BigGameHoundsmen.com

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Go getem Ike,Good Luck.

Ike : Ain't nobody ever told you Hound Hunting is an ADDICTION . I have never done drugs but once addiction takes over the brain Tis like no other HIGH

Yup, I think it gets in the blood and a person probably needs a transfusion to get over it Bob. I'm told that hsus is working on a method or idea to break us all off hounds.........

ike

I think this game builds a little momentum in a fella and then has some power of it's own over you. Maybe a fella should quit or want to quit but heck then what do you do sit around and watch hunting videos? There's always one more pup to train or one more thing to buy or a bigger bear to run. I've thought about shutting it all down at times and it's especially tough after you have a dog killed or your health slips. Still, when every tree is as exciting as the last it's hard to turn your back on not just a way of hunting but a way of life.

Ike,

I don't know what it is about hunting hounds that gets in a persons blood. I know even as a young child growing up in Newport Beach, CA I had a passion for the mountains and the wild wilderness. I successfully raised and trained cow dogs and Border Collies long before I had a pack of hounds, but never had the urge to get back into sheep dog trials again after I stopped. I think it is more than just having a hound, it is the whole experience of being in the wilderness on the mountain, experiencing the beauty of the unspoiled (in some areas) landscape, the love of the game you pursue and the bond of you and your dogs. I also think it is the sense of adventure and even danger that makes a person keep going. Just the challenge that lay ahead when you turn those dogs loose and not know what you will have to overcome to get to the end. Kinda like following the rainbow to a pot of gold. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it dissapears. I don't think a true houndsman/woman ever really retires or quits, not bu choice at least. Sometimes we have to listen to our bodies when they get sore and injured, sometimes are wallets are too empty to pay for the expense of it, but when we are able those that have that fire in their heart will get back in the game. My dad said to me when I told him I was selling out, "Tess are you sure you want to sell all your dogs? That is the only thing that I have ever seen you truly happy doing, and your good at it." He was right, the best times of my life were spent on the mountain with my hounds." I guess when you find something you truly are happy doing and love it is hard to let it go.

Still hoping to get that red pup come spring or summer

So did you get a nibble or any response from some of the people you sold to on a pup? You mentioned Tony and he did bred his female to my Ike dog and had two pups from the cross. If I recall, he had both those young dogs down at Wally's bear camp last spring and thought they were coming along fine. But I haven't heard anything from him since that. Good luck in finding a pup.

My son squeezed to red pups out of me last summer when I crossed Choco and Rui Li. That little Goldie dog is a dead ringer for my LionHeart bitch....

No doubt hound hunting has many attractions, from the cry of the hounds, to the connection with those dogs (although hsus would choke hearing that), to the tree experience and sense of achievement from getting it done, and mostly the wild places those hounds take us........

ike

To me my hunting and beer drinking are pretty similar. There's been days I've swore off one or the other and somedays both. Usually start right back the next day though. To stupid or stubborn to learn I guess or I'd of quit hunting a long time ago but that wouldn't help my drinking then either. So I'm cool with being stuck this way!

It always seem when a guy is at the point of throwing in the towel with these hounds something comes along to boost your drive to stay in it. whether it's that pup that is showing itself to be an outstanding animal that most surely will go on to become the best hound you have ever had the pleasure following, or one of the kids starts showing interest in hunting these great athletes that have proven themselves time in and time out. To think about a life without a hound in it is something that I have, a hard time with. I can't think of a better obsession or passion that one can undertake that can leave a grown man/woman with such great memory yet such heartfelt sorrow than these hounds. To look into those old droopy eyes of that elderly hound that you watch grow from the first day they were born and work their hearts out only to be retired to the porch. They will always be a part of the family though their place in it will always remain secondary to your own spouse and kids. The hound has always been more than a tool to me. Friend, companion, helper, and protector.

Sourdough

And I forgot to say a guy needs a hunting buddy to come along, or if he's lucky enough to have a son or daughter interested!