BigGameHoundsmen.com

I here some folks say that they prefer a silent track dog for bobcats.
There reasons were that they would get a cat jumped faster by being quiet until they got right up on them. Others say they want a big voice on track to hear where the dogs are at. I would prefer letting the tracking collar do it's job but do also like to hear where the dogs are from time to time. Just looking for other peoples opinion.

both my dogs track silent. I love it for bob cat and mountain lion. where i hunt the cats are usually resting in the mourning from a hard night of hunting so yeah i guess they do in some why "jump" the cat. makes for a faster hunt in some instances.

Do you think some dogs come by this trait naturally or are there strains or bloodlines that hold to more of this trait.?

Idk my dogs are out of lipper and coma strains, and these dogs are known for their loud mouth so i really dont know. sorry i cant be of any more help.

what are some of the caricteristicsof these lines?

I think if you start a pup with a silent dog alot of times they will be silent. Not always but there is a good chance of it.

depends on why you hunt, if you hunt for profit than a still mouth dog is the way to go. or even just to catch a higher percentage of cats.kinda defeats the purpose of hunting hounds. as for still mouth dogs on a lion sooner or later you will get a lion that will kill your still mouth dog. maybe this is a coincidence maybe not .all i know is the dogs i have seen killed in action over the last three decades, the higher percentage happen to sneak up on a lion only to startle the cat without plenty of advanced warning to become prey . all this can be another topic for opinions!!!!

mike martell wrote:depends on why you hunt, if you hunt for profit than a still mouth dog is the way to go. or even just to catch a higher percentage of cats.kinda defeats the purpose of hunting hounds. as for still mouth dogs on a lion sooner or later you will get a lion that will kill your still mouth dog. maybe this is a coincidence maybe not .all i know is the dogs i have seen killed in action over the last three decades, the higher percentage happen to sneak up on a lion only to startle the cat without plenty of advanced warning to become prey . all this can be another topic for opinions!!!!

Now that was going to be my comment / question........

I've been reading a book by Jerry Lewis called Longwalker. In it, he writes of a time when he was at the tree, just quietly watching and observing the action of a large tom with the hounds were treeing below. One of the hounds was tighter-mouthed than the other and after a period of time it quit barking at the tree. The cat immediately zeroed in on that silent hound below him and went into stalk-mode ready to pounce. The writer recognized what was happening here and got the hound barking again, and just as quickly the cat switched back to being the "prey" and not the preadator as the moment before. He was certain that if the hound were silent much longer it would have had a cat on it's back.

Interesting for sure........

my dogs arent quiet at the tree tho. they strike when they hit the trail usually just one or two loud barks, then when they tree it they never stop barking. Its almost like they consintrating while they are on track.

this is why I asked the question. I think there's probly a good many topics that can come from this. I guess that i never figured a lion to go into hunt mode up above the dogs. that was interesting thanks.

THIS IS THE COOL THING ABOUT HUNTING. THE MORE YOU HUNT THE MORE THEORIES YOU AUTOMATICALLY COME UP WITH. THE BOOK WRITTEN BY JERRY LEWIS LONGWALKER, DIDN'T HE SHARE A THEORY ON LIONS NOT KILLING BIGHORN SHEEP? WOW THAT IS NOT THE CASE, MAYBE WHEN HE WROTE THE BOOK HE NEVER HEARD OF THAT HAPPENING.I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF AUTHORING A HOUND HUNTING SEGMENT IN A BOOK OF BLACK BEAR HUNTING. I WAS QUOTED SAYING WHAT THE AUTHOR WHO WROTE THE BOOK WANTED TO PORTRAY TO PLEASE THE PUBLISHER AND SELL BOOKS. HE WANTED TO SHARE HOUND HUNTING STORIES FROM THE PAST. PRE 1994, I THINK ALOT OF THE TIME THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS. SOME TIMES WE SEE THINGS AND PRECIEVE IT AS SUCH.WITH A WIDE BASE HERE WE CAN SOMETIMES HELP SUBSTANTIATE OR DEBUNK MYTHS AND THEORIES. THIS IS THE FUN OF HUNTING HOUNDS. IT IS LIKE FISHING IN THE OCEAN.YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL COME UP WITH NEXT!

mike,
you make several good points! hell since i've been on here i've heard and learned alot that makes me think of alot about things i never considered before.

I think a dog that runs silent on track is a bred in trait that comes from a relative, and not something you can teach or silence a hound on. I had a tight mouthed female hound that would not open on a cold track and bred her to an open mouthed trail dog. Half of those pups took the damn's side and were tight mouthed on track and the other half were open.

After hunting some of each, I'll say I like to hear my hounds open on a track when they strike and while they trail--catching more game is secondary. There is an good argument in saying a tight mouthed dog will surprise and tree more bobcats, but seldom does it make a measurable difference on lion or bear. If a guy doesn't like the music of the hounds he should probably hunt a different bred of dogs........

ike

I would have to agree with Mike and Ike- I enjoy the whole process from striking, actually hearing the hounds cold trail, then hear the hounds as they jump the cat. I am in the sport for the satifaction of hearing a good race whether I catch the game or not. Sure it's always nice to have a tree or bay-up at the end of the race, but to hear the hounds is what it is all about for me. I taught Jr. High school for 11 years and the sound of my hounds always helped to get the sound of those kids out of my head.

I agree with Ike that it is almost completely genetic. Over the years I have seen a couple of dogs that were silent on track until they were about 3 years old and gradually became fully open. I have seen about the same with treeing.

briarpatch