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slycat wrote:My wife ran the iditarod this last year 1100 miles in 13 days, -55 on the yukon not counting the wind chill . No frozen pads,little frost bite on a couple dogs not bad . So whats to cold ? What ever YOU cant handel is to cold .The dogs will do fine if in good shape and health .

x 2 that's how I see it too. I have hunted -30 and it is no dam fun, but still better than sitting home wishin. I did have a buddy leave dogs over night and one froze to death, but I think that just goes back to conditioning and an individual dogs ability to hold up in the cold. as far as feet and titts, never had a problem there.

i think the alaska huskys are made to handle a bit colder weather than a hound can handle not exacly apples compared to apples li freediver

slycat, that's pretty neat she ran the Iditarod. I used to race sled dogs when I was a kid, had a ton of fun doing it.

I would, however, not hesitate to have my sled dogs out in extreme cold. My hounds on the other hand have none of the same cold weather qualities that huskies have. Everything on a sled dog is build and bred for cold survival, hounds are not. My point is, when hunting under 0 degrees (and I have done it plenty) if 1 thing goes wrong, dogs can and will get hurt badly or die. Just not my cup of tea to be way under zero, if guys like to do it, more power to ya. I guess if I hunted in a truck more it may be different but most my hunting is on mules and below 0 is just miserable.

The second lowest temperature ever rcorded in the lower 48 states was was -69 degrees on February 1, 1985 at Peter Sinks, just east of Logan, Utah. I had the day off because of the cold and was hunting bobcat on my snowmobile that same day in the same area. I remember thinking it was a bit nippy.

I picked up another hunters dog that had been out for a few nights in -15, and his lungs were messed up he couldn't bark when I had him for a few days. I don't know if he ever healed.

To me it more depends whats the wind is like. I can handle well below zero, but if the wind is steady and it's 10 above it's to cold, but -20 and no wind is fine. When the wind is a blowing it just cuts right through ya and makes it damn miserable. I like and can handle the cold far better than I can handle the heat. When it's warm out I melt like a snowman in the july sun. I'll take below zero over the heat any day.

Daytime temp has to hit 0 for me to turn loose. Below that you are just asking for problems. Yes it can and has been done at cold temps, but what price are you willing to pay? Vet bills or ruined top hound, equipment malfuntions it all seems to go to hell when it is well below zero. I may be a wuss, but i will be a WARM wuss!!!!!!

I figure a real cold day out hunting Is better than a warm day sitting inside. I've had frostbite but I just bought better clothes and boots. I pack lots of fire making supplies so of It gets that cold I can build a fire. The wind is the biggest thing I worry about just cause its hard to hear the dogs and its hard to hide from it. I believe its the conditions your dog are in and what they are used to. JMO

I'm not so worried about myself, but below zero all day on a run can burn a dogs lungs for good. I believe my dogs handle the cold well as they live out in it, but when they start to run a track, breath hard ,and work hard in below zero weather it aint good. Sure they can probbably handle it while they are warm, but its the after effects that take place when their body and breathing slow down at the end of the day running in below zero weather. I do enjoy Mar to May a lot more than nov thru feb though.

I would say its never too cold. -30 is the coldest ive ever hunted in

high desert hounds wrote:Its never to cold if you want to go. the dogs can handle a lot more than we can

i agree never to cold you aint catchin if your sittin on your ass at home

From what ive seen when its-0 you might as well sit home and drink coffee till 10am then go out and see what crossed...often times the dogs will run that same track faster when it warms up at 10am then they would have at 6am and the -0 temps

i would half to agree with bplott on this, i turned out last season just as it was getting light the truck indicated that it was -27 i put my two main dogs down the snow was frozen stiff the track must have been made early in the night or sooner? all those two dogs could do was slowly cold trail and dance around like there feet hurt. i loaded the two dogs in the cab of the truck to warm up ( lead dog from prior race always gets a spot in the cab on next outing) i then cut roads for a few more hours and returned to this figurung i could walk it out since it seemed to be headed for good country and the sun was shining and the tempature was now +3. i unloaded a year old pup of mine and then went to unload the other two out of the cab. before i could get the other two out she had started trailing on her own, the two older dogs hit the track and flew catching the cat less than two miles away.i have seen several instinces similar to this....

Gosh Guys I guess I am the wuss when it comes to the cold....

I am with the others when it comes to the wind, It seems colder at 20 with a wind than zero with no wind. The wind just eats right through your cloths. Also where I hunt it does not get that cold to often. Usual cold night where we hunt in Southern California is in the mid twenties so we do not dress for the real cold like you poor guys up north. I think my dogs would have a heart attack just seeing snow let alone run in it...

No I have hunted in the snow a few times but glad I live where it is a choice not a fact to go hunting....

I dont keep a thermometer around cause I hunt every day no matter what so I cant tell u exact temps but will say I am going to start being very careful taking females that have ever had pups when it feels really cold out and there is snow. Seems like after there nippels peck out that extra little bit after having pups they dang sure freeze. Dont really notice this hurting them but every time I do it those nipples get bigger and stay bigger. Ugly as heck and then they get rubbed raw in the brush.