doe rabbit scent

[NoShowBeagles]

I know one thing, some days I think I got a word champ and other days I think my dog left his nose at home

Amen brother!!! I think we all got that!!!

[RunninHard]

I would also like to know what bloodline out there can run any rabbit anytime 365 days a year without a single loss, I will drain my bank account for a couple of those type dogs but then again I think I have a better chance of winning the Lotto

[lebro]

ever notice the days you think your dogs are world beater you are usually running by yourself. hmmmm. maybe they are just good dogs having a good day. enjoy these when they come. hope my dog has one of these days tomorrow at the world hunt.

[P D Rowe]

Well. I always thought it was just the fresh smell of spring that made it harder for them to smell rabbits. lol

[deadeyebeagle]

you ever notice how people say the rabbit is just hopping down the trail and the dogs are running full speed.you ever see one coming right at you just hopping then he see you then takes off real fast.jmo there is no turning on and off the scent that rabbit hardly touched the ground when he took off. and that gives the dogs trouble just like when your running hit and miss. that rabbit is just hopping along and the dogs are get closer and he takes off. breakdown. rabbit just hopping. good running.a big buck rabbit dont have to speed up and take off as fast as a small rabbit (female) but what ever it is i just cant wait for that next great run like the one i had last night on that stinky rabbit

[pineridgebeagles]

Ive been running hounds for 45 years,some days they can pound with few checks and some days they look stupid.I believe barometric pressure has alot to do with scenting some days.I for one like my young dogs to run little rabbits,i believe it make them have more patience when scenting is tough.Al

[gwyoung]

deadeyebeagle, Good theory, What about the body scent of the rabbit, the air scent? Most dogs with which I am familiar,with the exception of Walkie Talkies run a combination of air and track scent. Dogs do not have to find the footprint of a rabbit to trail him and most of the time the footprint is actually secondary, ever see dogs running to the downwind side of a track, ever see a dog stop and look 8 feet to the side and go to a pile of brush and jump a rabbit sitting there, he wasn't smelling his footprint! Knock any holes in your theory? And Big buck rabbits are actually smaller than females on the average, another theory shot down?

[S.R.Patch]

Be careful Gw,... yur gonna unvalidated yur own theory here ina minute...I've used a skint rabbit hide to lay trails for pups that was purdy "tight" but the hair and the foot was still reaking with the scent of the oils from the rabbit.
I just don't see how oils on the hare and foot of a rabbit, that can last 10's of minutes on the ground and foliage can suddenly become dead or nonexistent on the hair and footpad of the rabbit once already released from the oil glands and hair follicles. I can see how it could be covered by the "cloaking" of a "wildflower" spray tho...
Great fear can sometimes cause the body to excrete the unintended. I gotta go change my shorts.

[gwyoung]

S.R. Patch. I think we all like to use dead rabbits as enticement for our dogs. I pick fresh ones up along the road to let my pups play with but unlike you I do not believe they are still emitting tracking scent ( the scent that dogs use to trail live rabbits) in a large quanity. They now smell a dead animal. When you use the skin and feet of rabbits like you are doing the pups smell more of a food ( meat) odor than the tracking scent of a rabbit. In fact the longer you keep the hide the more smell it will develop,( up to a certain point) not less. this is called decay, keep it in the sun and it will develop a strong scent a little faster) Ever notice how your dogs can scorch a rabbit for a half hour then you shoot him and he skids 5 feet dies and they can't find him. He tightened up that quick he is no longer giving off trailing scent, oh, I hope I haven't just mentioned something else the guys with good hounds have never noticed! better get some more shorts ready.

[S.R.Patch]

Gw, I got plenty shorts and if not, i turn'um inside out...

My old female lucy, she track that rabbit skin and she got no use for a dead rabbit. The hide in my freezer not decay, it dry and no meat.
How far can yur hound run behind the rabbit? the scent last at least that long. The rabbit foot and hair got that scent on it, they can't draw it back in, so it's there for at least a 5 minute check, I seen good hounds work out a 5 minute check by walking it out so the scent was there but only with time and concentration did it clear an the hounds work it out. Withholding the scent, there would be none.
You see hounds go right past a dead rabbit and you try to show them the rabbit an they seem at a loss. I shot that rabbit an he never knew what hit him, did he hold his scent when the lights went out? when the body is dead there is no control of function any more, every dead person I seen pee'd their pants.

