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A Day Watching the Hounds

I took the hounds up rigging around and invited an old hounddogger to ride along awhile back, as he wanted to watch my old red dogs work the rig. We'd never hunted together although we've visited about hunting a lot over the past eight or ten years. He has probably been running and training hounds for nearly forty years, so I had the microscope on both my hounds and myself I figured.......

I put Ike (a nine year old redbone), Choco (a seven year old redbone) and Kody (a four year old half redbone/English cross) on the box and cut for tracks. They rigged everything from a screaming hot bear track to bumping on a lion and bobcat tracks.

This hunting partner of mine takes a lot of pride in knowing the country, knowing hounds and finding a tough track, so he wanted out every time they rigged to looked for tracks and verify what they were rigging.

He had brought along a couple young female rig dogs, and the older one was only two or so and was hunted hard on bear this past spring. All seven hounds roared on the fresh bear but the younger dogs and his females never bumped on the bobcats, the lion or some of the older bear tracks.

One of the bumps by those two older redbones was in a place where this old timer had cut a lot of lion and bobcat tracks, and is a pretty darn good crossing. The cows had stomped the road all to crap but he walked the adjacent trails and then the road before he found the back pad mark made by a mountain lion.

"That's pretty darn neat those old dogs will rig an old lion track after the cows have stomped it all to heck," he remarked.

We drove on and those two old timers bumped on a a place where my buddy found both coyote and bobcat tracks. I'd heard him comment over the years that lots of these young guys have dogs riggin coyotes and only think they are riggin bears. When he got back in the truck he explained he didn't know which they were riggin on, coyote or bobcat so we drove on.

A few miles further he says, hold it, stop! He had cut a coyote track but the dogs weren't saying a word..........

The last bump both of those red dogs were going steady and none of the other five dogs were saying a word, so we stopped again. The breeze was coming off the hill above us and so we walked up the road thirty or forty yards and cut a sow track that had been rained in lightly the afternoon before. It was around 10:30 AM and he wanted to see if they could move the track so we put those two red dogs down.

And just as I figured they barked at it a few times and was having one heck of a time moving the track so I called them off.

On the way back to town he commented, "that's really neat to watch those old dogs rig tracks they can't even start. With dogs like that you don't even need to cut for tracks on the road."

I told the old timer I have about quit stopping and looking for a track unless the other dogs open, cause it just isn't worth a guy's time.

I don't suppose I ever liked being under the microscope, and that is probably why I like to stay to myself. It's also probably why I have put off taking that old timer along on a hunt for so many years. He had heard me talk about rigging lions from the box during the spring, summer and fall months but wanted to see for himself. Maybe his "show me" roots go back to Missouri as mine do............

keep'em treed,
ike

Good Hunt !!

I think I may have a Twin to your Redtick

__________________
Steve Morrow "Saltlick Majestic's"
"Never Have Hounds Or Kids And You Won't Get Your Heart Broke"!!

540-421-2875

PR, Saltlick's Blue Misty Linga "Bluetick Coonhound"

French X American Hounds

Yup, the color is close for sure.........

ike

Ok "what's in that Hound" ??? I see alot of Ear, Heavy Nose, Thick fore legs, A deep chest and prefect Size .. lets hear it..

Well I just went out and took two more of mine..

__________________
Steve Morrow "Saltlick Majestic's"
"Never Have Hounds Or Kids And You Won't Get Your Heart Broke"!!

540-421-2875

PR, Saltlick's Blue Misty Linga "Bluetick Coonhound"

French X American Hounds

Great story!

Great story and pictures.Really enjoyed it.The best thing i've read on here in a long time.Thanks.Kenny