BigGameHoundsmen.com

i dont know what makes you one. i dont know if this post has already been done or not but i figure with everything said on this site about houndsmen this, houndsmen that
i'd like for ya'll to tell me, a clueless 19 year old kid..what makes a man a "houndsmen"

heres my best guess at, you could go out in the woods, desert what have you, get all kinds of pissed off at yourself, the dog, the game, whatever you feel like blamin at the time, and come home madder then hell then sit there and think about nothin but the next time you get to go out in the wilderness with them stinkin potlickes and play the game all over again..
thats what i come up with..you know my cousin and myself talked to some old cowboy type fella at bass pro in mesa last week who used to be big into runnin dogs, he told me "boy once you hear that hound music blastin through the woods its like ya done stuck a needle in your arm, your addicted!" i said right there with a big shit eatin grin on my face " yes sir it sure is and i aint ashamed to say, i'm ADDICTED..

soo i'd like to hear what ya'll guys think this word means, i know theres a ton of fellas on here that know a lot more than i do and got alot more experience
i'd like to know what you think
take it easy
Mike

But to answer your question what makes "me" a houndsman in my eyes: I've taken a line of dogs (each and every one a pup) that were basically strike and trail lion dogs and elevated that pack to lion and bear rig dogs, dogs that will strike from the box and go catch while listening to me the whole time; dogs that I can call off a track, a tree, a bayup, and mainly dogs that hunt and handle for me and not for themselves, and all the while kept the other things that are important in my life intact--and to me that's what success is, not some number.

ike

I think a real houndsmen looks at a hound as more than just a dog, but instead, as a friend, as family, and as a hunting partner. One who cares more about the experience and the dog work than the kills and the catches, one who has a genuine respect for the quarry being chased, one who has ethics even when nobody is looking, and one who has a passion and dedication to the sport itself.

My simple explanation. Any person who spends as much time with their dogs or hunting with their dogs as they would a job. Its like when somone asks you "what do you do?" My reply would be equipment operator for a municipality. I work more than I hunt or spend with my dogs so I would be an operator before a houndsman. I dont think there are very many houndsman out there anymore. Its just too expensive to hunt or train/sell dogs for a living so I think amost all of us are weekend warriors.

On the otherside I think most of us in here conseder themselfs houndsman. Every available second of free time we spend with our dogs hunting, training, bonding or cleaning up dog shit.. Catching game isnt enough motivation for most of us to do this. The dogs provide the motivation. If I didnt run dogs I really wouldnt even bother. How many reading this would still hunt if you couldnt use the dogs? Not many. Sounds like a houndsman to me.

If I didn't have hounds, I would have zero reason to hunt. Never hunted before I had dogs, never will without them. Never had a tag for anything other than what I had to have to run the dogs. Only ever tagged ONE bear, and maybe a handful of coons.

I have dedicated my life to my dogs, and they come above all else. I work to feed dogs, and I work at a animal hospital, to in fact take better care of my animals (lots of perks)

That being said I expect my animals to perform, and am always working hard to improve them, and find one a little better. I love them all, wether they make the cut or not. By not just settling with "what works" I will have a life long journey, full of memories, triumphs, set backs, and hard work. If I were to have an obtainable goal, then what?

Of course all the numbers seem impressive. But by the time most ever reach that level of "I caught this many" or "been hunting this many years" or "I hunt this much" it doesn't really matter anymore. The work it took to get there and the things we learn along the way are what matter.

I'd rather spend all my time, money, sweat and tears taking the road less traveled.

To be a Houndsman, Wow! that is a strong powerfull word to me "Houndsman". I am just a man with a few good ole hounds. I am a far cry from being what I would say a real Houndsman is. I have lost many a job, a wife and trucks do to this fine sport. In the end im just a man with a few good hounds. I still take them old potlickers over anything in the world. When life crowds me in I can always turn to my hounds for help. Me and them are on the same page. Houndsman I would say, I am NOT..

Eventhough i am just starting out I love my dogs and i want them to be the best they can be. I sacrifice my time to make them the best dogs i can make them. I am still learning and probably will never stop learning. I learn a lot from the website and even my dogs. i feel that we are all on a ladder. Some are on the top, some are in the middle, and some are on the bottom trying to climb up. Bottom line is we all love our dogs and try to make them the best we can.
Rick

Reb, that is a great way to put it, your ladder version. I was thinking the same thing but wasn't sure how to say it. I'm sure most everyone on this site is on that latter somewhere.

