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Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:28 am
by RiverBottom
Uploaded some video from a couple years ago. Hopefully this puts to rest the idea that you can't run more than one or two dogs on snow
It's actually easier to keep a pack running together when the snow is deep, they tend to follow the leader. The biggest problem with deep snow is that they are looking for any way to get through the snow easier and will run old trenches and cut the track when they can.
Fresh snow holds scent well also, so the dogs in back are getting almost as much as the first place dog. Low humidity and old snow changes things for the worse.
https://youtu.be/9k7TYl4qgL8
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2021 7:44 am
by main event`s beagles
nice video that is a complete body workout thanks for sharing
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2021 7:54 am
by RiverBottom
Here is another one from the next day, different dogs and a storm went through the night before.
https://youtu.be/txw5j4JuQ20
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 5:08 pm
by S.R.Patch
I always said when we hunted the UP, "If I lived up here I'd have wooly lean 16" beagles. Never under stood the affection for little, wide bodied hounds in the North Woods on hare. jmho
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 7:55 pm
by Beagle Huntsman
I don't like little wide bodied hounds on bare ground cottontail either!
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:11 pm
by Shady Grove Beagles
For me a beagle ought to be up on legs, deep chested - not wide chested. They should be somewhat long bodied as opposed to short coupled. A short coupled dog has to run that much more.
A beagle is a running hound and should have the appearance of athleticism and the physicality to run all day. Bottomless stamina.
I see a lot of short coupled, wide bodied, heavy headed, heavy built hounds in these parts. They may get the job done on cottontails but I don't know how they'd fair on a 1-2 week hare hunting trip up north.
I want to see a hound flow through the woods, negotiating the cover and obstacles they encounter with minimum effort.
You see what marathon runners look like? Slim and leggy, muscle and sinew with no evidence of fat. You don't see guys built like linebackers winning in that competition.
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 3:16 pm
by John Way
Excellent . Looks like fun Riverbottom. There was a time. Takes plenty of heart , and some getting use to for the hounds. But With some fresh snow , and the right hounds , anything is possible. You may need life jackets for them , if the bottomless snow gets any deeper. Haha.
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:39 am
by Budd
Shady Grove Beagles wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:11 pm
For me a beagle ought to be up on legs, deep chested - not wide chested. They should be somewhat long bodied as opposed to short coupled. A short coupled dog has to run that much more.
A beagle is a running hound and should have the appearance of athleticism and the physicality to run all day. Bottomless stamina.
I see a lot of short coupled, wide bodied, heavy headed, heavy built hounds in these parts. They may get the job done on cottontails but I don't know how they'd fair on a 1-2 week hare hunting trip up north.
I want to see a hound flow through the woods, negotiating the cover and obstacles they encounter with minimum effort.
You see what marathon runners look like? Slim and leggy, muscle and sinew with no evidence of fat. You don't see guys built like linebackers winning in that competition.
When a pack of dogs are ran hard every day in deep A$$ powder the snow equalizes all sizes. In some conditions Ive seen where the smaller dogs maneuver better in deep snow.
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:18 am
by warddog
What I see is BIG heart which equalizes all else. When the hounds bring the game to the gun size only matters in the eye of the beholder. I take my hat off to any hounds that have to plow snow like a dozer to do what they are bred to do and have the heart to continue to do so.
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 7:49 am
by NorWester1
Budd wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:39 am
Shady Grove Beagles wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 11:11 pm
For me a beagle ought to be up on legs, deep chested - not wide chested. They should be somewhat long bodied as opposed to short coupled. A short coupled dog has to run that much more.
A beagle is a running hound and should have the appearance of athleticism and the physicality to run all day. Bottomless stamina.
I see a lot of short coupled, wide bodied, heavy headed, heavy built hounds in these parts. They may get the job done on cottontails but I don't know how they'd fair on a 1-2 week hare hunting trip up north.
I want to see a hound flow through the woods, negotiating the cover and obstacles they encounter with minimum effort.
You see what marathon runners look like? Slim and leggy, muscle and sinew with no evidence of fat. You don't see guys built like linebackers winning in that competition.
When a pack of dogs are ran hard every day in deep A$$ powder the snow equalizes all sizes. In some conditions Ive seen where the smaller dogs maneuver better in deep snow.
This right here. I had a preconceived idea of what a GOOD north woods winter running hound would look and act like when I got started. Tall, leggy athletic. What actually panned out was different. In deep cold dry powder....size, like Bud says becomes irrelevant. I ended up keeping hounds that got the job done, day after day, year after year. They were not the tall leggy variety. Good dogs are where you find them and what gets the job done.
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Sat May 08, 2021 7:42 am
by Shady Grove Beagles
Budd and Norwester1
I have watched plenty of your videos of your hounds running on snow and have always appreciated their ability. You both have a ton more experience running on snow than I ever have or will. I haven't run on deep snow in 26 years since moving south.
My description of what I prefer a beagle to be built like was not me saying that this is what you need for a good "snow hound". It was me saying this is what I like in any beagle running bare ground, swimming water after swampers or on snow.
Just never been a fan of the little beagles. And as always JMHO.
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 7:09 am
by Budd
Shady Grove Beagles wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 7:42 am
Budd and Norwester1
I have watched plenty of your videos of your hounds running on snow and have always appreciated their ability. You both have a ton more experience running on snow than I ever have or will. I haven't run on deep snow in 26 years since moving south.
My description of what I prefer a beagle to be built like was not me saying that this is what you need for a good "snow hound". It was me saying this is what I like in any beagle running bare ground, swimming water after swampers or on snow.
Just never been a fan of the little beagles. And as always JMHO.
And I total agree with you, you described the hound I always dreamed of owning and running. Just that the gene pool of dogs that I had available to choose from (which is limited where I live), always ended up being the short, ugly, bowlegged critters that got the job done...LOL
We had a few badasses that were built the way we dreamed of but they were not the norm.. One that always sticks out in my mind was Norwesters Boomer dog, 16inch hound that shook the woods with a huge bawl mouth that would send chills down your spine. RIP old buddy!!
Re: Running a pack on hare in deep snow
Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 6:41 pm
by Shady Grove Beagles
That's a nice looking hound and built the way I like.
Back in the '70's I was doing some bear and cat hunting with a couple of brothers from Vermont.
They used to do a lot of their cat hunting in New Hampshire. When N.H. put a moratorium on hunting bobcats they didn't know what to do with their hounds in the winter. So they started running hare with some of their Walker dogs. Now those were some races ! I got a small Walker female from them about 17-18" and started her on hare. She took right to it and boy she could fly .
Those big hounds got through the snow pretty well.