QUESTION FOR YOU TRIGG CAT HUNTERS

[mike martell]

I HAVE BEEN HUNTING A LITTLE FEMALE 1/2 TRIGG 1/2 WALKER ON BOBCATS. THIS LITTLE DOG CAN WORK A BOBCAT LIKE VERY FEW HOUNDS I HAVE EVER SEEN .THE ONLY PROBLEM IS WHEN SHE TREES THE CAT AS FAR AS SHE CARES IT IS OVER. THE DOG IS 2-1/2 YEARS OLD. I ACTUALLY OWNED HER LAST YEAR AND CULLED HER WHEN MY YEAR OLD WHITE CLOUD PUPS STARTED TREEING AND SHE WOULDN'T. I GENERALLY STICK TO MY GUNS AND CALL A CULL A CULL. THIS DOG IF ONLY SHE WOULD TREE WOULD BE THE STYLE CAT DOG EVERYONE WANTS TO OWN. I HEAR SEVERAL TRIGG GUYS SAY IF THE DOG LOOKS UP IT WILL TREE. THE DOG IS AN EXCEPTIONAL LOCATOR AS WELL. WITH AN ABOVE AVERAGE NOSE. I'M NOT IN THE HABIT OF RACING TO THE TREE. SO THE DOG MUST TREE UNTIL I ARRIVE. WHAT DO YOU THINK? WASTE OF TIME OR WORTH A LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT. I DON'T MIX HER WITH DOGS I'M HUNTING AS THEY ARE WAY TO YOUNG TO HOLD PRESSURE. I HAVE A 6 1/2 MONTH OLD PUP THAT RUNS AND TREES HIS OWN GAME WELL, SO MY STOCK IS IN HIM NOT HER. I JUST HATE TO GIVE UP ON THIS LITTLE DOG. THANKS.

[twist]

put her with a good solid tree dog and sounds like you would have a great team on bobcats as long as she stays at tree until tree dog gets there.

[mike martell]

TWIST THAT IS A EASY SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM. BUT I LIKE WORKING THE YOUNG DOGS. LAST WINTER I HAD MY TWO YOUNG DOGS AND HER AT A LION TREE (OUT OF STATE) BOTH FIRST LION FOR MY PUPS,THEY TREED HARD. SHE ACTUALLY CAME OUT TO ME AND WENT BACK TO THE TREE. THAT WAS WHEN I HAD ENOUGH OF HER. I JUST WISH I HAD A CRYSTAL BALL AND COULD FIGURE OUT IF THE DOG WOULD CLICK ON HER OWN. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING. BUT THE CAT WAS 65 FEET UP AND NOT VISIBLE. IF YOU CAN'T GET MOTIVATED BY A LION SITTING ON A LIMB DOWN LOW YOU NEVER WILL. THANKS. HEY GIVE THOSE MONTANA CATS HECK!!!

[orbowhunter1971]

Hey Mike,

It sounds like you are holding on to hope that she will correct herself. That was my first opinion after reading your post.

Is she pulling any other dogs off tree?

I think you may have already made your mind up. You want to keep her and see if she will improve, but your experience is telling you otherwise.

Just my thoughts from your comments.

Good luck, you have a heck of a tough decision. Wish I had something better to say....

[curtj]

Hi mike, Your the last guy that need's advice. You got more knowledge than most fellow's ever dream of having. My strain of walker's have trigg's crossed fairly heavy in them. What I like about them is most of them are pretty easy to break and heavy haired and can take the cold weather being hunted day in and out without giving up on you. The down side is you get some that are slow to start treeing,if they ever do. The one's that eventually do are honest tree dog's. It sometimes takes alot of cat's dumped out to them and guy's like us like to leave them up, so sometimes it's a waste of time. Usually it depend's on how good of rig dog they are. Seems like everybody has a dog that can catch a cat if theres snow, but if theres dry ground it's a different story. I have a little more paitence if they can rig a cat on there own. I log on this website and enjoy reading it but have never wrote on it. It's time to huntin so give me a call sometime. Curt 541-875-2322

[Sammy]

How much do you want for her?

[mike martell]

sammy.dog is not for sale . i do not sell dogs i give them away to good hunting homes. i make a living by working every day(or used to ) this is my money pit.blowing my retirement..... i grubbed three desert bobs in two inches of dust last night.the dog don't pull nothing from the tree as i will never mix dogs not knowing what they are 100% like twist said hunt her with a solid tree dog and call it good! i never owned any thing but hounds and this is a first for me to look for help. lol. kurt thought you dropped off the face of the earth. i have been struggling with some health issues had two operations on my spine the last one left me paralized in the left side.i'm forced to sit down and that is the only reason i'm on the computer. as it beats watching t.v. i could not take the cold any longer on the east side so i sold out and bought another place two miles west of sweet home. (damn brush)kinda brings me full circle. i'm officially retired. my boy and nephew are both handling the hard stuff. so the old man can kick back and enjoy hunting. never thought i would not be able to walk into to a tree. i'm now paying the price of hunting like a maniac back in the days of bear and lions. now i'm thinking about crawling!!!! i will call you and visit . sure miss talking to you . my phone is 541-367-1009 you get to sweet home stop in. take care all who wrote me back ,thanks for your time. mike

[Sammy]

Sorry if my offer to buy her struck you wrong I just thought she might be a good fit with my male. He is super fast and a real good tree dog. I thought she might be able to help him on some of the tougher tracks to figure out. Trust me if she comes here she will get hunted all she wants and then some. I sure didnt mean to offend you if I did.

