Encouraged yet Discouraged

[Redbarntrailhounds]

Went cat hunting for the first time today. After 3 hrs of searching for tracks we found one. My hunting partner waited with the truck while I walked my two coon dogs over the clean round cat tracks. They investigated each step on lead for about a half mile before they found an excitement that seemed to grow with each step.
I unleashed the pair and found out I am not the athlete I once was. The race heated up and I began to fall out of the race. Then it went quiet. They had lost it. I finally caught up to them about 15 min later feeling like an overweight wrestler that had enjoyed about ten too many summer breaks and this was they first day of practice after a summer of dating the coach's daughter.
I was upset with my self for not getting there sooner. The cat had circled almost 3 miles according to my garmin and we were almost back to the start. They had the whole area tracked up so bad I could not find the track.
I decided to walk out to the road and let my partner know what had happened. When I got back to the truck I told him I didn't want to give up on this cat and though we should go back and circle the loss more.
When we pulled over the truck I let the dogs out and they headed in quickly towards where they left it. Just as I started back into the woods the dogs lit up again.

[Redbarntrailhounds]

Long story short my female had started a new race that I assumed was the lost cat. But in actuality was a pair of juvenile trash that I let them run for the better part of a hour.
From good to bad just like that.
Poor handling and delayed training wrecked the day.

[tradslam]

That isn't a wrecked day, that's just hunting

[bmattison]

My day was very similar. I'm trying to lean more to the encouraged side and not the discouraged. I'm kind of in the same boat I am trying to convert my old coon dog and start a pup on cats. The old dog doesn't trash but the pup does a little. Good Luck and stay encouraged!

[Redbarntrailhounds]

It has been raining the last couple days. If the temp would drop I could try again.