K. I'm not agreeing, disagreeing or telling you how to do it, just makin a guess cuz I had the same view back when I did alot of walk hunting. I have since changed my strategy, mind and seen different results. I let one dog out and either hunt till they strike or drop them on a trail or wallow. Once they're gone out of ear shot, I can (if I choose) leave the first one to it and keep hunting for another spot to turn out the next one.
Blah blah blah...
What I've found is I can evaluate who can do what alot better this way. Instead of a pup who "hunts out with the big dogs" I can see wether they can even smell something, have interest in it, and will cast on it. If they don't I'll put an older dog on it instead to see if maybe I'm wrong about the trail. If not, put the pup back down with em.
If the first dog bays and these dogs can hear it, they should honor (usually will, but don't have to)
When I walk hunted, the dog with the most talent would dominate, and all the others got increasingly more "helpy". That's the natural progression among dogs when you just toss them to eachother and let them make the rules. (your help dogs MAY have it in them to hunt for themselves if you start asking them too.) While it was a good way to get all the other dogs on lots of hogs, it taught them to not hunt, but instead to pack. I don't desire my dogs to pack, I would rather they each hunt. So after I hunted with some guys I really look up to, I simply stole the tricks I saw them using and brought em down south.
I found that some dogs who are natural followers actually do really really really freaking well when you flip the script on them! And I found that one dog who I thought was a good strike dog was actually much slower and less effective than I'd figured once I took all the fast curs off of his trail barking a$$.
Well anyway. That's what I've seen, maybe it'll be of use to you.
Makes a whole lotta sense T-bob. I like that strategy .
