Running on snow in Ind

[beaglebill]

We have had snow about all of Feb. It seems like that when we jump a rabbit the dogs can run for about 20yds then a loss then it just turns into a bark here and there then finally a complete loss. It seems like im just waisting my time other than getting out for some exercise. However it beats standing in the pens they cant learn anything there, right. Ill be so glad when its out of here. How about you guys?

[Robert W. Mccoy Jr]

I'll be glad when the snow is gone too.
I have had some good days on this snow but we have had some bad days too.

Scenting can change though from one hour to the next so like you said it's better to be out there than sitting at home.

I run a pretty strong dog and they have been literally walking except for a few days for the last 7 weeks.

Kinda funny whatching them learn to slow down though.

Gotta admit they have learned to they have to slow way down to run when it's getting bad.

[wvrabbithunter]

i dont know about you guys,but i love to see the dogs to work on the snow,we where out for about two hours and got two rabbits today,the dogs really had to work for them rabbits becouse they where setting tight today,and going right to the hole,but we still got two,tomarrro is the last day here,and after walking in all the snow today,it really works on a young man like me,i hope i can get in a full day tomarro,i just wish i was young enought to keep up with the dogs,
i hope everyone is having fun??????????

[Robert W. Mccoy Jr]

But I perfer it when they are Rollin'

I like it when they are really pounding them.

But like you said it's always fun..

Good luck tomarrow

[ACOMEAU]

Welcome to my world! We have had over three feet of snow or more since December. It has been below freezing for two months solid, with three weeks of solid below zero temps. You need a dog with a BIG nose and lots of desire. Its one thing to have a check on bare ground, but the energy it takes to spread out and pick one in three feet of snow, when the scenting stinks as it is, is tremendous. Some people don't get it because they rarely run on snow or below freezing. The dogs needed to run in the North are different from others. Don't get me wrong, but I couldn't keep a dog that can't run on snow below zero most of the time.

[Robert W. Mccoy Jr]

Acomeau,
I glad you dropped in I have a qestion.
Do you find that your dog's maintian the same level of mouth basically on Snow and on sod.

I find no differance in most really good dog's but I think some people believe that a good snow hound would cold trail to much somewhere that doesn't have that kinda weather??


Just a question??
Thanks Rob.

[beaglebill]

You running snowshoe Acomeao?

[New York Hillbilly]

Robert,
I was able to run today for the first time in a few weeks due to work schedule and weather. I ran two of my females for just under 3 hours and when they started they looked rustier than my sons Chevy Blazer. The first twenty minutes or so they seemed to be stretching out their legs and working out their kinks while searching for hares. When they busted loose the first one though it was back to business. As the running went on they were really putting it to those hares. One of the hounds I was running was Rising Suns Mona Lisa she is originally from Ohio and up until I got her a couple of years ago only ran rabbits. The second hound I had was my Rising Sun x China (a daughter of Maravics Ninja) which gives her lots of hare breeding from her Branko ancestry. Her name is Chickadee. Chickadee has spent most of her days running hares although she can run a rabbit equally well. I wanted to let you know that these two hounds themselves open and give voice in the exact same manner on snow, sod, rabbit, or hare. But they differ from each other a great deal. Lisa has a high pitched chop that turns into a machine gun chop when the pessure is on the hare. Chickadee on the other hand will give a slow series of single barks as she starts moving the line and as the pressure gets turned up she goes into low, slow, bawl. Lisa is much quicker to claim when she hits a hare or rabbit where as Chickadee is much tighter mouthed, almost to tight for my liking. While Lisa pours the old mouth to it, Chickadee is almost a cheepskate at times unless she is really closing in on the hare. A funny side note is that if Chickadee is having a hard time straighting out the line or getting it figured out where the hare is she will out of frustration let out a single long howl like she is really getting peed off and then quietly digs in and pushes herself harder with her nose buried in the ground. Both are relentless hunters. Now something I thought I would throw in was how much of the differences seem to be familial. The frustration howl that Chickadee does I have only seen in one other hound and that is her mother (China). The tight mouth is a trait we saw in Chickadees' mother and the pups she had, at least one was a good hunter but almost entirely silent on track. From the Rising Sun hounds I got much more mouth and quick to claim. Both hounds are equal in the smarts department but my Rising Sun hounds are less hard headed and stubborn which makes them easier to handle in the field. So here you have it or should I say I have it. My Rising Suns some would call to mouthy and my Chickadee with her Branko lineage some would call to tight. Lisa and all my Rising Sun hounds handle like a dream and have never heard me yell at them dooooowwwwwnnnnn. Chickadee was the easiest hound I ever owned when it came to starting and was running her own hare at 4 to 5 months slow and steady but with no help, but did need to learn doooowwwnnnn just like her mother and that side of the family. The temp today here while running was a balmy 25 degrees and sunny. The snow, well lets just say when I say we ran in tree tops I really mean tops. The six to eight foot cedars are sticking out about two to three feet. When I finished I called Lisa in and hooked her to the lead. I then had to walk off the snowmobile trail and ambush Chickadee yelling you guessed it.....dooowwwnnnn! And to finish the day off I went blank over tea kettle as I broke through the crust and ended up with my right leg on top and my left leg and torso buried to the arm pit. Of course the hounds could not resist the opportunity to crawl all over me pushing me deeper into the icy quicksand that would be my tomb. I was a little nervous at first because I was a long way back to the truck and I was afraid I would loose a boot. However I was able to swim/belly crawl back to the packed trail and easily make it back to the truck. Thus ends this days run.....sorry to get so wordy but I guess its the runners high still at work. To answer you original thought, my hounds may differ individually in their style of voice depending on their breeding but they each voice in "their" same manner no matter the conditions or type of rabbit.
Peace,
NYH

