Hot weather hunting...

[Goose]

What are some tips and tricks that anyone could share about hot weather hunting and treating over heated dogs, other than conditioning what do you do to help your dogs out during the summer, especially you dry ground desert hunters.

[mark]

Water Water Water, and lots of air going through the dog box.

[Grzyadms4x4]

Get in the field early and get out of the field early and what Mark said.

If the dogs get hot, get 'em cool. I'll let them play in a cow tank and then get them in the shade. If no body of water is around I find some shade and get their feet, belly and ears wet.

Best thing is to just pay attention to their behavior and watch for signs of distress. It's easier to keep them from getting to hot than it is to help them once they're past that threshhold and your a long ways from help. There are probably some others on here that could add a thing or two.

[Goose]

I started adding a cup of water to their feed the evening before I hunt them during the summer and a cup the evening of the hunt when I go to feed up, I bought some of the blue light powdered electrolytes and mixed them to the specs for dogs and add that to the water I put in their feed, do yall see anything wrong with doing either?

[merlo_105]

Goose, Sound's good to me. I always keep a jug of pedialyte in the truck and have one in my fridge. I water there food down year round breaks down easier and they don't have to draw water out of there system to do it. As everyone said just watch them and keep them cool. Try to remember where all the water pockets are and so on. Good luck

[david]

Goose, I learned down south that a lot of dogs had short careers because of liver issues; until they learned to have constant water available.

You will see trucks with 4" PVC pipes rigged up as water tanks on top of the box or up along the divider inside the box; an inlet valve or cap, and an outlet faucet or valve, hoses or tubes running all over the place and they open the valve and keep the buckets half full. They have buckets underneath, and buckets up on the rigging deck. And those dogs learn to depend on it. When the race comes close to the truck and it is hot out I have even seen dogs run to the truck and get a drink and then back in the race like nascar.

As has already been said by Mark and others: water, water, water. And I would add the word "constant" water. They have to carry a lot of water to do this.

I use the term "box" above very loosely. They have no solid walls or solid doors. Everything is aluminum tubing. Nothing to block airflow, and many of them are tall enough for dogs to stand completly erect. As John Wick wrote, you can loose an entire pack of dogs when they get too hot. It is rare or completely unheard of to loose them from being too cold. Err on the side of ventilation.

[Goose]

Thanks David, and everyone else, the reason I started this post was to see what other hunters do, I live in southeast la southwest ms, I'm right on the line, I know what your referring to box, that is what I have, I'll be rigging me up a pipe here shortly, was going to do that last year but just carried few bowls and a couple of milk jugs of water.

[HOGMAN]

All the above are very good. Had a dang good dog die of a heat stroke this summer. A young dog. Cause I wanted the hog so bad I turned out again and it costed me. Big time. Get in early and out early. Night hunt a lot more and day hunt less if u can.


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[HOGMAN]

Daylight to 10am is pretty ruff on a dog in the summer. Night hunting is harder. Though for sure. If it wasn't necessary I wouldn't do it. But I got to train pups. Can't sit em up all simmer and wait till they're a year and half old to really hunt em hard.


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[Mike Leonard]

Lots of great ideas here!

a point to remember if you are hunting during the daylight hours and the sun is out(ultraviolet rays). UV rays reflect and produce more heat close to the ground where the dogs is trailing then up in the air where you are walking and breathing.

Out here in the desert southwest we deal with this a lot and also with a lot of rocky surfaces it heats up much quicker down low than the ambient air temperature.

We lion hunt on horseback a lot and although it seems pretty cool up there on that horse when that bright sun comes out and up at this high elevation 6-8000 feet that sun really glares. We select hounds that are more tolerant to heat than some others but even then you have to watch them that they don't melt down on you when they really get to pounding on a tuff trail. We generally take a pack horse or mule on longer hunts when we know we won't be where there is available water. I pack gallon empty juice jogs with water and take some of those collapsible buckets to water the dogs. I also pack a couple of spray bottles with water so if you get one really overheated you can spray their belly and pads down as this really seems to bring their temp down quick. you have all noticed how those dogs want to stand in that water or lay down in it when they get really hot. dogs don't sweat and they have to pant and also lose heat thru their feet.

Good luck out there and be careful cuz watching a dog die of heatstroke is not a pretty deal.

[Nolte]

I've found that it's important to pay attention to the woods conditions as well as heat and humidity. Dogs seem to be able to run in hotter Temps if there is a lot of dew in the am that holds til late am. Same for in swamp or water country. Dogs will come out soaking wet and happy as a clam. Same day with no dew and they could come out staggering. So if you've got mixed country try up top and dry early and swampy later.
Also, know your cutoff point and pull the pin when it gets there. Go find a lake to float around in with a Cooler. Let those dogs rest up in the shade for the next day. But if you do get dogs that are toned up from running in the heat, cool Temps it will almost seem easy for them.

[pegleg]

Iv's I carry two.its always your better hounds so its worth it. I'll pull dogs off a good track if I can catch them near water and make them take a minute they don't like it but learn to deal with it and its actually put them back into shape to finish tracks . even though they weren't hurting they sure would have been if they had tried to keep going.