Hunting Blown Down Timber

[Redbarntrailhounds]

Jumped the same cat multiple times yesterday. No catch. They would figure it out and get him lined out. Shortly after it would circle back into its mess of a playground. Eventually we couldn't sort it out.
I was with the dogs most of the race. The dogs were pretty cold and tired as was I at the last loss. Most of the action was about a mile and a half from the truck. Yay for for a depressed cold walk back.
The only time they got ahead of me on our walk back was when they saw the box door was open.
Fun day.

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[david]

Keep up the good work! Thank you for the good photos and story.

[dwalton]

A couple things you might try if you are really wanting to catch the cat. Sometimes cats like that if females are great producers and trainers. We have blow down brush thickets like that that cats can really slow dogs down in out here also. I have turned in fresh dogs head on to the pack coming at me or got in the middle of the thick and waited for the cat and scare him out when he gets close. If you can make it run and leave the thick you got a chance to tree it. If a bobcat does not have to run, just trot ahead of the dogs with most dogs they will only be able to trail it slow allowing the cat to trot all day. Good luck trailing behind the dogs is a great way to hunt. You can learn a lot about the cats and your dogs. Dewey

[duck duck goose]

Looks like a great day to be out in the woods. Best of luck, hopefully you get him up a tree next time.

[Redbarntrailhounds]

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[Redbarntrailhounds]

Not sure if this video will work.

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[duck duck goose]

It worked, looks like some tough hiking.

[ALEX]

Does there seem to be any consistency with cats when they are being pursued and are in one of these blow downs/thickets and might be apt to stay there, sitting still if they think they can't be seen, even with dogs in the brush all around them?

[Redbarntrailhounds]

It could have been in there somewhere. We left that area and returned multiple times. I would think if he holed up the dogs would have pinned him.

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[blackpaws]

we run in to some blow downs here on occasion too. it can slow them up a bit. i am not exactly sure what the cats do in them all i know is the dogs make some losses in them. i have seen some go out on the blow down and jump off some run under the tree where there is no snow and it takes the dogs a while to figure it out. i don't know how much experience the dogs you are running have but from my experience, the dogs get better at figuring these out quicker the more times they are exposed to it.. they make a bigger swing to cut the track. just you being there makes the dogs more determined and the cats will leave them more often if they see you. looks like your dogs are pretty track minded and determined so i am sure they will get better every time they come back in to those situations and the losses will be shorter. Good luck

Joe

[Redbarntrailhounds]

Thanks Joe. My dogs are good coon dogs that are slowly learning that cat game. This was the longest race they have had yet. It wasn't until we had multiple track though the same are that they couldn't figure it out. The circle was getting tighter too. I will catch one eventually.

Allen

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[david]

Allen, it took me many years to figure out what bobcat hunters in many places just seem to know as a well known fact. In the South they call it "squatting". I found it hard to imagine until I witnessed it, but when an area gets all tracked up like that, as has already been mentioned, bobcats can and sometimes do hide and will sit there and watch dogs pass within feet of them. It is just hard to believe the dogs would not root them out, but often they do not. There is cat scent all over the place, and some how they don't find him. He does not want to leave the safety of that heavy cedar bog, blow down area, thinned area, extra heavy brush area, etc. They know instinctively that if they leave that area and the dogs line them out quickly, they will be in real trouble. If they think they can slip out un-noticed, sometimes they will. Or, as Dewey and others mentioned sometimes a human making a lot of noise will force them out. I never carried a shot gun, but I know some cat hunters who did, and they would use it for noise making in a situation like that.

Just from my experience hunting very close to where you are hunting, I would say chances are pretty good the cat was still in that blow down. Sometimes they will climb a thick conifer or other tree and hide, but more often than not they are on the ground watching you and the dogs.

I have seen it where the dogs actually had the cat bayed up and he would slip out of sight and hide again; time after time after time. It made me want to pull my hair out and cull all my dogs. It seems impossible, but cats can do it in certain conditions. Don't ask me how, because it is just beyond me.

I watched a cat a few feet ahead of my dogs disappear into the snow, and re-appear once they charged past him. Only now he was coming back in their trail. I mean, they had to have made physical contact. The dogs had no clue.

I guess that is why we hunt bobcats.

You sure brought back a ton of memories for me. I know how hard you and your dogs worked that day, and my hat is off to you with great respect for your stamina and perseverance. It is just good to know God is still making men of your caliber.

Blessings on your children.

[twist]

Rocks and blow downs are a cats comfort zone. Dogs just can't maneuver as fast as cats in these conditions. Andy

[Redbarntrailhounds]

David, thank you for the nice words. I think my lack of success makes me respect the game all the more.
My 9 year old came along on my first hunt this season when it was warmer than zero. The first track we followed I broke through the ice up to my waist in mud. Lucky I was only a few hundred yards from the truck. He actually said, "Dad are we bad at this?"
The rest of the morning was spent touring the hunting area and he now knows why we pack spare clothes and boots.

Allen

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[davidg1!]

Just remember if you don't catch them you may get to run him agin!