BigGameHoundsmen.com

After much research and asking a million questions I was finally fortunate enough to partake in a lion hunt!!! The fellow we hunted with has been running cats over 25 years and is very serious about it. He has also bred and raised his own hunting dogs throughout his cat hunting career.

To make a long story shorter, after some begging and swindelling he has offered me one of his dogs. Now I didnt hunt with this perticuler dog but I did hunt his mom as well as 2 of his full brothers. To say the least they were amazing! From what I saw they worked perfectly. We put them on a hot track and and they went straight to work tree'd the cat in a huge leaner about 4 miles down the trail. The ol female was right up there with him and the 2 young'ns were right behind her, the cat jumped out and they treed him solid about 200 yds later. It was a huge tom and we opted to take him, he weieghed in at just over #170's.

The dog he offered me is a 3 yr old male named diesel. He said we would have to make a deal that I COULD NOT breed the dog for any other reason then raising hunting dogs for MYSELF. He said his bloodlines were exclusive to them and there hunting hounds and he wanted to keep it that way, and I respect that %100. He also wanted the right to breed the dog at some point if he needed.

Im wondering what your guys opinion on this deal is, it looks to me like a hell of an oppurtunity to get started with some dogs of my own. Ive seen them work and they were unreal. The dog he is giving me took a dirty whippin from a cat last year and the next time he put him on a cat he was wantin to trash off a bit he said. He said he had to many young dogs to work with so he hadnt run him again yet this year. He said he was going to put him on a cat this week and try to work with him and see what happens. He also told me he would come out with me and get me started with him. The dog is free for me as long as I agree to the terms wich I will. This sounds good to me what do you all think??? Please advise. he's a 3 yr old. red tick male. Let me know if I should provide any more info and I REALLY appreciate any help from you experienced hounds man!!! thanks!

sounds good, jump in on it.

Yep, you aint got much to lose. Try it.

i would definintely do it thats how i got started.

Thats great to hear guys thats what I was thinkin too just didnt wanted to make sure I was on the right track.

We have sled dogs here we raise at my dad's place and im wondering if I should tie him with them or rig something up at my own place for him. I leave early for work every day and am gone all day long so Im thinkin he would get along better with our sled dogs for some company. I was thinkin im gonna build a new kennel for my hunting dogs but for now at least if he was with them, he would have some company.

I kinda gather that goin to try and tree a cat with one green dog probably isnt the best idea, I dont want to get him killed. Should I get to lookin into getting another dog? Its gonna be pretty tough I think as oppurtunities like this dont come along to often? Unless I was to spend a bunch of money on one. There's a fella here close that breeds blue ticks for cat hunting maybe Ill get a hold of him and see about a female? What do you guys think? Thanks a million for the help guys this site is absolutly second to none! you guys should be proud of yourselves for all the help you give to guys like me! thanks again

I would definintely look in to getting a second dog. I only have two but i guess thats all i ever needed for cats. They work better as a team, and like you said it is safer.

Free dogs are best!! If you don't want to buy another hound right away you could try out one of the "sled dogs" with your new hound. Just pick one that will follow the hound and honor his barking, that should be enough back up. I have had alot of good luck with free dogs, people used to drop alot of pups and young dogs off in our canyon... most were not pure hounds and some didn't even have hound in them.

Thanks for the respones guys, I never thought of throwing a sled dog with him to see what would happen on a track? Our set of pups got loose last year and ear'd down a moose calf not far from the house and about had it killed when we finally got to them and helped that poor calf get on his way. I dont know about these sled dogs trailing anything but they sure love to fight and run ANYTHING that will run, down. Theres enough of them barkin buggers around to give it a whirl if it came to that. I talked to a fellow tonight that raises hounds not far from me and he has a set of pups he wants to keep around a little longer then he said he might let a female go. There very well bred out of this fella's best dam and a VERY respected cat hunter from up here's sire. I could be lookin at a great 3 yr old well started male and a very well bred female pup to get me started and goin. My luck is really hangin in there on gettin some really well bred dogs without havin to remortgage the ranch. i know there probly not the best bud a guys gotta start somewhere i guess. I cant beleive the amount of info and help a guy can get through this site! What a great deal this is!!! Thanks you guys!!!

do it!
i just got my first dog from a guy for $75
he's outta real good blood, all local, so i hope he turns out
the worst that could happen is that dog dont work out

look for an old dog now or just try running as much as you can with that older gentlemen.

If you do go with the older gentleman pay for stuff like fuel and food, if his dogs run and yours learns from them, the training will be worth it, if not the experience should be worth it. Either way you do not have to pay for a trained dog (usually at least a nice chunk of change) to experiment with your pup and you may make off with a good friend.