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iam new to hunting bear with hound. was wondering whats the best strain of walkers to use. some thing with a lot of grit. around this area no one realy has any walkers with any grit.

hard to go wrong with nance bred walkers

around this area no one realy has any walkers with any grit.

there are a few around that are good all around dogs and seem to put a few bear in the trees.

northwibear wrote:around this area no one realy has any walkers with any grit.

Where is "this area". I know a few guys in NW WI that have some that do pretty good.

Contrary to popular belief, most dogs don't have enough regardless of what color they are. And even fewer have enough that don't get beat up alot.

Nolte wrote:... most dogs don't have enough (grit) regardless of what color they are.

That is true; some dogs simply don't make bear dogs. They can be an excellent strike dog, trail dog, and tree dog but that doesn't mean very much if they are scared of bear.

Most of the walkers I'm running have been bred locally for bear (primarily) and cougar/bobcat since the eighties. These walkers are basically a combination of blood originally shipped here to Idaho when a few guys back then were building hound packs. In their background you see House's Clint and son's of his like Moore's Night Ridge Score & House's Cruze. (Both of whom were littermates. Incidentally each one of them both sired a World Champion coondog.) Also the '83 World Champion Beanblossom Buck is in their background, he was Finley River Bred. Read's Kentucky Clipper, and there are numerous others...

There have been numerous bear dogs born and raised in this area from those original hounds and each generation has been built upon the previous -each sire and dam having proven themselves to be worthy of breeding. The young pups I have here now, the newest generation, are acting as good as any litter I've ever raised. They will be sorted through; the good ones will be kept and the bad will not, the same as each previous generation. What strain are they? They are a local strain and they work for me. They are balanced hounds and have grit.

talk to some of them boys over in michigan they have what it takes, there running in them swamps and also there are some others in so carolina there running in that thick brush on the coast.and we have some out in ca. but thats to far i recommend talking with the owners of these dogs and then go hunting with them you will find what you want, takes time and money [mostly time.]
some of the nance dogs are good on cat but not tight enough on bear for me just my opinion

JMO , I think grit comes from Lipper. More Lipper=More Grit. Also Nailor bred top and bottom is a good bet for gettin game up a tree.

Hey Idaho, are you talking about the dogs owned by guys like Kenny Higgs and Wert Hamrick? Just curious, I knew those guys from field trials and they had some really good Walkers, and if I was to go that route I would sure try to figure out how to get dogs that go back to Kenny and Wert.

If that isnt what your referring to do you know what Kenny and Wert were hunting?

Just curious!

I have tried about all of them and am still open to others. But I have to say these Bozo Dogs are getting it done for me.
I run several different dogs in my pack and take on alot of different breeds every year to run for other people, and the Bozo dogs are leading the pack for me.

Everything that I am hearing here is true to my knowledge. My buddy and I have ran Nailor, Lipper and Tar Heel Nitro dogs for the past eight years and we havnt culled any yet. We have also hunted with dogs from Hickory Nut Harry and Bozo, and they too got the job done. I believe it boils down to how much time and effort you put into the dog. Dont get me wrong, the bloodlines mentioned make it alot easier, thats for sure.
Good luck to all of you and hope to meet a few of you someday.

Take Care!

I hunt in the western part of nc and the Tarheel Nitro and Hardwood cross has worked well for me!

i havea wild clover dog that is doing everything a man could want at 20 months old. only bee on bear since july. he impressed everyone that we hunted with. i'm gonna find me some more of them

blackpaws wrote:

around this area no one realy has any walkers with any grit.

there are a few around that are good all around dogs and seem to put a few bear in the trees.

Joe, where the hell have you been living under a rock :lol There is as good as walker bear dogs right here as anywhere, you need to get in with the right guys and lines I know of a dam good cross just made if it took, it was the last son of my gunner dog. Gunner stayed on bear, and so did his son's, when plotts was on the road. Two of willys daughters was killed on bear this fall. If that isnt walker and grit, what the heck is?? And there born and bred right here in WI. There is several guys, with Top walker bear dogs in this state.

the yadkin river strains are biting bear for me .the other qualities im seeing out of them are also impressive .lines are only as good as the current dogs their producing . dogs doing it in your area would definately be the way to go.

I know a dang good bunch tied at a guys house between Antigo and Birnamwood