BigGameHoundsmen.com

I know some hunters hunt off ATV`s and drive riggs to close too hounds worken bobcat,lynxx cat and long tail big cats / its scred up and put more knottsin the rope of a cat track and changed patters and sure medded up the hounds race in my view/ but whats your views on noise and does it or not mean anything in cat runnen by houndmen !??
Lets see how many hunters will stand up and say what they know for their own experience noise has or hasent for hunten cat.!

I think it matters.Need to fix the poll though,I think it reads wrong.I don't know though,I'm not an english professor,just an internet dumby.

cecil j. i think it depends on the dog. i have had young dogs come to the machine when they should have been working the track. but i also have hounds that you could drop a bomb by and they would not lose their focus. well maybe not a bomb. but they are so intent on the trail that nothing else matters. usually the ones that worry about me or the machines are one step closer to culling block.

catcher wrote:cecil j. i think it depends on the dog. i have had young dogs come to the machine when they should have been working the track. but i also have hounds that you could drop a bomb by and they would not lose their focus. well maybe not a bomb. but they are so intent on the trail that nothing else matters. usually the ones that worry about me or the machines are one step closer to culling block.

Do ya use the bike because of the country, or wolves or just why do ya ride it cat hunten ? If thats your only draw backs is them maybe comeing too the bike I guess ya can correct that .Are ya treeing up the cat cause that why your hunten em I recond !

This is an excellent subject!

I can tell you from my expereince human sounds and sounds that are associated directly with humans have a tremendous effect on wild felines. I have watched it so many times. dogs cold trailing a bobcat and I am watching possibly across a canyon. I spot the cat and he is just easing along ahead of the dogs but they still struggle some on the track they get pretty close at times and he sulks and crouches and have even seen dogs pass right by him. sooner or later one of the dogs is going to bust him and he is going to make a run for it and they will likely tree him. All of a sudden out of nowhere comes old Joe the mechanic to work on a gas well, or a fence or windmill or somehting or he is checking the cows. Rattle, rattle ! and gunning the engine slamming the doors, and BOOM! the cat is gone of a completly different direction and he goes into a wicked cork screw set of moves that leave you cussing you no good dogs. He wasn't very concerned about those dogs following along but once he tied it possibly to a human he was out of there.

Scenario two: dogs trail a lion up to the jump and then put him up and are setting there barking at him in the tree. He doesn't get very concerned and I have even seen lions go to sleep in trees with dogs barking below them. But then here come old green as a gourd dog guy rushing to his tree and rattling rocks and bragging to his buddys listen listen wow! they have it let's go see him. the also make the mistake and come in above the tree, and bingo he bails out of the tree and heads for the worst rugged set of bluffs or ledges in the country to throw them hunters off.

Last scenario. Not me I only wish but Dale Lee reported so many times of slipping up on his dogs baying a jaguar in thick grass or cover. He would slip up as quiet as a mouse. The jaguar would rush the dogs push them back and then lay down is a spot and sulk. Slip in there real quiet like and kill him, but let a human voice be heard even in a whisper and Pow! he was out of there running and gunning and spinning and killing dogs. The human voice winds them up.

So be very quiet, sneak in or try to blend with the landscape when you are watching the dogs work. Do not move fast or come from above and watch the wind.

Bears to some extent also. My buddy one of the best bearhunters in the country was telling me a story early this week, He had a 200 pounder caught on the ground he slipped up and his 7 dogs had it stretched on it's side. He has some hair pulling sob's. Well it broke free and stood up and the dogs swarmed it again, and he moved in to get them off of it because he didn't want them to kill it. Well it broke free again and when it stood up he said he was standing in a cow trail and the wind hit him right on the back of the neck. Next thing that near sighted red eyed little bugger just got one whiff and here he comes in a full charge right at him. No where to go, no gun, Yikes. He just braces and turned sideways and the dogs got right on him, but the bear hit him in the legs but went on by and gained just enough space to be able to get up the first tree before they drug him down again. He was still a little shakey when he was telling me this and his jeans were covered with blood. It was dogs blood from the dogs hitting him the bear had poked some holes in them but they were ok. So the direction of the wind can blow your cover real quick as well.

I think all critters are averse to vehicle travel. They seem to put up with a few vehicles, but constant traffic checking will shut them down. Especially if it's inconsistent. I've seen numerous critters tolerate log trucks on a fairly stable schedule, vs guys checking.

As for critters that are being pursued, it all tends to depend on the amount of heat on the critter. If he's really getting pushed, they tend to make a few more mistakes. It also depends on how long the truck has been stationary. If it's been sitting for 10-15 or longer minutes, they'll come right by it. Especially if you're not in it. Many times I've had the critter come right in front of MY truck while I was off in the brush somewhere. Course it's probably a factor of getting in there and bumping around.

