Powdery snow, How do your hounds fair in it ?

[Snowshoe Run]

I agree with beaglerof4. One or two dogs, one of which better be a good check hound, give them a little time and the runs should be fine.

[NorWester1]

Why do you suppose that is? Dogs are over competitive? Not enough nose power to run the tough conditions?

[RunninHard]

If your asking me, then I will tell you I do not have enough nose power for these conditions

[HD Ultra]

Around the Jackson area. Tough to find places around here that hold many rabbits, and then we get conditions like this.....Ice fishing is looking like a better idea.

[Ron Conroe]

ultra, we were just down by jackson, my buddie has some places down there that are awesome.

[gwyoung]

6" of dry powder snow today, dogs didn't have any trouble. I run a maximum of three dogs on dry powder, I only ran two today. Run more than that or pair them wrong and being a little too competive could hurt, along with the fact that after the first dog goes through a lot of powder falls into the track along with scattering what little scent there is. Now, this is on cottontail. Snowshoe Hare have much stronger scent than cottontail and I would run 5 or 6 hounds in these conditions on them , and I wouldn't expect them to lose. I don't find dry powder to be the worst of conditions. ( I certainly don't find it to be the best either) I find hard crusted windswept snow where the dogs won't leave a track and you won't leave much of an impression either, as the toughest.

[NorWester1]

If your asking me, then I will tell you I do not have enough nose power for these conditions

Asking anyone RunningHard
Most believe you have to drop back the numbers when running in tough conditions. In my opinion it has more to do with having the right dogs for the job than it does having the right numbers.
The majority of hounds are bred to be competitive with a hot nose and that spells disaster when it comes to tough winter running.
Now you can certainly have your jack of all trades ( no pun intended) but keep in mind they'll likely be masters of none
A specialist is what is needed when the going gets tough!

Gwyoung wrote,

Now, this is on cottontail. Snowshoe Hare have much stronger scent than cottontail and I would run 5 or 6 hounds in these conditions on them , and I wouldn't expect them to lose

Just curious as to what your basis is for such a generalized statement as this?

[gwyoung]

NORWESTER1, I agree when running Snowshoe Hare, I can run all twenty of my dogs on them. Try running 6 hounds on dry powder on cottontail for an hour on 8 acres, there won't be one square inch not tracked up, ( several times) I quarantee you ,you can have all of the right hounds you want, try to run cottontail under those circumstances and it ain't gonna be pretty.

[NorWester1]

So is it that the hare's scent is that much stronger than the cottontails or is it the area getting tracked up that is the determining factor?

[RunninHard]

All I know is I dont have enough nosepower for this type weather, I run 1,2, or 6 it is the same results, We (Me and my running partner) have 6 hounds 2 are cold nosed, 2 is semi cold nosed, 2 are hot nosed, we have everything from grade to Branko, red,blue, blk/tan, tri

[mjs bunnybuster]

From what i've noticed today when hunting a young pine plot with 15 yard spaces with snowed over grass and young sapling between the pine rows, was that the dogs ran fine under the pine trees as soon as the rabbit busted out of the pines into the snowed over grass forget it. The snow is powdery and its all sitting on top of every branch and blade of grass. As soon as the bunny runs through it snow falls in the tracks. jmo

[kbspeed]

Serious nose power and a dog that will gear down to run the conditions.

[huntall50]

We ran good yesterday, lots of losses but thats even with good conditions, so can't blame those on the snow. But had 7 good runs with 3 rabbits wounded, 1 harvested and the 3 making it to hole. Glad we got out, if nothing else it was good training time for the dogs.

[RunninHard]

we got 1/2-3/4 " of fresh snow lastnight and flurries now , Im gonna go out and she what happens with my 2 reds, not expecting much of a race but it will give the hounds a chance to stretch, then take the 2 red pups to stretch later, will post later on the out come

[gwyoung]

I am going to make another General Statement backed by years of observation. Whether running cottontail or Hare, dogs will do much better in the long run if they are running in an undisturbed area as opposed to an area where the chase has passed through multiple times. Heavy snowfall magnifies the problem. How many of us believe that we can run a rabbit in 8" of powder snow time after time and track the area up and your dogs will run just as well as they do in a " clean " area, Raise your hands! Now, perhaps this is just my hounds, but I seriously doubt it because the biggest factor is the conditions.
I can tell you why I have to cut back on the number of MY hounds when running RABBIT on powder. First of all I wouldn't own a dog that couldn't run on Powder, ( No nasty e-mails Please) I also would not own a hound that would just follow the other hounds around when it was behind and not getting any scent. Powder rarely ever has enough scent for more than three hounds to run over and still be enough scent for a fourth or fifth hound to get any scent. So this fourth or fifth hound if he is simply not a dog tracker will always be fighting for the front end to actually get some scent and earn his keep. Keep in mind under these circumstances every dog gets to be the fourth or fifth hound and this battle for scent rages all day long, This is not conductive to a good run. Once again, this is on cottontail. I have seen hounds that could pound a hare on ten inches of powder at ten degrees that could not even whimper on a cottontail on 4 inches of powder at 20 degrees, Have seen it time after time.