Let’s talk.

[Rowdy Fitz]

Thanks guys! I’m gonna be hunting 3 days this next week. A couple buddies are coming out to hunt with me. Gonna try to get back on this tom that has eluded me twice now. My buddies have better dogs than I do, so they ought to be able to figure it out if mine can’t.
One of my young males has really turned on this winter. He figured out one of the losses that last hunt and was doing real good in the rocks. I’m real excited about him. Then I have a female that’s starting to hunt even though she’s been put on the back burner so I could get my males started good this winter. I just might start turning her out with them when I cut a track. Idk yet, just wish I didn’t have so many young ones. I couldn’t bring myself to cull dogs just because I couldn’t find them homes as pups.

[Hollowpoint]

https://youtu.be/uZFBLO3JfrA

[Beebout-it]

That looks like a stud of a lion!

[Hollowpoint]

BeeBout-it, it definitely is, and it's eating real good.

[Nufo]

Well today we started our journey into becoming cat hunters. My mountain cur is 2 years old and was well started but due to our move hasn’t been hunted since April. This week I got my 6 month residency so I was able to by my hunting license and hound permit.

Since I don’t have a snow mobile yet, I’m hunting out of my jeep and by foot. I drove up to a snow mobile area early this morning and hiked a road that runs along a creek. We found a bobcat track that looked like it was from last night. We worked it for about 45 minutes. My cur worked the track looping and circling but to no avail. I went in to help but couldn’t keep the track as the areas under some dense trees along the creek had the snow froze solid so we kept losing the track.

We burnt up some boot leather (about 11miles). And Rubi started learning to put her nose in the snow. I also learned that I need to invest in some snow shoes as it’s not fun when you sink waist deep in the snow.

Follow me on the GoWild app for some pictures of the country I’m Hunting

https://timetogowild.com/share/dzfYSmDaoiEh2xDwgT0JMQ

[Beebout-it]

Gorgeous country there nufo! Definitely would invest in the snow shoes especially for hiking the snowmobile trails, but if I was going to hike looking for tracks I would choose drainages that aren't accessible by snowmobile, Definitely will up your odds of not being beat. I'm sure you could find a fairly cheap snowmobile and that would up your odds of finding more tracks. Its currently 26below with the windchill so sitting home for the second day in a row is killing me. So thought I'd share a video.....https://youtube.com/shorts/kQAfZapxj-8? ... IECMiOmarE

[Rowdy Fitz]

I had a couple buddies come hunt with me this week. We ran 2 tracks that hit South slopes and then melted out so the dogs couldn’t pick it back up. One was a tom, the other was a little female. Found some older tom tracks that were too old, tried walking them out but never could pick them back up on the next north slopes. The snow just melted off too much.
Then I had an outfitter come run my tracks, putting out on every trail I did. I was polite when I ran into them but they really pissed me off. If I didn’t have plans for this week, I would be out there just to do the same thing to him.

[lawdawgharris]

Lol Rowdy I get your frustration.

Guys those are really good videos. Gorgeous country for sure. A world different than what I look at everyday. That was awesome watching the lion decide to bail. Thank y’all for sharing.


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[Nufo]

Beebout, that’s an awesome video! Thankfully the drainage I hiked yesterday had a downed tree keeping the snow mobiles from entering from the north. I’m working on finding more places as we speak. Studying onx. Hardest part with hiking and free casting is the dog messing up the tracks before I can look at them

[Rowdy Fitz]

Lawdawgharris:
That jackass watched me let a couple dogs out and walk them up the track as he was driving up behind me. Then he just parked until I drove on to try to find the other end of the track. He waited until he thought I was out of sight and hauled butt to where I was. Then he tried it too. Of course his dogs couldn’t follow a 3 day old track either. Then he kept following me for another mile and a half, until I turned around and confronted him. I did lead him into barren county though, so that’s good. The deer had moved out of the crusty snow, to lower country. He didn’t know that. Then I went into the bluffs and walked out old tracks, trying to find something fresher with no luck.

Sweet videos guys!

[lawdawgharris]

Sounds like maybe he was trying to annoy you so that you didn’t get any cats that he could potentially be making money on. Maybe his thinking was that he he bothered you enough you wouldn’t want to hint that area any longer for fear of having your hunt ruined by bumping into him and his dogs. Not that they’re any better hounds than yours but just their presence alone.

