Boogie Man
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Oct 2009
Location: Harrodsburg, KY
Posts: 523 |
PUP UPDATE - LIONS, OH MY!
'PR' ROBERTSON'S TAYLORMADE CLYDE tracked and treed his first mountain lion at 10 months! He's on coon number 20. Son of GRCH GRNITECH 'PR' TAYLOR'S RASPUTIN x CH 'PR' TAYLORMADE BAD MOON RISING. Check out my Facebook page for a video of the hunt. Just fantastic.
OUR FIRST LION- FROM DALE ROBERTSON
In January of 2014 I had the opportunity to tag along on a lion hunt with a friend, being guided by some local ranchers. Although the hunt ended unsuccessfully, that was it, I was hooked!! So, Heather and I got some pups and have been working with them since last spring and summer. Usually during the hours that most sane people are sleeping.
Two days ago, we got a call from a good friend. His wife, an avid hiker and shed hunter, had just found a mule deer doe, killed by a lion, and in the very recent past. They even sent me photos of the kill and GPS coordinates.
Wow, it's the perfect setup, handed to me on a platter!!! I'm instantly nervous, a hundred thoughts rush my brain at once!!! Which dogs should I take? Which way will they go from there? What if they chase elk? What if they run a deer for miles into the nearby endless maze of deep, roadless canyons? What if the lion takes the pups in there? ARE MY PUPPIES REALLY READY FOR THIS? That's what it really all boiled down to. Only one way to find out!!
I decided it would be smart to have at least one other person in the woods to help out, and just for general safety. With less than 12 hrs until I wanted to try starting a track from the kill, on a weeknight. I called several friends, all had to work. Posted on FB and agreed with the first reply that had the right qualifications to suit me. Knowledge of the area, in shape, had a tag and never hunted with dogs before. Dillon Currie was willing to take a chance. I had met him once previously in our shop, but we really didn't know each other.
I decided to let the kill sit overnight and check it early in the morning. I brought Timber, a 13 month old Walker hound. Super fast track dog and makes plenty of "looses" because of it. Also not consistent at the tree yet. Clyde, an 11 month old English Coonhound, he's good on track, and he straightens it out when Timber overruns. He's also an excellent locating tree dog. I also decided to bring Stone, a newly acquired 2 yr old Drahthaar, just to have a mature dog in the pack. None of these had ever been on a real workable lion track. And Stone, on only one lion drag.
We found the kill no problem. I was hoping that the killer had returned to the scene during the night to feed. The temp was 23, no snow and the ground was frozen, meaning it would be difficult or impossible to find track evidence. We would have to trust the pups to identify whether the cat had been there or not. I was counting on our training that they would be honest and not leave on the invisible track of a coyote, fox or some other undesired quarry that may have recently visited the area. And we were relying on luck that they would follow the lion track the right direction, and not trail off on a weakening backtrail to no end. My plan was to start the hounds first, if possible, then add the Draht.
So we walked Timber and Clyde down to the kill and within a minute or two Timber, then Clyde, were showing the body language that they could smell cat. Timber started dragging Dillon to the North as Clyde's nose was pulling him on a line from the kill to Timber. I told Dillon to release Timber, I released Clyde and gave them the command to work. They already had it lined out and took off silently at a fast pace. Noses to the ground, leap-frogging each other in a tight zig-zag pattern, they were out of sight in seconds.
Before we could get back to the truck I heard Clydes big bawl letting me know that he felt it was a good track. Timber immediately concurred. They were crossing a road 1/2 mile ahead, so we jumped in the trucks and tried to catch up with them so we could add Stone to the race. When we got there they had crossed the road which was on a ridge, and were 880 yards down the canyon on the other side. They were still working, each letting out a bawl when they would find the next bit of scent. We listened to them work for a while and soon they were 3/4 of a mile away and about to cross another ridge that connected to the ridge we were on. So again we tried to get close enough to add Stone and again they crossed long before we got there. By the time we got to where they had crossed the second ridge they were 3/4 of a mile from us and about a mile from the truck down a deep canyon. About that time I heard the hounds tone change, they were going wild! They had something jumped!! I was hoping it wasn't a deer or elk.
So I quickly looked at the Garmin for more information and saw they were moving fast down canyon, I also noticed that Stone, although had a ways to go, was heading to them. Then, silence, I look at the GPS , Clyde is coming back on the track, fast! I'm confused, then I hear Clyde open again but he's still coming back. Then I hear Timber open again and he's still at the farthest point. Clyde came back 1/4 mile then I heard his long drawn out locate bawl, he gave two, he always does, and then fell into a 100 barks a minute chop telling me he had it!!!! Stone was there to back him up, a couple minutes later. Timber was was still working between the end point and the tree and eventually trailed off another 3/4 mile or so.
We waited a few minutes just to make sure Clyde was going to stay treed then started making our way down the steep canyon. I didn't really know what they had. During the 45 min climb down to them I begin to wonder if they may have switched up along the way or when Clyde reversed direction and now have a squirrel or something. Dillon and I were both elated to see a lion in the tree when we got there!!!! Clyde from Taylormade Kennels was a Rockstar, at least in our eyes that day!!! Timber made it back by the time Dillon harvested the cat and then we got to work.
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08-28-2014 06:28 PM
