Running lions with one dog????

[justahunter]

[double j]

I had one dog that every year she would sneek off and tree a lion by herself . I bet she did this for ten years and I got lucky she never got killed. I think the biggest reason she didn't was because she was so loud. But if one is all you have then I 'd still go hunting.

[horshur]

single dog usually is more timid may even come back to you rather then park under the tree or hold out in a bay up. For what it's worth I have not lost any cats that way we just walk into the cat together..one particular Tom was bad he crawled into a patch of lodgepole blowdown young redbone I was hunting came and found me we walked into the setup together and my presence along with the dog got the SOB up. Would have been vet bills with a game pack. Deal with a single dog is when the SHTF you are not gonna have a vet bill.
And pay attention when the dog comes back if the are scared, go quite, act like they can't move things..probably best to leash up the pup.

[dwalton]

horshur your post reminded me of a lion years ago that a poor shot was made on. With a lion shot and was able to leave only one dogs was turned loose with me right behind it for all the above reasons. I would turn the dog that was the most cowardly to follow the track. I turned one dog loose on this cat in heavy brush three feet high she roared out , a few bays and she was on her way back to me. I move up slowly with her backing me, the closer we got the harder she pushed on the back of my legs. Finally seeing the cat I called the client up to finish the job. I am sure it would of been a different out come if I had released the hole pack. One thing hunting gives us is a lot of good old memories. Dewey

[twist]

If one dog is all you have hunt the heck out of it. If one worried about a lion killing his dog all the time you might as well throw in the towel and go play cards! The dog is more likely to get killed in the truck headed hunting. I would hate to guess the amount of cats caught with just ONE dog. Andy

[Tanner Peyton]

Haha, well I didn't know you fellas strayed from the bobcat page. This is dang near my first time out of that page. Anyhow I've never been a lion hunter and I most likely never will be. But I have caught a few lions on accident with some pups that weren't trash broke yet. I did catch a lion on the ground in the back of a canyon with one dog one time. I could see how if a fella had a pretty gritty dog that could be a real bad situation real fast. Or if you had a nasty old lion that figured out he was a lot bigger and meaner then a hound. Like David stated earlier, stay tight with your dogs so that your only minutes out at all times. I personally enjoy watching the race rather then listing to it anyhow. This is all interesting stuff and I'm learning as well. Thanks guys.

[twist]

In the mountains in Montana there isn't a man alive that can stick with seasoned dogs on a good lion track. Andy

[horshur]

it is all in how you(the man) can read sign..put your dog on a jump the race will not last more then twenty minutes 90% of the time. It is a pretty good strategy in wolf country

[twist]

[horshur]

You put your dog on top of the cougar..it is not about cold trailing it is about getting the cat caught.

[dhostetler]

I think what horshur is getting at is walking the track with a leashed dog until the lion is jumped. There are guys that hunt like that but that isn't my cup of tea

[horshur]

You don't have to walk a leashed dog. You only have to know how close you are to the Tom.
An example is a old track going into a series of rim rocks a know "day bed" area walk the top of the rims with a dog hucking some rocks small boulders down off the rims..You bump your Tom off of his siesta he skoots up and over the ridge you cut the track and ten minutes later looking at him in a tree. If you have a Tom patterned you can cut the track shorter you can know were he is headed there are "traps" where it is a simpler catch and over time and experience you can also know when to not bother cause it is always a gong show trying in there.
Just knowing when it snowed when it didn't,when it stopped,how heavy it is falling tell you a lot. And if you just run the tracks you are certain as hot(less then 4 hours) it will be short chases especially if you know the cat and the area.
I hate walking a leashed dog you don't have too.

[twist]

That procedure wouldn't work in mountains in this area for the most parts! Andy

[horshur]

[horshur]

my work partners uncle was an old time cougar hunter in the Adams lake area of BC and he in deep snow on snowshoes ran down his dogs and then the Tom lion...He treed it. Conditions were pretty extreme however.