BigGameHoundsmen.com

I am new to hound hunting and was curious what you guys do with your cat dogs out of season?

I go to Calf. to hunt There are open areas down there with some cats. On my place here I can let the dogs run lose to get exercise. The dogs need to stay in shape as best as possible. I hunt during the pursuit season and road during March and August. Dewey

Yep... I let mine run loose on my property as much as possible.. We go to the lake and swim.. and they will all chase a ball being thrown (only one will bring it back)... if you want to hunt, you need to go out of state.. Its hard to keep them in shape April-July... so I do what I can with what little I have to work with.. Good luck...

Hunt lots of coons and bears!!!

Rabbits & Squarels any time

Hipshooter,

To quote my 7 yr old, "U are too funny"!

CJC

get them off the chains or out of their kennels and into the yard or find a rancher/farmer that dont mind having dogs run his roads on the place (keep away from the livestock nomatter how broke your dogs are it will be your fault if something happens) look for some cannels that have roads on them some a public. i have used county gravel roads that dont have much or any traffic to road my dogs. if you look around you will find something that works close to home good luck. Richard ps.you will probly still cuss your dogs for being fat and lazy first couple races of the year

Thanks for the replies. I have running loose in the yard right now. I live close to some national forest and was wondering if I could road them up there but don't know if I could get in trouble for that out of pursuit or hunting season?

bird nesting laws in oregon suck and you could get a ticket on USFS or state lands in the summer months.

Hunt at night and watch out for the law.

There have been situations where I have held a pair of dogs coupled on leash and let them run beside the vehicle. I actually have done this a lot, and it works pretty well once the dogs figure out what is going on.

Not only is it "not hunting", but it is safer in higher traffic situations. If a car aproached, I just opened the driver door and the dogs knew what to do. you dont want to try this wearing shorts. it works better in your wifes car than with the truck because of less tire showing. I cant see how she would mind the dogs jumping in and out. You deffinately can get a couple dogs in shape this way. You might not be able to work all your dogs at once, but if you have a couple key players in top shape, they could make the whole pack look good. I am not sure how this would be illegal, but I suppose they will figure out something, so better check to find out.

Poon wrote:Hunt at night and watch out for the law.

No.. Follow to the rules.. Its A, not worth getting caught and B, makes all houndsmen look like a bunch of outlaws.. So.. Yeah.. bird nesting is a ridiculous law.. but it is law.. David's idea isn't bad because you still have them on a leash, so are therefore in control of them still.. I do bike ride around my neighborhood.. and take one dog on a leash at a time..

I run beagles, I'm a big believer in keeping them in shape. I turn them out every morning in a 2 acre pen. I also walk them a lot, just like this video from the Iroquois hunt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU1oYnHRJOE

Biggest difference is that Tritronics is my Whipper-in and deer take the place of the cows in the video.

Later I run them behind the 4 wheeler or truck to put more muscle on them.

I hear the "bird nesting" law is being revised.

I only have one hound, and do road her during the off season, right or wrong. But I don't have any guns in the truck and it's usually during the weekdays after 3-4pm (after the loggers clear out). Sometimes I go up by Brown's Camp, an ORV area, and use the trail bike. I'm not trying to give the sport a black eye, and 99% of the people we run by have commented what a pretty dog she is. The 1% who didn't comment wouldn't look at me anyways, as he was hauling a$$ and damb near ran us both over!