Cat population helps!

[twist]

I have been able to have hunted a few states besides Mt. for bobcat and this area has bobcats but is by far not loaded with them, some days you can find one or two tracks and then some days you can look and look and find nothing, our state is big and few road compared to other states ( less population) and that is a good thing. A few of the other states I have hunted where LOADED with cats and miles and miles of roads to look. Some areas I hunted in these states you could drive until you got tired of hunting litterally all day cats everywhere! So conditions are for sure a factor in catching cats along with the area you choose to hunt and the population of cats in that area. I have a few youngs guys getting into dogs and cat hunting that are dang good guys that are having a hard time finding tracks and I believe when they read these post about cat # treed and how easy it is are getting discourage, I keep telling them keep at it and your day will come and I hope they do because that day will come. Would sure rather see them out looking for tracks and keeping after it than sitting in a bar somewhere and being an idiot. So to all you guys and gals starting out enjoy the sport and dont worry about # or what kind of dog you are hunting do what makes you smile. Andy

[Unreal_tk]

Andy you are 100% correct. I am a competitive person to some extent but its with folks within my own region and experience level. You can drive in our region for a week and find only 3 or 4 old tracks sometimes. I used to be one of those guys who went to the bar every weekend, hounds gave me a purpose. I do still drink but its socially mostly now.

[mark]

I know what you both are saying. Im fortunate to live in an area with a fair cat population, not as good as it use to be however. Im not trying to start anything so keep your minds open please. At some point however you have to decide if there is a population of your chosen game to substantiate trying to make a dog for that game. If i put in that kind of time and money for those kind of results i would either move to an area with better numbers or change my game of choice. I have lived and hunted here my whole life and have only seen a few hogs running wild (domestic that got loose) i assume. For me to try and put together hog dogs would be a very tough endeavor. To each his own though, because the only one you have to please is yourself. Keep smiling!

[Dads dogboy]

Andy and Mark you both make GOOD points. Even in areas of high populations of your game of choice there will be periods where the critters are hard to find.

Be persistant! To Quote Chief Dan George from "The Outlaw Josey Wales": Endeavor to Persevere(sp)!

Unreal_tk...... Hounds giving a person "Purpose". A great thing when balanced with Family.

[Olmuleskinner]

Hello y'all

Been trying to catch a bobcat here in southern
Missouri for three years now tried everything
From tree breed dogs to running dogs have
Yet to catch a cat. I bought an older high
Tan bitch out of Texas that was catching
Two a week have spent hundreds of dollars
On gas and many days and nights roading them
Have thought of giving up many times but
Have worked to hard to just quit now and
When I do find a track that my mutts can
Run I just sat back and smile thinking one
Of these days the time and conditions
Are going to be right and all my hard work
Will pay off just hope the second one comes
Easier. Good luck to you yall and wish you
Better luck than me

[dwalton]

To me bobcat hunting is at the top in hound hunting. It takes a while to learn the game and find it and to train a dog. It is very difficult to take a young dog and catch that first cat. Good luck it is worth the time and effort. Dewey

[mike martell]

Our cat population is dwindling at best across Western Oregon. The coast has a fair amount in certain locations and central Oregon? it is all but over for cats between traps and good hounds and those relentless in killing females and kittens. The only salvation is locked grounds that serve as safe havens. From what we had just a decade ago to present is no more than a few cats. Yes we do have pockets and locations heavy with cats. Most of those remaining have been run to death!

Here is my point, I don't think we have enough of a bobcat population to have a bobcat select pack of dogs. Some guys think you can make and know good dogs by treeing a dozen bobcats or lion per year. We choose to live where we do for our own reasons. I think to be successful with hounds one must dedicate a tremendous amount of time to see good results.

I hunt hounds, I don't golf in the spring and summer or fish in the fall.....I hunt hounds and what separates those people who catch game and lots of it is the dedication to the sport. This is a sport that you can never perfect. You can never know or will have all the answers and is by far the most challenging sport I have been associated with in my life! I know it is the constant challenge that drives my passion when I should have quit years ago.I started to see the declining trend a few years back and it has only become worse. I switch hit all my dogs on all game and now find myself traveling to hunt the way I feel a dog needs be hunted to make something out of them. How does this work? Pretty easy when you know your dogs by hunting them enough or like they should be hunted and how each responds to certain game. While hunting in Oregon I use my bear check dog on the rig, if he loads up or doesn't hit the ground it is a bear and so on I drive.

