Cameron Blueticks on Bears?

[BuckNAze]

Alright I know a lot of people say that the Camerons dont have enough speed for bears but what do you all think? What have you experienced with you Camerons? Not talking about Camerons crossed with anything, just good ol pure Camerons? I know people say they will stick with a mean bear all day but Im more concerned about speed right now. Do they got what it takes? If so where you did you get your dog from? Because some more breed for cats only and not bears. Thanks for anyones input!

[BuckNAze]

I know my female does ok on them, not sure if she had a bad experience but she doesnt like a mean bear too much, she'll bay back a little further then the other dogs. She seems to hate cats more. I think a good Cameron male would be a great bear dog, like some to know your thoughts, also where you got your Cameron from. Thanks.

[cobalt]

My thoughts are that they are better bear dogs than cat dogs as a whole. My definition of a cat dog is a dog that catches bobcat. Lion dogs are geared different than cat dogs, but can be one in the same. I have seen Cameron dogs do a great job on bobs and there are other strains of Vaughn/Sebastian dogs that are superior bobcat dogs, but they were bred up for generations to catch cat. I am probably wrong, but I don't think Del Cameron hunted a whole lot of bobcat. As a guide, his bread and butter was bear and lion. I'm sure there is varied opinion on this. Everybodies hounding experience and exposure is different. This opinion is just what I've seen with my own eyes and the dogs I've hunted out of Del Cameron's strain for the last 10 years.

[BuckNAze]

How do yours do in the speed department? Do you run a lot of little runners or bigger boys that like to fight?

[liontracker]

[cobalt]

Most of the one's I've had, have fair speed. I've seen slow one's, too. Speed is a tricky topic. A dog can only run as fast as their nose will let them. I'll take a track savvy dog any day. My Max dog was always in the front since he was young in all company I put him with, he'd even win or place at the bear drag field trials that had 50 dogs entered. His daughter is even faster, she won a bear drag as a 2year old by several minutes(47 dogs in that race) and won line and tree in the 2nd div. coon drags. Having said that, sure they can run fast, but they also drive a real track in the real woods with excellent speed also. There are many variables that make a well rounded, game catching dog and all in all speed isn't at the top of my list(Field trials are no guage of hunting dogs). Brains, heart and drive(or style) out weigh most other traits for me. There is always a faster dog out there. This is why you can find good and great dogs of all shapes and colors. Most importantly is, no matter how good a dogs abilities are, it is up to the owner-handler-trainer to show the dog as much game as possible to bring out the qualities the dog possesses. I'll take a bear that wants to run and run and run. If my dogs can catch him or her, they are showing the qualities I like to see(in a bear dog).

[BuckNAze]

That says it all right there!

[Trueblue]

I agree with Cobalt that speed isn't everything but it doesn't hurt either.There are two aspects to speed.The first is how fast a dog can move a track.The second is how fast a dog can move out on a hard running jumped bear.Track speed really doesn't play as much of a role in the second case.In my experience fast dogs tend to be superior athletes.I think your superior athletes can definitely shorten up some races.I'll take a dog that has all the attributes that Cobalt describes plus some speed to boot.I have dogs that I consider to be fast and some I consider medium speed but the majority of the time on a HARD running bear my speed dogs are catching the game.Not to say that the others wouldn't have got the job done because they probably would but those running bears really give those fast dogs a chance to shine.

[007pennpal]

As to the original question, Del's dog were designed for Bear and Lion in the mountains. My opinion is that you need to build your dogs into a team. A solid tracker nose to the ground, a smart thinker, a fast runner out front ahead of his nose, brave dog for stopping power, etc, etc. You don't have to hunt only one dog or even one breed, but for all around big game dogs you won't go wrong with Cameron Blues. (In my opinion.)
Sean

[cobalt]

Have you hunted extensively with Cameron dogs? You have a strong patriotism for them. What crosses of Del's dogs do you like the most?

[Idaho Bison]

I believe the bigger Cameron may have good foot speed and track speed but I've noticed a pattern with many of these larger hounds is that the foot speed may not translate to their ability to get out of the way of a bear who decides to stop running. That appears to translate to vet bills for some.

[paintemblue]

I just recently bought a Cameron pup from Steve Phipps and he is now about 8 months old, my buddy bought a pup from the same litter, they are both males, I just took both dogs to Idaho and ran them on a couple beatrs and they were right there withe old dogs, the race was 5hours or so and it was just a running bear that turned into a walking bear and our pups were right there in its face and at times brave enough to pull some hair, the bear was let go to run another day, the second bear treed in about 2 hour and once again both pups were there doing a fine job, so far from what I've seen they will make fine bear dogs, they both already will catch their own coon, and my pup has been on a bobcat and he can move a track with a lot of dtrive for a young dog, I can hardly wait to see how he finishes out, especiallt since I have got a good glimpse of the future, both pups right now weigh in at around 45 lbs., but both pups are athletic dogs and can both carry the lumber, Steve breeds some fine dogs and if the price on his pups wasn't so high I wopuld definately buy another one.

[blueticker78]

here is my thought take it for what its worth camerons are good dogs generally, there smart athletic have plenty of nose to get any job done and enough speed too if you buy one good bred cameron pup he might not out perform every dog in your pack however he or she will typically be well rounded and a good foundation to build a hound to your liking and needs and you will probally get the end result alot faster then breeding several other strains of hounds out there someone already said it a big game pack is generally built on dogs with different capabilities or dogs that are all well rounded speed alone will not catch much game nore will a really slow nose to the ground track dog when it comes to bear.