I never claimed to have no good hounds, you hung up about something or just cause we have different ideas? it good to get things out in the open and exchange ideas. You want me out of your little world, I'll leave... but personal attacks usually come when the loss of reasoning builds.
see ya later gator

[gwyoung]

S.R.PATCH, To answer your question about why a dog can run 5 minutes behind a rabbit, it is because the rabbit is giving off scent and it does linger for a certain amount of time, That has absolutely nothing to do with a rabbit tightening up and no longer giving off scent. I understand your dog may have no use for a dead rabbit but if she is following that hide around after it has been in your freezer, she does have some use for meat, that hair on the hide is not holding itself together. Yes, the rabbit you shot tightened up that quickly, tightened up is most often a natural response from a rabbit, he does not have to spend time thinking about whether he should tighten up or not, it is automatic. Some rabbits do display this trait more readily than others, though.
I am not hung up about anything , and I don't completely discount your ideas, when my loss of reasoning fails and I grow short on ideas I consider that as a reminder that I may not have all of the answers. I am not out of answers on this topic, and I hope you are not getting frustrated because I continue to give my experiences on this matter in the form of alternate theories to the theories that you post. I think most people would consider my answers as reasonable and not too far out in left field. Someone, may post something that gives me cause to re-evaluate my thinking on this or any other subject, I welcome that ,it is how I learn. You ask if I want you out of my little world, why would you ask that ,you have thrown out some good ideas, you have been polite and respectful to me, and I have not attacked you . Why would you want to deny me of your company, I haven't meant to offend you, and I can't see where I have.

[bbg]

bbg, glad your dogs can run any rabbit anytime, congratulations on your hounds. Are you saying they never came across a rabbit they couldn't run, never had a problem after one was shot at and missed, never had a problem with one that was jumped by you. What is their bloodline, I assume everyone with this line will have the same experience. I would like to try some of them and talk to others and see if their experiences are the same as yours, is there any reason their experience with this bloodline would not be the same

What I meant is that I think your theory of a rabbit being able to turn off its scent is ridiculous. Its just another excuse for those with poor quality hounds (and an extravigant one at that). I run my dogs a minimum of 3 days a week all year and have never seen a day or a rabbit that they could not run. They trail rite up to rabbits that I have shot and they dont miss when I do. If I jump a rabbit and put them on the line, they are off like a bullet. That is with the dogs I have now. In the past I owned dogs that were not as reliable. Posting a pedigree would do no good because you wouldnt recognize any names in atleast 6 generations. I am not the originater of the family but am very thankful to the man who is. There are only a few guys running dogs from this family and their experiences are the same as mine.
I think it is an issue of nose power complimented by brain power. I train my young dogs on baby rabbits. They learn to concentrate on the track and can follow it as if they were tied to it.
Alot of people believe that does with babys have no scent. There must be something to it. Maybe its a reduced amount of scent because of them pulling out some of their hair to build a nest and nurse?

[gwyoung]

bbg, Seems like most of us have poor quality hounds and need some help. How about helping us out and post the originator of the family. How about letting me know of the dogs that are six generations or so behind your dogs I am sure that I will know the dogs that they came from. I would see no harm in you posting a pedigree of your hounds for us to see, I am sure that most would be as interested as I am in how your dogs are bred, as far as linebreeding inbreeding, or total outcrosses. Once again congratulations on your line of super hounds. As far as you thinking there must be something to does with babies having no scent are you saying your line of super hounds would have trouble with them, you did mention there was not a day or a rabbit they couldn't run!
Please post the pedigree for us or if you would PM me a registration number on a couple of your better ones, I could possibly get a 5 or 7 generation pedigree and post it. Thanks in advance for the pedigree. How many hounds do you currently own, Can you post pictures of them for us? It is guys like you willing to help the rest of us that makes this board worthwhile.

[deadeyebeagle]

well it sounds like you got it all figured out for us i never stated a fact of what rabbits are bigger in general i would agree thou females on the average are bigger but a real fact for you is the biggest rabbit i ever shot was a male.and as far as holes in my theory i would say no what i wrote is true.now if you want to twist things around yes iv seen my dogs wind rabbits
and run with there heads up but they dont always run like that

[gwyoung]

deadeyebeagle, It appeared to me that when you said a big buck rabbit as opposed to a small rabbit, and then referred to the small rabbits as female you obviously thought males were larger than females. I believe I have addressed the questions and stated the facts as I believe them to be in a straight forward manner. can you be a little more specific on what I have turned around, State what you really said and then show where I have turned it around, I wouldn't want to be guilty of that and I honestly don't see it . The closest I can see about anyone turning something around is you stating the females were smaller than males and then finding out this is not true and then you trying to generalize the statement.