BigGameHoundsmen.com

Ike,

I would guess we ran into each other back in the patch in those days. I was the Manager for National Supply while I was there. I spent a lot of time on the rigs in the area. I have to laugh about Tex Evan when he was Drilling for Burton & Hawks. I was in Clay Basin and they were stuck and the Toolpusher kept warning Tex to not get to rough on it or pull too hard. Tex just waited for him to go in the doghouse, and then he took off his old metal hard hat held it up in fron of him so he couldn't see the weight indicator geared them deisels down till the smoke was rolling and I thought he was going to pull the crown in. I jumped and ran off the floor. It cam free and blocks jumped up and twisted around. He was laughing his behind off, but it was a tense moment. He was definatly old school all the way. He found out I had hounds so he invited me to come over to his place. His wife told me he was down at the barn working on a truck . Well I went down there and found out this is where he hung out to indulge in the things his wife wouldn't allow around the house. I drive up and he is setting there on the tailgatew of his old pickup. He asked me if I would like a drink of his favorite Lord Calvert whiskey. I declined, and then he offered me a smoke which I also declined, and then he offered me a dip of Copenhagen and I told him no I don't do that either. He said Let me get this right. You work in the oild patch and you don't drink, don't smoke and don't dip, just what in the hell do you do? I said go to work and hunt my hounds and that is about it. He laughed till he turned red in the face took another snort and then hid it back in the hay and said well let's go hunting here before too long. I went with him one time down to Horseshoe bend at night, and he was partaking heavily of the Lord that night and he was driving a little erratic, but not much traffic back then. Well his dogs got after a deer or a coyote or something and he didn't have shock collars on them. He jumped out of that old truck and began firing his Ruger Single Six in the air and hollering at them in that old raspy voice he had. I made up my mind after that that if we went I would take my own vehicle cus the drive home was shall we say , a little nerve racking. LOL!

Leland now, he could walk your legs off. It would be colder than heck and he wouldn't have anything on but a levi jacket, but he would darn sure go to the dogs.

Nice looking hounds Ike. I love those red dogs. Granted you don't see a lot of people using redbones but the few I have seen are indeed catching big game with them. I am fairly new at this but the redbone pups I have are doing great and they aren't even a year old.

Leland still makes it to the tree and still wearing just a tee shirt and sneakers. his son Brad hanedl all the dogs now i have got some great dogs from him. they are sure fun people to hunt with. They helped me get started in hound hunting.

Ike, when this snow melts I need to come ride along and see some of these red dogs in action. I've hardly ever seen a red dog that was more than a couch potato.

I hunt with Brad all the time. He has the best dogs I have ever been around and if there is a bear or lion on the mountain he will find and catch it. I am lucky to hunt with him it is alot of fun.

Sure makes me feel good to know the tradition hangs on. Tell Brandon tha the was just a button last timeI saw him. But I am glad he is going on, and old Tex would be thrilled to see it, and just as proud as he could be.

All of this stuff comes from some place I don't reckon it is just a passing fancy.


See them old red dogs did another good thing!

Ike wrote:It's surely true that alot of people have bred for that deep red color in redbones and peddled them off as hunting dogs, pets or even search and rescue dogs.

When I was out helping film that remake of the Red Fern Movie the dog trainers had leased two redbone hounds that would not fire on a coon or tree, which was the reason I was asked to come bring hounds. One was a search and rescue and the other was supposedly a young dog that was being run on bears. While they were working the coons (running them through the water and stuff) those dogs would lay there beside the trainers like lap dogs..

I ran into a buddy the other day that had a beautiful redbone pup yearling that he'd bought from some lady in southern Utah. My friend told me she claimed they didn't hunt their dogs only bred them. And taking on a young dog like that is scarey, but it doesn't mean if surrounded by hunting dogs and given the opportunity that it won't shine.

