A pack's first lion
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:08 am
Smalltown asked me why I don't post pictures, or tell stories on here. There are a number of reasons, but I told him that I would work on my attitude a little bit. I believe that he is an outstanding young man that has upstanding character, and it's young hunters like him that inspire me to help out now and then. So Jerid, this one's for you.
I got a couple of pups from two different places. Trip was a clumsy little 1/2 bluetic, 1/2 walker female that was offerred to me through a saddle maker friend of mine. Derrick was a high tan male that came from some friends out of New River, AZ. These two pups spent all day, every day, trailing jackrabbits here on the place. I taught them to come when I called, and I chained them up every night.
I got a call from a rancher friend of mine one evening, and while we were talking dogs, he mentioned that he would like to get a couple of pups about 6 months old that hadn't been screwed with. He didn't want someone's house cat chasers (his wife would tar and feather him if anything but the local coyotes thinned her cats down). He wanted to see if he could get a couple of pups trained, using his trained dogs to get it done. I told him that I had just the pups, and they sure enough needed trained. We made our deal, and Trip and Derrick took up residency at Childs, AZ.
I got my dogs back when they were three years old. Derrick was as cold nosed as any dog needed to be, and Trip was one of the best locaters we had ever seen. I bought some younger dogs, and put a young pack together. There's no telling how many gallons of diesel fuel I bought, or how many miles we traveled that first winter, but I was ready to get a break! My dogs would trail and trail, they just couldn't seem to push hard enough to catch a lion. Everyone that I talked to told me the same thing -- they just need to catch one lion, and they'll have the confidence to get it done consistantly.
I was hauling water in the oil field, working 6 days on, 2 days off. I worked 30 to 36 hours, would go home and get some sleep, then do it again. By the time my days off came around, I dang sure needed some rest! The first day off, I would just sit around like a zombie, trying to recouperate. By the second day, I was back to normal.
It was the evening of my first day off, and I was feeling human again. The phone rang, and when I answered it, the guy asked, "Do you want to catch a lion?" Well that was a stupid question! He said that his hired hand had just come in, and he had seen a couple of lions within the last 30 minutes. I told him that I'd be there 45 minutes before daylight. When we got to the place that the lions were, the dogs couldn't get anything lined out. It appeared that they had been everywhere right there, so I suggested that we go across the canyon, through the next saddle, up the canyon, over the top, and then come back down into the canyon that we were sitting in. When we got to the saddle, we were just setting there, letting the dogs work, when the other guy said that he just saw a lion across the canyon. While he was trying to get me to see where he was talking about, he yelled that the other one just walked behind the first!
Well, I knew that we were wasting time, and that chances were, I wouldn't spot those lions, so we high tailed it over there! When we got to the other side, I asked him to point out exactly where those lions had walked. He pointed to a big, dead juniper, and said "Right there". When we got there, the dogs went ballistic! It seemed to take FOREVER for them to line it out, but in a minute, there they went. Seven dogs, all lined out, bawling their heads off, and this time, we were right on top of those varmints!! The other guy was falling behind, so I hollered over my shoulder for him to spurr that horse! I told him that the horse could rest when we were under the tree!
When the dogs made a loose, Derrick made a circle, and got it lined out again. The lion had made a ninety degree turn, and was heading straight downhill. I assured my hunting buddy that we were about to see our first lion over this pack of dogs. I told him that the lion had turned downhill because it was winded, and needed an easier route. We just sat there, watching the dogs and letting the horses blow.
Trip was in the lead, as she was always one of the fastest of the dogs. When she made a loose, Derrick came along and sorted it out again. The lion had made another right hand turn, and this time it seemed to end right at a big, dead juniper tree. The other guy asked what the dogs were doing, and I told him that they hadn't found the lion in the tree yet. Well, since the tree was dead, and we couldn't see the lion either, he thought that I was hallincinating! I told him to just watch and see. Sure enough, the all-time best locator, Trip looked up in that tree, and just sat down and started chopping! We still couldn't see the lion, so my buddy still wasn't sold! In just a minute, Blanca jumped up into the lower branches, and that lion flew through those dead limbs, and went all the way to the top of that dead canopy!
That was the lion that those dogs needed. They now had the confidence that they could do it on their own, and they went on to trail and catch more lions from then on.
Derrick died a couple of years ago, Trip is hanging around the house these days, doing whatever suits her untill she passes away, Blanca doesn't seem to have the drive that she used to, but there's a new bunch in the kennels, raring to go, and givin it hell every chance they get!
