deschmidt27
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Jun 2008
Location: Burlington, CT
Posts: 1758 |
Why Open Trailing Would Is Necessary
OK, if we assume that all of these silent dogs are not being turned out, right on top of the coon, then we have to assume that like our open trailing hounds, they have to first go find a track and then work the track out until they tree. Now... many have argued that they will work that track out quicker, not because they have better noses, but because their silence allows them to sneak up on the coon, and put more pressure on them. But it still won't be instantaneous, every time. I'm sure, that just like the open trailing hounds, they will "slam dunk" one every once in awhile, but for the most part they're will be a great deal of silence in the woods while these dogs find and work-out a track, especially if what they find is a cold feeder, track.
Which means, that unless you have a bell on them, or are watching them on a Garmin, you have no idea where they are or what they are up to, right??? At any point in time, they could be looking for a track or working one out, and since they don't open you can't be certain which they are doing.
So I take back what I said before, about a dog opening only on tree as being like only watching the touchdowns in a football game. It's really more like watching a football game, but only during the scores and turning the TV off and staring at a blank screen in silence, between the touchdowns!!!
You guys that say only treeing the coon matters, can't all being turn loose in "coon zoos" which means you must spend a lot of time staring at the dark, in silence, right? Even with all the fun you're having treeing more coon than us with open-trailing hounds, do you really enjoy standing around wondering where your dog is, and what they're doing?!?
Now... let's take these silent dogs to my neck of the woods, in January when there's a foot of snow on the ground and the only coon that are moving are the rutting boars looking for sows, and some of those tracks go a quarter mile from one woods to another, or even longer. These silent dogs may be running a track, but they're not telling you where they are or where they're headed. And so you must rely on technology, like a Garmin, to prevent losing your dogs. And it's no wonder our fore-fathers required coon hounds, who weren't just chasing squirrels in front of you, to open on track. Otherwise they would have lost a lot of coon dogs out in the cold.
And I'm sure some of you might say, "well, I wouldn't hunt in a foot of snow!" And you may say that, but then, who has the coon dog, now!
David Schmidt
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10-30-2011 04:05 PM
Being silent does not keep a dog from being a true hound!
