What line of curs for bobcat and greyfox

[YotaDawger]

What breed or line of curs would a guy want to look at for bobcat and fox. Would like to find a line that is open on track.

[dwalton]

Stephens or Leopards both open on track and I have seen both that are good bobcat dogs. I like Leopards but would take a look and hunt with some different ones to see what you like. Not all curs or hounds as far as that goes make bobcat dogs. If you are talking about lions as cats most anything will work. Good luck Dewey

[david]

There are a few strains of leopards, and I have not tried them all. I have tried three strains, and in my limited experience I know with certainty there are a number of dogs in the line of Wicks Camo Jug (full or half, is what I hunted) that can catch bobcat with no help. I saw some things in this line that I had not seen before, and I enjoyed that. The cull rate is probably higher than a strong line of hounds, but a good one might ruin you for awhile. Most of These look and sound like a hound.

I can't recommend them for a "one size fits all" type handler; Meaning, a handler who culls dogs until he finds the ones that fit his singular vision for how good dogs hunt and act. Some of these will not fit that mold and it can be hard to fish their potential out of unfamiliar waters. They can be different and some are more different than others.

The other strains I tried could help out, but I never experienced them catching a bobcat solo.

[Jeff Eberle]

I agree with David on the Wick's Camo Jug dogs. all but one of my dogs have 1/2 or more Jug blood. If you have never owned a Cur before you would be wise to research David's old post find the one's he talks about Curs.

[YotaDawger]

Okay guys thank you for the help. I'll do some research

[david]

[david]

Also, Dewey Walton just bred a full leopard female to a hound with a fraction of Stephens cur in him. Mother and father to this litter are on the bobcat A team. He does not hunt fox.

[YotaDawger]

It will probably be a bit before I'm ready for another pup. Just working on ideas and doing some research. THanks again for the help and insight guys. I really appreciate it.

[Jeff Eberle]

[david]

I am not sure what posts Jeff is remembering, but here is a real good thread written mostly by guys with open mouthed cur dogs, even though Tanner was looking for silent:

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=44498

[I go to the thread I want to link to. I hold my thumb on the adress bar at the very top of my phone until it says "copy". I tap on "copy". Then I go to "reply" on the desired thread, (like this thread.) I hold my thumb down, (or double tap) on the blank "reply" page. "Paste" appears, so I tap on "paste" and the adress link is pasted onto the otherwise blank reply page.]

I am glad Old Dog brings forth the Kemmers. Many of them will be open on a hot track and also might even open occasionally on a cold track. But there also are those that are pretty quiet, so you have to be specific. The lines of Kemmer I tried were not as effective on bobcat as some of the jug leopards I was blessed with. (Yet nothing has ever aproached the effectiveness of my first good Kemmer as a coon dog, and nothing has come close to the connection we had). All of the Kemmers I hunted with were open on a jumped bobcat track.

Like Jeff, and like Dewey and others, I always ended up crossing (or seeking out crosses of) full cur on some more hound blood. (And maybe even bring in a touch of non-hound, non-cur blood). For me, it helps fill in some bobcat holes that every cur I have ever tried had in their genetic make-up. Yet, after experiencing some real good curs, there are some really enjoyable and also some very effective things about them that are hard for me to want to be without. (And that is what I mean by being "ruined" by a good cur dog).

Good luck in your hunt, and keep us posted.

[SASS]

One thing I would add is to me at least, with curs since they are so much more about pleasing you that they tend to be easier to ruin as well. In my limited experience you cannot treat the majority of them like hounds. They are just wired different.

As far as strains go I have hunted with all of the ones I know of and have a different opinion on them but I feel the best way is to go hunt with as many different ones as you can and pick the ones who impress you the most. Good luck and have fun.

[cat hntr]

I have a female leopard I got from Randy Oller that has treed every bobcat except 1that I have put her on the last 4 years when she was by herself. The only other time she hasn't treed it she was running with dogs she isn't used to. I run mostly lions and only a few bobcats every year so I don't know how she would do if I ran her strictly on bobcats. I am sure I would see more situations she would struggle with