BigGameHoundsmen.com

I been reading this forum for a while but have never hunted with hounds. A few of you on here have kindly offered to take me along and I cant wait to find a minute to do that. I know just about every question a guy has about this sport could be found answered somewhere among the archives of this forum but I thought I'd just throw out a few I have recently had and see if I can get any help.
1. When your dogs are off on a track you dont wanna run anymore how do you call them off or can you? If my dog catches a glimpse of the door open he is gone and all about running the neighborhood until he is done. There is no stoppin him.

2. I took a look at shock collars at cabelas yesterday just flirting with the idea of getting one but I had no idea there is so many options. Like what kind of range would I need to train a dog? There are all kinds of power levels and everything and dog on they can get pretty spendy too so I thought a I'd get some advice before making such a purchase.

3. My dog has just been a house pet for a couple years and I think he is about 3 years old. Is there anyway being a house pet has made him "too soft" to do what a hound needs to do to catch game? I seriously wonder about this cuz I dont have a clue what happens on a hunt or how hunting hounds act. He seems to have interest cuz I run him behind my truck around the lake every sunday and when ever we get to the stretch where I seen a ferrel cat roaming a few times he darts off the road for a while when the rest of the time he just chases me.

4. back to collars....what is a descent tracking collar a guy would wanna start out with in this sport? I dint really look at those cuz I took all my time checking out the millions of chock collar options I never expected there to be.

Thanks dudes

Vise,
I will give you some advise. Buy a tri-tronics shock collar....don't try to be cheap on these. The Trashbreaker will give you up to 2 miles of range....the field 70 will give you up to one. Both of these are great....I've owned both....although I never figured I could actually tell what a dog was doing 2 miles away I do own the trashbreaker now As far as tracking equipment....there's multiple good reliable systems out there...Marshall, Johnson, wildlife, klien, and there's also a new GPS system supposed to be top notch, but I'm not gonna try one of them till they can get some of the bugs worked out. As far as your dog...well he/she will either have what its got or not. I don't think you having it as a pet will make any difference if it has the desire it takes to make a hound..... Good luck, I'm sure others will have better responses than mine, but figured I'd give ya my .02....bout all its worth anyway

If im done runnin and my dogs arent i jus try to find away to get in front of them cause you dont want to call a dog back from a track, usually if they are done they will follow the truck. as far as the shock collar goes i have a dogtra, it has good range and good power and you will need it for your problem. cant remeber the price tho

1&2. Vise, the answer to the first two questions you've ask is for you to purchase a quality trash breaking unit from tri-tonics like catman explained. That collar will allow you to handle the dog and make him respond to your commands. And don't be afraid to call a dog off a track when you're done, cause I've been doing it for years and it doesn't hurt a thing. Nowdays, I can walk into the tree without a leash and have all six or eight of my hounds walk out with me on command, and I wished I'd been so smart eight or ten years ago. I've also called them off a track nearly half a mile away for different reasons, like they were trailing into a roadless area that I didn't want to enter that day.

Last summer I treed a bear for the fish and game and had to walk out to call them, at around 9:00 AM, so I left four hounds on that bear tree and did that. Not one single dog tried or acted like it wanted to follow me out as I left. Four or five hours later I climbed back into the tree (a different tree but very close to the first tree) and the bear was low above the dogs. There were jumping and biting at that bear and trying to eat it. I got the camera out and took a few photos and walked away. When I did I called to those four dogs and they all left with me. My point is don't be afraid to make a dog listen, cause they aren't gonna learn shit if you don't.............

3. Yes, a dog may well have to be roaded and toughened up abit before you put him down a track. Most of the lions you might catch at your stage of the game aren't gonna be too far away. But after that hound learns to cold trail it can strike a track that will take it places even you don't want to go.

ike

containuely call your dogs off a track and they will leave a track you dont want them to when they get tired. tested and proven

I've called my dogs out for years and they'll still stay put longer and tougher than I want them to in most cases. It might affect a young dog that is just starting out, but I've seen no evidence of it bothering a finished hound that understand what the game it.

I've walked in and called my dogs off tracks when the sun was sinking below the horizon for years and much prefer that to having them out all night wondering if they're gonna quit, come to the road and get ran over. My dogs are going home with me at night like they are suppose to if I can get close enough to call them in. After a hound has been out eight or ten hours barking down an old frozen lion track it desires a good meal and a warm place to sleep--besides, it isn't legal to pursue big game in this state after dark.

I use to have dogs that would trail out all day and night and hammer down that track until they gave up or gave out, then dig a bed and layup for a day or two. I put an end to that crap, cause one of my hounds better save enough to get out if it wants to hang around. The only excuse for staying is if they're caught and under a tree!

ike

I agree you can have it both dogs that mind and hunt hard. I have mine trained the same way as Ike, when I am done I just say "Time to go home!!" and they all leave the tree np.

You don't need a collar but it will likly make it alot easier to get a handle on your dog. I don't use them myself but the trick is to never let them realise they are faster than you I start training them young when I can still run them down if they don't come back... sounds like you already missed that window. All is not lost but its going to be harder now. There is a good non-collar type training method that was posted in members only area a while back that could help you if you don't want to spend the cash on a collar.

Your dog being a house pet should not matter, sure he may have missed out on some good times but if he has it in him he will make up for lost time once in the woods. My brother gave me his 2 at 8 years old, they had spent most of their lives in the city with only a few trips down to the farm. Even at 8 years old they picked up what to do from my other dogs and in just a few runs were treeing as if they had been doing it for years. They are not the coldest nosed or anything but did make good pack dogs and will bite a bear if it don't tree fast enough.

As far as tracking collars go I really like my marshell lighted collars and my maxima 5000-25 receiver. The collars are 200.00 and the receiver was 800.00 used. Yes this is alot of money but how much are your dogs worth to you?

The shock system I would get would be the tri-tronics trashbreaker.

i can call my dogs off mine aren't real trash broke yet so its nice my plott loves coyote and my blue tick loves deer saturday ran a coyote with my plott well he started to run it called him back and my blue dog started on a deer made it about a half mile and i called him off but if i dont call them off they chase to catch i like it personally but i run johnson collars and a tracker hand unit with the trashbreaker tri tronics