BigGameHoundsmen.com

bearcat wrote:I'm a big fan of the running dog crosses, but you have to get the right strain of running dog. Get them out of a hunting strain, not field trail bloodlines, or dogs that are just run in the foxpens, and you'll have a lot better chance of getting coldnosed dogs with more track driving ability instead of hot nosed speed demons that may or may not be able to handle a track without overrunning it. I've ran a couple pure registered Julys, and they treed, not great but good enough to get to them. What I had made great cat dogs, but wouldn't run bear. I've seen and heard of other July's that made good bear dogs, and had lots of grit, but mine didn't. My female got accidentally bred by a treeing walker male though, and those pups(which I didn't want) made good bear and cat dogs at an extremely young age. And made good tree dogs.

I would say you said a mouthful right there. It doesnt surprise me that some Julys would not run a bear. Could you go a little further and explain exactly what they did on bear for the most part. It most definately would not surprise me if the pure Walker foxhounds would not fool with a bear either.

They didn't do anything on bear, I never seen them act like they even smelled anything, with a whole pack of dogs screaming on one they wouldn't leave the road, just hunted around like they were looking for a track. But they were also around 2-3 years old when I really started bear hunting, so possibly they would have did something if they were started as pups, the one July/Walker pup I raised caught and bayed a bear by himself when he was 7 months old, admittedly only for a few minutes before I got other dogs to him, but I was more than happy with him at that age, and have occasionally kicked myself for selling him. The other pups out of that litter I kept track of all did good on both bear and cat, but most of the males had to be cut at a young age because you couldn't hunt them around females, they wouldn't leave them alone even though there wern't any in heat. No idea where that trait came from, don't know of it in the background of either side of the cross, but it certainly showed up in the pups.
Now that I think about it my dad had a July around the time I was born that was a good bear dog, but I have no idea what his bloodlines were other than he was supposed to have come from Texas.

I have never seen anything like that out of the July's I have fooled with. Seen it a bunch in cur dogs and shit like that but never in these running dogs I got. Glad too cause thats a death sentence around me. A humpin dog has the wrong thing on his mind to me. Anyhow, I would think that some of this running dog blood sure would help folks in the running a track department but man most of em would probably just walk a bear cause they aint got a whole lot of bay or fight to them for the most part. The ones I have seen will either just kill a coyote or walk him. Dont seem to be no inbetween for like a gritty bay situation.

We've ran a few running dogs on bear and they do very well on ones that like to run. You can pack dogs in front of them and they will still come out in front.

The downside is I haven't found many tht will tree. They'll be there but they just hang out. I also haven't seen any that are very gritty, they'd rather run than fight. Although a few would really wade in there, but not many. The ones we've had also have had a medium nose at best, and had to hitchike on cold tracks. Then take it away when it's up. They also seem to struggle at times with trails/roads and make losses, when critters do tricks on them. Or if they get in a tracked up mess.

I've only seen about a dozen in the last ten years or so, though so take it for what it's worth. All running dog blood too, no tree dog mixed in. They've only got two speeds NO GO, and WFO.

Go too the monthly flee market there in Ripply Miss. and its the 2 ed largest flea markett in the USA and they have a whole back field of trade dogs from all over the south there getting swaped and sold and from puppys too old dogs and they got plent of swam dogs and cane dogs and soforth used on rabbitt,deer, pig, you name it, but they will tell ya whos got the calaber of dog your looken for there and you can arange too go right too the hunten country right near by and run what ya want too see go by those who sell em. I`d take a Miss. or Ala. or Fla. flaggtailed runnen walker about 18 months old/dog or gyp and tr no less than 3 of em andthey will put ya on a island or ditch tree line ya can see em go on fast game like agray fox or cyote ! You like one buy him and carry him back home he will make ya a big game hound and his little baby brotherrs and sisters comeing up would also start runnen on cottentail rabbit at 6-7 months old and by 9 month of age ya can swith em too gray fox,and at 15 months old swith em too bobcat and at 2 yrs old start em on bear and lion !If ya do the ground work of rabbitts to grayfox then too bobcat then swithch too lion and bear/ they mentally will be ready and eager and take like ducks too water ! Water the blood down by x in a treeing walker coon dog too 1 of them full runnen dogs and youll get pups at 6-9 months old are treeing coon and runnen on bear ! Ceoss watern it down 1 step more too 2 made crossing of same coon dog too its son or daughter and ya get even a better offspring in note/ the third time line crossing sam coon dog parent too gt dd or son will give ya the KING`s of the bear woods !They will look full treeing walker but allways retain from each crossing befor em,the pretty and high voice of a fox hound, will bark in place and will be whole-in-the-wind-speed still and above all have Muchho hart & alo be a tree dog, nto tree barker . They will bark less yes underthe tree, but will stand back off the tree and stay located too the limb of the game and will stay treed all night till it get hot the next day/ if need be.and bark maybe 12-13 times settled in hr after hr.13 bks a minute settled is goo and they take turns at it always 1 dog barken treed up, luls the game into feelen safer up that tree !They make the smartest gamedogs I`ve ever seen and just invent new ways too hedge on a hard piece of game like a back tracken, jumeen off his track,squatted down cat, or a fox that runs his smae exact track out and back and jups out of it and hunkers down on a hideing sti
ump or something else. the dogs mayget hung up runnen the same track with no game in front of em,but that smart cross foxdog/coon dog knows too hush fall out and swithch back stellfully and find that game were hes watching and listing from in refuge and then the dog shuts the door on him and hes trapped up and caught !

