
I do agree with joe on one thing just because a dog cold trails does not mean he has a cold nose. It just so happened mine does have a very big nose. None of his litter mates cold trail at all and none have the nose he does.