The American Beagler Forum

I was in a trial this past weekend, UKC Hunting Beagle. My dog is bred Branko/Striker. I have always felt he has a big nose, sometimes he leaves his brain at home. I believe he was cold trailing a rabbit that might have left enough scent for him to track. The other handlers and I was below a small hill. As we were standing there I could hear my dog coming this way, he sounded like 100 yards away or so. I feel this dog was cold trailing, he was pecking around on it, giving little mouth and moving slow. As he kept coming a rabbit comes out of the brush. A couple more minutes goes by and my dog is working his way toward us. I was thinking, wait a minute is that the rabbit he's tracking. Well here he came down the hill and right to where the rabbit was at. But here's the thing, where he came up to where the bunny was, he didn't bark. It was like he couldn't smell it. The rabbit had been probably gone for 2 or 3 minutes. After a while he walked up the hill and hit the track again, but couldn't smell where the bunny was sitting at. I was baffled!!! Impressed me with his nose, but it also made me angry and curious that he didn't pick up the track where the bunny ran off....

What do you guys think??

I have heard that dogs who can cold trail, might not hit a hot track?? Is it true??

Figured this would be an interesting topic!

I had two down this morning,and they jumped a rabbit. they ran it good all the way around to almost exactly where they jumped it,and completly lost it.I put them on the track where I last saw the rabbit,and they could not do a thing with it.I mean absolutly nothing.very frustrating.

The scent was "scared off" him!
Its a defense mechanism.

Next time a rabbit comes by, stomp your foot or yell.
The rabbit will flinch big time.
When the dog hits that spot....its scentless!

I do it just to cause breakdowns.


LPB

im with andy on this one, it happens every time, and when you shoot at them & miss, not me ofcourse i never miss.

Sunday I was hunting a farm yard that is loaded with rabbits, my male was pawing at a 4' long peice of 4" tile so I picked it up and dumped a rabbit out of the end of the tile right in my dogs face. Im not sure who was more surprised the dog or the rabbit. He sight ran him about 40 yards and the rabbit got through a hog panel on him. I helped him over the fence 45 seconds later and he could not track him very well. But he ran pretty well on the rabbit he jumped ten minutes later, but he only got to run that rabbit about 100 yards and put it under a building, thats the bad part about farm yards. I guess maybe the scent was scared off him!! The good part about them is there are lots of rabbits and it was a good chance for my female to get some good jumps, her first ones, and she had 2 of them.

Lone Pine Beagles wrote:The scent was "scared off" him!
Its a defense mechanism.

Next time a rabbit comes by, stomp your foot or yell.
The rabbit will flinch big time.
When the dog hits that spot....its scentless!

I do it just to cause breakdowns.


LPB

agree 100% this is what i was alwasys taught and it sure seems right

Morning Casey,I was at the same hunt you were! The type of snow we had on the ground is the reason for what happened. Dry fluffy snow does not hold scent well; if it sticks to the weeds the rabbit and dogs will knock it right down on the track and cover what little scent is there. It is aggrevating, but that's part of it!!!!!!! Be good & safe!!!!!!!

Pretty common....wait all day to jump a rabbit, finally jump one and the dogs cannot run it....move the direction the rabbit went and they pick it up on their own. Then again other times they can pick it up right from the jump and burn it up.

Don't ask me why...I personally have never been able to smell a rabbit.