Bobcat Jump Style

[al baldwin]

This has been a very good thread, hunters have disagreed, but, in the end all seem to be on good terms. In my experience, don/t believe I have ever seen a twenty dodging cat race that did not have looses. I have owned packs that have recovered from numerous looses, and caught some of those cats. I never worried much about a lose, as long as those looses were picked up quick enough to keep pressure on the cat. I can recall numerous ten minute or so, sometimes longer loses, where the cat got caught, that long of a lose sure depends on how much ground the cat puts between themself & the first dog to find that lose. Also can depend on if you are after a stinky tom or a small female, If the cat you are pursuing is dog wise enough to keep enough distance, easing along, forcing the dogs to trail, you will have trouble catching that cat. Coarse, silent dogs have an advantage in this situation, however silent does not always catch all cats. I think that is what sagebrush was trying to point out when he said a dog can only run as fast as the scent allows. This is just my opinion based on over 50 years of bobcat hunting as a recreational cat hunter. I also want to say there have been numerous others in this area that have owned a dog or dogs that caught a high percentage of the cats they jumped, But, never knew anyone who caught them all. Good hunting Al

[mark]

Spot on!!!!!! Trueblue

Dewey i agree with your explanation of a dog running in the funnel completely. The problem comes when we define overrunning the track,there would be a lot of different opinions on how far that is. ie 5' 15' 10 yds etc. etc. When a dog is running full speed in that scenario especially STEEP downhill he is gunna over run a track pretty bad especially with a good breeze from the rear. How a dog recovers from over running a track is what i focus on (because all dogs are going to do it at times) they need to shut up immediately until they are back in the funnel AND up under the cat again.

[barksalot]

Trueblue, I don't think that I could ever describe any tree as a disappointment but other than that you are "Spot On".

[david]

It is amazing that even the tree, as much as most of us love it, is a cultural thing. There are plenty of bobcat hunters who kill as many as the best of us, and they never carry a gun and they do not welcome the sound of dogs barking treed. If you ever hunt with them
You will start to understand it.

[dhostetler]

[quote="david"][quote="pegleg"]

From what I have seen with my sorry dogs, bobcats are not usually "running" when pursued, but trotting. You might see them running, but following tracks in the snow reveals that it is because they are crossing an opening like a road and then revert to their trotting or walking when they feel hidden. When I have witnessed or observed tracks of them running it is for a short distance. I just don't think they are capable of sprinting long distances. I always liked seeing the running cat tracks in the snow because usually it meant I was on my way to a treed or caught cat.

And logic tells me that a running cat caught by dogs was out ran. In other words, the dogs were faster than the cat.

I have seen a lot of hounds that do not have that overdrive gear. I have needed just one that does. quote]

Where I do most of my hunting there aren't a lot of roads, so my opportunity to see one in the race is pretty rare. If you go back to the 1st page of this topic in the #8 turnout when I saw the cat hit the road it came out in a wide stretch of road. It was stretched out till it hit the tire track than just sauntered down the road like it had all day. In the #4 turnout when it crossed the road it was stretched out and going for all it had and treed shortly.

Several years ago I was running one and the dogs were really burning it and I figured they were right on it. It came across the road over 100 yards in front of the dogs just trotting across, it went another 400 yards uphill and treed in a miserable place.

I think there are a lot of cat dogs out there that can really run a track good and do a beautiful job but lack that overdrive to close the deal. I like to call it the last 5% of the effort, I believe in a lot of good bobcat dogs they aren't that much better than other dogs they just have that last 5% needed to close the deal.

[1bludawg]

I would especially agree with your last paragraph .Many times i've seen my ole Rock and Ranger dogs tree cats after the other dogs got fouled up or threw out .I've also saw it with other cat hunters when they had one of those elite cat dogs .Sometimes it's brain power other times it's sheer desire that enables them to outperform the rest of the pack and tree the cat !

[scrubrunner]

David, I only hunted with the Clay dogs the one day we were there together but I have hunted my entire life with running walkers, a lot of which was very close bloodlines to the clays. The video I sent you of the pups playing a while back are great-grand pups off the Buster dog that I think most of their current dogs go back too.
That said I have seen very few running walkers that do not run to catch and put their mouth on a fox or bobcat. Now they are certainly not the gritty bear dog type hound and some learn real quick that there is consequences and repercussions to grabbing a bobcat.
Also if you train young hounds with older hounds that have learned that and bay rather than catch I think the young hounds learn to do the same, mostly after they get cat slapped a time or two. I think that is possibly the clay hound's situation. But I could be wrong.

[david]

If a young one doesn't learn to stay back on his own, he might get a phone call.

[mark]

Ah the old phone call lol

[twist]

And its could be a long distance call!

[shade]

very seldom do i reply to any post but a few years ago i had a walker that wasnt much of a coon dog started her on cats one night we turned loose i watched her jump a cat out of the ditch next to a rail track .got to watch the whole race she ran it for a couple hundred yards before she cought it on the ground. She went right then left the cat went to the left and she was waiting on it you cant teach that it has to be learned

[undertheradar]

The thread was interesting but aggravating to follow as it got off topic. Ive never been cat hunting with tree stock dogs. Nobody that I know in VA and NC hunt tree stock dogs. Its all done with running walkers. We've caught cats in 5 min on the ground and we've been out run after a 2 hr race. But one thing is for sure here, a cats territory is the thickest, most rankest ground you want to be in. Which is why tree stock just don't cut the mustard. If anyone on here has a good pack of cat dogs and some cats, within 2 hours of Suffolk Va Id love to come. PS I have no dogs anymore.