How many hounds to a cat?

[swamphounds]

I was just wondering how many hounds everyone runs for a cat. I have heard of guys running a dozen dogs for 1 cat but thats a little over kill. I like to run 2 or 3 but never more than 4. I have had alot of young people ask me how many and thats what I tell them.


Whats all your guys/gals opionions.....

DW

Coons and cats runnin' the flats
coons a squallin dawgs a bawlin
tans R choppin cat aint stoppin
Daughter and me lookin in the tree
Put down the gun another day another run

[Marshall]

I have run only 2 dogs in the past but i will have 4 this winter to turn loose. I think if you have alot of dogs in the snow then it is easy to get the track blown out but, if you are dry groundin it then i would say the more dogs the better, i dont think you can blow the track out as easy and can have more dogs runnin around. You might have that slow track driver and that good tree dog and the good locate dog and so forth. None of which might not be able to catch a single cat on thier own but as a pack they compliment eachother and get it done. Thats just my thoughts on it.

Marshall

[Melanie Hampton]

I have this little problem.. I can't seem to stay under 4 dogs.. And I hate leaving a dog in the box..I don't drop all the dogs at once.. Captain of the A team goes out first.. then number 2 in line a few minutes later, etc etc until I've thrown in the dumb pup that is going to screw it all up for me.. I've blown a few races with this method and also seen some pups do some impressive stuff.. All I know, is it is a whole lot of fun...

[Doogie]

Melanie, I love how you dont sugarcoat anything lmaooo

[Tim Pittman]

done it with 1,most of the time 4 or 5,and probably[no exageration] 40-50 times with as many 13 dogs between mine and Dewey's put together.4-6 dogs working together[not opening OFF TRACK] and not rehashing[goiong over the same spot twice can and do, catch cat's more effectively than 1or2 dogs.whether in the desert or in the brush.A combonation[different styles]of dogs work better also than having all one style of dog[s] as well,not all track straddlers,drifters,no tree,too quick to tree etc,etc,etc,you follow what I'm saying.
Tim Pittman 541-912-6464

[Poon]

Right now I am hunting 16. If my partner goes we are hunting 26.

[Plotts]

How do you lead 16 dogs out of the woods? Just curious.

Bear season my max is 4.
Lion season my max is 3.

[kenny]

when I'm hunting alone I hunt three dogs. When I'm huntin with friends we got seven all together. I'm with Melanie when I'm huntin alone or with friends we let them out at different times

[perk]

Plotts,

Ive never met Poon so I cant answer how he does it for sure, but the best way to lead 16 out of the woods is by toting a dead peice of game out in front of them. Id say all of them come when called, will follow you out the woods, and will find and load themselves on the truck, or at least thats the way most of the east coast fox and fox/cat hunters I know or hunt with do it.

Perk

[twist]

Right now I am hunting 16. If my partner goes we are hunting 26.

Would like a little more info on how and why you hunt 16 to 26 hounds at one time on a bobcat? would like to know the benefit of this? just curious. thanks

[Riverbottom]

I'm just a hare hunter but I can answer some of these questions.

How do you lead 16 dogs out of the woods? Just curious.

Train them to follow you. It's not hard, even with hard going dogs. It just takes time, but hey, what else do you do when you can't hunt? I almost never use a lead anymore and I can't believe I ever did. Dragging dogs by the neck out through the brush is doing it the hard way.

Would like a little more info on how and why you hunt 16 to 26 hounds at one time on a bobcat? would like to know the benefit of this? just curious. thanks

Hunting one or two dogs is OK if you just want to kill game and don't care how. That ain't why I hunt. I almost never carry a gun and when I do it isn't to shoot rabbits with. I'm hooked on hound music, the louder, faster, and more exciting the better. Can't get enough of it. Hearing a pack come screaming past you gets your adrenelin going like nothing else can. Here's a short clip of eight beagles running a hare yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=647Sl1LtLrY

[bowbearman]

I run 3 to 4 dogs most of the time but one or 2 can do it the biggest lion I ever treed was with one dog I run 3-4 on bobcats though.

Aaron

[Ezra]

Around here unless you are running hardcore cat dogs,the only thing the third dog smells is the dogs butt in front of it,I've seen way more cats caught with one dog than a pack,I perfer to hunt 2,cats around here are tough enough to chase let alone stir the track up with a bunch of potlickers,way easier to pick up the track if it ain't trampled in just how I think

[croatankid]

i like melanie and river bottom. i don't have many dogs but i hate to leave one home because they are look so sad and act so disappointed. i too like to hear them in full cry. when i get lost or stuck in the woods, there's always some that will come to find me and lead me out.

[Tim Pittman]

I'm not talking about myself-so this is from observation[with my own eyes]but the top,most successfull Bobcat hunters can do it with 1 or 16 or whatever floats their boat.There's been some good points made here about tracks getting trampled,dogs smelling anothers rear etc.[we also have certain dogs who work the the cold ned of a track better than others].But after the track is trailable,I'd take a team[in a offensive,line formation]hunting and moving thru the brush,picking up looses,and catching the darts and weaves and circles a cat does,than 1 or 2 bee bopin along making looses,loosing time,and me thinking well-this is just cat hunting.
Guys,I'm trying to tell ya,I've had the priveledge to hunt with a guy who catchs 80- 100 bobs a year,I've hunted with for over 3 years now and don't know if I've ever seen him with less than 4 dogs,with most of the time 7-13,and more sometimes if we put them all together.
So in all this mumbo jumbo,I'm saying this,I evaluate dogs a little closer,if they don't contribute to the pack[add something I don't have or need]I look for another to fill the holes. JMO Tim