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I saw a post a while back where "David" spoke of using Curs for Bobcats, and was wondering if anyone else has had any luck with the different Cur's??

I know that there's almost as many different Cur breeds as there are crooked politicians,, but which would you all recomend?? (Ahh,,, Cur,, not politician.)

Thanks
Charlie

I know you were asking for anyone else ha ha, but you got me again. Just thought I would mention the type cur I have used with a certain amount of success on bobcat.

I have caught bobcat with a dog that was from an Original Mountain Cur crossed on a Kemmer Cur and registered as both. She was a gift to me as a pup from Larry Albreicht of Coldwater Kennels, Greene Iowa. She could cold trail some, but usually refused to unless she knew a handler was walking up the track behind her. She was responsible for catching a number of bobcats, and hundreds and hundreds of racoon.

A 1/2 hound pup out of her was an amazing cold trailer and has been responsible for a lot of bobcats, coon and lion also. She actually is probably the best cold trailer for bobcat I have ever owned. She was slower than her mother, and faster than her father.

I also have caught a number of bobcats with Leopard curs. The papered ones I used are now being registered by UKC as "Leopard hounds". And yes, they have plenty of hound blood, as well as some blood that has nothing to do with a hound. They were not the greatest cold trailers either, but were better than the Kemmers I have used. A couple of them I have hunted had uncanny ability to get to a moving cat and get it stopped. I think it had more to do with brains and voodoo than with speed.

I have an unregistered mountain cur. Got her from the amish no papers or nothing so I can not tell you anything about her background. I can tell you that she is a decent cold trailer (probably not the best) but she can really run a track. Just started running her last year and I think she would rather chase cats than coon. I liked her enough that I went and bought an OMCBA registered pup and will be starting her this season. I hunt squirrels and coons with her also. Here is a pic from last season.



We also run a plott on cats. She does a great job I just like the curs.

david wrote:I know you were asking for anyone else ha ha, but you got me again.

Not true David,,, I was actually hoping you would chime in since your coment in a previous post was what I referenced...

I'm picking up a Stryker/Dozer bred Mountain Cur next week that I plan to run with an experienced Bluetick and just wanted to see if any others had tried Curs on Bobcats.

I saw a couple of those Stryker bred Curs run a few Cats down in Nevada, and like you said,,, "they seemed to sort out a track and put an end to it in a hurry"...

FWIW,,, I don't even attempt to rig,,,, I'll wait for snow and walk in..

Thanks
Charlie

curhunter,,,, Thanks,,, You posted while I was typing..
Sounds like your Cur is fast too... That was what impressed me so much with the few I've been around...
Guess I'll know soon enough...

Good luck. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I used to chase a lot of bobcat with hounds. I started catching more of them when I got a few Leapards.

LCK or others, I am wondering. Is the fact that you are catching more cats with curs due to better nose? Faster on track? ect? Or do you find that you are only working fresher, hotter tracks, and not turning out on those old, cold, low percentage tracks? I'm not looking for an arguement, just curious.

I would say that in my situation it has alot to do with not taking a really cold track. I am sure that my cur doesn't have the nose of a good hound. I only hunt on snow, so I know what the track is like before I even start.

Curs can also be super fast. The style of running is head up flat out. Both of my curs run like this. They don't necessarily stay right on track sometimes they will be 10 to 15 yds to the downwind side. There are alot of hounds out there that will do this but a couple of the ones we have tried are too busy with there nose on the ground to really push them. Another reason is because some curs are silent trailers. They catch the cat before it even knows they are there.

These are just a few of my opinions. Every dog has its own qualities it is all in what you like.

mtncurhunter wrote:I would say that in my situation it has alot to do with not taking a really cold track. I am sure that my cur doesn't have the nose of a good hound. I only hunt on snow, so I know what the track is like before I even start.

Curs can also be super fast. The style of running is head up flat out. Both of my curs run like this. They don't necessarily stay right on track sometimes they will be 10 to 15 yds to the downwind side. There are alot of hounds out there that will do this but a couple of the ones we have tried are too busy with there nose on the ground to really push them. Another reason is because some curs are silent trailers. They catch the cat before it even knows they are there.

These are just a few of my opinions. Every dog has its own qualities it is all in what you like.

