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Why would laying a BROKE rig dog up for three weeks and then rigging him matter if he doesn't smell cat he better not bark. If he does he isn't a true rig dog I would say. Andy

There's a huge difference in Rigging Cold bad tracks and rigging decent tracks. There's a Big difference in a dog that strikes cats and a RIG DOG...

my experience makes me believe it is easier for most dogs to rig those old crossings, scent post & scratches, than rigging a cat that will be jumped shortly. When I had good rig dogs, haven driven miles without a bark, then get into any pocket where cats were using, better off to dump then to road, they would road by those old scent post stopping to smell & flag, if they remained on the box they would open at those old scent post. Most my dogs, back in the day, roaded at a third gear pace when fresh. I say, there are dogs that rig & then there are refined rig dogs, there is a difference. Unless you have more cats than I did & you break them to start red hot tracks only, you will sure miss out on a bunch of cat races. Al

@twist hahahahaha

Sure is a lot of opinions out there. Seems like it is true for how each of us see it in the dogs and way that we hunt. Maybe that's all there is? Dewey

If I hunt day in and out, I can keep my dogs hammered down to the point of being able to go miles without a bark. If I hunt only every 3 or 4 days I need to use a heavier hand. I can't stand a rattily dog box. I don't put up with my dogs starting only 5% of the strikes maybe I break them off of cold strikes but if my dogs leave the top of the box I want a greater than 50% chance that they will at least move a track.

Back @oneguy828 lol

Not trying to be a smart ass but if you need a dog that can trail 12 hr old snow tracks because "that may be the only track you find all day" why would you expect your rig dog to be able to start 50% of the the tracks he hits from the box? Seems like you would only get one going every once in a great while with a minimal cat population like that. I would think if the dog could hit it decent from the box it would be worth giving it a try. Have seen dogs blow up and bail off the box at a dead run and not be able to get it going and other times just get some good whines and chirps and leave the road jumped. When somebody gets to where they know for a fact 100% of the time what the track is like without putting a dog on the ground i would sure like to know their system. It would sure save a lot of time on some days.

Ya I probably overstated the 50%, it probably is more like 25%. If my dogs would only start one in 20 tracks they struck and came off the box for I would have very few races because of the time spent screwing around. In my opinion in the interior Rockies it is much easier to strike cats in warmer weather as it seems the scent carries better. With the coast being more roaded and brushy I think cats use roads more as travel corridors while in more open country they don't and in warmer weather you can get more of those off road cats if you hunt the thermals correctly.

Just out of curiosity how long have you guys been rigging and catching cats?

Not you Al. I know you been doing it since Eisenhower was in office. Lol

Rigging bobcats is science that I have not been able to figure out with over 45 years of boxing them. This winter with all the rain we had most strikes that the dogs opened on we caught. I did hit a lot of piss bushes that we did not get an open or track out of there. When we did have good scent conditions there sure seemed to be a lot of bobs out there from piss bush strikes that I did not get an open on or very few opens. I have dogs that will strike a three or four day old piss bush in good scent conditions and ones that will not hit anything but a good trailing track. Now which should I use on each type of scent conditions to be able to cover enough ground to catch a cat in the areas that I hunt with not a high bobcat population? I have good dogs but I have seen better and I expect to catch a bobcat every day that I hunt no matter what the weather is, does it happen no but the days that I double or triple make up for the days that I go home empty. Guys until the dogs can talk or we can smell a bobcat we are just making it up based on our experience. Good hunting Dewey

I am probably more of new comer than others on here I started hound hunting in 02. One of my first dogs was a good rig dog over 10 years old I bought to get my hounds started. He was killed by bear he rigged. I consider all bears and cats good game. In the warmer months My catch rate is usually 1 of the cat family lion, Lynx, or bobcats per 3 bears mainly rigging. In the winter months most of my hunting is snow though on an occasion I will rig or road one on bare ground.

. The question wasnt to prove anyone better than anyone else or dogs being better than others. I guess i am just amazed at all the different things i have seen dogs do and not do from the box. Im probly just real slow because i still have days that leave me scratching my head at what happened or didnt happen with dogs and cat scent. Between that and starting pups is probly the biggest reason i stick with it. I hope i never get it all figured out as good a some as i think it would get boring. I just dont think anyone can see all the possibilities with dogs and cat scent and conditions in one lifetime let alone in a few years. But i could be wrong.

Mark I might have a spare mongrel if your board and want something to start this year... The short time I been around I have seen two sides of everyone's story's so I just leave it to hunting and not knowing ANYTHING I seem to do alright that way

mark wrote:. The question wasnt to prove anyone better than anyone else or dogs being better than others. I guess i am just amazed at all the different things i have seen dogs do and not do from the box. Im probly just real slow because i still have days that leave me scratching my head at what happened or didnt happen with dogs and cat scent. Between that and starting pups is probly the biggest reason i stick with it. I hope i never get it all figured out as good a some as i think it would get boring. I just dont think anyone can see all the possibilities with dogs and cat scent and conditions in one lifetime let alone in a few years. But i could be wrong.

Mark, I agree! Darn I have a bald spot on my head from scratching it all the time, trying to figure things out! Lol! It's very challenging to say the lest and I'm like you,the challenge and training young dogs is what keeps me at it. When any cat hunter thinks he has it all figured out he's starting to go backwards at that point! And that's just my opinion!
Robbie