RunninBear(Ike)
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Roosevelt, Utah
Posts: 586 |
Kody (left) and Ryan (Right)...I don't think Junior liked be tied up with his old man!
A buddy and outfitter friend of mine have talked about this subject many times over the past dozen years. He ran ten to twenty dogs years ago and had a hell of a time treeing bears, then watched me tree most everything my three hounds jumped. It was funny and still is, watching him sort that out and finally coming to the idea that ONE single hound often makes the difference. Yes, sure enough he put the blame or success of my early running on that blue Ryan dog of mine.....
Personally I believe he has something there, and that is the fight is often won in the early stages of combat through a mental process: that is either the bear gets his way and sets the tone or the hounds get theirs. Sometimes the fight is won before the two foes get into the ring through what is know as the mental game--either the bear shows his dominance on the first bayup or the dogs show theirs. But if any of you ever figure it out let us all know.
To my knowledge all bears will climb its just a matter of hounds staying with them until they do. Years ago we started nine dogs down a boar track out in the Book Cliffs. The race went off the south side down east of Fatty Canyon and into those southern running canyons that slope into Colorado for ten or more miles. Two of the young dogs quit by dark and the others stayed tough all night and put that big red boar in the tree close to where they left the top around 9:00 AM the following morning, so I blasted into the tree ahead of my hunting buddy and watched that bear leave the tree when i was a hundred yards out. Seven hounds were getting hair and that big boar left east over the ridgetop, then the last two hounds my buddy had quit and trailed out to us........
We picked up my Rowen, Ike and LionHeart dogs late that afternoon and my blue Ryan dog came out down his backtrail at noon on Sunday, fifty-four hours after leaving down that bear track, not a sore foot on him and stepping proud. Like plenty of people say, there are bear dogs and then there are real bear dogs and that Ryan was a level above any hound I ever saw go down a track...........
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Last edited by RunninBear(Ike) on 09-06-2011 at 02:48 AM
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