Lined Up A Good Spot Today
Well, I was at the local restaurant this morning and ran into a farmer on whos' land I used to goose hunt. But since he retired a couple years ago there are no cornfields to bring the honkers in. I asked about the two ten acre Christmas tree stands that he has. He said there are all kinds of rabbits in them and that I should give it a go.
So I went out there this afternoon with my Basset pup who is now 8 months old and just started running & sounding off a little bit a couple weeks ago.
The place was a maze of tracks and we jumped 5 cottontails. The pup got on all of them and ran them pretty well. But every one ended by holing-up under some piece of snow covered equipment. This place has alot of old implements lined up along the edge of the pines and hay fields.
I'm going to go back in the morning and shoot the first one I can. If they're not going to run I at least want to get one so this pup can finally get some fur in his mouth. After that I'll only shoot ones that he runs.
Went out there again today with the same results. The pup got 3 cottontails going and all ran under either equipment or an outbuilding. One did run for the dog a bit though. It took him out a hundred yards or so. Swung out another fifty yards and back around until it went under a hay shed. I was able to watch most all of the run which was about 3/4 of a circle.
Funny thing is that this pup hasn't sounded off on a cottontail yet. Only on snowshoe hares.
Sounds like you found a good spot for exposure to scent, just not great for those long runs.
I have not run any hare in my short experience with these dogs, but I have been told that they leave a very strong scent. The cottontails don't leave as strong a scent so he might take longer to open on them.
I took QT out sunday for 2 hours with Dagger on some public land in Pinckney and we got one good buck rabbit up and running. They tracked him for about 30 minutes and he ran 3/4 circle then holed up. Qt ran track great, but only whimpered no opening here either.
On a side not he cut his ear and we tried everything to stop the bleeding. Second skin, no superglue available, but everything else wouldn't work. The last ditch effort I used a red hot nail and cotterized the wound. Dog didn't even flitch and the bleeding stopped instantly.
Good luck this week and weekend.
mavirck go to farm supply store buy cattle blood stop works great . had beagle rip toe nail off in a trial .put it on her stoped the bleeding . top it off she finished cast in second place.
Years ago my dad used to use a homemade ointment that oldtime cutmen for fighters would make. He'd heat a stiptick pencil in some vaseline until it all melted together.
Today I carry a tube of superglue in my vest.
I think the big problem was it was a puncture not a tear and my other dog kept licking it so it kept opening up. I bought some single use packets of super glue last night at target for the jacket and truck. Thanks for the advice.