If the old dog takes the track, how old is it?

John Y Cannuck

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A lot of guys can't believe the power of a hounds nose, so they assume that the dog is taking a track that is fresh.
Experience with a dog will quickly tell you that they can smell tracks that are days, even weeks old. Experienced dogs will skip over the oldtracks, but even those experienced dogs, once they get excited by a chase or two, may run an old track.
Be aware.
How do you stop a dog from running old tracks? My advice would be not to bother. A dog running an old track covers a lot of territory. They will quickly leave that track for a hot one, and may jump a deer in the process.

Comments?
 
I've raised hounds for more than 20 yrs and have 9 now and one ##### going to drop a litter in about a week.Some dogs have cold noses and others have hot ones.I've not seen a dog that took a cold track and not lift the animal yet.If there's enough interest for the dog to tongue then they will most likely stay on that track and jump the game.Their voice will change when they've jumped it and all hell breaks lose.Young dogs usually don't know enough to take a cold track but a good seasoned hound will know if they can lift it or not.An old hound tongueing on a cold track will keep all the hounds that are out together most of the time.I don't think anyone should stop a dog barking on a cold track as even if there's a deer in the area it will move around and someone should get some action at one piont.If the hounds are tongueing there's more than one deer around and they tend to circal around to see if it's them that's being chased and if not then wander around or lay down again.Our camp has shot alot of deer that were just getting out of the hounds way and not being chased at all.

Just my 0.02$ worth after 20 yrs of hounding around :wink: .
 
I was going to mention that change in tongue, but I wasn't sure i'd be believed. It isn't a subtle change either. My old hound had a really deep low howl when she ran cold tracks. Even the first year she hunted.
Big John says "lets see how good she is" and unsnappedher lead on a barely visible track in an old sand pit. Of she went with that low howl, gone for an hour, returning only after a shot from the next camp :evil: Chase went the wrong way again. :evil:
 
We have had dogs go on a chase of a track at least 12 hours old. The funny thing is, that they usually scare up a deer on these forays, whether it be the one that they were trailing or not, it's hard to say. We also had one dog that trailed so slow, that usually the deer was field dressed and in the back of the truck before it came out to the gut pile.
 
hey scar, I thought you might have died and gone to heaven. :shock:

Or wherever............ :roll:

I know a lad up Lanark way has a ##### that runs deer even when the master is sleeping............. :lol:

So how about an invite to the hunt camp eh? I need a liver challenge........

Doug
 
I've raised hounds for more than 20 yrs and have 9 now and one ##### going to drop a litter in about a week.Some dogs have cold noses and others have hot ones.I've not seen a dog that took a cold track and not lift the animal yet.If there's enough interest for the dog to tongue then they will most likely stay on that track and jump the game.Their voice will change when they've jumped it and all hell breaks lose.Young dogs usually don't know enough to take a cold track but a good seasoned hound will know if they can lift it or not.An old hound tongueing on a cold track will keep all the hounds that are out together most of the time.I don't think anyone should stop a dog barking on a cold track as even if there's a deer in the area it will move around and someone should get some action at one piont.If the hounds are tongueing there's more than one deer around and they tend to circal around to see if it's them that's being chased and if not then wander around or lay down again.Our camp has shot alot of deer that were just getting out of the hounds way and not being chased at all.

And sounds like he has 20 years experience too :)
 
Yup, those are the words of a houndsman. Even a worthless bag of #### dog that walks on the heels of the dogger, will move more deer than a man can, just by the scent of the dog alone. Of course it may give the dogger high blood pressure. :x
 
Ah the sounds of a hound, can't wait. Every dog is different, some run cold tracks, some hot, some very cold, it is really up to the doggers as to what they should do. We had a dog that would run the track of a deer we shot 3 days prior, he did it a lot but the change in his voice from the hot deer to the hours old deer to the days old deer was amazing. We just let them run, but know your dog, this particular dog would run a deer for days if you did not catch him at the line so we were very cautious that he not double back on us.
 
Every person that owns a hound has to spend one on one time with each hound to know what they sound like when on hot or cold ( if they take it ) tracks and will then find out what dog does what and then know what dog will be suited for each hunt.Every hunt is diff and needs diff angles to fit and that's when spending one on one with each hound comes good.You will know what dog to bring out for what time of day and condition you are going to hunt.There's no cense in bringing a dog that wont cold track when there's no fresh tracks or it's a rainy day that's hard to get a fresh start.Tracking collars are worth every $ when you know you can find your dogs at the days end and make sure there put to kenel with a belly full and good sleep for the next day.Nothing worse than not knowing if your going to have hounds for the morning hunt or not as I'm sure every one that has hounds should know that feeling at least once or twice each deer season.I don't care if I kill another deer or not for the rest of my life as long as I know I can listen to my "little buddies" once a year.
 
.I don't care if I kill another deer or not for the rest of my life as long as I know I can listen to my "little buddies" once a year.

88man I think we could hunt together nicely :)
Don't get me wrong I want to be the big gun in the camp too, but if I can sit on a watch once in a while & listen to the dogs my day has been a good one :)
 
Doug said:
hey scar, I thought you might have died and gone to heaven. :shock:

Or wherever............ :roll:

I know a lad up Lanark way has a ##### that runs deer even when the master is sleeping............. :lol:

So how about an invite to the hunt camp eh? I need a liver challenge........

Doug
Open invite Doug. Just let me know when you're coming up. That dog's still laying around here getting fat. (Kinda like her owner).
 
senior said:
.I don't care if I kill another deer or not for the rest of my life as long as I know I can listen to my "little buddies" once a year.

88man I think we could hunt together nicely :)
Don't get me wrong I want to be the big gun in the camp too, but if I can sit on a watch once in a while & listen to the dogs my day has been a good one :)
You certainly know hunting with hounds you two. My last two hounds are buried on one of our deer runs. Hardest thing I've ever done, putting those two down. The camp hasn't been the same without them.
 
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