Scent Trail ?
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
Scent Trail ?
How long is a sent trail good after a rabbit has passed through? I realize part of that has to do with the dog's nose. But I'm curious as to how long after a rabbit has passed through will the average hound be able to scent it and how much the type of weather affects it, not including rain or fresh snow fall.
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Bunny Runner
- Posts: 479
- Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 6:14 pm
- Location: NC
Weather is about the most important contributing factor in determining how long scent holds in an area.
Hot, dry conditions are bad for holding scent, while cool, damp conditions are very good for scenting conditions. Wind can dissipate scent quickly in any case. A bit of frost on the ground is always a good thing.
Not only does weather play a significant role in scenting conditions, terrain can have it's advantages and dis-advantages as well.
We have a pen at our club that is a virtual "ecosystem" in itself. There are grassy fields, deep woods, marshy areas, dry barren red dirt, sercia fields, briar thickets, etc. There is one spot in this enclosure that is notorious for losing the rabbit (the red dirt spot). Now I don't know for sure, but I would venture to say that the red dirt is just not conducive to holding scent.
The dynamics of scent are very interesting and although we can't "smell" the rabbit we can imagine the scent trail (cone).
Think of it like this:
The scent is 3-deminsional and rises like the smoke off a cigar. The smoke rises in a cone shape and as it rises, it grows larger and will sometimes trail off in a certain direction depending on the ambiant conditions (wind, rain, etc). Scent is also dispensed on the ground and vegetation.
So, if your dog is "running the line" is it running ground scent or air scent?
Hot, dry conditions are bad for holding scent, while cool, damp conditions are very good for scenting conditions. Wind can dissipate scent quickly in any case. A bit of frost on the ground is always a good thing.
Not only does weather play a significant role in scenting conditions, terrain can have it's advantages and dis-advantages as well.
We have a pen at our club that is a virtual "ecosystem" in itself. There are grassy fields, deep woods, marshy areas, dry barren red dirt, sercia fields, briar thickets, etc. There is one spot in this enclosure that is notorious for losing the rabbit (the red dirt spot). Now I don't know for sure, but I would venture to say that the red dirt is just not conducive to holding scent.
The dynamics of scent are very interesting and although we can't "smell" the rabbit we can imagine the scent trail (cone).
Think of it like this:
The scent is 3-deminsional and rises like the smoke off a cigar. The smoke rises in a cone shape and as it rises, it grows larger and will sometimes trail off in a certain direction depending on the ambiant conditions (wind, rain, etc). Scent is also dispensed on the ground and vegetation.
So, if your dog is "running the line" is it running ground scent or air scent?
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To answer your last question By watching my dog today she mostly scents by air and the reason I say this is she was running a bunny from one brush pile to another and from the second pile out pops mr bunny ahead of her and made it to within 20yd of me when I shot it She was still trying to make out the puzzle after the shot and I let her run with that, as she came out of the pile and tracked the rabbit she would always end up down wind or up wind trying to trail the rabbit only to come back to the line and do it all over again. She found the rabbit after repetedly going down wind and catching wind of it. Also on one other run were the bunny was let run she showed the same behavior.
Because I'm new to this and this my first hunt with a harvest and sighted rabbits I do not know if this is the norm.
Because I'm new to this and this my first hunt with a harvest and sighted rabbits I do not know if this is the norm.
