Yesterday morning, I loaded my potlickers and drove south of Menard to give them a little exercise. I turned them loose about sunrise and there was a heavy dew on the ground. It didn't take them long to strike an old coon track and though the track was several hours old, moved it with relative ease. I checked the barometric pressure and it was high and rising. They trailed about a mile and treed and had the coon. Long story short, I treed two more before 9:00 AM and they never seemed to struggle as scenting conditions were so good. The track was over half a mile and it was getting pretty warm.
I wish I would have had these conditions when I was in the Navajo Rez a week and a half ago...
Adios,
Gary

My little squirrel dog has been enjoying the good scenting conditions lately as well. He had two squirrels treed in one tree the other day. He just seems to sense when the weather is right and gets really excited to go to the woods!

I think that dogs know when trailing conditions are good and really seem to hustle more to find the scent of what they are trained to hunt.
A week and a half ago, I was in the Navajo Rez trying to catch a lion when the conditions were not what they appeared. I cut a big tom track before sunrise on a big tom lion that was made the evening before and the wind was calm. Normally, I can dump my dogs on a track like this and they will leave there, running with their heads in the air, especially when the lion leaves the road and there is something to hold scent. We ended up following the track for over a mile with dogs only smelling here and there. Finally crossed a highway and the track was a little better as the dogs were steady trailing until a bear broke up the chase.
I was beginning to wonder why the dogs were struggling so I looked at my Garmin Fenix Watch that will give you barometric conditions as well as more information than I can possibly use. It showed the barometric pressure to be extremely low and falling.
Adios,
Gary

I left the house about 6:30 AM today and there winds were calm. After driving 12 miles south, I noticed that the grass was moving as a result of a SE breeze. There was no dew on the vegetation so I was concerned that the dogs might struggle a little this morning. Barometric pressure was pretty high (approx. 1012) according to my Garmin Fenix watch.
The dogs took an old track and attempted to go north and did for perhaps 150 yards before Jill and Pearl came back and crossed the road going south. The other four dogs joined them as they began slowly working the track in a SW direction. They trailed about half a mile and then made a loop and turned back north. I know this had to reduce their ability to smell as the wind was now pushing the scent away. After another half mile, the dogs fell treed and had the coon. They struck another track and took it less than a half mile and finally located and had the coon.
I think that this tells us that even when the conditions are breezy and dry, you can still catch game if you get a little help from the barometric pressure.
Oh, and it also helps to have dogs with really good noses....
Adios,
Gary