Title: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: jpuckett on January 31, 2016, 08:21:10 am (http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160131/db178c3a4a3aa3ffe20db50c29e0e9ee.jpg)
Watching the dogs cover ground and hunt out really well has to be my favorite part of the hunt. Sometimes we have dry runs and don't come home with meat but as a dog owner anytime the dogs work how you want them to, it's a win either way. On hard tracking days when I can hunt I like to still go, I want my dogs to experience hard tracking days so the easy days are easier and they can still have success on the hard days. Yesterday most of the day we didn't have good wind and the ground in most of the area was super dry and it was hot. But I want to push them to be as good as I can... Even when that means sometimes we come home empty handed. Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: TheRednose on January 31, 2016, 10:33:13 am I feel like its a win whenever your dogs work the way you want them to.
Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: Georgia-Hawgs on January 31, 2016, 12:44:12 pm I feel like its a win whenever your dogs work the way you want them to. x2Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: jpuckett on January 31, 2016, 01:58:50 pm Agreed. :-)
Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: Mike on January 31, 2016, 02:46:06 pm Yes sir, I enjoy being out in the woods and watching the dogs work.
Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: Slim9797 on January 31, 2016, 08:46:53 pm I've started to pay more attention to my dogs on the Garmin. Today was one of them hard tracking days I think. Hasn't rained in a week and it was damn near 70 degrees when we dropped and was like 80 by 10:30 came up dry but dogs hunted good in no sign
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: Shotgun wg on January 31, 2016, 09:20:33 pm Lot of folks complain about dry runs. I feel these are the days you as a dog man can learn more about your dogs and your dogs can learn more about pulling that pig out of a hole in a tree. On these days I move slower and watch the dogs harder. It can be dang near hypnotizing. I look for the small clues as to what's going on. I like watching the dogs work a feeding area for several minutes trying to line it out. Loop after loop until you see them perk up and line out. I am in an area now with far more pigs than any place I hunted before. At first that was an actual problem. Of course they have figured that out and now it's unreal. Watching it unfold is amazing tho. I never would have thought high hog numbers could cause tracking problems but when you hit a feeding area a couple hours behind the hogs it can be.
Learn to enjoy the hunt and even dry runs can be fun. Shotgun Arkansas Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: DCHD14 on February 04, 2016, 06:41:29 pm That's very true shotgun. I had a few there in a row and it was a learning experience for me. I got a new dog I didn't know much about and I learned a lot just by watching the Garmin. And watching them work an area over and over and over, just trying to get it figured out, I love it. Right now I don't have any pups hunting but I have a 2 year old that I think will get his ducks in a row this year and really start finding hogs. He tries so hard but when I got an older dog on the ground with him, he just gets beat to the punch. It's gonna be fun to see him turn on this year. I know that's why I own dogs, the love of the game.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: l.h.cracker on February 04, 2016, 08:24:21 pm You can really learn a lot about a dog on the dry runs.You can also learn a lot about your huntin partners after a few dry runs in a row lol.
Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: Shotgun wg on February 04, 2016, 09:51:29 pm You can really learn a lot about a dog on the dry runs.You can also learn a lot about your huntin partners after a few dry runs in a row lol. You got that right. I have seen several that were all about it when we were pulling pork. When we hit a dry spell they dropped like flies. If they weren't getting mad they were wanting to go over here then go over there never giving the dogs a chance to learn and work the area's thoroughly. Shotgun Arkansas Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: DCHD14 on February 05, 2016, 09:06:15 am Yea, idk how many times the dogs could smell one but just couldn't find it... Then bam!!! A couple pigs jump out of a brush pile or tree top. Wouldn't have got on them hogs if we'd have left.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Title: Re: Good hunting dogs on hard tracking days Post by: Slim9797 on February 05, 2016, 09:26:31 am I'm working on patience. Like tomorrow I have a friend of a friend bringing his 11 yr old step son to come hunt, he's the one I'm giving these 2 dogs too(it's all a big surprise, he thinks he's just coming to hunt with some old friends). I'm so jacked about wanting to get him on his first hog with his new dogs I know I'm gonna be wanting to push like crazy trying to catch a hog, even though I know I usually come up empty because I'm pushing them to fast
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