BigGameHoundsmen.com

Forums been real slow, so lets hear everyone's opinion on how long do you keep a hound before you cut it from the team? As in what age? feel free to explain your thoughts.

Don’t cut mine, if they’re good enough to stay when they are young, they stay till they die.

Every line of dogs is going to be different
you should do your homework before getting a pup, and learn as much as you can about the line of dogs behind it. And then decide if that line is going to work for you. Don't just buy a pup buy into a proven line that is used on the game you want to hunt.

I don’t lion hunt however I’m bored so I’ll chime in, i generally seem to give a dog (that isn’t causing problems) until they are 3 or so, if I don’t miss hearing them in my pack when I leave them at home at that age, it’s usually a sign I don’t need to feed that dog anymore.
Perk

Im not an outfitter or guide and I have to keep a steady job to feed my passion which is dry ground lion hunting. Im in Arizona and do it old school, on a mule making circles. What you said Perk is about the same as me. Around 3 or so Im expecting to see performance. I think depending on the game other houndsman might look to cull sooner, but if you are lion huntng dry ground you dont get nearly as many repetitions in as say a eastern bear hunter or coon hunter.

I guess I read the question backwards. I’m not a lion hunter, mostly bear. Young dogs need to be turning the crank by two and a half.

The style is important in making decisions. And 3 years is pretty reasonable in hunting lion horseback. The first year I'm pretty hit and miss on taking them. If I'm pretty certain that even best case scenario it's going to be a long day and rough or hard access I will be pretty specific about which dogs go. If they will probably have trouble negotiating terrain or keeping up or get split off they're gonna stay home. So they aren't exposed as much. My dogs don't mature super fast so two years is when they can really handle it on a reliable basis. But even then really getting them on enough game to give fair evaluation takes awhile. If a guy had that one absolutely dependable dog and hunted everyday with the same four or five dogs you can push and judge them quicker and more accurately. Still some of the very best dogs I've hunted didn't really seem more then average untill three or older and then they really start shining and leading showing what they really have. Some might be confidence or experience but either way it took time to prove it.
It's probably pretty universal. The prison trainers actually get surprised if the dogs finish the program before three years and can be certified and those dogs are handled and worked daily with scent to trail and in a progressive measurable program. Unlike my hounds that get periods of heavy activity then none and who can guess what condition their tracks come in

Agreed Pegleg, I dont even take a pup in the first yr other than maybe some super short circles as he/she gets close to 1 yr old. I do alot of handling at home teaching commands and loading up during that time. Walks in the pasture to let them trail a rabbit or whatever their nose finds. So in essence at 3 they have only been out two winters. I also only hunt Sept to May, Arizona shut the summers down and I have to get some projects done.

Even when we are allowed to run summers I'm cautious about young dogs in the heat. They have the drive and desire but not the brains to slow down sometimes. I'm pretty sure I ruined one once during monsoon the day started out cool in the early hours and you know sometimes we luck out with enough cloud cover on those type days to have a good day. However this was one of the days the heat and humidity sore and the dog was really pushing the track and not showing distress until suddenly she was. She was between 18-24 months and even much later she hunted well but never to the same level she had before.

I'm a bobcat hunter in the Pacific Northwest. . If I have the dog from a pup on,it should be treeing cat by 2 1/2 .

For me it all depends on the individual pup. If one drives me crazy and I can't stand to look at it I want to see it showing me something a little younger. If I get along with the pup good and it isn't a hassle what so ever I might give it a little more time. On the same note, if one irritates the heck out of me but is a hunting machine, I will learn to tollerat it.