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If you guys had a chance to sit down and talk to Dale Lee what questions might you ask him? Or what would you like to know about him?

Dale,

What was your absolute favorite place to hunt lions?

Well I won't be able to ask him but I will ask one of the last living men that had hunted with him the most.. I've been putting it off but I got up this morning and my wife packed my suitcase and my cooler and told me I better go talk to Mr. Settles .. long trip but heck its still too hot to do much of anything else.. I hope she's not getting me out of here for another reason?? lol

Brett,

That should be a great trip!

Dale had an amazing memory for detail and a good friend of mine who has passed on Jose Tapia of Dragoon, Arizona hunted with Dale late in his life.
Dale took him to the exact tree where he saw his first lion over dogs when he was just a kid and they let him skip school one day to go with Ernest to catch a stock killer. The tree was still standing and I would have loved to have a picture of that. Jose did give me a picture of he and Dale one of the last if not the last lion that Dale ever caught.

The Lees and many other lion hunters from the SW use to come to this area to buy broke mules from a well known mule breeder Doyle Hill of Kirtland, New Mexico. Doyle has passed on now but I was able to meet quite a few lion hunters years back when they came here to buy mules. right down the road from Doyle's place lived an old man ( Casey Brown) who trained and sold dozens of dogs to the Lee brothers thru the years. He had a lot of good stories and his mind remained sharp up into his 90's. Old Casey was also a first class trapper and made most of his living for years living in camp trapping and training hounds. Hindsight is 20-20 but I sure wished I would have recorded some of those stories before these guys passed on.

Brett I am glad you are making the effort to gather some of these stories before it is too late.

Have safe travels Brett. I look forward to whatever stories you share from your visit with him.

Thanks, Brett. I know you will enjoy the visit and look forward to some of the stories. Be safe out there.
Adios,
Gary

Glad there's fellas like you willing to document the past for the future to enjoy..

An old friend of mine(deceased) knew Dale . Dale made a few trips out to Oregon hunting around Myrtle Creek and Diamond Lake .He would always invite my friend down to hunt with him .
I guess Dale had a knack for seeing through the phonies,wannabes and so called experts.
It would've been a real treat to have talked to him .

Well I'd ask him . Dale what do you think of them foxdogs? Why do you boys stick to them ol potlicker type hounds? Well probably not but it would be about dogs anyway. Hope your enjoying yourself

I would ask him if he ever treed a black cat in the US or ever knew somebody who did.


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pegleg wrote:Well I'd ask him . Dale what do you think of them foxdogs? Why do you boys stick to them ol potlicker type hounds? Well probably not but it would be about dogs anyway. Hope your enjoying yourself

a

From talking to Mr Settles he said Dale liked his fox hounds and that they would trail right along with the potlickers... mater of fact Mr Settles even went down to Belize and caught a couple of Jaguars with just his fox hounds before Dale went down there.. real interesting man to talk to.. he hunted in Belize, Mexico, Arizona, Washington,British Columbia and Saskatchewan and of course Tennessee.. ...has caught Jaguars, Lions, Bears, Bobcats, Lynx, fox, coon... and trapped for a living for a couple of years...

pegleg wrote:Well I'd ask him . Dale what do you think of them foxdogs? Why do you boys stick to them ol potlicker type hounds? Well probably not but it would be about dogs anyway. Hope your enjoying yourself

a

From talking to Mr Settles he said Dale liked his fox hounds and that they would trail right along with the potlickers... mater of fact Mr Settles even went down to Belize and caught a couple of Jaguars with just his fox hounds before Dale went down there.. real interesting man to talk to.. he hunted in Belize, Mexico, Arizona, Washington,British Columbia and Saskatchewan and of course Tennessee.. ...has caught Jaguars, Lions, Bears, Bobcats, Lynx, fox, coon... and trapped for a living for a couple of years...

If the question of bobcats vs. lions ever was discussed? Particularly, with regard to if he felt they smelled a lot different and the ability of a dog to differentiate between the two?

Thanks. Have a safe trip.

I went and hunted Southeast Arizona in '84, '85 and '86. I stopped in and talked to Dale going and coming back from hunting. Dale still had a few dogs them and I drought one back to Oregon. We spent the day talking and driving to see some of his hunting country.He show me some mountains to hunt and told me where to look for lions to cross. We trailed lions and caught a lion with our dogs from the wet Northwest. The only problem was our dogs thought they could bust through cactus. We spent a lot of time pulling spines out. I did not ask Dale much at all but sure did listen to a lot. He had been there and done it so I just listen. He lived a life and times that was history making. Dewey

So all the debate for years on bgh has only been lively conversation. Shucks.
Hope your having fun Brett.