Well, I'll tell you what Steve, snowshoes wouldnt help the least bit. I used 36" snowshoes yesterday and waded with snow above my knees the whole day.... An Oxygen tank and a mask would be more suited, my dogs had to swim through the shit
On top of this it was freezing cold, so cold that my camera and my cellphone stopped working....
So to the hunt.
I soon found out that the cat had left the ring in the least favourable direction possible. It was headed straight into the deep mountains, no roads and were not allowed to use snowmobiles. After checking a few checkpoints I just figured it was time to try something. I tried keeping the track a litle sekret to awoid to many hunters joining in, or shooters as we call them, but they figured out that I was up to something, so I was joined by some gunslingers
I climbed to the top of the mouintain and there another smaller cat had walked into the area in question. It was decided to run this cat and it ran straight down on a shooter and got killed. Nothing to mentione dogwice, but we had cought a cat under impossible conditions.
After gathering up the dogs and climbed back up, I freecasted the dogs in the direction the first cat had moved and not to long after Pacs opened! Pacs and Dina cold trailed, or cold swam I might say, for about 2,5 miles and then they jumped the cat!!! I was standing high above them, on the "edge" of the mountain, so I could see them in my binoculars going downwards after the cat and let me tell you, they looked like otters sliding down that insanely steep, boulder packed mountainside. The cat was bayed to short times, about 8-10 minutes, but the deep snow, 9' boulders and only two dogs made it impossible for them to keep enough preassure on the cat to keep it there and I think I'm glad, because I'm not shure I could have made it down there.... After this the cat jumped down a couple of cliffs, that the dogs had to go around, so the distance between the dogs and the cat increased. Not to long after the cat ran straight on to a shooter and got killed there. A friend of mine was there when the dogs arriwed, so they were praised and give a load of positive words.
So we got two cats in one day, never done here before to my knowledge, but I'm very very sad to say that both cats were killed running..... On the other hand, I'm going to run them under better conditions and then I think the odds could be changed...
Thanks again Steve, for giving me the chance to run such a hound as Pacs, he has given me more good times in the woods than I ever deared to dream of.
- No pictures as of yet, since my camera and cellphone gave in to the conditions. I'll see if some of the other hunters took some I can post later.
Hans