Dry ground or snow for 1st hunt

[mountain top]

If a man is gonna spend hard earned money on a possible once in a lifetime lion hunt, would ya'll recommend hunting the southwest or northwest?

[Benny G]

Folks in the NW would say NW, folks in the SW......

Do you want to watch the dogs work, with the possability of not harvesting a lion? Go with bare ground. Don't care about seeing the dogs work, but want to increase your odds of taking a lion? Hunt in the snow. Either way, if you do your homework and hire a top notch outfitter, your experience will never be forgotten!

[houndnem]

Folks in the NW would say NW, folks in the SW......

Do you want to watch the dogs work, with the possability of not harvesting a lion? Go with bare ground. Don't care about seeing the dogs work, but want to increase your odds of taking a lion? Hunt in the snow. Either way, if you do your homework and hire a top notch outfitter, your experience will never be forgotten!

+1

[AZDOGMAN]

Snow is better odds but a total different experience. Drive all night looking for a snow track. Dump dogs in the am and not see them again till your at the tree. Or hunt daylight hours on horse back and watch dogs cold trail a lion. Still have a good chance with the right outfitter. Derringer in AZ would be your best bet in the dirt here. IMO

[timothy]

I like the snow, I dont like getting hot!

[cohoundsman]

I agree with all of these guys. where we hunt we have good success. almost always in the snow. somedays its a five minute chase, other days its a ten hour, help the dogs work chase. It all depends on what your looking for. But if you are interested in a colorado hunt, contact Ben Harris @ 970-596-9089. His dogs do awesome in snow and pretty good in the dirt. Not to many outfitters in my area that have as good of a success rate as him.

[cougar2]

Call Smokey Canyon Outfitters ( Ryan Merritt) in Wyo. or Timber Mountain Outfitters (Jake Bess) in Ut. you can't go wrong!

[Big N' Blue]

If you are saving your hard earned money for a once in a lifetime hunt. All these guys have been straight with you. You will have a better chance of success in the snow.
Johnnie Hamilton of Eagle Trackem Outfitters would be my recommendation. Bought 2 top hounds from him and as honest as the day is long! My personal prefference is dry ground.

[Hounds&Horns]

Either way you go it will be a great experience. There are ups and downs about them both. Just do your homework and some research. There are some units where you can get the best of both worlds hunting the snowy high country or going down into the dry deserts. There are lots of good outfitters out there.

[davidg1!]

Snow If you want to catch quick lion, dry ground is more fun. Just my op.

[Mike Leonard]

I hunt lions both ways and both of them are a ton of fun. After nearly four decades of running lions with hounds I still get as excited as a kid in a candy store when I come around a curve and there is a big old tom's track looking back at me in the fresh snow! I will say I agree with others on here that if you really want to see a lot of the dog work and really learn about lions you can't beat the dry ground experience. If you simply want a lion rug for the wall and part of your collection I would say get with one of the good snow country hunters spoken of on here and they will get it done and you will have an experience of a lifetime. If you really want to expeience what many call the classic old time lion unt than look up on of the top dry ground outfitters in Southern, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, or West Texas and you will never be the same.


A word of caution on snow country Outfitters: DO NOT ACCEPT AND OUTFITTER THAT SAYS WE WILL KEEP LOOKING FOR A LION AND WHEN WE FIND A BIG ONE WE WILL GET ON IT AND CALL YOU TO COME. Don't do it my friends because in nearly every state the hunter must be present from the time the hounds are released on the track until they bay or tree the quarry. Western State Game Wardens are really cracking down on this and Outfitters are losing their licenses over this infraction and their clients are being charged with hunting violations and heavily fined. Many sting operations are also being done to remove unlawful outfitters from the woods.

[FullCryHounds]

Good advise Mike! Around here, we still have outfitters running around all night long till they find a track, then they call the client. It gets around the legallity of the law because they still can't turn out till morning and by then, the client is with them.

[SHADOWHUNTER]

JUST DO YOUR HOMEWORK...DON'T GET CAUGHT UP, TOO EXCITED OR ANXOIUS ABOUT HARVESTING A LION....MY RECOMMEMDATION, JUST AS IN CONTRACTING, CHOOSE 3 OUTFITTERS... AND GO WITH YOUR BEST GUT FEELING CHOICE. DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS, PEOPLE ARE SALESMEN, SO THEIR GONNA TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR... GET IN IN WRITTEN CONTRACT FORM.. BEST WISHES WITH YOUR CHOICE