Michigan dogs compared to western dogs

[Travis Stirek]

this is funny!By the way my dad can beat up your dad! LOL

[onalimb]

Everyone can see where I live. We have runners that move at the sound of a distant strike, bears that just walked out of the wilderness that cock their heads at a truckfull of screaming dogs. Bad ones that are naturally that way, and a few man made ones too. I was a boy in Arkansas, and I'd much rather climb the mountains than swim the swamps. We have some swamp land, I don't like it anymore now than when I was young. I have seen some dogs show up here and do good, but I have yet to see dogs show up here and take over. Mountain bred dogs are king up here for a reason, Mountain Men know why, and I'm sure a lot will echo my thoughts. All the rest is an . Ya, you can come here and catch a bear or two, but try moving here and compete with dogs bred in the steep and deep for generations.

[rich h]

Hey Preston...just as long as you don't vote for Obama I'm good with that.

[Dan Edwards]

[onalimb]

[Arkansas Frog]

[Dplotts]

In michigan. there is so many different terrain the scent is the issue you might be in a swamp one minute then in the dryest pines u ever saw.

[Hound man]

Dplotts couldn't of said it better !! I have brought back good dogs here to MI from WA an Id and they sucked they couldn't catch or tree a bear for nothing here in Mi but out there they could catch about every time they where turn lose. my opinion of it is here in MI we have a lot of small game coon possum prokys and when the dogs r trailing a lot of time they run smack into a procky an u r spending the rest of your morning pulling quills I think theres a lot of different scent that the dogs I brought back where not every exposed to I think with some time the dogs would of worked here but after 6 times pulling quills I was done nothing worse then that to ruin your hunt for the day

[bearsnva]

Damn, Michigan must be having a bad winter. Dplotts and Hound man are replying to a six year old post. LOL Surely we can find something more current to argue about. Most of the dogs that were hunting when the topic first was posted are probably retired now!!

[Hound man]

no just thought it was a good post is all that got my attention

[bearsnva]

Not a problem! I just had to chuckle when I saw the last response was from 08. Have a good one! Besides we just got through digging out from 18" of snow (yep, that is a nice single snow for us, 2" an hour) a few days ago and I looked out the window and it is snowing again, so I am getting a little bit of cabin fever myself. Take care.

[houndnem]

our problem in southern Utah is there are not very many bears, or roads. so if you find an old track or get a half ass bump on the rig you better turn out if you want a chance at all. some times your cold trailing half a day before you get him jumped. then the dogs don't have enough gas left in the heat to fight him long. I've seen lots of top notch bear dogs sent out here that didn't do to well. the reason being: they are top notch because they have seen lots of bears, in country where there are lots of roads and lots of bears. they are not used to having to cold trail bears for miles and miles. or running 2 day old tracks. a dog is best in the environment that he is raised in I think. it's just what they are used to.

[tod watterson]

Go back and look up some of houndem ''s previous posts and look at the country where he is catching his lions . That's our bear country. I 've seen bears go across ledges and cliffs where a mt. goat couldn't have went , and left dogs scattered on them that you had to get repelling gear to retrieve .Talk to most guys and there gonna tell you they hunt the worst country there is .I prefer the area I hunt in Idaho over southern Utah but theres country in Idaho that is about as big anywhere .

[justahunter]

I would say the worst thing about the mid west are the swamps other than that there dogs aren't waking up in the morning traveling hundreds of feet up in elevation in a couple hours then expected to ride the box with big temperature change and strike and run the bear up and down ridges, through just as thick of brush remind you changing elevations constantly and so on. I went to the Midwest for 6 months and hunted bobcat and coon I have to say its definatly different swamps sucked and most of them frozen so I didn't experience the whole swamp thing lol. It took about a week for my dogs to adapt but they did just as good as there dogs but at that time I was just starting to get some ok dogs. I would like to go back and bear hunt just to see and I will someday. I have had friends come from the Midwest and bear hunt here and they couldn't have gave me a dog. They can't cold trail or stay up with the bear in the mountains. I'm sure they would have adapted . Don Kamphouse went to the Midwest with his west coast dogs and amazed people bear hunting. This is gonna fire some people up lol anyway just my experience.

[bchoundman]

I'm not sure about this thread sounds like u eastern guys needed to thump your chests and be reasurred your dogs don't suck. Any bad country u have, we have. And any bad country we have, u probly have. I won't for a second believe your dogs are different. A good hound is a good hound were ever u take. If not it's not a good hound.