In any case I've had a lot better luck sneaking in quiet and with the wind in my favor. I still think though that the cagiest of critters is an old wiley coyote. Those little bastards KNOW how to survive.

sorry fellas i must have misunderstood the question. i thought he was asking if the noise affected the way the hounds hunt. but one of my best places to hunt lions is in some bluffs right along side a highway tons of traffic foot hikers and the lions seem to just deal with it. had them sleeping in the tree as well with hounds raising cane below and then bail when we showed up or heard us coming. i always thought that was because they had been treed a bunch in the past and had experience with humans. like maybe a snow ball or two to the face to get them to snarl for that neat snarling picture. anyway just my take on the subject.

just one more thought. i have had the hounds cold trailing through ledges finally jump the lion and have the lion with the dogs hot on its tail run down hill off the mountain cross a lake with 15 ice fisherman on it crossing with in 100yds or so of the fisherman and tree in some pines a couple 100yds up the otherside. in that instance i would definately say it was more afraid of the hounds than it was the people. and from where they jumped it it had to be aware of all the people down below on the ice.

Catcher,

good points and yes I don't think they give a hoot about highway traffic or seeing little silloutte figures out on the lake jigging a rod, grabbing a beer or whatever. It's like that old mousing coyote in the field next to the highway. He is going right along no problemk, cars, 18 wheelers and such blowing by, but let old Catcher with his 22-250 slam on the brakes and roll down the window. Ummm it gets personal then and he hauls butt.

Mike Leonard wrote: It's like that old mousing coyote in the field next to the highway. He is going right along no problemk, cars, 18 wheelers and such blowing by, but let old Catcher with his 22-250 slam on the brakes and roll down the window. Ummm it gets personal then and he hauls butt.

aint that the truth!!

[quote] but one of my best places to hunt lions is in some bluffs right along side a highway tons of traffic foot hikers and the lions seem to just deal with it. had them sleeping in the tree as well with hounds raising cane below and then bail when we showed up or heard us coming.




CATCHER (':o') how do you dare run your dogs next to the highway without getting them run over. if my dogs are hot on a lion or track they dont look to cross the road. i have a place where the lions hang out and it is right next to the highway and i tried it once and just about lost 2 dogs and almost had a major accident from a car trying not to hit them while on a lions tail. there are some good cats in these bluffs but i am afraid of what will happen if i try again.

kevin

kevin, since i last logged on i have hunted the freeway lions and got one race going and did not catch. but the lions dont leave the bluffs and junipers in this particular place. i think it is because across the freeway is all open country with no real shelter and to the other side of this strip of bluffs and juniper is sage and small scrub oak so they seem to stay in this 3 mile strip of lion heaven. at night they hunt in the sage and oak but always come back to lay up for the day in the bluffs. but i have never had any problems there. but i will hunt just about any where every time we turn our dogs out we risk never seeing them again. the dangers they encounter when out hunting if we spent much time thinking about it we would probably never let them out of our sight. but it is what they do. i am lucky enough to have 2 great females that reproduce hunting dogs when bred to a great male. so i am never that far out of the game even if i were to lose one every now and then. that said i know some dogs are hard to replace but when you can raise a whole litter of pups out of a male and female that fit your particular hunting style it takes some of the worry away. i also have some friends with good dogs i could use until i got another trained. also where i hunt the habitat is fragmented, hiways houses farms subdivision so untill i stared hunting the desert i never had a chase over 5miles. in arizona with all that open country with just miles and miles to run i might be a little more concerned about where i turned out. thanks for your time.

chris

I guess from what Mike tells me ya got some nice ens and if ya ever just need a tax write off/ send me a couple dozen of em here in Olympia Wa. I could use em .... I don`t think I`ve seen more than 4 real cat dogs well bobcat and lynxx cat and just a good on long tail cat in my 50 yrs of hunten/ not that they don`t exist my friend, I just wasent around all of em that did exist and I hear you have been ?Ya need too sit down and open up your mind on that too us and let us see what that kind of world would be like through your eyes buddie !
I think ya got that little strech of hunten area figured out real good and other wize maybe would of passed it by. Ya know out in Ca. between Lake Berrissa and up too just past Elk Creek Ca. there a gillion mtn lions, a gillion wild pig and plenty of bobcat and every thing else too !Ya need too go out there and carry some mules and your dogs and be pretend cyote runnen/just too get too run and tree up them long tails I mean they are thick !
If a man says hes got a cat dog and cant strike a cat in a short time there he might not have a cat dog at all. Alot of the time I`ve seen dogs riged up on top the box and not go `1 mile and they come unglurd casue hes been by there allright !thers 100`s of miles blm forests ya can run in also .

cecil, my old hounds sure aint perfect but they suit me and i can breed whenever i need one. i have caught bear and bobcat with them. but thier heart,mind and soul is on the lion. i also have some registerd blues out of that cameron line that do a good job for me as well. i am lucky enough to hunt areas with lots of game. so the pups come along real fast cause they have the opportunity. because of that i always have something out back that can catch. i have bred these dogs for 3 generations they have the qualitys that i like. i have seen faster, colder, and those with more grit. but mine have a bit of all those qualitys and that works for me. i think there are alot of hounds out there that never reach thier potential because they dont have the opportunity to be hunted in game rich enviorments. as for now i do and as long as everything stays the same i will be able to produce hunting dogs. i love this game so i spend alot of time doing it. but if i didnt have the places to hunt that i do i couldnt make dogs as fast as i do. if it quits raining i am going to the honey hole tomorrow i have a young one that could use the work.