COLDTRAILIN

bob huffman · Post by **bob huffman** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 2:14 am

Guess its a good thing we are all differant. Nothing wrong with cold trailing if the track is cold and the dog can work it. its hard to hot trail a cold track.LOL Its also hard to cold trail standing in one spot. That is not trailing but is simply standing in one spot or area. Dogs that can actually cold trail are hard to find in the Beagle breed but are numorous in other cetain other hound breeds. The term I always used for a dog that barked on a cold track and could run it was TRACK JACKER. They jack a track with no desire to get up on the game. The term cold trailer was always meant for a dog that has a great nose and can run the tracks that are old or screwed up for some reason. My favorite dog was one that could cold trail a rabbit and then jump it out of its bed. Not every now and then but time after time. I have confidance in a dog like that because I know he will score more rabbits over the long haul especially when rabbits are hard to find. If you have plenty of rabbits you don't need this kind of ability. Of course then you don't need a true hound but can get by with a terrier type beagle. I think it has to do with conditions and geography more than anything.

bob huffman · Post by **bob huffman** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 2:15 am

typo meant to say that a dog that is called a track jacker can't run a cold track.

bkg · Post by **bkg** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 12:40 pm

There is a big difference in a dog that can cold trail and one that barks everytime it smells rabbit and never accomplishes anything. A good cold trail dog looks good even in the south but really shines when in the cold. Any of you who have ever seen a true cold trail jump dog will know what i am talking about and the others will think a cold trail dog is an idiot. I have spent the last 2 years trying to replace my cold trail hare hound but to no avail. I have looked at dozens of babling idiots but not one good cold trail dog. Even if you lived in florida and had one it would not be a cull. What most people call a cold trail dog is really a dog that barks in old tracks but has neither the desire or the brains to actually jump the game it is merely just barking at scent. The good one will take the scent and run it to a jump while the rest of the hounds are still trying to figure out what it is doing.

If anyone has one like this for sale i'd be interested in hearing about it!
Brian

finwing@msn.com

Toad · Post by **Toad** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:11 pm

Is a cold-trail really cold if a dog can produce a rabbit from it??? I've got a jump-dog queen. She would probably be called cold-nosed. However, several times I've just about put a boot into her when BOOM, there goes a rabbit!!! Like a good friend of mine says,"You can't run a rabbit until you jump it!!" I wouldn't trade anything for her...

Another thought, IF your regular pack of dogs consistently honors her opening, then the dogs must believe in her. They wont continually honor a hound that opens without producing a rabbit on a regular basis.

bkg · Post by **bkg** » Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:40 pm

A cold trail is just that. The scent from an animal that is not up and moving or not fresh. It may be from late in the night or early that morning but is an old or cold trail. Yes even if the dog produces a rabbit it can still be cold and that is when a cold trail dog really shines. How many of those tough rabbits would you have jumped if did not have that dog along.

next time you want to kick her but call me if she is what i am looking for i will taker her off your hands.

Steve C. · Post by **Steve C.** » Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:32 am

The difference lies in the dog knowing if it's a runnable track or not. As several others have said, if the dog produces the rabbit you can't fault it; however if the dog works an old line for an extended period while passing up better tracks, or fails to hark up to others who have jumped game, then this dog is not contributing to the pack. This is one example of why I don't believe in those field trial formats that use an exact scoring system. There is very little in judging hounds that can be assigned a score. No two of us may agree exactly on what cold trailing is, how do we deal with it in a trial situation?

bkg · Post by **bkg** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 10:21 am

Bad weather here today in VA. Just the right time to have a good cold trail jump dob.

beaglebill · Post by **beaglebill** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 2:32 pm

I have hunted at least twice with a friend that has the dog i started this post about. She has not bothered to open whithout the rabbit up an running. The weather most deffinitely is playing a hand in her babbling( as Chris would say) or cold trailing. I still wonder if the others smell this old track but the brain says dont bark. For sure you see most dogs start getting rabbity right prior to a jump but still hold from opening. It seems at times these babblers dont even get rabbity they just let out noise. O well been messin with them for over 50 years still learnin.

bkg · Post by **bkg** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 3:32 pm

Bill. I don't understand what you are saying. There is a distinct difference between a cold trail dog and an absolute idiot. The idiot is the babler who barks everytime he smells scent the cold trail dog will open periodocally but will move the track with the intent to find the game and jump it, the other is just content to bark all over the place. Surely to have been in beagles for 50 years you know the difference or you have not had the pleasure to own a cold trail dog. Bring her to my house i will tell you in 1 hour what you have and if it is a cold trail dog i will make you an offer.

If you in fact have a good cold trail dog consider yourself lucky there are not that many around and most are not for sale.

warddog · Post by **warddog** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 5:40 pm

I personally don't know what you would call it but I like my rabbit dogs just as I liked my coon hounds. I want them to open the minute they smell a track that they can move with. I don't want one that BOO-HOO's around, stands on it's head or smells in one place bawling for an hour. If that dog opens up and moves that track to a squat I call them GOOD. I'll wait for them to bring that cold jump to my gun.

beaglebill · Post by **beaglebill** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 6:10 pm

BKG, to me that dog is opening on a cold trail rather he moves the game he is still opening on a cold trail. You may call the dog that does not produce an idiot i shall agree but i also call it a coldtrailin dog. If you would like to wait while this type dog walks a half mile to finally jump a rabbit i say good for you. The problem i have with this is if i take other dogs they completely ignore this dog and continue to do there own thing. I guess i have not had the pleasure of owning a dog such as you describe.

kjohns · Post by **kjohns** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 9:56 pm

I have one what I would consider a good cold trailer in the pack I hunt with. The dog will open when he smells a track he can move. It may take him 20 minutes or so to work it to where the rabbit is sitting and jump it. Where I'm lucky, I guess, is the rest of the pack will ignore him until he gets it up and running, if they jump a rabbit or find a line in the mean time, he'll come in to them. After we shoot that rabbit he'll go back and work his original line again. When he gets it up and moving the rest of the pack will be right there. Most of the time he will eventually get mr bunny out of his hold up and running.

bkg · Post by **bkg** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 9:14 am

Bill,

i would not call that dog a cold trail jump dog it probably is a babler that is why the others pay it no mind and go do their own thing. If it was indeed a cold trail jump dog the others would be there with it waiting to get enough scent for them to help out. Dogs are not dumb they know this dog is lying or babling and that is why they won't honor it. If they are run with a real cold trail dog they will soon realize it knows what it is doing and will stick with it. the early barking on the cold trail keeps them interested and they know the cold trail dog will put them on the game if they stick with her or him and help out finding the game. When you see one it is a beautiful thing and a great asset to a pack. As trialers you won't see alot of this but ask around on some gun hunters that hunt hare especially and you will here stories of cold trail dogs.

I would tell you about one that even uses it's eyes to help trail up hares. It will look for a track and scent check it then open if there is enough scent to trail it.

beaglebill · Post by **beaglebill** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 1:35 pm

Ill be honest with you BKG when it snows here i very seldom go huntin i we just dont have dogs good enough to run in that stuff and if i had one that could see the track he would probably need sun glasses on top of ecollar, tracking collar just to much. Every once in a while they get to where they can run in that stuff but not very often. Sounds like you have some fine hounds.

bkg · Post by **bkg** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 1:53 pm

Bill,

I wish i owned the dog but thanks for the compliment anyway. Truth is i had one like it but it died over a year ago and i have not been able to replace it. This type of dog will make alot of them look bad because they can produce game when the rest are just running around and not getting anything accomplished. To someone who is a hunter especially on hare it is literally worth it's weight in gold.

brian