New to Bobcat Hunting help?

[eskinner45]

Ok so here's the deal I'm starting to get into bobcat hunting. I have coon hounds and i have tried to run cats with them unsuccessfully just don't run it fast enough. So what I would like to do is get two pups to train together to hunt bobcats with. Now should I get two pups from the same litter or two pups from separate litters? Get one out of some dogs that cold trail really well and tree really hard and one out of some dogs that move a track really fast like out of some running bred dogs? Then they both would kind of feel in the others weaknesses to make a good team running together. Would that work or would it just not work that way at all? Looking for some good input.

[david]

In my experience you only need one dog that is a "catch dog". This dog has the gifts and is using all of them to get up on the cat and force it to stop. He may or may not be able to cold track good, he may or may not be able to tree hard. But if you don't have this one dog, you will not catch many cats, if any.

If you want straight bobcat dogs that won't fool with coon, then you will also need that one dog who can cold trail like crazy, stay tight on the cold track and never make a loss. Does not need to be a fast dog, just steady. You probably already have that dog if you have good coon hounds. Problem is: coon will keep you from cats. If it's midwinter though, you should be able to use a good broke coon dog to cold trail your cats.

[eskinner45]

Ok so what i really need now is a fast track dog to catch the cat and i can use my con dog too cold trail until my fast track dog can trail it.

[eskinner45]

Also do males normally make better catch dogs than females or vise versa? I have also heard females are smarter on the track so would a female make a better cold trail and tree dog?

[david]

As a young man trying to copy the old time bobcat hunters where I lived, I used all females. But in my old age, I have seen so many awesome bobcat dogs that were male, I say get whatever you can and hunt it hard.

A comment I got from a trainer of horses and cow dogs that I sure sat up and took notice: females, dogs, horses, people, doesn't matter, they have the fertility cycle and sometimes they are up sometimes they are down. Intact males, horses, dogs, people, can develop 100% of the skill and give more like 400% of the heart: all the time, and not just when the cycle is right. Cut either sex, he says you loose a lot. I thought it was interesting, although I know some who would disagree with him. Those old timers were using mostly spayed females on bobcat.

[eskinner45]

Ok thanks I really appreciate the help I think you have answered the majority of the questions i have as of now but I'm sure I will have more in the future.

[david]

Same guy said female cow dogs were more gritty and less "smart" about going in for some hide. I think the bear hunters I have known preferred males. My best bobcat dogs were always female, because I didn't keep males. I know of a male right now who has no idea what it means to stand back and bark at a bobcat. He just kills without a word and does not talk with his mouth full.

Pick a dog, either sex, and work it hard.

[david]

I did not mean to give you the false impression that a good "catch dog" needs to be gritty, as in run a cat down and grab it with teeth. Some of the best bobcat dogs out there were rejected from bear packs because they would not go in on a bear. They don't have to grab the cat, they just have to make it stop, and either climb, or face off. Hopefully your cold tracker will not be too far behind at that point and can get there and help out.

[david]

Also understand that the above strategy is not the "pack mentality" of the "large pack" bobcat hunters. It is the "poor man of the north country" method for common folk like you and me; where the best single bobcat dog is two of 'em. And the best pack is two of 'em.

[eskinner45]

Right that makes sense so i don't need a gritty aggressive dog i just need a dog that can work a track really fast so that she can stop the cat. So something along the lines of a running bred dog?

[david]

Correct. Many serious bobcat hunters these days have some running dog (foxhound) blood. Anywhere from 100% down to 1/4.

I never got the news in my own little world and caught a lot of cats once I got the right cur/mixed bred dogs. Did not delight in the track, delighted in the animal itself. Used the track as a tool: means to an end. (Unlike most coon bred hounds)

[eskinner45]

So in that case I'm willing to travel for a pup who has some of the better running dog crosses?

[schriver]

I been doing a lot of research on some good dogs. twist on here has some really good ones. I don't have any of his stuff. I sure would love to have some.

[david]

Call the number I gave you. He might know some guys to the south of you. I don't know of pups right now. Also go back in the classifieds here they are sometimes advertised. Or do what they did, go to the east and south and find foxhounds that are bred for gray fox "on the outside", in other words, not bred for running inside pens. Get a pure bred grey fox bred foxhound, use that dog to hunt with and also cross it on a tree hound. Then you can watch the whole litter, if you live in a suitable place for that.

Check the fox hound websites and magazines. There are countless foxhounds out there. If you read the posts on here you can also see who has pure bred foxhounds.

[david]

Hopefully you have gathered that bobcat hunting with dogs is a very difficult and expensive sport. As some have said, an addiction to drugs would probably make a lot more sense. Don't start into this thing unless you are stubborn, persistent, self motivated, competitive, like to be alone and like hunting alone, having money you would like to get rid of, and not good with calculating how much you are actually spending, and would like to separate yourself from everyone who loves you.

If these things are not true of you, let me suggest you use your gifts to build a new house on 100 acres. It will be a lot cheaper by the time you figure in all of your expenses like divorce and lawyers for getting your neglected kids out of prison.