This is what works for me.

[Tee Hover]

The great thing about running hounds is there are so many types of dogs, game, and topography. A person should find something that suits them. Some like a dog that hangs on the wood; some like a dog that will try to grub out an old track just to see if they could freshen it up enough to catch, some like a tight mouthed dog. At the end of the day what really matters is that you enjoy your time in the woods, regardless if you make your living at it or hunt when work, family, and finances permit. I have read some of the threads where everyone has input and that’s great, but just because it fits someone’s style doesn’t mean that you will enjoy that method or what they are doing is wrong. Find what works for you and try hard to perfect it to the best of your abilities. There is some great talent on here that really contribute to the sport, for that I thank you.

Awhile back there was a discussion about calling dogs off a tree with no leashes. I do call my dogs out of the box by name, when I am sitting on a hot track and have already shipped dogs it is not easy for the ones left in the box to be patient and wait their turn, but it can be done. When I am at a tree I prefer my dogs to sit back far enough to watch the game in the tree, for me it is more important than having them stand on the wood. I hunt alone most of the time and I usually have a few young dogs of my own or outside dogs I am training, along with my older dogs. I do expect a dog to have leash manners, but I enjoy heading back to camp or the truck without leashing dogs. A typical tree for me when I leave is, leash or double 2-4 dogs and make the rest follow and when I get out of sight or scent, usually about a hundred yards I turn every thing loose. Can you call dogs off a tree without leashes? Yes. Are some trees easier to call dogs off than others, yes. If I have a lion 10 ft of the ground it is definitely harder to call dogs off, but ultimately I expect my dogs to listen. You have to be smart about it as well, if you have an animal treed that wants to get out of dodge then leash the dogs and go. There has been discussion on whether or not it makes your dogs pull off trees if you do not leash and drag them. I expect my dogs to hold game until I tell them not to--period. There are people out there that have far better handles on their dogs than me and I admire that. Here is a link of a short video I took yesterday; I do have to talk to them a bit until the noise is quieter and we are a little ways from the tree, after that they will walk with me. The video is nothing fancy but it shows you what works for me and keeps me enjoying my time in the woods.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9aMv40M8xs

Have fun out there and be safe,

Tee Hover

(I do have a couple 7 week old pups left for sale.)

[ticktock]

You have a nice handle on them Hounds.

[Boom]

that was nice to see,
you can tell the dogs have alot of respect for you and you have put the time in training them.
i've never tried to call mine off of a lion tree but once when out roading the dogs we came around a corner and ther was a deer in the middle of the road and they couldn't help themselves,they went in 50 yards but came back to me with no electronics....i had no voice left but i got them to come back.lol

[Lost River]

That's good stuff there. Nice video.

[Unreal_tk]

I also never leash my dogs when leaving trees unless im killing a bobcat. I do like how your dogs tree bark away from the tree. Gets away without culling dogs who don't like being crowded. Mine are off and on the tree at the moment. Did you select dogs that treed that way or was it a behavioral thing you helped shape if so how did you do it? I would prefer my dogs ranging like that on high game, other than 1 or 2 that tell you the excat tree. Having all ranging dogs would sometimes make it hard to spot a bobcat.

[catdogs]

Thats what works for us as well. Draggin dogs off a tree with leashes is ridiculous!

[walkin w/ some blue]

Good video that is also what i do. I hate having to leash up dogs and drag them away. Having a good handle on your dogs is very important. I won't hunt with peolpe that can't handle their dogs.

[kk]

Good post Tee. That is how we do it also. I sometimes use the leash for the first 100 yards but after that we turn the dogs loose. I think we hunt a lot of the same units. We will probably meet some day.
Kurt

[Redwood Coonhounds]

Good video. I do the same thing with my dogs. I can call them of coon and fox trees easily. I tie the dogs at a bear tree until I get a feel for the bear (lots of tree jumpers) then unleash them and they follow me out. If you raise them up as pups with a good mannered easy handling dog/s it makes it all the easier.

[Tee Hover]

Thanks everyone for the complements and PM’s. When I shot this clip it was not with the intention to say “hey look at what I can do” it is to shed some light on what myself and others expect from our dogs.

Unreal_tk,
I do try and shape my dogs when it comes to locating and treeing. I myself do not encourage my pups to tree, it will come with time. When I get to the tree, I stand back far enough that I can see the animal good and then I leash my young dogs there. My older dogs usually hang back a bit, but will run to the wood periodically and then come back. I have noticed if I hang back a ways my dogs will come up to me and check in while watching the game. When it comes to killing an animal I try and leash everything back far enough that we don’t have problems when it hits the ground but there are times I can’t get them leashed before things get western.

Kurt,
It’s bound to happen we will meet someday. I will probably be coming down the canyon telling myself there is nothing here and come around the corner to find you cranked out on a bear and a lion lol. If you ever get in a bind or need something give me a shout.

Redwood
Brings up a great point and I agree, feel out the situation. If the animal is not content get the dogs leashed quick.

[rfeen]

Hey tee i have a question i have a 7 month old pup loves the track and has made seven lion trees since december but he does ont tree much, he hates the lion and will pull fur out of a dead one he will even sound on track sometimes, but still not getting the tree thing yet do i just give him time, any advice would be great, his brother the same age is a cat treeing and trailing fool will blow the top off a tree but not my pup yet, thank you

[Tee Hover]

Chaser,

There are a lot of reasons a young dog doesn’t tree, from a lot of commotion at the tree to arriving late enough that it didn’t see the game climb. I want a dog to tree because it knows there is game up there and not just be a cheerleader. Everyone has their own timeline in which they expect results. I personally don’t worry much about treeing at 7 months; from what I have read the fact that he is making races would be good enough for me. I will give a dog time usually by a year to year in a half is when I expect them to be treeing and they usually are. After I get to a tree I praise my young dogs a lot and then tie them back, I will pet them periodically to let them know they are doing well. Some of the best tree and locate dogs I have had, took some time before they started to tree well, but when it clicked they did not take another dogs word that it was there, the dogs knew for themselves that there was game in the tree.

It sounds like your dogs are doing great. Keep hunting them hard and provide them with opportunity and a little guidance, you will go far.

Good luck,

[M Evertsen]

I did this with the lion I caught yesterday. When I parked the 4 wheeler, it was only 20 minutes or so after I let the last 3 dogs on the track where I turned the first 2 loose at. They were treeing VERY hard when I parked the bike. As I started climbing, it got a bit quieter, and at some times in the 30 or so minutes it took me to climb up there, there was even complete silence. When I got to the tree, all the dogs were there, and the cat was SLEEPING!

I never tied the dogs back, as that female never moved, and the dogs never did get too close to her to maker her nervous. After about 10-15 minutes of taking a few pix and a couple video clips, I called the dogs down to me, said come on, lets go, and back down the mountain we slid. Only had to use the "tone" button once for one stubborn dog to remember who was calling her, and we made it down no problems.

Then we got to the truck, I started loading dogs, and the one I had to tone was missing. Got a signal on her, and she was walking back up the canyon to the tree!! Luckily, she was a bit out of shape, and it was a couple miles up to turn loose (roaded the whole way), and she was not moving fast, so I was able to catch her in the road before she started to climb again. That same dog also went back into the carcass of a lion I killed last winter after we got back to the truck. Had to walk in and get her.

Works nice that way. I have done it once before on another female we caught in a rock pile. No way in hell I would want to leash dogs in some of the places I hunt, too damn dangerous!

[tmalone]

very nice, !!!!!