I don't think a person can maintain the type hounds by switch hitting as you can by being target specific, like choosing bobcats, lion or coon or what I'm trying to reference is picking one species as a specialty. This sport cost a lot of money for dogs, maintenance and all other occured cost associated. I have a hard time hunting all day and leaving to go home without putting my dogs on something, anything legal to run.

As I type this up, I'm loading my gear and going South to run some Gray Fox, if I find a bobcat or two will be the icing on the cake. Montana is as good as most areas in Oregon and you have a fair population of lion and a dedicated lion season. you have coon to run year around, I would love to see some guys post there catch numbers to see how they compare to Oregon and surrounding States.

Why would any person hunt in the California desert or Eastern oregon besides the quality of fur produced at three times the value? How about if you supposedly have three times the game like every out of Oregon hunter imagines and unlimited number of over the counter cat cards you can purchase with no limits on Western tags, Why would you hunt any place else? Not enough cats to justify killing that many? I read another post of hunting for fun and happy catching three or four bobcats per season. This is how it should be if you are hunting for the love of houndsand fun. You could never own a broke or good dog. But know this, I would quit long before this. Making a good hound is like owning a race horse and thinking you are going to saddle it up on race day, you are only kidding yourself. This is why 90% of all treed game is done so by the same 10%. Time spent along with dedication, dedication and more dedication. Something found in only about 10% of all hound hunters.

I for one get sick and tired of the jealousy construed by those in Other States simply because another man rolls out of bed day after day and pays his dues, sacrifices or makes a decision to travel to other States, provinces or where ever....We all are brought into this world as equals and it sure doesn't stay that way for long. My priorities were like many others who caught game,All wrong, simply because hounds come first for many years.....My guess is if you are a good family man and work like you should, you will be on the second string.....Quit making excuses and get hunting!

[Unreal_tk]

I follow what your saying Mike. All Andy was saying is he doesn't want beginners being crushed by the numbers produced by others, just trying to encourage them to keep at it!

[mike martell]

You'r right Thomas, I don't want any hunter to give up either and living in a location abundant with tree game there are no excuses. My point exactly when you have coon, bobcat , lion for openers and as many bobcat as any place I have put a dog on the ground and know this because i hunt there!....This always comes right back here to Western Oregon as the classic examply for over abundance of game behind every bush.

Here is another fact, if you want to be in the top 10%....Suck it up, it will be like coaching an NFL Team without coaching high school and college before moving on to the pros.....Nothing can take the place of actual time spent dedicated to your success in the quarry you pursue.....

This is a tough mans sport not suited for most.Think of how J.C. and John managed to catch all those bobcats. The results of experience and very few mistakes made by the coaching staff made all this possible, something not found on the internet....Real hands on, I learned from the school of hard knocks....We now have a major advantage compared to when i started to hunt with hounds laced with bells some forty plus years ago,No beeper collars or cell phones or? we have gps and this takes the rookie hunter past high school sports right to college ball, the rest is up to the amount of time and dedication allowed to become top of your class.This sport is like the perception of real life. You don't graduate from high school and expect to have the same assets as your parents. This is how it works in the real world and most new hunters need to not have this sport sugar coated....Take care.

[mark]

Mike

This is a new era. Now everybody expects to get a ribbon just for participating. I would have to say that if some numbers being thrown around on the computer is all it takes to discourage someone that they probably wouldn't make it far anyways.

I am all for young people getting into cat hunting and help them when i can! But i think that telling them to be happy and accept mediocrity is a far bigger hinderance than giving them something to shoot for. JMO

[coastcathunter]

:i am rewording my post. i read it this morning and it was not how i had it in my head. i am horrible about getting thoughts to words on a computer. if the guys just getting started out shouldn't get caught up in the numbers game. especially if they have limited time to hunt. there are plenty of cats (bobcats) to tree in PARTS of montana. i have seen the tracks with my own eyes. i remember when one of the big number guys started bobcathunting full time. his hunting partner was calling around trying to find the best cat dogs to get stock out of or breed to i refered him to loner the greatest dog i have ever listened to. i did not own him or have any part in training him. i just had the pleasure of to him. these guys catch alot of cats. sure they get to hunt everyday. the guy that owned loner worked full time. if you listen to the guys that are catching alot you will to some day. and twist is right if you need to hunt in a target rich environment. most importantly have fun. and the end of the season measure your success by the amount of fun you have had. the number game is just comparing peter size.

