houndsound
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Dec 2003
Location: Sheridan, WY
Posts: 1148 |
I used to tree lions when I was a kid.... people think I'm crazy.... but it kinda bores me at this point. For me it's not about the game- it's about the hound work. To each his own, I have a friend that hunt nothing but cats. I have a friend who chases both.
The cat hunting is cool- it's not great hunting for bobcats here- there is a decent populations, but on the mountains there are not roads and you will be walking miles of tough country in deep snow to get to your hounds... till you've hiked the Big Horn or Rocky Mountains you can't understand the challenge it is... not like the hills or mountains east. Off the mountain there just aren't any trees and you can about guarantee a bobcat will end up in a hole.
Lions are much better to run in the mountains... they have very small hearts and lungs for their body size and tree up much faster than a bobcat. Unless you turn your hound out on a real old track- a lion track will tree up pretty fast. But I've been under a dozen or so lions... and the novelty is gone....
People think I am crazy to prefer coon hunting over cat hunting... and I can't explain why I prefer it but I do. I like the fact that my hounds have to hunt for their track... 99% of cat hunters drive around until they find a track and then turn the dogs lose on it. I like the fact that I can go coon hunt for an hour and come home if I want. A cat hunt pretty much takes an entire day of driving, planning, hiking, etc.... I like the fact my hounds can't see what's the tree, they have to trust their brain and nose to tree a coon. Not to knock my friend's cat hounds- they are nice dogs... but they do not have to be bred to hunt a track up, be trash free, and can usually see the game in the tree... and if not the odor of a 150 pound critter is easier to locate than a 20 pound critter. Its challenging to do it here in Wyoming- again kinda' why I'm drawn to it. Once I have hounds that excel here on coon... when I retire and move elsewhere I'll enjoy the coon hunting all the more.
I know a couple guys here that cat hunt really seriously and have nice hounds... but it is part of their full time work. Most people out here that have big game hounds... I call em' Harley hounds... they own hounds like most people own Harley motorcycles. They only use them once or twice a year- don't really know what they are doing, and own them for the primary purpose of perpetuating a macho identity.
To each their own... I've just always been a coon hunter, can't really give you a logical reason why I prefer it over cat hunting. Maybe there is a reason the phrase "Wow that was a smart coon hunter" is not heard that often.
But if you want to tree a cat I could help you out.
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Seeking Soli Deo Gloria through the hounds.
Last edited by houndsound on 12-31-2020 at 03:44 PM
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