Registered: Apr 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 6

I will be going to college in September and my mother wants to buy me something for graduation. When she asked what i would like, I instantly said a hunting pup. Since this will be my first hunting specific pup, I was wondering which breed to get. I will be hunting squirrel mainly, coon and possibly bobcat.
Also being from Canada, the canadian cur interests me, what can you tell me about them.

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Registered: Jan 2011
Location: thornton, ontario, canada
Posts: 441

will you be living at home when you go to college. if not i would suggest wait to get the pup till your done school.my work just hired 11 students yesterday two are dog nuts and its there 2nd time back. these two live in apts. there parents live 5 hrs away. no point in these kids getting a dog when they never get to see it,bad news is i dont sell pups i just sell started and broke dogs. and right now i have a waiting list of folks wanting 25 started dogs. sorry i couldnt be of more help

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Registered: Mar 2007
Location:
Posts: 54

canadian cur is right most places wont let you have a dog so if you are not living at home I would look into that first. At the same time I know when I was in school I had a lot of down time and it gave me a lot of time to hunt. I got lucky and met a guy who had mountain curs and treeing curs and I hunted with him then he let me keep my dog at his place. As far as what kinda dog, hunt with a bunch see what you like then go from there. I know there is a lot of variety in looks and style even in the same breed so find what you like before you buy.

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Registered: Apr 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 6

sorry for the confusion guys i meant when i graduate college, its a relatively short program so i just want to get a head start and some much needed info as there is nobody locally who hunts curs, some walker and bluetick owners and hunters but no curs

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Registered: Feb 2011
Location: Pleasant City, Oh
Posts: 87

My whole time in college I lived at home and stacked my schedule so I only went to class two days a week (Tue and Thur). I probably hunted harder during that time than ever. If you know Jim Hatcher ask him. We squirrel hunted together everyday that I wasn't in class. I think he lost around 40 pounds that first year. I was hunting a Mt. Cur named Tugboat. He was tough. I think if you would've hit him with a rock the rock would have broke. It seemed like he always treed uphill. Maybe try getting a started dog to hunt if the time allows.

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Registered: Jan 2011
Location: thornton, ontario, canada
Posts: 441

get one of your friends to cross one of those hounds with a well bred border collie, and you will probably have yourself a driving pup with brains that will tree you a truck load of game.justin and many others on here cross plotts with border collie with super results. your 1500 hundred miles from me . so shipping prices will kill you. think about starting something new in your area.

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Registered: Apr 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 6

just for clarification what do you mean by starting something new, what are the chances you think of the hound collie cross being a good treer because ive heard mixed results but that could be an option because there a local collie breeders

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Registered: Feb 2011
Location: Pleasant City, Oh
Posts: 87

Here in Ohio there is an Amish man that has been crossing plotts and collies for over 15 years. They have great success with getting them to tree. I think it would be worth a shot. Try to find a collie that trees around the farm and a good hound. You'd have just as good of a shot with this as any other.

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Registered: Apr 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 6

so Justin, would i be able to get a local hound breeder to do this or would it be bad for their kennels reputation??

also i am considering a started dog as well because i have never trained one

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Registered: Jan 2011
Location: thornton, ontario, canada
Posts: 441

lets back up a touch. have you ever hunted with hound guys or dog guys in your area i get the feeling you havent hunted with dogs yet.once you answer this we will move forward.

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Registered: Apr 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 6

Ive never hunted with real breeders or even with purebred dogs ive only hunted with my great uncles mutts. he has recently past away and ive been wanting to get into it heavier and get my own dog

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Registered: Jan 2011
Location: thornton, ontario, canada
Posts: 441

purebred means nothing unless the purebred has hunting and treeing ability. mutts can become a pure line over many years of breeding and culling for ability.i have seen many mutts put many purebreds to shame in the bush over my 45 years of hunting.example justin and many others on here have hound crosses .many would consider them mutts.dont be fooled these dogs have great ability in the bush to tree game. what did you and your uncle hunt with his mutts,example two years ago i was bored my niece was moving and couldnt take her dog she was going to have it put down.it was 14 month old sheppard and rottie cross,in two weeks this dog was a hard hunting treeing machine on squrr. i gave her to a kid 20 miles from me once she was going real good.so you see top dogs come in all sizes and breeds,you will not find that silver bullet by talking it can only be found by hunting in the bush.unless you buy a dog already well started or broke.teach your self to train a young dog and save a truck load of cash.

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Registered: Apr 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 6

ok thanks guys i think that is what ill do
and we hunted squirrel with his dogs and the only one left was given to one of his nieces
Thanks for all your help

Ethan

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