BigGameHoundsmen.com

Anybody hunt bobcats in the east/southeast. I end up running a couple every year with my coondogs. Thought about trying during daylight this winter and maybe get a bonified cat dog. Any advice?

what part of the country do you live in?

hey Mountain was thinking the same thing,,they tell me over hard to keep them treed....at least long enough to get there

I live in central Virginia. I know it's tough to get to a treed cat at night before he jumps but I don't know about the daylight hours. I've coon hunted a long time and I've been bear hunting for the last 7 years, you read and hear so much about coon and bear hunting but you rarely see anything about hounding bobcats

mountain top wrote:I live in central Virginia. I know it's tough to get to a treed cat at night before he jumps but I don't know about the daylight hours. I've coon hunted a long time and I've been bear hunting for the last 7 years, you read and hear so much about coon and bear hunting but you rarely see anything about hounding bobcats

Will proivde some of my experiences, since 12/2006. I had hunted coon since I was a teenager(I'm 63). Treed a few cats, but really did't want my coon dogs to run them!

Hunted lion with hounds in Wy, NM, & CO a few times, but didn't really like snow hunting & hunting dryland was not easy, to be successful.

Quit hound hunting for about 14 years, and just bird hunted with dogs. Then went bobcat hunting with friend, and got hooked again!

I now have 7 hounds and hunt 3-4 nites/days per week in OK, KS, & leaving Sunday for AZ for 2-4 week lion/bobcat hunt.

Coon hounds are and will make cat dogs, BUT--there are some that just like coons better. I have went thru 4 since starting back. They were all good in about every way, and I hated to part with them. But, when a lose was made in cat race, they would find coon & tree him. That would bring the other dogs to tree and my cat race was over.

Bobcats are hard to tree, and in my opinion are the toughest game to hunt and get treed. I read that the lynx is tougher, but have never run that animal. A good locating dog will keep cat in tree, and my experience is that when a dog trees a slick tree, the cat was long gone and the hound never had him in the first place. And, yes that has happened to me and my dogs!

Bobcats will and should run for 30-60 minutes and not get out of the area where you start them. If the race goes straight away and out of area, you probably are running a cayote or deer.

That brings another comment, a number of hunters will call and tell me about their "cat" dog? But , when you go to the woods with that dog, you have to break him off of deer to off game. He will run a bobcat, but he will also run off game to!!

It takes lots of time and effort to make a cat dog, and if their is someone in area that has pack of straight cat dogs, it will pay you to go with them until ( & my cat hunting buddies say) you can tree minimum of 10 cats and have jump races or at least have them tree cat and understand what is wanted. We attempt to leave all cats in trees, to be run at later date.

So many times, even in heavy timber/brush, the cat will not take a tree and is caught on ground. We hate that, because we can never hunt him again.

Be prepared for race to just end! We are not sure, but believe that the cat just pulled trick that the hounds cannot work out: Like run through a herd of cows with calves by their sides. That will sure put a end the chase.
Remember---bobcats are smart, when the hound barks on cats trail, the cat is already eluding the hound by doubling back, taking tree & "treeing" out to continue on his way, taking tree and jumping out on rock above, all kind of tricks.

Good luck and hope you have as much fun with your hounds and chasing the "wily" bobcat as we do!

And, remember--my dad always told me that he never ran a dead animal yet, so leave them in the woods alive and healthy!

And, remember--my dad always told me that he never ran a dead animal yet, so leave them in the woods alive and healthy!

Good idea. I second that.

Bobs are fun. Catch and release it will save you money.

great post clyde!

Thanks Clyde, great information

Mountaintop, Clyde gave you a very good run down on bobcat hunting. Since you are new to the game I will try to add a few of my thoughts. Some may disagree, but here are a few of my opinions based on many years of experience (which, of course ,does not necessarily make me right.)

Obviously you need good broke dogs. Having said that, I believe you will find it very difficult (really impossible) to find a dog that has ALL of the traits necessary to tree or catch all cats. "Track Straddlers" that will strike and work a really cold track are, by nature, dogs that will not drift out on a track. On the other hand, drifters will not buckle down and straddle/walk a cold track. You will find that both types are essential if you are to catch a HIGH percentage. Although Clyde is generally correct that most cats can, with good dogs, be caught within 30-60 minutes in the area in which they were struck I have seen several that "lined out" for parts unknown a mile or two away. These are many times the cat that is caught on the ground. Often you will go from a cold track to a hot one instantly (and vice versa). Here the drifter shines and when the bad lose is made the cold trailer shows his mettle.

You will also need a dog that is good at "wind treeing" as opposed to always needing to find the scent on the tree.

My experience is that you will need 3 or 4 dogs with different strengths in order to have all of the qualities needed to tree a lot of cats. Keep in mind, too, that a coon dog (even tho a good one) is many times a detriment in a cat race.

Take LOTS of patience! Good luck.

briarpatch

I will agree with Briarpatch, in about everything stated. Also, different type of country and weather conditions always enter into the picture. We have also found that if we turn out to many hounds, we stand more chance of catching cat on ground.
I have heard many of the cat hunters insist on having some running walker infulence in their cat hound.
And, I have found in my pack, that after the pack has been hunted together awhile, they start to do a better job in both running and treeing.
We have some areas in OK that is so grown up in greenbriars, that the cat race lasts for 3-4 hours and you really have to have a tough dog to fight the briar patch. Many times you do not get Ol Bob treed either.

Don't give up and keep trying, and I've found that the results are very satisfying.

Good luck

Clyde

ya know I was just gonna glance at this post, but I am glad I read it thorugh there is some good advise in here! thank guys!

Thanks guys, I've found that patience is key to any kind of hunting certainly in hound hunting/breaking. Next question; anybody got a broke cat dog for sale

I'am in Virginia and Run them alot and maybe tree 2 out of 10 that I run. The Bob cat season for us is great 1 month after Bear Season is Out and Not a Sole in the National Forest that time of year.. I hunted 4 days in a row and never saw another person Up their.. A Big change from Bear Season with 60 Truck Loads a day you pass.. Our Cats run for the Rock Slides..

Definitely, as both Clyde and Majestic Tree Hound have pointed out, the type of country in which you hunt will have a big impact on your percentage of catch. We have a lot of briar thickets here and I have been in the rock slides in the mountains of New Mexico. Both are very tough especially the rock slides.

Also, per Clyde, having a pack of dogs who have hunted together a lot is a big help. They just work together a lot better.

My limited experience with Running Walkers is that they make many races shorter IN OPEN COUNTRY, but are not much help in the thickets or rock slides. I am sure there are exceptions.

briarpatch

It is refreshing to see comments like those from Clyde and Briarpatch on a hunting forum. It is obvious that you guys know what you are talking about. You can obtain this amount of knowledge in only one way and that is to hunt a particular critter for a long period of time. And you don't get this such savy from one or two bobcat races.
I will agree with everything that you guys said...simply put, bobcat hunting with hounds is a team effort. The longer the team works together, the more productive they become. It is almost impossible to find one hound that can do it all on a bobcat especially in dry land situations. Clyde and Briarpatch, have you hunted the Brush Country of South Texas? If not, you need to make the trip, the highest bobcat population in the world is right there. I hunt with Robbie Hurt from that area and he will catch 160-170 bobcats annually. Approximately half of them never take a tree. It is worth the trip to watch him handle his hounds. They handle better than most house dogs and will not bark at anything other than a bobcat, maybe a lion.