BigGameHoundsmen.com

THERE ARE DAYS WHEN THE STARS ALIGN DESPITE YOUR BEST EFFORTS,I HAD A DAY LIKE THAT ON OUR SEASON OPENER.
WE PUT ON ALOT OF MILES IN THE DARK WITH LOTS OF FRESH SNOW THAT HAD QUIT FALLING ABOUT 11PM THE NIGHT BEFORE.THE CONDITIONS WERE PERFECT.
GETTING UP EARLY AND HEADING INTO COUNTRY LESS TRAVELLED PUT US AT THE HEAD OF THE LINE AND AS SUCH WE HAD CLEAN ROADS EVERYWHERE WE WENT.
UNFORTUNATELY WE DID NOT FIND A TRACK AND NOW IT WAS DAYLIGHT.
I LIKE TO BE READY TO DROP THE DOGS AT THIS POINT BUT WE HAD NO TRACK AND OUR LITTLE CORNER HAD BEEN CHECKED WELL.
WE DECIDED TO GET IN LINE AND HEADED BACK TO LOWER GROUND HOPING THAT SOMETHING HAD CROSSED LATE.
WE FOUND A SHORT ROAD THAT NO BODY HAD CHECKED AND "BINGO"WE WERE IN BUSINESS!
TWO LIONS,A MALE AND FEMALE WERE TRAVELLING TOGETHER AND CROSSED THE ROAD IN 5 DIFFERENT SPOTS.AS HARD AS I TRIED I COULD NOT DETERMINE THE FRESH END SO,SEEING AS HOW THE TEAM WAS PRETTY SOLID I DECIDED TO SPLIT THEM UP.
NOW WE HAD 2 SETS OF TRACKS GOING UP AND 3 SETS GOING DOWN SO LOGICALLY IT SEEMED THE LIONS SHOULD BE BELOW.
I FIGURED IF I SPLIT THE TEAM UP THEY SHOULD QUICKLY CLOSE THE LOOPS AS THE CATS WERE HUNTING A SMALL AREA AND WE HAD LOTS OF ACCESS SO IT SEEMED WE COULD AVOID TROUBLE.I DROPPED JAZZ AND D.J. ON THE FIRST SET OF TRACKS AND TO MY HORROR THEY DID A QUICK DOUBLE BACK AND RAN THE TRACK BACKWARDS!GOOD GRAVY,THAT HAD NOT HAPPENED TO ME IN YEARS!
I FELT PRETTY FOOLISH BUT THEY WERE ON IT AND THAT WAS THAT.

I TOOK THE REST OF THE PACK TO THE NEXT TRACK AND DROPPED BLAZE,WHISKEY AND JIGGS.THEY TOOK IT BUT NOT WITH THE KIND OF VIGOUR I HAD IMAGINED THEY WOULD.

WE FIRED UP THE RIG AND HEADED BACK TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE FIRST TRACK,FULLY EXPECTING THE DOGS TO HAVE TURNED IT AROUND AND BACK IN THE OTHER DIRECTION.
I CHECKED THE GPS ONLY TO SEE D.J. ROLL UP TREED AND QUICKLY JAZZ RIGHT BEHIND.
I SWALLOWED HARD AND IMAGINED HOW I WOULD FEEL WHEN I WALKED UP ON A SLICK TREE THAT I HAD CAUSED,HOW COULD IT END ANY OTHER WAY I THOUGHT.
WELL WE HIKED UP THE RIDGE TO FIND A GREAT TOM LION LOOKING DOWN AT THE DOGS AND THE DOGS DOING EVERYTHING AS YOU WOULD HOPE.
NOW THATS CHITHOUSE LUCK!

I had that happen on a bobcat once, sent my best dogs and they whirled and turned the track bakcwards so I drove into the canyon to cut them off. I was sitting on the track when they came down but for some strange reason were going down the track the right way? Never did figure that one out unless they winded the cat and went to the bober down the track backwards but were actually running drift? A guy hunts enough he sees some strange stuff.....