[kehrer10]

It has been pretty rough the last year or two out here, all of the areas we hunt are public and the cat population is low. I don't count a good day by the number of cats because they would all be pretty bad, the successful days are when we can cut an old track and watch the young dogs work their butts off. I'm one of the guys that's been talking to Andy but I'm way to dumb and hard headed to give up. I know I have a couple good young dogs and I will keep pressing forward in the hopes of one day being considered an actual houndsmen and have a good line of dogs to pass on to my boys, god knows that's about all I'll have to pass on cause this sport isn't going to leave them any money!

[twist]

I sure have to say this is a great place to live and yes I chase my fair share of bobcat as I dont have a job, my job is my dogs so I am fortunate. Yes we are a fortunate state to be able to run dogs on lion coon, bobcat or yotes but when I said population of game I was talking bobcat and yes some areas have better bobcat populations than other parts of the state but I sure would like to know the areas that are hosting all these cats as I sure havent found it yet.I am talking bobcat not coon or lion. I do have a fairly good area to hunt for the most part and do travel the state to hunt. I am talking about guys that are doing it for the enjoyment of hunting weekends and a few days they get off here and there. Just because they have NORMAL jobs and are feeding a family doesnt meen they cant become a houndsmen and enjoy the sport even if they catch a few cats a year. They still need to be akowledged for their time and effort. These guys arent looking for any ribbons or want to be famous cat hunters they just want to have fun and we all know it sure is fun to put a cat in the tree every once in awhile. There sure isnt any jealousy on these mens parts as they are just great young guys giving the sport heck as best they can so lets encougage young hunters into our sport rather than try and outcast them because they are doing this for a SPORT not a job. Andy

[mondomuttruner]

I don't think any of the young hunters out there(or old for that matter) with a little common sense think you have to catch 100 cats a yr to be a cat hunter. It doesn't take much common sense to realize thats not going to happen for 99% of us. Dewey has been talking about (whats possible) for a long time. What that has done for me, and hopefully others, is to strive to be better..a better hunter...a better houndsman...a better trainer...has nothing to do with numbers. I've been cat hunting for quite a few years but after getting on this website and specifically the bobcat section, it opened my eyes to the possibilities and I'm a better cat hunter because of it. So thanx guys..

Get excited about the cat your running today and don't worry about the cats from the past.

[slowandeasy]

Good morning,

Andy: Good advice for the newcomers, they should always make it fun. But it is important to make the dogs do what you want them to do. In other words, some of us are blessed with enough game to be able to specialize with one animal. Others are going to have to come to grips that they may have to run several different critters to be able to come up with a hound worth feeding. And I believe all have to just be aware, that there are many in the sport that end up doing this for a lifetime. And never get any better than the first day that they started. Reason being is they just become Parotts, and get really good at mimicking those that are at the top of the game. These are the ones that newcomers have to be careful of taking advice from.

Then there are some that reach a certain amount of potential that run into a concrete wall. That wall consists of, I know it all and have all the answers. Therefore, in addition to the hard work of making hounds. They also drag around the boat anchor, preventing them from ever climbing up on the latter any higher. I think the above is probably more important to newcomers than anything anybody could tell them.

Mondo: everything you said is also true. It is always good to strive to be better, and as far as the amount of game. No, probably reality is it's not about numbers, that comes from an egotistical point. But the cold hard truth is, it takes a certain amount of finished tracks to make a dog that some of us have to have in order for it to continue to eat our dog food. What makes this very elusive, like I said above, some can accomplish finishing off a dog with fewer numbers. And some couldn't finished the product. If they were hunting in a zoo. And even worse, some could take a finished dog and have it ruined in less than half the season.

JC (Coastrangecathunting) : HOW lucky you are. You hunt the same place, a few of us on here hunt. IN THE WOODS Never any problems there. The truth comes out consistently and remains the same at all times. It is just a question, that when we see something with our own eyes. Do we want to make a correction or cover it up with mayonnaise and make believe it didn't happen. And tell others that as a trainer I walk on water, and so do my dogs. I think I know what camp you are in JC. Funny thing is, you didn't have to get on the computer and tell everybody how great you are. I got to get outa here.

Mark: I DON'T KNOW? I THINK YOU ARE JUST PLAIN LOST!

Take care, Willie