The truth about starting out with pups!

[tradslam]

I had a buddy tell me to keep a log on how my season went throughout the year. I figured I would put it on here and maybe someone will get something out of it. I started hunting this morning and will be hitting it pretty hard from here on out assuming nothing happens. The dogs that are being hunted are 3 stephen curs, and this will be their first season, with the oldest being 19 months and the youngest being 13months! I'm sure there will be more bad then good and I plan on keeping track of the weather conditions and animal chases on this thread.

Ok so far the pups have been started with Mikes training scent (this is in the training section), they have it down and get to the end every time. In between these runs I had them treeing squirrel off an on until they hit about a year. Up until this morning they trailed one raccoon(I use trailed loosely on this raccoon) because it ended fast in a giant heard of cattle.

These dogs will mostly get hunted on bobcats (opens Dec 1st here) but I will basically run anything that will tree. Sooooo there might be pics of lions, grey fox, coons and whatever else turns up at the end of the trail on this thread as well.

Ok this morning (11/23/14)starts at about 530 am, load the dogs, side by side and hit the mountain. Unload the utv 28 degrees and have about 1/4 inch on the ground, not bad! With temps hitting the upper 40s I figured it would be good for an hour or two before id be stuck in a muddy mess, so we hit the trail. By the time we hit the first good canyon the snow is melting fast, little further down and we cross paths with a coon. Open county sage brush and some oak brush is about it mixed with a few mostly frozen ponds.

Now here is the first mistake, I hop off the SBS and grab my .17, ALPHA, leashes, this coon is already skinned on a stretcher in my head. Then I open the dog box and let the pups out, I don't show them the track and kinda cast them in the general area. They whimper run it 20 yards come back, look at me, repeat....... hmmmmmmm.

I leash them up and walk them on the trail a few feet giving them some praise. They got it, opening up pulling, me thinking about this coon on a stretcher again. Turn the dogs loose and they are gone blowing up the canyon, well for about 500 yards anyways. I run on top of a little hill just in time to see about 80 deer go blowing out of the canyon. I really don't remember thinking about a coon on a stretcher again after this point........

Ok 5 minutes pass deer out of the canyon, i already have my gloves off, ready for some corrective medicine at this point. Pups hold and start doing circles, I try to sort out where this coon went. My tracking skills are about the same as my pups, well worse, I made it about 20 yards in that thick brush along the arroyo, before I tapped out.

Back up on the hill I go to see whats happening, I get back up there in time to see them heading north, and fast. Hmmmm whats up now, deer went west no tracks really to the north, because thats where I came in from. Just a small farm and open pasture. So I hike back to the SBS and head in their direction. I stop and see if I can hear them, sure shit opening up like mad! Now I'm scrambling, don't like dealing with private property.

So I sneak up a hill over looking the private and there are my 3 pups opening up like crazy in and around a barn/shed. At this point I'm already picturing the farmer coming out with a shotgun. I run over (about 500 yards from where I parked) grab the dogs and leash them up. Honestly I felt like giving them a Texas sized butt whooping but figured I'd get back to the SBS (800am at this point), and re group.

Well on the way back I crossed the road I drove in on. About 20 yards from the road was a set of cat tracks (ferrel/barn cat) that went straight down to the farm, I never saw them driving in, and don't remember them by the barn (didn't pay attention much though) The pups were even yipping in the back when I drove passed this area coming in, never gave it a second thought. I'm not sure if its coincidence or they actually came back for the cat, but either way they got a free pass for all the BS they caused. End of 11/23/14

[easttntrapper]

Been there done that..lol

[dswish]

The joys of young dogs! Keep the posts coming I look forward to reading them.

[Penrod424]

I'll be learning right along with you, once I get my dog working a little I will let you know how things go for me.

[amos_slade]

Same here guys. See you out there.

[tradslam]

It's been a blast so far, no regrets selling my finished dogs. I'm sure that will come in a few months though. Thursday isnt getting here soon enough, should be dry and 50s got some soft roads all scouted out.

[tradslam]

11/27/14 and 11/28/14 were dead nothing to run. Weather has been bad, will see again in the am!

[tradslam]

14 degrees at my house right now, headed out in a few.

[david]

Great idea tradslam! If you have the guts to be honest on here, you will have a good book written when you are done.

[tradslam]

Got busy yesterday and didn't get to add. Yesterday was one of the best hunting days I've had by far. Just as it started getting light I kicked the dogs out at an abandon elk camp (a few weeks old). I normally do this to let them calm down a bit, otherwise they come out of the box like 3 fast firecrackers. A few minutes all hell breaks loose, they catch a coon in a brush pile. No trailing, just right into a ground fight. My dogs are pretty gritty and do their work on him. The coon does make it to a little tree, I look him over a bit and decide I better take him given the state of things. 2 of my pups are treeing like mad still, the 3rd is doing loops trying to get a better look. I wish I would of taken pics, things just happened way to fast. She would run out about 30 yards and stand on her back legs looking up at the tree and then run to the other side and repeat. I knock him out of the tree and load up.

