Starting them in the DIRT.

[bency]

For those lion hunters that kick the dirt...

When you usually start a lion track whats it like for you??/what type of speed do you begin at...........do the dogs hit a spot and wiggle their tails and boo hoo, and start slowly trailing...or do they strike and start skipping...or do they strike and roll out on it drifting...

Thanks,
MB

[AZDOGMAN]

I think it depends on the age of the track and the trailing conditions. For the most part it is slow and steady till it starts getting fresher and the speed picks up. If its slow and steady all day and havent gone far, its 2 days old at least. If its a track made after midnight then its a pretty decent pace from the get go and the race dont last but a few hours. Also depends on the dogs i think.

[Big Mike]

For the most part its pretty slow and steady. Like said above it depends on the age of track and the dogs but it will be slow for the most part. Ive only had one in 15 years that was a blow and go type track, and we rode right up on that one in its bed.

If your dogs are trying to run away with it it is ussually young dogs just barking and causing a dog race.

If you watch your dogs you can tell when there about to strike. There tails will really get gone wagn and circling. With my dogs I can tell if its a lion or fox/yote. If its a fox there tails dont get going as much and they go with less vigor( probably cuz they know there not suppose to but try to get away with anyways the dirty SOB's). If its a lion there tails get really going and circling.

A few years ago me and abuddy were horseback and the dogs got real interested at a side canyon. They got really waggy and kept going back and forth over the same 30 yards or so. We got off and ate a snack and I bet it took 15 minutes and the dogs hadnt gone a 100 yards when they finally opened. We caught the lion in about 45 more minutes and the lion hadnt gone 1/4 mile from where we started it. Track wasnt old just hard to start.

[Ike]

I think it depends on the age of the track and the trailing conditions.

Times two! I've had dirt tracks in the early morning hours that went out like a bear race and others where the dogs had to dig and scratch to get or keep the track going, and therefore I don't know how a person could attribute track speed to anything other than age and scent conditions.

ike

[Cowboyvon]

I think he's just talking about starting them... from what I've heard you just don't start lions in the dirt or on bare ground fast..at least down here.. after there started they might be able to move a fresh track at a pretty good pace if the conditions are good.. But if your riding through the country and one of your dogs opens and then they all do and they take off out of there 90 to nothing I think you better get out your shocker..

The reason he asks is because this last Saturday we made a pretty big circle and we had a lot of time to talk about it while we were rounding up dogs all over the country seems like our dogs are pretty much broke until we put them together then all bets are off..

[AZDOGMAN]

That could be a problem for sure. Have dogs that are the same way, "Broke", until the puppys blow up and haul ass . They look around and see if you are holding the shocker before they decide to follow or not. lol If you have a dog that you can trust, dont run anything that he doesnt start first. The odds are you wont shock your dogs off many lions. Like said above, if the dogs start off fast and haul ass, shock em all cuz the odds are its not a lion.

[Mike Leonard]

I agree with Von and when i get one of them blow and goes it usually is junk. I don't get too many of them but it will happen from time to time even with older dogs.

Have you guys that do this a lot ever noticed your dogs and you are riding thru and area and you can notice a change come over them especially the start dogs and not that they are trailing or even winding they just seem like at times they can sense there has been a lion about. Such small subtle things usually go un-noticed but I have had some dogs like my old Booger dog that I would just about lay money down becasue I knew we had a track coming up. It may be just a slight change of direction or posture in the dog and the other dogs will pick up on it as well, and then maybe a few hundred yards or so boom it happens. At times it may be slight winding but other times I know the wind has not been right for it.

[Ike]

But if your riding through the country and one of your dogs opens and then they all do and they take off out of there 90 to nothing I think you better get out your shocker..

I generally look for the track my dogs rig or open on and if it ain't (the lion track) on the ground it usually ain't something they get to run. Both my parents and my grandparents came from Missouri (the show me state) and I usually make them show me! If a man can't tell the different between a fresh trash race and the way a cold or hot lion track starts then he hasn't done much of it or paid much attention............

ike