I tend to agree. I have caught more bobcats in the dirt with these Curs, than I ever even came close to catching with the hounds. I am not so sure it is all the business with the nose as much as it is with the brains and the uncanny ability to just flat drift up on the track and run it hard. My Leapards are somewhat tighter mouthed, but not a lot. They seem to open less and run more. I also am becoming convinced it has a lot to do with athletic ability. My hounds can cover ground at a pretty good clip, but these little Leapards can make em look a bit cumbersome when compared side by side. I'm not knocking my hounds, but am stating what is clearly obvious from what I have seen. My hounds tend to start more races than the Leapards, but once it is going decent, they tend to move to the front and steal it away. Very interesting dogs these Leapards, they remind me a lot of a very well bred, original style Plott more than anything so far.

cab wrote:LCK or others, I am wondering. Is the fact that you are catching more cats with curs due to better nose? Faster on track? ect? Or do you find that you are only working fresher, hotter tracks, and not turning out on those old, cold, low percentage tracks? I'm not looking for an arguement, just curious.

I like to have a very cold nosed dog along (spelled H-O-U-N-D). When you dont have high cat populations, it's tough to let a track go. I have never had a real cold nosed dog that was also a high percentage catch dog. I know they are out there, I just never had one. These are things that I have discussed at length in past years on other threads and the old shade tree. It always frustrates some folks, and I could be just as wrong as the next guy. But I beleive the reason curs catch more cats is because that is what they want to do: catch. They use everything they have toward that end. Curs have always been bred to catch things. Many strains of hounds at their foundation were bred to not catch, but to have a very nice long day of trailing with their beautiful voices and giving horsemen something to do. Every single hound I have ever owned, and I absolutely love hounds, but they are more interested in the trail then the animal at the end of it. In america, there have always been houndmen trying to reverse this and come up with some hounds that want to catch things. I think there have always been a few such folks in Europe as well. It is a tough battle. they are fighting hundreds of years of breeding by very rich and very knowledgeable breeders who just want a nice long day of hunting uninterupted by the bothersome dogs that catch things.

The comment about the old style plotts: People that have studied this thing a lot more than me say the old plott litters had leopard spotted dogs (called "calico" etc.) and they were "plott curs", and not "plott hounds" until a lot of hound blood was added and they wanted to be recognized by UKC. This is the exact same thing that just happened with the Leopard cur. THe old pictures tell it all.

Anyone have any experience with the Mt View strain of Mt. Curs? How do the compare as big game dogs, compared to leps, kemmerers, camus, catahoulas ect. Do the catahoulas produce many good track and tree dogs? Or do they tend to be "catch" type dogs?

Charlie- I posted to you on another thread about your pup. I bred your pup's dad (The Striker side) He is 3/4 Striker bred Kemmer and 1/4 Kamphouse bred Plott. The Mother to Evan's Stryker dog is alive and well, living in Wyo. with a buddy that is a govt. hunter. He likes what he has seen from her so far.

Like I said before, there is really only one way to find out what the pup will do. Some make it and some don't. Sometimes it's the pups fault and sometimes it's the hunters fault. The only thing you can do is give them every opportunity and make sure if the pup doesn't make a cat dog... it was his fault, not yours.

The "Striker" dogs, come from a man that is as good a dogman as there is. He catches game for a living and these dogs are the only kind he keeps. I was truely honored to meet him and his dogs speak for themselves.

I wish Evan would have tried his young dogs and proven them more before he decided to breed them but that's his choice.

I gave him his pup as I did with every other pup in that litter. All but 1 made a game cathing dog before they were a year old. Stuntman on here has a littermate to Evan's Stryker dog (Father to your pup) that was treeing bears alone before he was a year old. I worked hard (So did many other good hunters) to make what eventually culminated in that litter. There is no doubt in my mind that some of those pups will be the right kind! They don't have papers, or a fancy story, but I would bet they will tree game. Best of luck!

Take care.
Mason

Mason, The pup is down in Preston now and is making a good bear dog. There isn't anything wrong with that pup. He just needs more hunting than I could give him. Bear seems to be what he is best suited for.

Cab- Two different Charlies and two different dogs. Sorry for the mix up. I didn't breed the pup you're talking about, just sent him North. I'm glad to hear he is doing well, I hope you are too bud.

Take care.
Mason

I have been using Leopards for bobcats the last two winters and they have been doing great! The # treed went from about 10% with my hounds to over 50% with the leopards. I have found them to be smart, fast, easy to train and very intelligent.
I would agree with everything DAVID and LCK said about there leopards, especially when it comes to the old plott cur and Voodoo
Nick