Turning a Track Around

[Walkerdirt]

I was out with a friends free casting both our packs through some cat country. Our dogs struck a track and they ran it pretty fast for maybe a mile or two. The track ended on a well vegetated hill side that was screaming bedding area to me. We came to the conclusion that the dogs had run the track backwards. We did our best to get the dogs back to where they started it but it took us so long and the temperatures were starting to heat up so we ended up calling it a day.

My buddy started telling me about a couple dogs he had in the past that had figured out how to turn a track around on their own. As in they would figure out they were going the wrong way and come back up the track the right direction. Has anyone else ever had a dog like this?

One of mine will stick to the bed as he is a track straddler and the other two will circle the bed to keep looking for the track but none of them have the experience to turn it around. I'd like to hear about these legendary dogs.

[GVBEAR]

I have seen it done on bear. I was tagging along with friends last spring in Idaho it was with their dogs. They had a strike, they let a couple dogs out which went off barking good. So they let the rest go. Dogs went in roughly 1/2 mile maybe a little more, and then it got silent. They said shoot they went the wrong way. Then they all came back single file and went across the road. Jumped the bear not long after. I said wow, they said it does always go that smooth, sometimes you have to grab a couple to straighten it out. I was impressed, my pack has not been that talented and doubt they could, but the area I hunt i don't do much rigging or get a lot of rigs. I have not saw it done with cats but only ever hunted them in snow so can see before they start.

Happy hunting

[Nolte]

Usually the good cold trailers figure it out on their own and are right most of the time. Now if you put two stubborn ones down it seems that one will take it right and the other wrong, so you just gotta check them to see which one is right. I have also seen some old crafty bear broke trailers that loved to go backwards because they got to be out and trail but would never get to the business end of a bear.

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[dwalton]

In 55 years of running hounds I have owned 4 dogs that would almost always turn a track around be it coon, bobcat, bear or lion. Some dogs do it on a hot track some times, it seems that the colder the track the harder for them to turn around. Dogs will be better at getting the track out with only one dog working it out before turning in a pack. Them there are some dogs that it just does not matter they will go the way they were headed when they hit the track. For me with bobcat hunting it makes a big difference if a dog will not work a back in the number of bobcats you catch. Dewey

[macedonia mule man]

I don’t know how many on here have ever done any rabbit hunting with good beagles, but they can make turning a track around extremely simple. I guess it could be there tight track running style.

[al baldwin]

Most of the dogs I have owned have been good about turning a track around. In my experience some families of dogs have the ability to get the correct end of a track & others just don/t. Some hunters have told me they do not want dogs that will turn a track the hunter will decide when to turn the dog. To each his own. Just offer my experience to let you know dogs that turn tracks are not that uncommon. Al

[wvhounder]

I second that mule man. I’ve ran beagles since I was 13 and I’ve had some good ones. They’ll turn that track pretty quick. It’s pretty neat.


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[lawdawgharris]

Al I have a question. Do you think those hunters that want to decide for their dogs about when to turn a track have as good a set of dogs as the hunters that leave it up to the dogs to decide? I ask because many times over the years, I've second guessed or doubted my dogs thinking I was smarter only to be proven wrong myself more times than not. I know these aren't exactly the same scenarios but I think a hunter can get in the way sometimes thinking he knows something he really doesn't. I've personally never turned my dogs on a track. I have seen young dogs try to take it the wrong way but end up turning it around or abandoning it to go to the dogs that went the right way and were bayed. I've been fortunate I guess that these hound/cat crosses are pretty good at moving the right direction. Of course I don't usually have to grind out cold tracks very often because of the hog numbers here.

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[lawdawgharris]

I think dewey is right about one dog turning a track around sooner than a pack too. Competition can drive them further.

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[Walkerdirt]

[al baldwin]

Lawdawgharris, one of the hunters who preferred to decide when to turn his hound around on a track owned one of the best bobcat catching dogs at that time. Yes Dewey is sure correct if one lets one dog start the track much better chance of getting the right end of track in beginning. I have also found by free cast dogs in front of rig instead of boxing track ups one chance of getting right track end. Have experienced just because a dog is good at turning the track does not mean that dog is the best in the pack at catching the game once the track is going in the right direction. Seems most all families of dogs have things they do well & fall a little short in other areas. Just my experience. Al

[macedonia mule man]

Maby trying to run a track that’s to old to start with is the reason for so much backtracking when lion hunting, I’ve noticed in the videos that I’ve seen when they are working a old or track with bad scenting, they always tend to want to move it backwards before they turn back to the foreword direction. I like to watch a dog work a cold track from inside to outside before swinging, if I was hunting lion I think I would try a dog that circled out a little quicker than I’ve seen on the video. May not work, but It don’t hurt to try.

[Nolte]

I think one of the reasons that dogs go backwards in bad tracks is that there simply is no scent except in certain spots. So they pick and find a spot, then cast a long way out to find the next and so on. And that bread crumb tail leads to a more consistent trail but that doesnt neccesarily mean the right end. It could just be a better spot where the scent was holding better under shade or more moisture, whatever. The good ones eventually figure that and come in back to start the process going a different way. And this could mean multiple ins and outside to add some confusion. Typically we let the dogs do their thing until we can check if we can. If not we just keep going. Roads are notorious for this, a small good trail to the road and then poof, gone. Dogs want to go back to where they had scent and don't want to figure it out on the road or go down it for a quarter mile. And critters are lazy and like to walk down roads when there is no activity on them.

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[Cowboyvon]

[quote="macedonia mule man"]Maby trying to run a track that’s to old to start with is the reason for so much backtracking when lion hunting, I’ve noticed in the videos that I’ve seen when they are working a old or track with bad scenting, they always tend to want to move it backwards before they turn back to the foreword direction. I like to watch a dog work a cold track from inside to outside before swinging, if I was hunting lion I think I would try a dog that circled out a little quicker than I’ve seen on the video. May not work, but It don’t hurt to try.[/quote

Yes I think you nailed it ... although we caught one lion this year and the dogs trailed it like it was a week old and then bam there was a lion not even a jumped race ... conditions vary so much day to day down here it just always kinda keeps me confused lol

[Cowboyvon]