BigGameHoundsmen.com

what Kind of Dogs do you have or want to have.

Notice I didn't have an Option for Both Cat and Bear dogs. personally I don't think you can have both.. I'll explain..

When your Bear hunting. cats are trash..
When your Cat hunting Bears are trash..


We will use the lightest sense of the word "BearDogs" or "Catdogs" We aren't talking about Top Shelf Stuff just your minimum acceptable dog.

And I'm probably going to piss some folks off because they probably have the end all be all dogs that are the best at everything..

When I am bear hunting, they are catching bears and when I am cat hunting, they are catching cats. Although, I have caught bears when cat hunting and cats when bear hunting. All I expect is that they hunt both. I can't say I have bear dogs or cat dogs but they work for me.

Since we can not run bears in montana cougar/bobcats hounds are more important to me. Since I guide in idaho though, I do take several of my hounds south but not all of them.

My dogs better catch cats ,as thats the way they pay for their food. Bears are just for fun in the spring and to get the dogs out.

I'm with Dan, in I really shoot for something thats gonna do an acceptable job on whatever I decide to run,can be frustrating sometimes when dogs didn't get the e-mail that I(or the game Dept. LOL) decided we are running a different species than we did two days ago.

lions & bobcats but we try to run as many coons as possible not only cuz it's fun but it gets the whole family able to go at the same time and keep all of us in shape, including the dogs

I expect my dogs to catch cat, bear, hog or coon...whatever they come across first!

There are times when I certainly have my preference for what I want to run, but I haven't figured out how to program my dogs...the dang owner's manual is written in Japanese.

trying for a bear dog that can catch a sick weak retarded bobcat

For many years I bred , trained and hunted dogs that I felt were good all around big game dogs and they did do a credible job when the gods smiled on me and they would chase a bear or a lion up a tree. Well as might interest began to dwindle about bears for a number of reasons not the least being the closure of the state of Colorado to hound bear hunting I began to put more emphasis on cat and lion. Well those all around dogs were ok I guess but seldom did I ever seen the real type of performance I wanted from a cat dog. I mean the ability to catch a lion or bobcat under all the conditions we are forced to hunt it. Fresh snow, no problem, but that happens so seldom in this country unless you don't work and can hunt every snow day you are pretty limited. So it is dry or bare ground lions and bobs. Never and easy chore but it seems to go a lot better with dogs that are bred strictly for cat hunting and have the drive, the nose, the trail the patience and the locate to make it happen.

Not saying they all do but a higher percentage sure does than when i was doing the one size fits all. Will they tree a bear? Sure some bears some bears won't be treed by anything short of real bear dogs and I am not breeding for real bear dogs that is up to others.

Just my 2 cents worth but I respect any good hound and any good hunter.

Bear- Hogs-squirrel

I have no personal experience with bear dogs, but I do have a little about cat and lion dogs. It seems from the post that I read on this forum that quite a few people have good bear dogs but very few have what I would call true cat or lion hounds, hounds that can catch a cat on the ground in east Texas or dry ground a lion to bay or tree in the south west. This by no means is meant to be an antagonistic post, just an obsevation that there is several different types of hounds and a hunter has to adjust to the type that fits his hunting territory and method of hunting.
I enjoy this forum alot because you get to learn from different parts of the country. I have read many post on here that 1 0r 2 dogs is all you need to catch a cat in the west! Try to do that in east Texas! won,t happen unless you strike a 3 legged cat or are extremely lucky.

(Quote) I have read many post on here that 1 0r 2 dogs is all you need to catch a cat in the west! Try to do that in east Texas!

Hey Big N' Blue,

Will you please elaborate on that, I am just get'n started in this hound chase stuff, and the bobtail running is what I am really fascinated with,

I know it takes one hell of a dog to put the bobtails up on a consistant base's, what are they like, and what is the running like in east Texas that makes it tough going with 1 or 2 hounds only?

I am from michigan and no nothing of your area's or really any area's out west and what it takes.

Thankyou,
Jeff

Sorry Buddyw,
I got away from the subject at hand
curiosty got to me and wanting to gain as much knowledge as I can on those crafty critters.

I choose cat only dogs, cuz I am finding out with this bear training season here, and running on my own alot, compared to last training season with others, it can get crazy in a hurry running them bears,

And it doesnt help when my two main hounds I have here dont seem to like it much when the bear turns around and challenges them.

Like I said I am new at all this and the cat hunt'n is more my pace, find a nice swamp and find a track and kick back for a while, maybe they jump it and maybe they wont, but if I see the cat even cross the road or bayed up I am a happy guy, as long as my hounds are behind it trying their heart out. (dont take much to make me happy,) at this stage in the game.

Jeff No need to appoligize.. I didn't see anything offensive with your post.

Ask all you want.. (that way i can sit back and learn without having to look like the amataur.) Bobcats fasinate me too...