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yes thats what i consider busy a dog that is looking where it knows a cat might have passed and learning where to look for those lost tracks and checking those ledges etc. that's busy. Ike said he didn't want a hound to strike three hundred yards out well in my definition a busy hound seldom gets that far ahead as that hound is making absolutely sure there is no cat scent anywhere in the close/100yds "although a real busy dog will see a caty area and just have to check it out" area which takes a lot more time then just trotting along in a line hoping someone else finds some scent or you blunder into it. so busy thinking,looking, scenting and most importantly thinking about things mostly cats. watch a busy hound and you can see the wheels turning in there.

pegleg wrote:Ike said he didn't want a hound to strike three hundred yards out well in my definition a busy hound seldom gets that far ahead as that hound is making absolutely sure there is no cat scent anywhere in the close/100yds "although a real busy dog will see a caty area and just have to check it out" area which takes a lot more time then just trotting along in a line hoping someone else finds some scent or you blunder into it. so busy thinking,looking, scenting and most importantly thinking about things mostly cats. watch a busy hound and you can see the wheels turning in there.

My point was a tom lion generally picks a line and walks it, and if that tom crosses a ridgetop in a saddle where my dogs are working each and every dog I have is in line with striking that tom--it's just a matter of who hits the scent line first. Same with a narrow canyon, cause most toms will scratch and move up or down that canyon bottom for some distance. About the only time a tom comes straight across a narrow drainage is when side draws are involved and he's headed for a point across that drainage. In other words, if a lion crosses a ridgetop or narrow drainage (canyon bottom) and my six hounds are ahead of me ain't no way in hell they aren't going to strike it, hot or cold track, even if that track is too old to run......

But if busy means "thinking, looking, scenting, and most importantly thinking about cats" then all of my dogs do that..........

ike

Interesting topic.
I too like a dog that works close. The terrain I hunt here is steep, rough with heavy underbrush and big trees. With creeks and streams flowing everywhere, more often than not I'm standing next to one trying to listen for the dogs as they work out a track from some critter. They don't have to be very far away to have their voices drowned out by water and wind. Close means within 100m to me, and I don't like the mutts to range further than this unless they're on something for real and not just track searching.

I suspect a "busy" dog has genes that allow it to hunt that way.......
Do you think your close-ranging dogs are [ genetically ] bred to hunt close? or have you taught them to do so? If so, what's your technique?

close far its all up to you. some dogs are big running dogs and the walker breed has a lot of this. however like mike referenced pointers there are few if any dogs that are driven to range and search like a pointer"some don't I know, most do" how ever you start that pup and when he ranges farther then you want you get him to come back and pretty soon he gets tired of you bothering him and learns to stay in your comfort zone. now if you already have some deep dogs it will be hard to get him to stay closer when hunted with them. so work it alone and keep it in your range.

Busy absolutely!
I find that when we are in open country the busy hounds like to range out to 100 yds or so which is great,thats comfortable for me.
When we are in tight cover,timber and brush they stay very tight,20-30 yds which I really like.
We hunt as a team and whether they have learned their boundaries or understand my limitations it just seems to happen.
I have a young Walker male that is very busy and quite manageable from the saddle,he is a great rig dog but is very silent on a ground strike,unless the track is a smoker.
He just goes out quiet and unless I can see him he will just vanish,I hate that but the little Potlicker will get one going to be sure.
The team will shore up his short commings and keep it all vocal so it all works for me too.
If your sellin the complete package,I'm buyin.
They just don't seem to come programed a litter at a time.