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Spruce Mountain,

I would sure deffer to Mr. Pete Richardson in another Post when he said that more than two Hounds in the Snow are just in the way. I think he also said that at times One Hound is better than two.

In non-Snow conditions I bet that the Six Dog pack that it sounds like they are going to let you use, will be successful and fill the North Woods with your own brand of the "CATHOUND OPRY"!

I did not think that your previous post was challenging at all, but we have been having e-mail and phone conversations with folks that just can't believe some of the things that I type after confering with Dad, same with Posts from Hipshooter. Folks that have not been to other areas find the ways and results of the natives of these other areas hard to believe.

It is why he and most of the Old-timers do not suffer fools well and refuse to share their knowledge, which was acquired through the School of Hard Knocks and Sleepless Nights! I try to filter his Data IN, as much as rephrasing his Data OUT, as much as I can, but he still thinks that I waste time trying to help folks on here and the Phone!

Good Running to All!

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

I'm glad that you didn't take me wrong,I'm not real good at exspresing myself corectly on this thing sometimes.You can certainly count me as one of the believers.Its not like you don't have the pictures and story's to back up what you say.I guess I was just wondering if guys that run cats with big packs do it because they like hearing the opry as you say or is it pretty much the only way to catch them were you hunt.And by the same token do we think the way we do it with just a dog or two is the only way because we haven't tried it any other way,we've just always been told that big packs don't work here,but I personaly don't know anybody that has realy tried it.

CJC i'd enjoy to hear on how a large pack makes hunts down south more productive. is there faster and fewer checks? keep the cat moving faster and tight circling less?

ive always liked reading about southern cat hunters.. how they do it and the amount of successful hunts. id like to see it some day

i know i'm getting off topic but in my meager opinion.. snow can suck .. well its great for finding tracks and knowing what your running and maybe slowing or wearing a cat down in the right conditions but it doesnt hardly improve track perfomance imo. cold trailing and getting the cat jumped isnt the hard part.. its when the pressure is on and that cat hits a swamp or tangle and starts pulling all their neat little tricks, it gets harder to sort out in most snow than bare ground imo especially with any more than one or two dogs. and maybe one reason no one really hunts large packs in snow country.

Dads dogboy wrote: he still thinks that I waste time trying to help folks on here and the Phone!
C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

"He is no fool who gives what he can not keep to gain what he can not loose"
-Jim Eliot.

You are no fool sir. Thankyou.

x10.

cjc. don't listen to papa just this one time we won't tell no one! I enjoy your articles and do learn from them. are conditions different here then there? yes. but with a little thought things can be made appropriate for the area. AND TALKING FACTS TO A WALL CAN BE IRRITATING AND WEAR YOU OUT. hopefully not every one on here is a brick wall though. my experience with large packs if the hounds will work right and honor one another and you have no liars. it works fine but they have to be moving forward this is the key to your hounds and if as you say they bark twice on one track they're done for. here is why it works like that here. the scent is so shallow and light that by the time one hound has run over it if all the rest feel they have to smell it to honor it. it just won't be there. it'll be scattered or covered. so they must have faith in the other hounds. and move forward and hit it some where ahead themselves to confirm it. a hound that comes back at a loss to the first track won't be able to do as well and loose time moving out.on lion this can not be a problem with a pack that are all trailing the scent together but on bobcat faith in each other is a major requirement. hope that was clear prob not.

i just realized in typical hounder fashion it went from how many cats to how many dogs how a$$ backwards are we?

This past wkend I hunted 12 fox/cat dogs, 4 11 month pups, and 1 deer dog that might work out. Caught a 28lb tom and a 311/2 lb tom. 1 20 minute race and 1 1 hr 10 minute race. It is not about catching cats. It is about having a screeming race back and forth, across the road, back across the road, as cat gets out of the road dogs are coming in the road. When you are in the bushes with them and they come by you within 5 feet it sounds like a train roaring by. There is nothing else like it. If you are running a cat in this part of the country he runs like a half grown rabbit. It is not about selling furs. It is about taking your hounds, finding a track, track him down the road sometimes 5 miles till you find where he left the road. Turn your dogs after him, trail to a jump and run his ass with power and athority until he trees or gets caugh on the ground. Putting together a pack of hounds that can consistently accomplish this is a very challenging and rewarding sport. Most people can not handle it. To accomplish this, you must have either an extreme desire and determination or more money than you have sense.

Poon,

Great story about the weekend. You are very articulate in expressing the joys of the Chase in your Country and the motivation there in.

Folks,

A good friend who lurks around on here( he catches more Sure-Nuff Bad Bobcats, in Bad Country than anyone I know, us included) just called me and said that he had enjoyed this thread. He said that to him a Hound had had enough Cat to be called a Cat Hound,
when after the Cat is Jumped...you start pulling for the Cat rather than the Hounds. Upon reflection that ain't a Bad Way to look at it!

CJC

Poon, I like the way you put a handle on it. Good Post!

Poon wrote: Putting together a pack of hounds that can consistently accomplish this is a very challenging and rewarding sport. Most people can not handle it. To accomplish this, you must have either an extreme desire and determination or more money than you have sense.

Man, 17 hounds on one cat. I have seen 7 do it in snow, but I always thought that was pure luck never to be repeated again. I cant even immagine how they could stay cohesive on a project like that. That is so beyond anything I have ever experienced and I hope I live long enough to witness something like that. Maybe that is how cat hunting is in heaven. Is your real name Elijah? LEarning that pack dynamic would be like starting all over again for me. Might be time to start all over. I got a feeling I would have to live where cats can be hunted without a lot of snow.

That's cool Poon.And I thought me and Dewey get razzed about running 8-13 dogs at a time when we hunt together.
Thanks for sharing,Tim

Mr Clay , tell your dad that i take what you and him both say to heart when it comes to dogs and dog training . I have always took what the more experienced houndsman told me and stored it in my memory bank. So keep passing on the tips and training suggestions cause i'm listening !

grouse wrote:Mr Clay , tell your dad that i take what you and him both say to heart when it comes to dogs and dog training . I have always took what the more experienced houndsman told me and stored it in my memory bank. So keep passing on the tips and training suggestions cause i'm listening !

10-4 on that keep it come'in!!!

It is not about catching cats. It is about having a screeming race back and forth, across the road, back across the road, as cat gets out of the road dogs are coming in the road. When you are in the bushes with them and they come by you within 5 feet it sounds like a train roaring by. There is nothing else like it.

You do have a way with words Poon. Move over Dads Dog Boy

David, stop by, park your semi and I can show you what it sounds like on a smaller scale (around 15"). The right kind of snow, if it isn't too deep, doesn't hurt and sometimes helps. Most of the time in winter though, with the crappy snow we have in this part of the country, more dogs equals less "opry".