[ACOMEAU]

Rob, your right in most cases. My dogs dont have any extra mouth on bare ground than on snow. A cold trailer is a cold trailer and will do so everytime out. My old female cold trails year round. Scenting is usually better on bare ground though, so running can be faster and hotter than in the winter. They have less mouth in the winter, because the scenting is tougher. I think a dog with extra mouth has extra mouth period. You can have a super cold nose dog, who won't open on a cold trail. I can't feed a dog with a super hot nose that can't run below zero on snow, but I won't feed a boohooing fool as well.

Beaglebill, we run snowshoe. We dont have any cottontail around here. The state says we have some in the southern part, but I have never seen one.

[Hare Hunter]

We also have had tons of snow and very cold weather this winter, more days than not it only gets in the single digits for highs. I have 4 dogs, the 2 older hounds have lots of experience on snow, my best snow dog is a 7 year old female, she gives the same mouth on sod or snow, my 4 year old male has a machine gun mouth most of the time, he does however tighten up his mouth in super cold conditions, he has the truest mouth of any hound I have ever owned so I believe he uses less mouth in bad conditions as he is not as "locked" on as he is on sod. Going to take them all out today as it is going to get in the mid twenties this afternoon, downright balmy for up here. Hare

[Robert W. Mccoy Jr]

Thanks guy's I think we are all on the same page here.

Good running.

[Running oo snow in Ind.]

Here there is 3 feet of snow with a top crust you stand on.I have a 21/2 year old super fast male that walks the line in the morning when scenting is cold and usually speeds up once the sun beats down and softens the top surface of snow.If the scent gets even better him and the other dogs will go into high gear,and it's the same in the heat of the summer.I really like to watch a fast hound gear down, then you know you got a true hunting dog that should be able to chase on any day hot or cold.This dog should be able to become a champion,up here in the Can. maritmes it's harder to do as we cotinue to run top FTCH's for years which can be hard to plce with,unlike the USA. and most other circuits that once your hound has finished he's taken out of trialing.That to me seems like it should make it ALOT easier to finish your hounds.
Just the way I see it.
our trials will be starting on 1 or 2 feet oif the hardest snow you can think of and of course solid ice.

[ACOMEAU]

Guest, keep me informed on the dogs that are not just the winners, but those that can consitantly run on those conditions. I have a young male from Canada right now who is showing promise of having a big nose. I think that compitition at least in the northeast, should be during the hardest months to run, usually winter. This would really bring out the best in the breed. It only makes sense to try and breed dogs that can run when its tough, so when its good its really good.

[Robert W. Mccoy Jr]

We know what it takes.

I doubt that any of mine will ever finish.
I just plain and simply don't go to enough trials.

But Running on snow hit it on the head.
You really have something if it can lern to slow down and walk.

I proud to say we have shot 188 rabbits this year behind my three males.
They have just plian and simply had there legs run off in this bad weather.

I think that is what has made the differance. They learned do it slow or not at all.

But I sure miss the days when they were flying back in december...