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Do you think that cats and bears are easier to tree the more they have been run or do you think they get harder to tree the more they have been run? Just curious what you all think. It would seem the more they are run, the more tricks they would learn to ditch the dogs, but on the other hand, it would also be realistic to think that they they would be quick to pick up on the fact that a tree is a safe place from the dogs.

I think you hit it. If the animal can feel safe they will tree easy next time. The problem is that there are way too many hunter that kick the animal out of the tree and run it time and time again, until the animal cant run anymore and they damn near kill it on the ground. This makes jump happy animals and loose tree dogs.

well put packojack, in the past we had a couple of bears that would tree easy so we never killed them but used them instead to train pups. the problem was one day this old sow didn't feel like being chased anymore so she quit running. that day we lost 4 out of 10 dogs and she was only 90 pounds or so.

well i have seen bear that have been run a lot and just stay on the ground fighting. we had one that guys didnt like us hunting where they where so they toke there dogs and ran the shit out of a couple of the bigger bears there where there is no trees around. we normaly hunt it in aug. before bear season opens in the timber. but it is hard to hunt and hot with no road realy around besides the main road. i try not to jump to many out where we hunt.

Since the wolves came it seems the cats here are alot grittier, hang out in the worst places and sometimes more aggressive with the dogs..especially females. Not everytime but more than used to..Our vet has noticed an increase in hound injuries over the last few years.
They are treeing in some nasty places and sometimes hard to see

From what I've seen in WI the more a bear is ran the more dogwise it becomes. 2 bear over 300 treed like cupcakes in kill season and no one had messed with them all training season. 1 smaller bear that got ran alot just about wiped me out and it was about half the size of the others.

I've got to agree with rocket. But it seems some bear just put up with it, while others they eventually get nastier. I definately agree that the easiest bear to tree is one that hasn't been run by dogs at all.

One other thing I've noticed is that most big bear don't tolerate a lot of pressure. They will search out areas with less pressure/commotion as long as it's got some grub.

If you want to see a cagey critter, find a coyote that has had to put up with wolves and has been run a few times by hound guys and evaded them. If it ain't deep snow and you're hunting in the timber, they get awfully tough to outsmart.

Mr.pacojack wrote:I think you hit it. If the animal can feel safe they will tree easy next time. The problem is that there are way too many hunter that kick the animal out of the tree and run it time and time again, until the animal cant run anymore and they damn near kill it on the ground. This makes jump happy animals and loose tree dogs.

well put! amen!!

Around here after you've ran a bear a few times they keep they're tennis shoes on and run like hell as soon as a dog barks.

Here is another thought....in some places near here, some of these so called "Sportsmen" will turn loose 30-40 dogs on a bear, even during training season. All you are doing when you do this , is educating a bear and teaching 3/4 ths of those dogs how to run a dog track. After a bear has been run a few times with that many dogs, he will not tree very easily again. And you sure arent teaching the last 20 dogs in that pack anything and you sure arent impressing any knowledgable hunters with your dogs when you tree one with a pack that large. I dont want to see more regulations on pack size like it is in some states, but use some common sense when you determine pack size!

i used to be one of those guys that wanted to run 10 or more dogs on any bear i ran and all i did was teach the bears tricks and never had any young dogs that was worth a crap when my older dogs moved on. all i had was a bunch of follower dogs and it took awhile to get that thru my head. ive cut down to four or five dogs and have had a lot better luck with more dogs turning out. still have a lot to learn but i think most of the bears down low where most people hunt run a hell of a lot more. its easier hunting but its worth it to hunt higher up where fewer people and dogs go. only problem here in idaho is that if we dont do something about the wolves we wont have any dogs left.

more food for thought
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT HAVE DOGS THAT WILL RUN UNTIL THEY GET CLOSE THEN DECIDE THAT ITS TIME TO START COLD TRAILING THESE DOGS DON'T WANT TO CATCH BEAR, AND THIS EDUCATES THEM ON NOT HAVING TO TREE.
UNLESS PRESSURE IS PUT ON BY REAL DOGS,TO BAY OR TREE, THEN AGAIN IT IS UP TO THE HUNTER TO GET TO THEM EVERY TIME. NOT TO SIT IN THE TRUCK AND LISTEN OR TRY TO DRIVE CLOSER.
WHEN THERE TREED OR BAYED SADDLE UP AND GO.
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