Due to the freezing and thawing every night it has made things tough seeing tracks in the dirt in my area. So I go to areas that I have seen lions during elk season on cameras or sign while hunting other critters.

I get to a small arroyo that is a highway for critters, it intersects a large valley that has bluffs, rock rims, several knobs, and a few ponds. Its a great area to free cast as its relatively small (3 miles by 2 miles), and I know the country well can normally shut down a trash race if needed. I dump the dogs and sit back and wait. After a few minutes I start walking to a bluff keeping an eye on the deer and monitoring the dog on my Alpha. I get about half way to the bluff, which was only a half mile away or so from where I parked my SBS.

All of a sudden dogs blow up, all 3 headed in the opposite direction. I run back to the SBS and closely monitor the race. This area is set up like a big V with the narrow end being close to indian land and other private ground I can't hunt.

As the dogs start getting closer to the indian land I circle around and head them off. At this time I see a bunch of deer come blowing out of the bottom the dogs are in, I get the alpha ready. Dogs come out 75 yards or so away from the deer and line out on the ridge. The dogs turn back in a safe direction, I shed some clothes and run over to see if I could find a track. I marked a sandy hillside they crossed, at this time I still honestly have no idea what they are running. I make my way down there and find the track and its a LION. Now the words can't really explain the feeling of just seeing a 'fair game' track under the dogs.

I was expecting well basically anything else at this point. This is the mindset of hunting with pups(remember I have 3 of them, 2 would be way easier), pups running around being retarded. They open up on something and start moving the track, your happy at this point. Your pups have some kind of hunting trailing instinct. 5 minutes pass and you're thinking ahhhh shit, they are running a deer, elk,porcupine, coyote, basically anything else. Without snow, and casting dogs, u better be in shape! Lot of running is involved because let me tell u a pup can cover some serious ground after deer or elk. Then you have the off chance that they actually run something right and the last thing you want to do is fry them on a runnable animal.

Ok back to the race, dogs move the trail like a seasoned group of dogs. Through the rocks, cliffs and frozen hillside, this track was fresh had to be late the evening before. The dogs start hooking back and sad to say the trail lined out crossing an open field onto the indian land. Let me tell you catching 3 little cur pups on a trail that they worked without getting zapped after fighting a coon, good lord. If I could have filmed myself catching those little bastards I could probably sell it and retire.

Finally caught them and loved them up, gave them some jerky and headed back to a little side canyon, that is over the ridge from where we just trailed the lion. We get there fast maybe 15 minutes, remember all this happened and it only about 8am now. I honestly was thinking of calling it, whenever I do the 'just one more place' the problems always happen. Non the less I dump the dogs, now they look like hunters. No grab assing nose to the ground, ran over several fresh deer tracks, I just smile. There is a little pond, only about a quarter mile from where I parked, lots of thickets and brush around. I've gotten several pics of grey fox here in the past here and figured the dogs could use a drink anyways.

As we near the water, the dogs open up and start screaming on a trail. They are lining out to a large thicket, I've caught a few bobcats in this area with my old finished dogs and know it well. I run back to the SBS, this run kills me. Its a slight grade uphill, with heavy boots and wool pants. I get there finally, run around the road and get to the knob that over looks the thicket. Dogs are in the same area moving fast, doing twists and turns, back and forth. I already know what they are on, my favorite animal to run, to bad they don't open for another few days. I sit back and wait, there is no way to catch them in the brush. Over the next 45 minutes or so I see the cat 3 times, had it been season I could have killed him with the 17hmr. The cat never tree'd and finally got to an arroyo and vanished like the little suckers always seem to do.

This arroyo is a nightmare and has been the cause of several losses, the brush around it is so thick. 6 feet high with tunnels under it going in several directions. I have to say that these dogs will be the key in this type of country. They can cover ground in that mess way faster then my walkers ever could. I finally call the dogs, and before I know it they are at my side. We walk back and load up, they did amazing.

I know this is not the norm, and I personally have never had this much action (remember we are talking pups) in a single morning. To anyone starting out I would say 2 pups would be the way to go. Three is about 80% more work, at least thats what it feels like when you're trying to catch 3 with 2 hands lol.

Conditions warmed up to about 38 degrees while I was out and wind was calm. Ground was starting to get back to normal but for the most part, frozen was the norm. Without the little dusting of snow and rain we had the other week, the roads here are normally nice and soft, showing tracks similar to snow.

Took today off and gave the dogs a rest, will be out again Friday.

[dchartt]

keep up the good work! Im running two pups this year and Im loving what your sharing, o the joys of running pups by themselves

[Unreal_tk]

Tradslam,

3 pups would be a pain!

[tradslam]

They sure can be lol. only reason I have this many is it took a while to get this breed of dog

[tradslam]

Not looking good, roads are like grease.

[chiller]

enjoy reading the stories . keep em coming