Update preview from Feb. 2011 Florida Hunts

[Dads dogboy]

Hello Folks!

We have made it back home to AR…..so now I might can find the time to finish the Stories that I have been working on.

The Bobcat Hunting Gods sure smiled on us this trip as the total ended up with 12 weighed, 18 Treed, 6 put in the Ground or Log Pile, and caught the Hounds off of 3.

We enjoyed some great fellowship with VACathunter (Jim Modlin and his Father the other Jim). Jim brought some nice young Hounds down to experience the “Florida CatHound Opra”. We ran a Cat every time we went out with Jims Hounds, and saw a big Tom slipping out ahead of his pack (which was running the Big guys girl friend).

The THICK THICK THICK and very WET Country make it very hard on Hounds not used to it.

I hope the video clips I have attached will give you all some insight as to just how tough our style of Hunting is on Hounds! We had trailed this 27# Tom 35 minutes over 3 miles, up 3 different roads; then ran the hell out of him for an hour and a half in the mess that you see in the first clip….you see the results 8 Clay Hounds with two year old Pups can achieve after lots of Great Hound Work! ( Hope that did not sound too much like Ike)

View My Video

What it looks like inside that mess from the first video
View My Video

I should have stories later this week about some of these Races, including the Big Tom who lasted over 8 hours…..and another Big Tom who literally RAN himself to death for 3 hours and forty minutes.

I hope you all enjoy!

Good Running to All!

C. John Clay
Dads dogboy

[Ryan]

That is some nasty looking stuff. Great job and great story... as always.

[cat and bear]

I'm Glad to see "Team Clay" back in the woods Im sure one of the most memorable Florida hunts one can have. My hats off to folks and a line of dogs, which rack up numbers like that in that terrain. Guys that have hunted it knows what i mean. Keep the stories coming

[Va cat hunter]

Hello folks, First I want to say thank you to the Clays for the kind hospitality and the opportunity to go to Florida and hunt with them. It was about 12 hours on way to get there, but it was well worth it. I have been hunting on the outside for a long time and I have never once seen a place as thick and wet as this place. Where I hunt and the way I hunt is that I always go with my dogs from the time they start trailing to the time the run him. In Florida, this was out of the qustion. This place was unbelievable. There were several cats there, we jumped one every time we went. Hate to say it but they are still there haha. My dogs were just not use to hunting in a lakes of water and the thickest place you have ever seen. Mr. Clay let me hunt my dogs a couple of times then on the last nite he hunted his. It had been getting up to about 80 degrees every day and getting down to about 40 at nite and on this particular nite the wind was blowing out of the east at about 25-30 mph. Mr. Clay, Carey, my dad and I rigged his dogs, and by the way this is pretty durn nice, for 29 miles, striking several cold tracks. then finally we hit a hot one, Didnt take but a minute for ol Corky and Choctaw to hop him up. I think this cat was educated because he took Mr. Clays dogs down every road in this block trying to loose his dogs. After about 40 min of running this cat, they put him in a log pile right beside the road. Mr Clay sure does have some real Cat dogs. His dogs run that cat down dirt roads a mile at the time, most nybody elses would not have run him but they were always looking for him. Just in the couple of days that I was in Florida, I learned alot from Mr. Clay, It was definatly a trip that I will remember for a long time and I hope that Mr. Clay will let me come back when I can stay longer.

[Dads dogboy]

Vacathunter,

You, Your Dad, and Your Hounds are welcome anytime!

See U soon!

CJC