cur dogs on Bear

[T.Hunt]

[quote][/quote]I am thinking about getting into hound hunting and wondering what kind of dog to start out with. I have done some research on curs, but now I'm thinking about Plott hounds. I live in MN and can only run coons, but WI is right across the way so I can run bears. Anyone have some advice to point me in the right direction? Any little bit helps right now! Thanx.



Mnbearhunter; there are good and bad in all breeds. Certain strains of each breed have certain caracterstics. You need to decide what caracteristics fit you. Personally, for the bears I run, I look for speed, determination, and brains. I dont get too hung up on how gritty a dog is or how much hair they pull. My dogs are cheer leaders that sit back and bay when a bear wants to fight. Sometimes I dont catch the bears that do this, but its ok with me. I would rather spend the money in fuel to find another bear, than spend thousands at the vet clinic. I would spend some time talking to the people hunting in your area, and find out who is catching bears. This is all just my opinion, and I hope it helps.

[black and tans boy]

I heard that their pretty much the muscle of the pack and really fast.

[mulehound]

I had a small Kemmer cur that would move an old lion track as well as my best hounds. The only thing was he seemed to do it with brains, he was fast. He was an excellant bear dog also, he could and would start an old track and be gone. He was silent until the track warmed up, when you heard him opening he was damn close to it. He was as gritty as any dog I have ever owned in the last 32 years.
I have tried quite a few curs since then including one of his pups, none have ever measured up. But I think I have finally hit on one. He is a Clark bred Stephens cur out of Montana. He just turned two. He treed two bobcats this winter, one on his own. The one he caught on his own was an overnight track that we cut at 9am. I stopped the dogs from chasing it as I was looking for a lion. We rode the mules down the ridge and made a big loop with no luck.
As we got back to the truck the dogs crossed the bobcat track, it was now 1pm but I decided what the heck. The dogs took the track and had to work hard on it as it had melted off in places. After a while I noticed Leroy was way ahead and moving out on the track. Long story short he treed it by himself down off the bluff. It took the hounds 20 minutes to get to him.
From my experience with curs if you get a good one they are damn hard to beat. I like to think of them as my devil dogs, they hit hard move fast and apply the drag until my hounds get there and seal the deal.
Darrel.

[romulsdefroz]

Solid advice there from Mnbearhunter. It really does come down to what fits you best—how you like to hunt, what terrain you're in, and what kind of dog personality you can work with. Plott hounds are definitely worth a look, especially if you’re thinking of crossing into bear country. Funny enough, same thing goes in crypto—finding the right niche makes all the difference. The community’s tight, focused, and knows their stuff, which makes targeted efforts way more effective. Worth checking out https://readfi.io/ if you're into that space too.

[lawdawgharris]

I’m late on this but it’s a good one.Hound vs cur is an age old debate. There isn’t a right or wrong answer if you look at it from the perspective of what makes the person feeding them happy or what they like. It was said earlier and I agree 100%, purpose bred dogs are going to be the most consistent. Curs aren’t typically used on bear as much so they aren’t going to be as consistent as a whole. That being said, the older gentleman hunting the Stephens Curs has done his part in weeding through what gets it done and what doesn’t. The longer he has them the better they are going to get because of selective breeding. I’m sure this is the case with most of the people hunting curs. I hunt hogs in Texas. I was fortunate to have GREAT mentors growing up. I was fortunate enough to get to hunt with about every type and style of hog dog there was. The dogs that I gravitated towards were hound/cur crosses. When you get the best of both worlds you have a machine. I now have a family of dogs that are by no means perfect or produce 100%. BUT, I enjoy them and they make me proud way more than not. A few years ago I took a pair of dogs that were Treeing Walker/Mnt. Cur cross. The sire was a good coon dog with some of the same Walker blood as in my dogs. The female was a real nice squirrel dog. At that same time I had two males the same age as these two, so I started them all at the same time. The difference in the four was a real eye opener. The two bred for it took to it and progressed so much faster. The two given to me never made. The male was real wishy washy from day to day. The female never tried to start. It wasn’t that they weren’t out of good dogs. Their genetic imprint just wasn’t about big game. Maybe another littermate would’ve and if selected like that they could’ve been bred over time to do the job. There isn’t a perfect breed or dog. There isn’t a miracle breed either. I do believe we can take dogs that do a job well and improve them. Sometimes it’s staying within the breed and selecting well and sometimes it can be introducing a new breed and selectively breeding those. I hear people say it all the time about you can’t raise consistent dogs out of crosses. I’ve heard it in horses, chickens, etc. I think that’s a bunch of bs. How many “BREEDS” are out there and how many of them were created by man? Every creation was originally a cross of one or more breeds that were selectively bred. Nobody can dispute that. How many quarter horses carry Thoroughbred in their pedigree? Granted everyone can’t do it. Some get lucky like me and others are just gifted with the ability and understanding to get it done. Pride,tunnel vision, and kennel blindness are the three leading factors in most people not moving forward with dogs. The best advice I was ever given was that if I ever quit trying to get better that I’d never have the best. He didn’t mean keep looking for the miracle fix. He meant that when I found good dogs that fit my needs or came close, I needed to have enough sense to realize they were good and from there keep trying to improve them. When in applied that logic it fast tracked my quality and consistency of dogs. It kept me from bouncing around from one breed or family to the next looker for perfect. That’s my two cents anyway.


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