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Rooster ---- your post was very well written. A wealth of knowledge.

I hunt in north central Texas where it may snow 1 time a year. If I wat for snow to hunt that might be 1 to 3 days a year. I try to rig bobcats here in the dry sand and once in a while it happens. When it does we normally put that bob up which makes me think it was a hot track. Also I have seen a cat cross the road in front of me here on the ranch, drop everything and run to the house and get my hounds, and NOT even get the dogs to run this track. No explanation for that but at times these same dogs can rig a track that I never have seen? I always just scratch my head and say I wish I had better hounds.
I have been through the trial dogs myself. Layed out some real money for dogs that were represented as great cat dogs that can't rig a bob for me here. Some of these expensive dogs had never seen a bobcat in my opinion. My experience has been that the most expensive dogs are not always the best for my area.
Finding a track to run in dry sand is tuff so I normally travel the roads and try to rig. For me in this area it works better to let my hounds rig the game rather than me show them a track. Also some hunts I do not get a strike.

Kinda got off the post --- but my answer would be YES you can rig a bobcat with the right dog.

My dad always said "never give up" especially on your hounds.

there are times i strike tracks and trail them for 2 to 3 hours before my young dogs open. sometimes i have seen a cat cross and not struck it until i drove over it again? i dont know all the ins and outs of why they do all that they do but a top strike dog will produce tracks. the most important thing to me is the time you make to hunt, i think that is the biggest thing. i get laidoff in the winter so there are times that i hunt6 to 7 days a week for8 to 12 weeks, i notice a significant difference in all my dogs then. when you can put them on tracks every day it aint long and even the young ones start to whip up on even old tracks.. they cant learn anything at home, just keep turning them over the hill and something will step up and usualy do it for you. good luck.

Have you ever tried roading your dogs rather than rigging them. When conditions are bad,(no snow or bad snow) we usually throw a dog out and let it run. Usually one dog works the best. If you get two or three running it can turn into a disaster. Once the dog gets the hang of it you can cruise at about 10 to 15 mph. I've had some good results from this type of hunting and your dog still gets some exercise on those days when no tracks are to be found. Ross

thanks to all of you.. yes mostly we run snow or half snow... depends on the weather. right now is rain, snow, sleet, yuck! I'm just looking for ways to capitalize on my dogs' abilities.(and gas prices lol!) .obviously just plain go hunting.. but any advantage is an oppurtunity to pursue!