I've been called a houndsmen but it was not by my neighbors.
John

what is a houndsperson/ i dont believe its just the dogs , you have to love the woods , you have to understand the habbits of the animal , you are trying to catch , it takes both dog and man to be sucesful , i dont mean talking animals , i walk away from a lot of trees ,its easyer to lead adog than drag a bear . it has to be all you want to do ,you need an understanding spouse , no brains , and good friends . www.fallriverwalker.com

I would rather have someone else kill a bear off my dogs then to kill a bear off theirs.
That is one difference in a houndsman and a hunter.

I would rather turn loose some of the younger dogs to train them even if it means I have to leave out an older dog and hurt my chances of catching the game. I am interested in having good dogs for years to come not in catching as many bears as possible for a year or two. Otherwise I would never raise and train pups. Hopefully I can catch as many bears as possible while trainig the dogs for years to come that is the best case scenario.

I have only ever bought one dog in my life. I prefer raising and training them myself there is a since of pride in their accomplishments when you raise them from a pup.

I was up elk hunting yesterday. There was about 2 to 3 in. of fresh snow, and I'm on some Elk tracks following them up a ridge when I cut a cat track. The whole rest of the day all I wanted to do was go load up the pup we've been training and get after that cat. As for the Elk hunt I'll post some pics. later.
RICK

Well I just like to take the dogs out and kill stuff
To be serious...being a houndsman is not something you go out and do from time to time just to escape your life. It's a way of life, a dedication, an addiction. It's part of who you are. I hate the term sport hunting for any thing! HUNTING ain't a SPORT for me...it's a way of life and who I am. Competition with nature, in one way, and being part of it, in another. It's mostly about dogs, it's a lot about hunting, and a whole lot about who you are. It's instinct and it's some things learned, it's something you do for fun...and something you do because you have to, want to, need to. When I hunt with my dogs, I feel more alive than doing any thing else. It's about going to the woods, watching your dog strike a trail, bay up and fight a mean critter, get it's job done, and at the same time you'r e taking part of the whole chase. It's also about comraderie (sorry can't spell) with your dogs, they are your partners and, so much more than "tools". heck all I ever want to do all day and any day is hit the woods, run after the dogs, and hunt!
In the end I guess ,being a houndsman is whatever you want it to mean.

Being a houndsman is:
*giving up your hobbies and other activities you enjoy because doing so will provide you with more time to hunt with your dogs
*having pictures of your dogs in your wallet, but not having any of your girlfriend or wife
*being too tired or sick to hunt, but going anyway
*remembering the dates all of your dogs were born and died on, but forgetting the dates of your family's birthdays, anniversaries, etc
*sometimes telling (or even trying to convince) yourself to quit hunting with hounds, but never having the strength to
*having plenty of pictures of your dogs treed or bayed, but rarely having any of you with dead game
*subconsciously surrounding yourself only with friends who are houndsmen
*preferring to hunt rather than sleep, and getting home just in time to put the dogs away before rushing to work
*saving up all of your vacation and sick time to use for hunting rather than family vacations
*loading your dogs up in the back of your sedan to go hunting week after week after your truck was destroyed by a fallen tree while out hunting
*asking for money for dog semen collection on your Christmas List
*working all week just to make just enough money to go hunting each weekend
*having more home videos of your dogs than your kids
*keeping better track of the forecast for rain and snow than you do the performance of your stocks and 401k
*knowing the names of your next 10 male and 10 female dogs long before you ever plan on breeding your dogs or otherwise owning new pups
*going hunting with your dogs on your birthday and the birthdays of your kids
*knowing that every dog you have in your pen will die one day, but doing it anyway
*having to witness the death of every one of your dogs and bawling like a baby because of it, but finding enough room left in your heart to love the next pup to come
*going hunting with your wife, kids, and dogs on the night of New Year's Eve every year, so that you end the year and begin the year doing what you love most with everyone you love most
*something you feel and what you are, rather than what you do

First of all I am not a "Houndsman" I am new to this game but thats what it is to me just an enjoyable past time. My dogs may never be the best and I may never be the best but I am proud to say I still hold down a job and I still have my family and in between all this I catch a few cats.