Smalltown, thanks for kicking me in the butt, and encouraging me to stir up some fond memories of some damn good dogs!
I got a couple of pups from two different places. Trip was a clumsy little 1/2 bluetic, 1/2 walker female that was offerred to me through a saddle maker friend of mine. Derrick was a high tan male that came from some friends out of New River, AZ. These two pups spent all day, every day, trailing jackrabbits here on the place. I taught them to come when I called, and I chained them up every night.
I got a call from a rancher friend of mine one evening, and while we were talking dogs, he mentioned that he would like to get a couple of pups about 6 months old that hadn't been screwed with. He didn't want someone's house cat chasers (his wife would tar and feather him if anything but the local coyotes thinned her cats down). He wanted to see if he could get a couple of pups trained, using his trained dogs to get it done. I told him that I had just the pups, and they sure enough needed trained. We made our deal, and Trip and Derrick took up residency at Childs, AZ.
I got my dogs back when they were three years old. Derrick was as cold nosed as any dog needed to be, and Trip was one of the best locaters we had ever seen. I bought some younger dogs, and put a young pack together. There's no telling how many gallons of diesel fuel I bought, or how many miles we traveled that first winter, but I was ready to get a break! My dogs would trail and trail, they just couldn't seem to push hard enough to catch a lion. Everyone that I talked to told me the same thing -- they just need to catch one lion, and they'll have the confidence to get it done consistantly.
I was hauling water in the oil field, working 6 days on, 2 days off. I worked 30 to 36 hours, would go home and get some sleep, then do it again. By the time my days off came around, I dang sure needed some rest! The first day off, I would just sit around like a zombie, trying to recouperate. By the second day, I was back to normal.
It was the evening of my first day off, and I was feeling human again. The phone rang, and when I answered it, the guy asked, "Do you want to catch a lion?" Well that was a stupid question! He said that his hired hand had just come in, and he had seen a couple of lions within the last 30 minutes. I told him that I'd be there 45 minutes before daylight. When we got to the place that the lions were, the dogs couldn't get anything lined out. It appeared that they had been everywhere right there, so I suggested that we go across the canyon, through the next saddle, up the canyon, over the top, and then come back down into the canyon that we were sitting in. When we got to the saddle, we were just setting there, letting the dogs work, when the other guy said that he just saw a lion across the canyon. While he was trying to get me to see where he was talking about, he yelled that the other one just walked behind the first!
Well, I knew that we were wasting time, and that chances were, I wouldn't spot those lions, so we high tailed it over there! When we got to the other side, I asked him to point out exactly where those lions had walked. He pointed to a big, dead juniper, and said "Right there". When we got there, the dogs went ballistic! It seemed to take FOREVER for them to line it out, but in a minute, there they went. Seven dogs, all lined out, bawling their heads off, and this time, we were right on top of those varmints!! The other guy was falling behind, so I hollered over my shoulder for him to spurr that horse! I told him that the horse could rest when we were under the tree!
When the dogs made a loose, Derrick made a circle, and got it lined out again. The lion had made a ninety degree turn, and was heading straight downhill. I assured my hunting buddy that we were about to see our first lion over this pack of dogs. I told him that the lion had turned downhill because it was winded, and needed an easier route. We just sat there, watching the dogs and letting the horses blow.Trip was in the lead, as she was always one of the fastest of the dogs. When she made a loose, Derrick came along and sorted it out again. The lion had made another right hand turn, and this time it seemed to end right at a big, dead juniper tree. The other guy asked what the dogs were doing, and I told him that they hadn't found the lion in the tree yet. Well, since the tree was dead, and we couldn't see the lion either, he thought that I was hallincinating! I told him to just watch and see. Sure enough, the all-time best locator, Trip looked up in that tree, and just sat down and started chopping! We still couldn't see the lion, so my buddy still wasn't sold! In just a minute, Blanca jumped up into the lower branches, and that lion flew through those dead limbs, and went all the way to the top of that dead canopy!
That was the lion that those dogs needed. They now had the confidence that they could do it on their own, and they went on to trail and catch more lions from then on.
Derrick died a couple of years ago, Trip is hanging around the house these days, doing whatever suits her untill she passes away, Blanca doesn't seem to have the drive that she used to, but there's a new bunch in the kennels, raring to go, and givin it hell every chance they get!
Smalltown, thanks for kicking me in the butt, and encouraging me to stir up some fond memories of some damn good dogs!