Dead or Alive...

[killroy]

My wife and I went to help my brother with two hunters a couple of weeks ago. On the second day I was hunting an area with six inches of fresh snow. I was suprised that I was the first one to cut roads. About 10 a.m. we found a big tom track and turned out. In a matter of minutes the dogs were gone and we couldn't hear them anymore. So we drove up the road to where we figured we were a little bit in front of them and started walking in. After we crossed a couple of ridges we could hear them treeing in a big canyon. So we worked our way in as fast as we could, as I got closer I could tell they were right on the edge of a cliff. We were about 50 yards from the tree when I saw a cloud of snow come up from the edge of the cliff. I turned to the hunter and said "I hope that wasn't a dog going over". When we got to the tree there were only 5 of my 6 dogs there. My three year old blue tick plott cross was not there. He was turning out to be my best upcoming dog. I knew the reason he wasn't under the tree was because he had gone over the edge.

Tied the five dogs back and asked the hunter if he had a good shot, he said "yes" and let an arrow go. The arrow hit the cat and when the cat jump I could see the arrow sticking out of the left front fore-arm. The hunter had tried to get another arrow nocked up, but the cat jumped before he could shoot. I thought to myself that shot wasn't going to kill the lion and we would have to retree it, so I started turning my dogs loose. They lit out of there and in a few minutes we could hear them going nuts again. It took us a few minutes to get to them, when we did the lion was dead. It turned out the shot was better than I thought. Before the lion had died he had bitten Hank on the head, ripping a gash above one eye and the other eye was swollen shut and didn't know if it was still in the socket. One pup was bitten on the front leg and another female had a large gash from the broadhead.

[killroy]

By the time we got the lion skinned and the other dogs back to the truck, we decided to wait until morning to go back in and get the collars off of Wesley.
My wife and I and a hunting buddy worked our way down to the bottom of the canyon, then a two mile hike to where Wesley had fallen off the cliff.

You can see at the top of the cliff the tree that the lion was in, and to see just how high it was, the arrow is pointing at our hunting buddy who is standing at the base of the cliff where Wesley landed. We could actually see the imprint where he hit the ground in the snow, but to our surprise there were dog tracks running up and down the canyon. After calling for a few minutes Wesley appeared and went to my wife...


Two weeks later and he is still doing good. He has even been on another chase.

[houndnem]

congrats! it's always good to hear a story take a twist for the better rather than the worst. I had two dogs knocked off an icy spot on a cliff today and they were unscaved. pretty tuff critters these hounds are. nice cat too!

[lioncommander]

lucky hound good thing the hound is ok. that is a good twist on a story.

[bob baldwin jr]

Great to hear the hound is OK and they say Cats have 9 lives

[chilcotin hillbilly]

I have found with archers most are not as good as the claim. If the cat jumps with a broad head sticking out I really study the blood trail before letting my dogs go. Alot of time the cat will die not needing the hounds to finish the job. Nice tom by the way. I am glad your dog was ok.

[Arkansas Frog]

Dog lived because he was a PLOTT.

[houndcrzy]

I have found with archers most are not as good as the claim. If the cat jumps with a broad head sticking out I really study the blood trail before letting my dogs go. Alot of time the cat will die not needing the hounds to finish the job. Nice tom by the way. I am glad your dog was ok.

You guys are braver with your dogs then I am. If they wack one with a bow over my dogs and it runs off the dogs stay tied to the tree till the cat is confirmed dead and the broad head is cleared. Period....JMO Though Glad your dog was ok, good ending to a good story!!!

[radar]

Dog lived because he was a PLOTT.

HAHAHA thats funny A.F. I'm sure the powder didn't have nothing to do with the sruvival of the dog! Congratats on the hole thing Killroy..

next time do you think you'll wait tell the game is dealt with or dogs are all collected?(just a ? not trying to be a smart ass).

[Desert Hounds]

Killroy

Does Wesley have more Plott or Blue Tick in his body structure. From the pic he has the brindle color. They are tough dogs. I have a accidental litter of female Plott and male Blue Tick. I kept four of the best dogs. Males are 80 pounds and a petite female at 45 pounds. These males are very strong as I broke my finger once and sprang fingers many times trying to handle these dogs. My wife will not let me come home, unless I have all the dogs.

That was a far drop. Glad Wesley is doing good.

[killroy]

Killroy

Does Wesley have more Plott or Blue Tick in his body structure. From the pic he has the brindle color. They are tough dogs. I have a accidental litter of female Plott and male Blue Tick. I kept four of the best dogs. Males are 80 pounds and a petite female at 45 pounds. These males are very strong as I broke my finger once and sprang fingers many times trying to handle these dogs. My wife will not let me come home, unless I have all the dogs.

That was a far drop. Glad Wesley is doing good.

Wesley's dad is Hank a registered Blue tick, Minnie his mother is a pure bred plott. It has been a really good cross for us. We also have Wesley's sister, Belle who is doing really good.
Wesley has a hole in his flank area that is about the size of a silver dollar. Other than that he is doing really good, I am having more trouble healing the other dogs up from their wounds.
The first time I took Wesley out I stopped to have lunch and I let the dogs out, Wesley hit the ground on a dead run...I didn't see him again for 14 days. When he was finally found he was dragging a trap caught on his front paw. Now at the end of the day he's looking for a ride home.

[JConroy]

Had similiar thing happen. I had a hunter in and dumped on a big cat. When I got to the tree it was on pretty steep ground and a slight leaner. The cat was way up near the top and the bottom half of the tree had no branches. It was leaning just enough that 3 of my dogs were climbing. I managed to get the bottom 2 off and tied up but my 8 month old pup was too high. I could tell it was a matter of time he was going to fall out as he was trying to turn around. I took off my jacket and a buddy and I were going to try and catch him or at least try and break the fall a little. He was about 40 or so feet up when he fell. The ground was so steep we both slipped and he lawn darted into the ground. He was knocked out but alive, I carried him back to the truck and raced to the vet. He was having trouble breathing but Xrays showed no broken bones. He recovered and was back running shortly after. He has never tried to climb again so the tree climbers can be cured.

[bency]

wild story. but a good deal.

[2ndhound]

Killroy, great story glad it turned out for wesley in the end, The look on Randys face says a mouthfull about what was going through her mind when wesley appeared. Take care Ken

[craigs]

Great story, Glad it turn out well!!

Dog lived because he was a PLOTT.

It was half Bluetick to, which I'm sure is the tougher half