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Good Dog

I was visiting with a buddy today on the phone and since we are both old houndsmen the talk quickly went to trailing lions. One story lead to another then I told the one I read on the Internet a few years ago on one of the boards about a "good dog."

This character that told the story claims to be a the real deal and the story went like this:

"A buddy and I took a walk down one of my favorite ridges looking for a lion track with eight or ten dogs. The snow was gone and we were dry ground-poundin looking for a track. This ridge is the best that I've ever hunted and I always strike a lion on this ridge.

Well, my buddy and I made the walk and when finished one of the old dogs was missing, so we got the radios out. That old dog had struck a lion track and left, treed the thing and none of the other dogs even knew he was gone. I guess that's what I call a good dog."

Now I read that story and began to laugh and wondered if this guy was serious or just blowing hot air. But upon closer observation I realized they must have only had one strike dog in both packs or the whole pack would have been gone. Has any of you dirt lion hunters ever had a ten dogs pack together, all in tow, and one sneak off and tree a lion and the others not find anything?

I had a tight-mouthed dog years ago that would do that that but she would cast out and find a track and never open until she jumped the lion. I bred away from those kind of dogs because I like the hound music, and because I want to know when a dog strikes and which way it left, just don't have any use for a tight-mouthed dog anymore. But truthfully that only happened when that dog was hunted with pups, and today I won't let a dog stray far enough to strike a track far enough away that I can' t hear it.

I like to cast my hounds in the dirt for lions in a few special places as well, as well as run them off the rig. Generally I throw down six or seven hounds and get in behind them afoot or with my wheeler. And when one of those hounds strike a track, the other hounds are on top of that dog so fast it doesn't have a chance to line the track out before the whole pack is involved.

So what has been your experience with free casting hounds for the strike?

Ike

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Living the Dream, making it happen and taking photos to share with others along the way!

well

one of the guys I hunt bear with has a seven year old male that if you cast him and other dogs they better stick with the old man or he will get gone and have one on its feet before he opens up alot that dog may bark once every 3 to 5 minitues until he has it running hot. We all know this and only cast him later in the day on the river if we don't get one going in the morning. If we cast out a couple of the other hounds and not him they will all be running it together.

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Ben, Patty, Liam & Emma Young

The few times we free cast out of a year usually ends up the rest of the day lookin for dogs scattered everwhere unless they strike pretty quick. I guess if a man has honest hounds thatll stick together it probably works pretty good. You start free castin the dogs I hunt with and youll have deer races or be walking to a coon tree in the daylight, unless they find a bear track first.