Slickie, you ever have an issue with a hound chasing a bunny and after a few minutes just quit? My dog Charley did that yesterday morning several times. She has no problem picking them up, gets on them hard and just stops. However, as the day progresses, around 11:00 am, she seems to get her act together and will hold a bunny for over 30 minutes. She did this the last 2 times I had her out, frustrating as hell. 2 Saturdays ago she started a bunny at 10:50, chased it hard for an hour and I got it on the 4th loop just after 12. The weather wasn't the best yesterday, one of the windiest days I have ever bunny hunted. I think I just need to get her out as much as possible.
Hounds and bunnies 2022/23
41 - 60 of 96 Posts
Joined
·
2,973 Posts
Yesterday was hard scenting with the winds, my old hound lost the track a few times and hes doing a fancy speed walk as he doesn't run now. Was hard to hear the song over the wind
The start and stop could be from boredom, chasing the same one too long, lost/poor scenting or any number of things
How old? Younger hounds with little experience may run one bunny only to pick up "fresher" scent, then backtrack to find the original one they were chasing. Again the reason is endless, time in the woods will cure all that and improve your health as well as mental health, even the hound gets the benefit from being out
The start and stop could be from boredom, chasing the same one too long, lost/poor scenting or any number of things
How old? Younger hounds with little experience may run one bunny only to pick up "fresher" scent, then backtrack to find the original one they were chasing. Again the reason is endless, time in the woods will cure all that and improve your health as well as mental health, even the hound gets the benefit from being out
I agree Superslickie on some of the reasons. The issue I find with my dog, when the scents strong on damp cool days. He’s 6-8ft off the line and running with his head up. And if the rabbit runs over the same trail too many times or doubles back it can take him 10-15 minutes sometimes to figure it out. More often the not, he figures it out in a minute or two. But super icy or windy days can be rough conditions for the dog. As the scent hangs low on the ground, the scent get blown away. And when it’s icy, the scent has nothing to stick to. Old timers told when it comes to running the dog, if you see smoke coming out of the chimney and it’s hanging low instead of going straight up you’re in for a good day.
And not running your dog in all conditions doesn’t make for a good dog. Hot, raining, wet snow or windy days. Letting them go through the struggles on those days and go through the mistakes makes them better.
And not running your dog in all conditions doesn’t make for a good dog. Hot, raining, wet snow or windy days. Letting them go through the struggles on those days and go through the mistakes makes them better.
I appreciate the comments/advice. As far as weather goes, I've had her out in the worst of it. She never seemed to have an issue in the cold, held a scent strong even at -10. Saturday was crazy windy, I dont like it when I can't hear her barking. Back at it in a few more days. Thanks.
She is 2.5 years old
Joined
·
2,973 Posts
Theres almost as many reasons as there are hounds. You listed some, i listed some, someone else may have more. Each day is different, watch your hound they know more than you in most cases.
Will do. At the end of the day, she's a great dog, very gentle (although Saturday she put a chompin on a bunny) and loves being with people and running around the woods. Somedays I just can't figure her out, a gust of wind or a car driving by as were walking will scare the B'jesus out of her but fire off the shotgun and she gets super fired up and excited. Im certain she will never be a ribbon winner but as long as she can stick on them for 20-30 min I will be more than happy.
Ran the dog for the last time yesterday as I’m leaving for work now for the month. Went up to the camp to mostly retrieve a lot of cell cams, but decided to run the dog too.
In the woods at 7:30. Bit cold and windy with the ground starting to freeze, scent wasn’t amazing, but the dog held the first couple pretty good. Wasnt putting super pressure on them, but enough to circle towards the road and me to get a few shots off. By 9 I had two down, moved junks down the road a few 100 yards. He was barking right from the get go, when he come off the back of the truck. Couple minutes later I catch a glimpse of the rabbit paralleling the road, 20 yards into the bush. Let a shot go, the dog comes racing behind and gear the unmistakable sound of rabbit squeals indicating I got him. Before I could dive into the woods to get it. Rosco came out of the woods carrying it in his mouth. He dove right back into the woods and got another going, he held it off and on, but after 35-40 minutes. He picked it up fresh again, put enough pressure that it circles out to the road. It jumped through the air trying to cross the road, and I shot mid flight like a bird on the wing. Called it a day at that point, had 4 down for the day and I continued on getting the rest of the cell cams and stands remaining in the woods
In the woods at 7:30. Bit cold and windy with the ground starting to freeze, scent wasn’t amazing, but the dog held the first couple pretty good. Wasnt putting super pressure on them, but enough to circle towards the road and me to get a few shots off. By 9 I had two down, moved junks down the road a few 100 yards. He was barking right from the get go, when he come off the back of the truck. Couple minutes later I catch a glimpse of the rabbit paralleling the road, 20 yards into the bush. Let a shot go, the dog comes racing behind and gear the unmistakable sound of rabbit squeals indicating I got him. Before I could dive into the woods to get it. Rosco came out of the woods carrying it in his mouth. He dove right back into the woods and got another going, he held it off and on, but after 35-40 minutes. He picked it up fresh again, put enough pressure that it circles out to the road. It jumped through the air trying to cross the road, and I shot mid flight like a bird on the wing. Called it a day at that point, had 4 down for the day and I continued on getting the rest of the cell cams and stands remaining in the woods
Haha, that's awesome. I've been hunting for almost 45 years, ducks, grouse, deer, but by far the most fun has always been bunny hunting with buddies and a good beagle. We are going again Thursday, hopefully the weather cooperates.
