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Heres something to think about. Taking with Dale Lee he used his dogs to trail up coyotes in a trap on a drag and those dogs did not run coyotes. He also would switch his dogs in the spring for running lion when he want to bear hunt and in the fall he would do the same for running bear when he started lion hunting. He was also the guy that came with the idea of a shock collar for dogs. A hell of a hunter that lived a lot of his life hunting places that he had never been before and expecting more out of his dogs than most thought possible. I would say he lived his life hunting from what's possible and not from what's not possible. Have a good day Dewey

dwalton,

I've had dogs that I coyote hunted during the day and I coon hunted them at night. I can count on one hand the times they fooled with a coyote at night. Now the coon during the day part??? What a pain in the ass!

Here in NW Montana we get a lot of inversions in the winter due to a low sun angle under high pressure systems, not letting the air mix out in narrow valleys. This sometimes lasts for days & weeks. I always thought it helped hold the scent better in snow tracks it apparently doesn't work like that on bare ground?? I wonder if another factor might be pollutants caught in the inversions on the West Coast due to more people.

dwalton wrote:Heres something to think about. Taking with Dale Lee he used his dogs to trail up coyotes in a trap on a drag and those dogs did not run coyotes. He also would switch his dogs in the spring for running lion when he want to bear hunt and in the fall he would do the same for running bear when he started lion hunting. He was also the guy that came with the idea of a shock collar for dogs. A hell of a hunter that lived a lot of his life hunting places that he had never been before and expecting more out of his dogs than most thought possible. I would say he lived his life hunting from what's possible and not from what's not possible. Have a good day Dewey

Last fall my I called in a bull elk for my hunting partner, when he shot his arrow deflected off an alder twig, causing the arrow to enter through the gut and up to a lung. The bull went about .6 mile and died in heavy dog hair larch. There was no blood the last 400 yards and we looked for it till dark. The next morning we went in on the uphill side with 3 hounds and waited till the thermals started up. The dogs went right to it but the meat was bad. The 3 dogs I used are still broke off elk or I think so....

I need to clarify myself a little. A inversion doesn't mean you cant trail or catch a cat. I think a dog has a hard time being able to get its head up and move a track whether its trailing or jumped. Al talks about it a lot,cats being dog wise and moving out in front of the dogs. I believe that is true to a point but i think when you have a inversion it makes that scenario a lot worse. I think inversions shove the scent tight to the ground and holds it there. Low barometric pressure seems to hold the scent in that sweet spot about head high to a dog up to 6-8 ft above the ground. They can smell it good with their head up and from the top of the box also. I run a lot of cats over and over and some days the dogs struggle to keep pressure on the same cat that they knocked the wind out of a couple days before in minutes. When you run 6+ dogs on a cat you can really hear the difference between a high pressure race and a low pressure race. Don't take this as gospel as it is just what i think is happening and a couple other cat hunters i talk with.

Dhostetler ...I really like that atv trailer I think my boy has a metal shop project now.

Mark the reason I talk about cats moving ahead of the dogs is I hunt the same areas over & over, those cats have to get smart or they don/t live long. Sure, hunting dogs that open when they smell a dim cat scent alerts the cats, but, that is the type hound I enjoy. We witnessed a cat this winter heading out in a hurry, the dogs tracked another loop before reaching the place the cat had exploded from. I am not the greatest hunter in the world, however years of hunting has given me hands on experience, may not be as dumb as one great hunter thinks. Tom & I, have often agreed hunting a pack all dogs being like his Bo dog, would result in more caught cats, but, we would not enjoy cat hunting very much. However we would sure take a couple more like Bo. My experience has been a heavy low hanging fog the dogs have caught some cats that have eluded the dogs in different conditions. I have been blessed to hunt with some experienced hounds men & have learned from those, things positive as well as things I avoid doing. Sure, there are lots different opinions, that/s what hound hunting is about, educated opinions, in my opinion. In February, the dogs jumped six cats & treed all six, certainly not impressive numbers to some, however dogs can/t catch more than they jump. Al

Al,my dogs are very vocal and these cats get dogged to death too. The point i was making is that in a inversion that cat moving out in front of the dogs has more of an advantage as the dogs cant get their head up as good or quick as they can in a good low barometric situation. I like good heavy fog days when the dew is very heavy too. But not when the fog is trapped by an inversion. Two different types of days i think. If it took brains to hunt these dogs i would be fishing. Never really had any mentors for cat hunting,learned it all the hard way.

ridgerunners wrote:Dhostetler ...I really like that atv trailer I think my boy has a metal shop project now.

When I first got this trailer it had little atv type tires with bad bearings, I got the bearings and tires changed to match my snowmobile trailer tires. Once on the way home from an Idaho bear hunting trip, on a long gravel road I got 2 flat tires on my trailer. I now have plenty of spares for my trailer!

Mark, I have heard your dogs are very vocal, & very good. I am probably not smart enough to figure out when we have an inversion. I will try to pay more attention to the the pressure, thanks for the tip. However, just hunt when I feel up to hunting. I wish I would just keep my opinions to my self. But, this site gets boring when we all agree on everything & after all it/s just an opinion. Thanks Al

Im not disagreeing with you at all just passing on some stuff i have been paying attention to the last few years. I dont go hunting or not go hunting because of what the pressure is but it has helped me come up with some reasons for the dogs acting like they have never ran a cat before on some days. Lol
I hope i never come across like i have the best dogs around because i DONT! not even close and it is not my intent to sound that way. I do however believe that there are always better dogs to be had and will keep looking and trying until i cant hunt any longer im sure. I have a type/style of dog i prefer but if i see another totally different type of dog that is very successful i will do what i need to get my hands some of the blood.

DONT keep you opinions to yourself,put em on here!

I never translated it into a hunting situation but explain why some days after showering, the bathroom mirror stays clear. 99% of the time the mirror fogs up after a shower. Its always during a low pressure but not all low pressures. This is in winter time so inside temp. is constant, happens a handful of times over the winter. Should make it habit to shower before running the dogs then I might have a clue how it affects scenting if at all.

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a shower is when your standing up in the big toilett the one where the water comes in above your head mark

Im sure no expert on cat hunting without the white stuff on the ground but I can't figure out why heavy fog days wouldn't be a good day to hunt. The scent has to be there just maybe not lifting but to me that is were cold trailing should come in. If a hound has to always run with its head up and not slow down and grub for the track that is not considered cold trailing to me. If a dog can run with his head up on a track that is to me a fairly good track. Andy