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just curioues on what u dry ground lion hunters think . if u brought up a better than average dry ground dog from arizona or new mexico to the oregon coast . the trailing would be way easier because of the low vegitation and damp soil. how old of a lion track do u think one of those dirt dogs could trail up and tree.

jc

JC, I'll throw a question your way. How do you think a better than average west coast bobcat dog would do out here in Utah or AZ or NM on bobcats?

just speaking for my dogs i would say on dry ground down there it would have to be a fairly hot track . with in 4 hours or less would be my guess on bobcat, maybe 8 hours on a lion . that is just a guess since i have never hunted down there. i am just talking bare ground no snow. my dogs will rig bobcats that are a day or 2 old . they cant get them started but will rig where they pissed on a bush or made a scratch and shit.

jc

I have taken some decent southwest bare ground dogs up in that similar country and let me tell you they looked like crap. It took them several weeks actually to sort of settle down and go to singling out tracks with all that scent. Those coastal dogs left them like a bad habit.





Dogs are just dogs and some are better for catching game than others but they are not miracle makers it takes time and hunting.I have had several come with real game catchers from the west coastal areas and hunt. If the track wasn't and hour old or less they didn't do too good. Most of the time we led them to the tree.

Sorry to say but same goes for dogs that do really well in Michigan and such on bobcats. out here on bare ground or even this dry cold snow they no look so pretty good!

but heck depending on where you are comfortable or raised and thrust into a different place it takes awhile to get use to the way things swing there.

JC, my experience is similar to Mikes. I have brought west coast dogs down here and they look pretty bad when 8 month old pups are out trailing them. The ones I saw never really did adjust to the type of conditions down here. Even in snow a night old bobcat track proved to be very difficult for them.

I have never taken my dogs to the west coast but I'm sure they would have trouble.

craig

i understand taking a dog from here to there being tough for the dog because they are used to the critter leaving scent on all the brush they rub . it seems that the dogs from down there would flat move a track up here because of all the scent. my guess is that the dogs from up here have a hard time slowing down to work the track down there. like i said before i have only hunted the west coast . i have hunted in the snow in idaho and the dogs had no problems over there but they were seasoned dogs that had been around the block a time or 2. to ask another question i have had dogs scratch tracks and lick them is that common down there when it come to a cold track.

jc

got a friend up in that country telling us how the oregon bobcat dog was gonna teach us all a thing or two. didnt happen. His little bitch will rig a cat like no other. Got her down to colorado and wouldnt rig a lion track when she was standing on top of it, however in a little time down in this dry country she was doing pretty good on those lion cats. I* agree with the others in what they are raised on and the conditions. This little dog at first was nothing to look at in the dryer climates, then she started coming along. Friend moved back to washington and the little dog is kickin ass again on bobcats. My first top notch hound was a van Johnson dog. He was a dry ground predator. bought him and took him to the snow. That ol dog looked at me like a cow with a bastard calf for the fir st little while. three days after owning him I treed my first and killed my first bobcat. the barometric pressure in the northwest is what makes it able for a hound to rig as much as they do on cats. in the southern dry climate it is very uncommon to have a dog rig on cats. If you change these dogs up, I dont think one will neccesarily be better than the other, however I think you can take a good coast range dog or an Arizona dry ground dog, and if he has the hunt in him, make him good wherever you go, in time.

"to ask another question i have had dogs scratch tracks and lick them is that common down there when it come to a cold track."

Yes I have seen my dogs do this, quite a bit this year have been hunting more in the high desert country, frozen with dust blowing when you drive right now. I have also seen them scratch icy tracks that they can see to try and smell it.
As a side note on the striking deal have still been striking cats off the box in these conditions but not able to start as many off the strikes as usual. Seems like a lot more strikes and only being able to smell the track in a few spots not able to take it out...if there was just a little more continual vegetation!
Also had a cat walk away from my dogs yesterday afternoon in the rocks/lava sand...first time and a very humbling experience, I had nightmares last night!
Hoping they will redeem themselves next Friday!
These are all bobcats I'm talking about.

I think we are talking about two different kind of traits in dogs. In the dry SW we select for dogs that can trail 10hr to two day old tracks. Where as on the coast seems you are not trailing alot of old tracks( never been there just gathering from what I read). So dogs that you would select up there might not be the ones we would here and visde versa.

But top dogs are top dogs and givin the chance to learn and adjust each might do ok.

I know a guy that sent some pups up that way from notable dry ground lines and from what I hear they are doing a bang up job on the north coast