There are still some people around the country breeding redbones from hunting dogs, which is certainly where a person should look for a pup. There was a guy name Bill Brubaker that did alot of writing for Full Cry that claimed to bred redbone hunting dogs, and Timber Chopper Kennels claim they are breeding red hunting dogs as well. http://www.timberchopper.com/ Like was already said, if you look around these boards there are alot of red dogs under the trees..........

I will have to admit that when looking over a litter of red puppies my eyes tend to fall toward those dark ones........a weakness I guess.

One of these days I'm gonna have to keep one of those lighter colored pups.................

I got a Timber Chopper female a bit ago, she's 3 months old now so she's got some growing up to do yet, but I will let you know how she turns out. Here's some pics from when she was 8 weeks old.

This is a great thread!!!! I love my Redbones. I was the kind of kid who always resisted fads. When my friends where buying Chevys in high school I went straight out and bought Ford. When everyone was buying big name walker hounds I stuck to tradition “redbone”.
I have the last living female of the strain I hunted with as a youngster. She is by far the best hound I currently have. She is buckskin colored red. I will post some pictures of her this eve.
She is currently due to have pups on the 27th. I am not a breeder by any means. I’m strictly a cat hunter who enjoys a nice cold track and a pack of determined dogs.
I currently have a waiting list of 5 but was told by the vet that he counted 12. We’ll see….
Thanks for the good read, Don

Mike Leonard wrote:Beauty!

I really think that had a lot to do with it. Here's why. When I was a youngster all I knew was redbone hounds. If anybody had a hound around it was a redbone. I went to my first bobcat tree at 6 years old to a chorus of redbone music. I thought they were the best thing going and many of them were. Most of the redbones I remember back then were lighter red color, some even had a trace of black hair down there back and most a a splotch of white on their chest and a white stocking or foot was not all that uncommon. They were bred for performance and they did perform in all kinds of weather on all kinds of game. Most were cold nosed, tenacious, and solid tree dogs with pleasing bawl mouthes and heavy chop mouths on the tree. Well time went along and the Night Hunt competition got crazy around coon country, and before long just about every breed fell into the same type of hound that could run fast, strike quick and pop coons uip and rack up points on a scorecard. Don't breed to them old bawlers that waste all that damn time messing with cold trails you will never win anything the hot rods said.Well a lot of the old redbone breeders didn't want much to do with this and they just kept their country coon dogs going and selling a few to bear and lion hunters. Well times changed and a few guys found out one thing a redbone could do in competition very well if bred right was put a gleam in a bench show judges eye. Nothing is more striking then a dark red shiny hound with good ears, tight feet, and proper conformation. There is nothing wrong with any of that but when actual hunting ability was placed down the list from the winning bench show type the overall status of the breed slipped badly. I owned one of the winningest redbones of a time period. I bought him to hunt with he was not good as a hunter and was growly. A man bought him back from me and went on and made him a super champion on the bench. I am sure he bred a lot of females to that dog.

This is not to say that there is still not some great redbone hunting stock out there, but in proportion to the other breeds it is a minute amount.Too bad the old red hound deserves better.

Hey Mike I remember back around 12 yrs old in 57 and I was too meet an very old smaller 70+ yr old very black redbone man who stoped at the house too ask permission too hunt his hounds on the ranch . I got too go with him and his name they called him Mr. gentleman Jim Elly of Sacramento ca. He had at least 7-9 redbones he bred em and hunted em and they had high worbleing horn bawllen track voiced and treed up differently from one another some lonesome long bawlls some chop mouthed . He ran the old Hambone line anBlakesley line. Later in the 80`s I met joe Puckett and his line of Jungle Jim x Blakesley redbones. I agree the redbone men died-off and it prettymuch is a bench dog now/not totally but its not what it was in the 50-60`s> I owned 2 myself and they did good in the hunts on casts one blakesleyxPuckett burgandy red coated the other lite bayes coated short eared high horn and a Tucker line with soem Jungle Jim line bred-in too her . I guess I can remember when solid colored hound was all there was around for us too hunt/ then along come that treeing walker breed and like ya say/ the hotrod dog of choice !?
jack