The American Beagler Forum

How deep does the snow have to get before you stop running???

I do not think their is a limit. Sometimes the running sucks because of a foot or more of snow.

Depends on the consistency of the snow, in northern Maine the snow has been over the roof of my full size 4x4 pickup before and I still ran every weekend but it had a little bit of base to it so the dogs could still move decent on it. If the snow if soft and fluffy without a pile of crust I don't mind them swimming in 16"+ of fresh stuff....under those conditions it's a one dog day though because if dogs compete for the front you won't get a run or probably better called "swim" all day. The ideal amount I like to have is about 6" of fresh snow on however much of a base there is.

Doesnt matter to me. Its a little hard on the dogs but its fun as anything.
As long as the 4x4 truck can get there and I can walk in it then im going. If nothing else its good excersise!!

Most people that don't live in deep snow country have misconceptions about snow depth. Here in the western U.P. we get at least 200" of snow a year, sometimes a storm will bring feet, not inches. The most I saw come down at one time was 6' in a 24 hour period when I was living and working in Sault Ste Marie. That was a once in lifetime event. The snow just kept coming that winter though, I don't remember what the total amount was, but it was a lot. At any rate, as snow is in it's simplest form, water, it immediately begins to settle as soon as it hits the ground. A lot of different factors affect settling, temperature, moisture content of the snow and atmosphere, but it all settles. As the days get longer, more and stronger sunshine, it settles even faster. This settling produces many different layers and when shoveling roofs you can actually see the settling layers telling a story of each snowfall, much like rings on a tree. You can also see these snow layers or rings in the snow banks when the road crews snow blow the banks bank. Many factors affect snow depth as well. The first snow fall of the year bringing a couple feet is pretty miserable walking in the woods as your foot just sinks right thru until it hits sod which basically has no give, that and this snow usually has alot more moisture in it. A storm bringing a couple feet in the middle of winter on top of 100" we already received is now big deal and you can cruise right through it with a good pair of snow shoes. The layers of snow underneath act as a shock absorber and cushion your footfalls. An experienced snow shoer conditioned has snow problem traversing these conditions. The same is true of our hounds, although they are even better at it than we are in most cases. These layers I've talked about vary as the winter goes on, but basically each layer is more compact than the next, making a firmer and firmer base. 2' or 3" on top of this base snow is ideal conditions. In fact, the later in the winter, as the days warm even more and the nights refreeze the snow these bases will turn like concrete and there are days you can run on top of 250" of snow without snow shoes. The dogs run atop it like they are on sod, but it makes for tough scenting conditions often times. The best hounds can run in anything, deep fluff, hard crust, 20 below or 30 above, it makes no difference, but the great hounds are few and far between. Any dog can run on sod, but the conditions of our northern winters will tell you what a real hound is made of. The most miserable days getting around are those early, deep snowfalls, where you and the hounds basically wallow through it. The great hounds will still do it though, wallowing, tunneling and swimming after the hare. The hare don't like to run in these conditions, they'd rather hideout under a blow down and not move for a few days until the snow settles. This results in some awful small circles. Better be on your toes though, as with the deep snow depth the hare are awful hard to see, and often the only thing you will see are the tips of their ears. No matter what, it's all fun, and when in doubt, just go out.....

Slaux, great lesson for us who have never seen those conditions. Great explanation of the sport of hunting in the snow country.

They need some of that 200" of snow badly the last number of years, the Great Lakes are terribly low, I talked to Bonnie & Donna and they said the bay was down even more, only the channel to the dock open. Hope things turn around and the lakes get back to normal. In the North, you can have a winter drought, snow is water.
Hare will play the game most any time in the snow, cottontail stay buried if they sense it's to great a disadvantage, ie...short run to the hole .

I dont stop for the snow

chapkosbeagles wrote:I dont stop for the snow

Can't cause during most Michigan winters we'd miss most of the hunting season.

in the adirondacks we get a ton of snow also, its not as fun when it gets to deep.

Just looked outside. They said we was maybe gonna get 1-2" more snow.
I can't hardly tell where I shoveled off the last 8"...
boy it really come down sometime in the last 4 hrs.

We got 12" here the other day and I got the entire neighborhood plowed out and also alot of it melted. Now this morning I get up to hardly be able to tell where the first batch had melted down. Looks like I didn't do a thing to the original 12"!

Hey Ken,
you know those noodle foam things the kids play with in the pools? my clothes lines are wrapped in snow and ice build-up that big...
Hope the power lines stays put, suppose to go down to 15deg tonight.
A good day for a pot of chili...

As cottontails go, about 4 fresh inches will cause they to hole much quicker when pushed hard. We have about 7" now so I have switched to fox. The more snow the better for fox with beagles after him because he has to push the snow like a plow and the beagles don't. They just follow where ever he goes.

bucks better beagles wrote:As cottontails go, about 4 fresh inches will cause they to hole much quicker when pushed hard. We have about 7" now so I have switched to fox. The more snow the better for fox with beagles after him because he has to push the snow like a plow and the beagles don't. They just follow where ever he goes.

Buck you didn't clarify that, so I will for ya buddy. The fox plows the snow , Ole' Ghost follows in hot pursuit , and the rest of the pack follows Ghost.
The Ghost Train !!