I also know what it's like to be away working during hunting season. You will be counting the days.
Yeah never easy leaving, but when I’m home almost everyday I’m out hunting or fishing. So it pays off in the end. Doing a refit on a boat in St. John’s, so I’ll have Christmas with the crew I’m working with.
Some of my buddies came and got the dog today for the weekend. They’ll keep him in shape while I’m gone anyways. I got Garmin Astro 430 and T-15 mini collar so they got no fear of losing him anyways. They run the dog with me a lot, just never had the GPS unit in their hands before lol. But judging by the slight increase in numbers in the spots we hunt, they should have a few good days off him over the holidays
Some of my buddies came and got the dog today for the weekend. They’ll keep him in shape while I’m gone anyways. I got Garmin Astro 430 and T-15 mini collar so they got no fear of losing him anyways. They run the dog with me a lot, just never had the GPS unit in their hands before lol. But judging by the slight increase in numbers in the spots we hunt, they should have a few good days off him over the holidays
I have the same GPS and collar, Astro 430. Got mine from Double U in the USA. I don't think I could take her hunting without it. GD weather for the weekend is not looking good. Winds are forecast for 30-50 tomorrow, not sure if my buddies want to go in that wind. We were out last Saturday with the high winds, it was miserable.
If you ever have an issue with the antenna on the collar shoot me a message, I have a couple spares.
Yeah got my collar from the same place. Got it delivered to my parents place in Florida to save on taxes and shipping. Might take you up on that offer one day for the antennas. He’s his antenna is starting to get beat up, I’ve even zip tied it to the collar so it’s not loose or whacking on the ground all the time. He’s ran so much recently he wore the clanger off on his bell and had to replace that on the weekend. Lucky he barked his head off on Saturday, or never would have heard him over the wind with no bell basically lol
No problem, anytime you need one, send me a private message.
Can’t recount the story as I wasn’t there. Young fella that hunts with me was off from university, so he took my dog and one of his buddies to run the dog yesterday. I told him to hunt I junk of woods I know close to my parents that I used to run dogs in. They got 4 before lunch time. But the last rabbit they got, when the dog got up to them he was covered in blood and dripping on the ground. I guess he must have ran through a bunch of those common buck thorn trees with big thorns and he had abunch of slashes in his ears and chest. So that was the end of his day. He’s home resting up now, but will back chasing bunnies early this week coming
Beagles are tough little animals. I remember many years ago my brother had a beagle, he was tough as nails. We were hunting and the ground was covered with hard, crusty snow. He must have been breaking through the snow because his balls were rubbed raw and bleeding. We headed for home, my bother was carrying him but we had to stop to take a break. The hound gets on the ground, does a walk around of a bush, smells a bunny and off he goes. I know if my nuts were rubbed raw I wouldn't be interested in doing too much. That's determination!
Yeah toughest things I’ve ever seen. The dog I own now, I’ve seen him going with the end of his tail all busted up and missing an couple inches of fur bleeding bad. He’s busted up his dew claws, missing the skin on the lower part of his legs after breaking through crust on top of the snow for a couple hours.
Dads buddy’s dog was the toughest I ever seen. Shouldn’t even been rabbit hunting that day as it was too cold and windy. The dog got on to the rabbit, and crossed the river nearby with only a skim of ice on top. Rabbit went across fine, dog busted his way across and got soaking wet. We hopped in the truck to get to the other side of the river. By the time we finally caught up to the dog, he was about froze solid with iceicles hanging off him and his tail stiff as a board with ice, and he was still trying to find the rabbit he lost.
Dads buddy’s dog was the toughest I ever seen. Shouldn’t even been rabbit hunting that day as it was too cold and windy. The dog got on to the rabbit, and crossed the river nearby with only a skim of ice on top. Rabbit went across fine, dog busted his way across and got soaking wet. We hopped in the truck to get to the other side of the river. By the time we finally caught up to the dog, he was about froze solid with iceicles hanging off him and his tail stiff as a board with ice, and he was still trying to find the rabbit he lost.
Young fella that hunts with me, ran the dog yesterday by my house as he’s taking him till Christmas. He only managed one, dog ran about 10km on that one rabbit before he got it.
They’re taking him up to the camp tomorrow with my uncle and a couple buddies in a spot that should produce a decent number of rabbits. I’ll report back on how they do
They’re taking him up to the camp tomorrow with my uncle and a couple buddies in a spot that should produce a decent number of rabbits. I’ll report back on how they do
Hopefully they beat the weather, it's going to be nasty for the next 2 days. My next day out will be the 27th, long range forecast is looking half decent.
41 - 60 of 96 Posts