Young hunters around here are what’s going to ruin it for all of us. We have caught 2 different sets putting out dogs on the same 35 acre track knowing the place doesn’t hold hogs. They bait them in so that they have a chance of hitting a track right there and then they just take off and hunt every place around it for a ways. They have a pile of dogs and the dogs are as half a$$ed as they come so that leads to wild educated hogs. One group had bragged about cutting fences and one of the two groups is going to be responsible for stealing game camera cards and even the whole game camera down in this bottom. Just a couple days ago a hunting buddy of mine caught some boys collaring up about 10 dogs. They just drove into the place and were helping themselves. He engaged them and asked what they were doing and one of them said fixing to hunt that he had permission. So my buddy called the land owner and the three partners that run cattle on the place right there in front of them. Nobody had given them permission so they got chewed out and told next time the game warden was going to be called. Our game warden is one that doesn’t care for hog doggers and it’s all because of these types. He’s been laying dead to catch the first two groups and make an example out of them. If I catch them again, I will be calling him myself. I’ve hunted this particular area for over 20 years. Places to hunt are getting smaller and fewer by the day. I’m sure not going to let some little disrespectful punks ruin it for me. Me and my hunting circle are good with the game warden. His words were that “y’all do things the right way and I don’t ever get bad feed back about y’all”.


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[Rowdy Fitz]

Lawdawgharris:
You hit the nail on the head with that outfitter.

As far as the Punk Assed Kids, they’re definitely the ones who have been ruining the word Houndsman everywhere. We had them back in Cali when I hog hunted there. A kid I knew way back when, got busted 2 or 3 times. Once was after I told him not to go into a specific place because my buddy would call the warden and he still went in there, parked on my buddy’s property and walked in to the bigger Harris Ranch. They got busted and my buddy helped the warden catch them lol.

All the hog hunters I knew when I was there have gotten out of it. No clue who’s still running hogs there anymore. I’m sure the hogs are out of control again, because I left. I was hard on the hog population when I did removal for ranchers lol.

[Beebout-it]

Rowdy not that its a good excuse but that guy was probably just letting the pressure of producing for a paying client cloud his judgment, maybe take it as a compliment that he was trying to follow a better hunter around the woods law I see the same kind of stuff but its not always just youngsters that pull it. Never fails that you find someone sitting on a track thats crossing the corner of a tiny piece of public land completely surrounded by private that they have no permission to run on. Last season a buddy of mine and I came out from a tree to find a young kid about to turn loose on the cats we just ran, they were crossing a small piece of blm maybe had 400 yards till they hit private owned by another buddy who has dogs and the neighbors place they also have hounds. I asked what he planned to do when his dogs went on either place and he just said I'm turning out on public ground ill worry about that later even though he already knew I had caught them already on the private....basically I'm never surprised by any b.s people pull anymore because you just can't fix stupid. Just a shame they are slowly killing out way of life for our kids.

[lawdawgharris]

That’s exactly right Beeboutit. I talked to two of the boys that my nephew and I caught. We were headed to our dogs that were bayed. On our way there we see a couple of dogs and manage to catch one. Call the number on the collar and they meet us at the front gate. Found out where they turned loose and started off giving them and a$$ eatin! They were respectful enough and we kinda went into talking civil. I told them I understood hunting places were hard to find but they were hard when I started too. I did things the right way and eventually picked up more and more places along the way but if you get a bad reputation you won’t ever have much. I said you’re also on the game wardens radar, not a good place to be. I said dog hunters of all kinds should be looking out for each other instead y’all are screwing other doggers by this kind of stuff because when you get caught by the law it only gives the tree huggers, lobbyists, and anti dog hunters more ammunition. They left but I doubt it sank in at all. Then we found out that they were taken in the place they went in on by a guy that stole my buddies dog off a bay a month prior. I can’t wait to catch them back in there. Like you say, you can’t fix stupid so
I’m betting money I’ll get my chance.


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[Nufo]

Well I got my mountain cur Rubi out again today. Took her to a spot that is supposed to hold some coons. I figured since it rained last night I wouldn’t mess around trying to get deep in the woods and this place is a decent hike. I took my Stephen’s cur pup (4 months)along with us but kept her on lead. Thankful that I did as Rubi struck and left the country. Would have been difficult for my pup to keep up with her. Bad part is there was a bobcat track where Rubi struck but it was from last night and rained on. Worse part is I’m pretty sure she was running some elk. It was a good race though and she was hauling ass. Straight lines and big loops. I never saw the elk and I didn’t shock her off them since I couldn’t conform 100%. I’m dang near certain she was running elk though. A little later I’m pretty sure she stuck and ran a deer. Not quite as big of a loop as the elk took her on. It was exciting to listen to the race anyway as she was wide open and burning up the track

After that we started heading back to the truck and I let my pup off lead for a bit. She did good climbing up along the road ledges and using her nose and learning how to get through some brush.

I won’t be heading back to this spot until I’ve got Rubi chasing the target species for a while. Then I’ll try and get her sorted out if she’s still loving these deer and elk.

Rubi doesn’t like to hunt with other dogs and likes to do her own thing. If I take her with hounds she won’t range out. Alone she is starting do do pretty good getting off the road and getting out 100-200 yards searching. I feel
Like she’s gaining confidence and hunting harder so hopefully as she developes, she’ll do a little better at running with and honoring other dogs. One or two dogs and she’s fine. A Pack and she’s like no thanks