non cat stock

[coontail]

Are any of yall treeing cats with dogs that dont have cat huntin backgrounds?

[pegleg]

Remember most hounds have evolved over the years and as different game becomes fashionable or legal they change more. A hound can catch cats if you has the desire to. However even in cat hound strains you find some that don't .

[david]

In the upper Midwest something close to 100% of the bobcats caught with dogs are caught by bear dogs and coon dogs and coyote dogs used on bobcat tracks in the snow.

[pegleg]

There are natural hounds. But most are somewhere on a sliding scale. Like David said snow can make your job as handler easier in deciding what your dog is allowed to run or encouraged to run. Having a dog that will tack a track on command is real helpful in some cases.
That said a natural cat minded dog makes life so much easier for those of us that have to rely on the hounds honesty. Why some dogs never get completely straight varies. But even with hounds from cat bred families there's often pups with trashy tendencies. But you are far more likely to get easy to break and less trashy hounds.
The number one reason to go with proven cat dog families is actually all the other traits that combine to allow a hound to be successful on cats. One thing is intelligence. But a often overlooked or even avoided trait is a calmer hound . cat tracks can require more thought then other game. For example here very few hounds can take anything but a hot track and go with it. So if that dogs racing around bellowing and not doing much thinking or working it out he never gets past the scent pool that caught his attention. My best dogs aren't real amped up or flashy in the field. Its nice to see young dogs get excited over scent but its much better to see one calm down and start working it and thinking instead of racing around.
It almost proves the saying here that if they're running it , it isn't a cat. Sometimes you get those unexpected hard fast cat races but I'll bet most guys have a finger on the button. Looking for sign and cussing the young dogs for leading ol true astray.
There is a difference between a good lion dog and a great bobcat dog though. Its mostly seen in speed but is probably a combination of things that allow speed to be used. I have two dogs that trail slower on lion then bobcat like they can take time to enjoy the scent. But trail much faster on bobcat. If it was a nose power issue it should be reversed.

[david]

Pegleg, how is that book coming? Don't make me come down there and beat you up over this. The above post is the quality of writing I will be expecting. In fact, put a title on the above, and include it "as is" in your book.

[dwalton]

Well said Pegleg. A dog with the ability to move a trailing track fast makes a fast dog on a jump. Dogs that race around looking good with all their [apparent] drive and speed on a trailing track won't make very good bobcat dogs out here. The calm thinking ones do as you stated usually making the best bobcat dogs. Good hunting Dewey

[mtncurhunter]

Yep. None of my dogs come from cat hunting stock.

[pegleg]

Lol David . no book buddy. But I am getting some good hunting time in. It finally cooled down. Those hot days last month tested my enthusiasm. I was riding around sweating and picking thorns. I was also kinda wishing I was somewhere with roads hunting outta the truck. But just a tiny little bit.

[huntinwyo]

How do you hunt pegleg? I have a young hound that is well started on coon and this will be the first season he gets a chance on cats. I know some good loops to drive looking for tracks when it snows but past that I don't know yet how I'll hunt. Do you walk trails, ride trails horseback, atvs etc.? I always like hearing how other guys hunt. Thanks, Joe.

[pegleg]

I hunt mostly horseback. Not many roads. I do occasionally run bear or bobcats from the truck. And there's some areas that can be hunted from ATV. And I will hunt from a ATV if I have younger dogs just needing exercise and to get on something. I'll road them with a older straight dog on the front. This burns the energy off and tells me if they're cheating. But I prefer horseback it makes it much easier to get into areas and be with the dogs. Instead of trying to get to the tree. You hear and see most of the track and are there when they tree. I used to hunt on foot some but not much anymore. Of course this week it seems like all I've ever done is build fence.

[tradslam]

Mine came from squirrel dogs back east.