The American Beagler Forum

Ran to day for about 2 1/2 hours it was Cold Cold temp was about -0 deg. & 8inches of powder snow rabbits where hold up very tight & would not hardly move execpt brush pile to brush pile & the dogs had a hard time moving the line honestly we got skunked the dogs really tried but the scenting was not good at all but we had fun I would like to here how some of you folks dogs do in the Xtream Cold my dogs are normally good hounds were in Iowa & the cold is nothing new to us but today belong to the rabbits in our little part of the world.

Even a bad day running beats not running at all. When the temps get below zero I usually drop to 1 hound and it's more of walking the rabbit at a rapid pace than running especially if the snow is old and crusty.

Your braver then me when its that cold I stay inside.

i like below 0 running with no snow. had some really good days hunting that way. im not a big fan of snow over 3" or so but cold temps dont bother me.

Hawkeye, were you from in Iowa I am down by Keokuk, I ran yesterday it was 5 degrees, dogs ran better than I thought they would but like you said pile to pile or to hole we did manage 2 rabbits whats the rabbit population like up there her it is not all that good compared to 5 or 6 yrs ago.

Glad to hear I am not the only one with trouble running in cold and snow. It hear it is the dry powdery stuff that is the worst for scenting. We went out they day after a wet snow, but the wind blew it dry overnite and the dogs realy struggled. They jumped several but could not run them well. I noticed they would put there nose right in the track of snow and fill there nose with snow. But a bad day out hunting is better then a good day inside.

i got a nick name here a few years ago, polar bear. I like the cold and I'm the only one in my family that truly loves the cold. Going out and running for 5-6 hours is not unusal for me. My hound Moe seems to work well in tough conditions. The tougher it is, the better he gets. He'll walk the line when he needs too and will gear up when given the chance. He's only 2 years old and is very consistant. The more you take them out in tough conditions, the better they get in those situations. I like knowing my hound will excel when time is put into him.

I ran today in 6-7 inches of snow and 0 degree weather. I was only out for a couple of hours this evening but the hounds ran good. I had our Daisy bitch and my young Stroke dog. Daisy controlled the track, and really taught my young male what running in the snow is all about. Gotta love a dog that can run that well in tough conditions. They ran one rabbit for over 1 1/2 hours. They probably would have picked it up and ran longer, I leashed them up at dark during a break down.

Big River I am in Eastern Iowa Cedar Rapids area & I would agree the rabbit population is down from what it was I believe it is because of all the predators the eagles hawks & coyotes they have really taken a toll on all the upland hunting I am really thinking of taking up coyote hunting in the off season.

Jeremy Mapes wrote:I ran today in 6-7 inches of snow and 0 degree weather. I was only out for a couple of hours this evening but the hounds ran good. I had our Daisy bitch and my young Stroke dog. Daisy controlled the track, and really taught my young male what running in the snow is all about. Gotta love a dog that can run that well in tough conditions. They ran one rabbit for over 1 1/2 hours. They probably would have picked it up and ran longer, I leashed them up at dark during a break down.

Send that snow down my way, I'm probably about 5 hrs south of you... I want some dang snow!!!!!!!!

i ran for 5 hours with the hounds yesterday and conditions was bad,like you said brush pile or to the hole.
I had 1 race without a brake down for 30 mins the rest was real short.Wind chill in the teens,30 mile hr winds and dry powder snow on the ground. Not as much as you got but what we call a dusting here.
we are suppose to get 6-8" Thursday and Friday and highs in the low 30's Sat. i know i will be out in it Saturday if it does this.Heck i will go if it don't.

You can have it. Nah, really I don't mind it, but this powdery stuff seems to make it a little harder for the dogs to track on. I was proud of em though, they were in and out of a big swamp running the same rabbit for well over 1 1/2 hrs.