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Whats the prime age of a hound?When are they at there best?
I've always thought it was 4 to 8.But times change.

Yeah. They should be going pretty good at 3 too.

I'd have to agree that a big game hound hits it's stride around three or four years old and probably is at his best between six and eight years of age.

Calkins wrote:Yeah. They should be going pretty good at 3 too.

I agree just numbers don't want too piss on anyones wheaties.
Just thought might be good conversation
Matt

Yeah we've had a walker male run real hard until he was 13 then just used him for stud after that.

After owning more than 400 hounds over the years I would have to say we are talking genera numbers , but like people from one genentic line may live a lot longer and be productive a lot longer than others, so it is with dogs.

Some hound have reached physical and mental maturity at age three just as some humans have reached it at age 20 or 21 years. Other take a bit longer. Depending on diest, stree or work load other things such as illness or injuries play into the factors. I have seen some highly nerous strains that were pretty well used up by the time they were ten.I knew one old walker dog that hunted hard till he was 15, but that is very rare. I also saw a little plott bitch that still went at nearly 17 but she was deaf as a doornail and would get lost a lot.

Generally large hounds like other large breeds live a shorter productive life. I know one thing for sure the good ones in their prime don't last nearly long enough.

I had a buddy that once owned a black and tan colored lion hound that lived to over sevetnteen years of age. We were talking about trash breaking a big game hound and he told me that Sally dog would run deer until she was fourteen years old.........I laughed and told him if she could really run a deer at fourteen years of age she must have been one hell of a dog....

But a an old lion hound in shape can most likely tree a lion right up until he can't go anymore, since the toughest thing about lion hunting is cold trailing to the jump. Once a lion is jumped he's usually done. If the trail isn't too long an old hound can really shine. Bear is a different ball game and can turn into an endurance game which is something that favors a younger hound.

I wrote a story awhile back about my two nine year old hounds staying put on a cold track for bear past all the other hounds that were from two to eight years old. The track was in overnight snow and melted off to dry ground. Those two older dogs were the only dogs that picked the tracks back up into the snow, and were most likely trailing body scent rather than a track. In my opinion, what those two dogs did that day was dig down deep and pull from a lifetime of experiences and put the really tough part of the day's trail together.......and that's where the older dogs are gonna shine.

Lots of hounddogger seem to think running a bear is like chasing a trash truck, which certainly isn't the case. If dogs are started on a track at daylight and they are still pushing it after 2:00 or 3:00 PM the trailing gets pretty damn tough....and the younger dogs without all those years of experience have most likely quit...

When i was a kid late 40's and 50's my Grandpa kelp Lemon Warker Fox dogs, from 30 to as high as 43, ,you didn't have all the good dog food back them[had a lady to bake for him] he ran his dogs hard two three times a week.and he told me it was hard to keep a good dog over 6-1/2 years old
He didn't have any junk and if they were no good he didn't feed them.

AF,

those old wolf and fox hounds sure take a beating, and it certainly wears them out quick.
I agree with Ike on the bear dogs, and it can be a brutal thing, but as he said bear scent does not last like lion scent. Bear scent hangs higher and disapates quickly, unlike lion scent that is heavy and lays low. those old timers that have the expereince sure can pull you thru.

One young hound i had comes to mind however and at 15 months he showed a lot of real old time bear dogs what stick was all about. We were hunting in the Blue River country of Arizona. We struck a decent bear track and the dogs really built to him, and I think we had 8 or 9 dogs. The weather was still pretty warm and this was some rugged bluffy country. Obviously this bear had been choused before and he was all about bay, fight blow out roll off bluffs and go again, and he was really hammering the dogs. After some hours a few fell out, and then he got rougher on them and really was putting the woof on them and we could hear more booger barking than bay, and you pretty well know things are going to pot. A couple of the old strike dogs had always had a lot of heart and they would stay and bay tight as long as they were physically able . I got up close enough one tiome to see him laying in a tiny stream, and the dogs laying around him and they were all about done. Well he got his bottom cooled off a bit jumped up, charged them, and grabbed a 1 /4 pit redtick bitch and just pounded her, and then away he went again. I got up there and she had her back broke, so I finished the deal and went on. Well it got dark, and they got away from me. That evening the final 3 dogs came into camp at various times. We were missing this big 15 month old black and tan male pup however. He was out of a female I got from Buddy Hutchings in Utah, and I had him started on coons but this was his first real bear hunting experience. I figured either he fell out tired and dug a bed and laid down and stiffened up and would be coming in after the sun got good and warm the next day and he got hungry or worse he might have gotten balled up with the bear and hurt or killed. for the life of me I can't remember if he was laying by that little creek when I saw the bear git the pit cross. Anyway we got up the next morning and took care of the dogs. some were marked up some but not too bad. Still no black pup. Started driving some of the roads high to see if we could get a signal on him, and after a bit we did, so we moved in that direction. We were slowly going down the forest roads, and the beeps were getting stronger. In a bit I noticed bear tracks in the dust on the road going in the direction we were headed. I got out and looked and on top of the bear tracks was a lone dog track. We kept going slow and easy and the beeps got a lot stronger. We finally rounded a curve and there ahead of us a good ways we saw something. We stopped and got the field glasses out and here was that bear plodding down the road and this black pup right on him barking for all he was worth. We couldn't hardly hear him. He had barked so much his voice was about gone. But he had stuck on this bear all night. The bear was overy concerned about him, and probably even bedded up and rested some I would guess but this pup must have just stayed and when he went to moving just got right on him again like glue hoping his backup would show up sooner or later.Well we made a fresh dump on him and this time he climbed and stayed, and we got the bear. But I was sure proud of the stick in that pup, and boy was hwore out for after the deal was over. Over the next few months he really came on, and was also making a super rig dog. I had offers to buy him but I declined. Guess I should have took the money because one day I came hom, and somebody had broke into the kennel and stole him and another half brother to him in broad daylight. try as we could we never saw hide nor hair of either again. I often wondered what he would have been like when he hit his prime?

Sounds like one heck of a dog. Its to bad their so few and far between. You cant help but be proud of that, your chest swells up and feels like your heart is gonna explode.

HardHittin wrote:Whats the prime age of a hound?When are they at there best?
I've always thought it was 4 to 8.But times change.

prime 2 me means the age he fininsh out in the woods and is smarter than his nose and just knows how an wich way too where the game is hunten an runnen . Also if the game is not leaven much scent or is useing roughf terraine too keep ahead/ or is got exactly someweres in mind hea going to beat-it-too/ that game senced hound just figures it out and cuts right too the ending place an meets that bear or lion ! Age dont mean nothen as long as the dog isent played-out by many yrs of hunten over him and his get-up-an-go/is-got-up-an-left (right) ?! Dogs finish-out depending on whos handleing em and too also there hunten experience added-up on em

in my humble openion that is/ jack

Heck of a story Mike although you have ruined me for the day. Now all I can think about it bear hunting!

I agree with everything that has been said. I think there may be two primes. Physical/Mental condition prime and hunting prime. I think that Cecil brought up an excellent point. How much you get them in the woods and work with them has a lot to do with when they hit thier hunting prime.

My dogs start gettin good at 3 and are good til they are around 5 and at 6 they are just about done usually and its all down hill from there. Kind of sucks really.