Thanks
Sam

[stacey robeson]

hey mike im new to cat hunting but i had a walker trigg cross that i never trained and gott when she was grown and she did the same. she would tree real hard an was the only dog i had that was worth anything on bob's but when i shot it she would sniff if good but then lickitty split was off hunting again. i had to tie her back before any shot and she never did give it up and i finally gott rid of her to a guy because she was teaching young dogs bad things it might be from crossing the to breeds but i dont know that for sure.

[mike martell]

stacey, i think you are right about the cross bred dogs. that is the reason i don't cross breed. especially when you can't look back 8-10 generations, and see what is in the line-up. trust me though i will be over looking some great dogs by not doing this. the problem with the cross stuff is until you have a proven line for years and than line breeding them, the problem is maintaining your consistancy.there are those folks out there who can keep all the crosses they have ever made in there heads. i'm just not one of those types. heck i can't even remember what day it is. as for tying up dogs at the tree. i tie all mine as soon as i arrive. for the young started dogs it keeps them solid and focused on the wood. i however don't make a habit of trying to make a tree dog, yes i encourage them at first,but allow the dogs own natural ability to shine through. and unfortunately if i have to kill alot of game to make a dog. i will just cull the dog. hey, i hope you got to take advantage of some killer hunting conditions over the weekend.me i hate hunting in snow.....good luck!

[stacey robeson]

unfortunatly I currently don't have a dog to hunt because of just moving back to the state but did cut one track on our property. an hope to be hunting again soon I got the bug alittle late but I am misserable without hunting behind dogs. do you think that snow makes it harder for a dog to hunt without it? always been curious about that.

[mike martell]

STACEY, SNOW HUNTING HAS ITS GOOD POINTS AS WELL AS BAD. FIRST YOU CAN GAUGE HOW OLD A TRACK IS WITH SNOW, THE DIRECTION A TRACK IS MOVING, ALSO IF YOU CAN'T QUITE GET A TRACK MOVING YOU OFTEN TIMES CAN WALK THE TRACK OUT AND ASSIST YOUR DOGS UNTIL THEY CAN HANDLE IT ON THERE OWN.THE DOWN SIDE IS WITH SNOW THE FIRST DOG IS PRETTY WELL OBLITERATING THE ENTIRE TRACK OUT FROM THE BALANCE OF DOGS. BY THE TIME A THIRD DOG SMELLS THE CAT THERE IS NOT MUCH LEFT. WHERE AS ON BARE GROUND YOU CAN RUN SEVERAL MORE DOGS IF YOU CHOOSE TO.THE OLDER YOU GET THE MORE YOU WILL APPRECIATE A DOG THAT HUNTS ON BARE GROUND. UNLESS YOU PLAN ON TRAVELING OVER THE MOUNTAIN TO HUNT YOU NEED TO BARE GROUND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AS YOUR AREA IS NOT KNOWN FOR MUCH SNOW, THE REAL KEY IS HAVING BROKE DOGS. I CAN'T STRESS THAT ENOUGH.IF YOU AREN'T IN A POSITION TO AFFORD SHOCK COLLARS I WOULD TRY COON HUNTING FIRST ,YOU WILL GET AWAY WITH WAY MORE WITH A COON VS. A BOBCAT.WHEN A HOUND IS TRASHY IT IS STRESSFUL AND NOT MUCH FUN.THIS WILL ALLOW YOU MORE HUNTING OPPERTUNITIES.ALL THE ABOVE APPLIES TO BOBCAT ONLY AS A LION LEAVES WAY MORE SCENT AND EVEN A MEDIOCRE DOG CAN TRAIL A LION AND NOT A BOBCAT. THAT IS WHY I DON'T KEEP LION HOUNDS AROUND AS THEY ARE NOT CAT DOGS.

[stacey robeson]

that explains lot! I have hunted coons for 4 or 5 years and hunted bear out of state and and have treed several lions while out cat hunting for bob's.(never killed one though) and thought that my hounds should be able to tree bobcats, an did once in a blue moon. 4 in 5 years if you don't mind my asking how do you start a pup or young dog on bobcats? I tried using caged house cats but didn't work so I quit. Is there a brand of bobcat scent that you use or prefer? I will get a shock collar again but the economy is so damn tight right now. i wish i never would have sold all my gear a couple years ago.

[chancemarquette]

delete

[stacey robeson]

thanks, how long would you let the cat go before trying to put the dog on it for the first time.