Boy I give ya a great origine point for runnen dogs, crossed runnen dogs x coon dogs , and coon dogs/ by thunder everybody loaded up and headed out for Ripplie Miss. hahaha its under 200 miles from memphus Tn. actuall around 100 miles possiably !Ya all will plum enjoy yourselves its the biggest connon picken flea market allmost in the USA and they have some real good deals there take your wives and kids lots and lots ta do, plenty of food stands and a ongrounds cafe and tons of rv parken etc.I don`t know how many acres it is but its a lot biger than a few city blocks of flea market, then ya cross the walk bridge and your in the hounds,chickens,rabbitts,goats etc. market part and lots of parken campen space there too for you and your dogs . These a guy with boloons for the kids and artists man thers everything there !You can buy cages and coon wire cages everything ya can think of .

Just bred your running dog to a bear bred plott.
This cross is good for any game. I have been useing this cross for 40 years.
Pigs, cats , coyotes, bears. These dogs will do the job day in and day out.

Hipshooter wrote:Just bred your running dog to a bear bred plott.
This cross is good for any game. I have been useing this cross for 40 years.
Pigs, cats , coyotes, bears. These dogs will do the job day in and day out.

I`m sorry hipshooter I didn`t mean too soil a good Plott because I`ve seen plots that was real big game hounds, but I`ve seen better Plotts that was part also Calhound fox hound in em and actually if ya don`t want a better hound ya don`t need too breed, just shope around and buy a couple of pups from a breeder who is striveing too put better and then better, and have even better dogs in lineage on the ground .When he does that he will talk about his old days back-in-the-day kept hound a little less highly compaired too how it became today for him too have and breed-on or have you just forgotten the back in the day ones ya had ? hahaha

jack

i used to run coyote quite a bit with running dogs-- and bear with a few croosbreds --- i like those croosbred if you use the right running dog to cross with

it always was a struggle to find one running dog that had it all-

most wont cold trail- some were too coward even for coyote - some were like nolte described ---wide open or not at all-

i never complained about any of them not haveing enuff speed and drive- its seems to get harder to find the one that will trail up and old track-----no wide open country here unless its a mowed field- all brush so not interested in one thats almost a sight hound - we find a track in snow and put em on and they best stay on that track and jump it-

not ram around till they run into one-




like dogst that cold trail - - bay hard-

-stay away from the crazy running dogs -you dont need the catch n stretch type -
you dont need crazy pen dogs


i call em pen dogs but that s not really right -



ill just say that when they make a loss you mite find them 5or 10 miles away still running top speed expecting to hit that track any moment- eyes popped out of their head---

im sure everybodys seen a bugeyed tree dog--

well just running makes some of these dogs bugeyed


i love running dogs but hate the one in last paragraph -lol

Though I raised treeing walkers onced upon a time, I favored the running dogs when I lived and hunted south TX. We hunted primarily bobcat and the running dogs were a little better suited to the game in that area code. It seems most of the better ones were crossed with bluetick which gave them a little more grit and nose. I do not remember any of the old houndsmen that favored the treeing dogs over the running dogs. Of course most of these old houndsmen were originally wolf hunters and were there for the race. It seems that at least half of the running dogs that we hunted would not tree bark. They would sit under the tree and whine or grunt.
One of the best bobcat hunters I ever knew was Ira Woods, Dilley, TX and he ran beagles, the bigger models. They could really get around in the thick, thorny brush that the cats really favor, especially when you put the heat on them. Most of the dogs that we hunted weighed less than 50 lbs. A little lightweight dog seemed to take the heat a little better than some of the bigger hounds. I do think that the light colored dogs stayed a little cooler especially when hunting in daylight and of course, they were always the dogs that got cut when you got into javelinas as they made better targets (easier for the javelinas to see with their poor eyesight).
It seems that everyone hunted at least 10 dogs and I have seen over 20 on the ground at one time. No one wanted a dog that was "independent" like the competition hunters favor today. We did not want a dog that was looking for a tree as you will catch at least half on the bobcats on the ground.
I guess what I am saying is what I have said before, I think certain breeds and types of dogs work better in a particular area.