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I know not a lot of guys on here hunt horse or muleback but if you do here is a little tip from George Goswick. George was the son of probably the most successful single lion hunter in Arizona history his father the famous Giles Goswick.

I am hunting my bare ground dogs horseback and they don't seem to be striking tracks even in good lion country?

Well Georgie says: Slow down, walking your saddle animals too fast, still no good slow a bit more maybe lead him. Why did I even ride? You will find out later.

Folks this is a certain statement: I have started more lion tracks on the bare ground while I was eating lunch, stopped for a rest or just watching the dogs than I haved marching thru the country like I was going to war. Dogs need time to sort out a cold lion track, and sometimes in our hurry up ,fast food world we just don't have time to wait.

I laughed when I first heard this nearly 40 years ago , but I don't laugh much now

I call these pearls of wisdom dropped from the great lion hunters of the past.

Oh Mike how true! I started laughing when I read your post. About a month ago, I drove down a nearby road looking for a track. Got to the end of it, nothing. Turned around and let the dogs out to road them back down the road. I'd gone about two miles, stopped to load up the dogs and realized they'd all headed up the hill. No tracks anywhere but the dogs knew there was a somewhere up there. I didn't bother calling them because I knew it would have been useless anyways. After about 10 minutes, they got it lined out and off they went. Turned out to be a very well known female I've treed several times. I used to do a lot more walking on ridges through lion country then I do now. I should really just get off my lazy butt and get back into some of those great areas I've forgotten about. It was always very productive.

That brings back a memory of mine this past year when I hiked into an area and was following a spring on top of a ridge when I came upon a small lion track in the mud that had crossed over the stream. I stuck my dogs nose in it hoping she would strike right away as I just knew it was fresh After about 5 minutes of coaxing and walking along the hard soil where it appeared the direction the lion had walked after the track in the mud there was still no bark or interest. I sat down on a big rock just as frustrated as I could get. I pulled a sandwich out of my bag and wasnt even paying attention when bang! she opened then it took a minute or two before she opened again and slowly she got that track going. I cut around the side of the hill and could see her coming up the bottom of the wash it was about one in the afternoon and it was pretty hot. I watched her lay down under some oak brush to cool off and then go back out and find the track and start trailing for a bit then she would cool off for a bit and hit it again. We never caught the lion but I have had more than once when I had hiked and not struck a track and then I decided I needed some lunch and sat down and the dogs got something started.

ive had horses my whole life and been hunting with hounds for about five years but never hound hunted off horseback. always thought it would be a pain but would love to do it. any suggestions? had enough rodeos on the mountain side elk hunting not sure if i want to on a bear run but would be fun.

Lion hunting on a horse or mule can be so enjoyable if you are prepared and have somebody to show you the ropes. You feel like you are much more a part of the hunt than you do when you are bouncing around in the cab of a pickup. Before long your dogs begin to respond to you much better as well.

Now as far as bear hunting on horseback I never cared much for that and bear usually inhabit dense woods and deep forested canyons which getting thru all the down timber and such on a saddle animals is no fun. Not all country is condusive to horse and mule type hound hunting. More lion country is than actual bear country I would say. I don't hunt bear with my dogs anymore but if I did I would rig hunt because no other way is more productive and fun.

As for lion hunting if I had to do nothing but road hunt in a truck waiting on fresh snow I would sell my hounds.

hey thanks for sharing a little bit with me. i live in no idaho where its thick and brushy and thats where i do most of my lion hunting as well as bear. every now and then i go to the desert in south idaho so i think next time i go down there ill take my horse along and give it a shot.

You would have some fun down in the Owahyee , but up there north your elk hunting trips let you know that it is not too good.

Have fun!

Mike,

That is some great advise, as we've all come to expect from you. The other day while hunting with Warner we rode mules. While saddling up at 3:30am I told him that I've rode horses all my life but have only been on a few mules. I let him know that any advise would be appreciated if there was anything different that I needed to know. He told me I'd probably get a mule of my own after riding one. The Glenns' still works cattle horseback but uses only mules for hunting.

He went on to tell me that not only was a mule more sure footed in the rough country but they traveled slower. Warner didn't think you needed to hunt at any faster pace than a mule would traveled. When we cut a draw, ridge, creek or saddle we made sure to sit for plenty of time and let the dogs do their thing. We ended up catching a big tom in the rocks and had a happy client at the end of the day.

Neat deal Shorty hunting with the Glenns. Sure nuff lionhunters!

I need to get another good mule but I am not sure why. Well what I mean is I know because all the experts say they are better for lion hunting and your catch percentage will go way up so I really do need one. LOL! Just kidding. I have rode some good mules and they are a whole hell of a lot better than walking at times. I salute all the mule riding lion hunters out there!

That being said I have been out with a lot of the guys that tell you they ride bad country and only mules can hack it. Now I am not much when it comes to hounds and lions and all that sort of stuff, but when it comes to riding rough country I haven't a clue.

Hell guys I have seen these mountain bike riders go over country that make some of these riders pee their pants. Gotta have a mule to ride that one! Ha! Ha! good grief get off and lead a decent horse and he will show you that he can climb up and down places you have to use all fours to get up and he will run over you doing it.


I got it: Hows about one of them mountain bikes and a helmet, and a good old bloodhound that should work. Reckon?

gonna be going to south idaho in two weeks for a week of hunting. gonna be interesting trying this on horseback. might have to get a bike and a short legged basset so i keep up.lol hopefully something good will happen.

Well I took my own advice today and it worked out for a change. LOL!

I hauled my horse and dogs to a distant canyon that is only acessable by foot or horseback this morning. I left early but with the rough roads it took me till nine to get there. I had a hunch a particular tom was ranging in there becasue his track had been seen a couple days before crossing a dusty trail and he made a scrape and was headed in this direction which is a travel route and about 12 miles from where he scraped. Well I started riding the rims with the dogs 7 of them working up and down and we went about a mile and no stikes. Numerous deer were seen running thru the brush around us and their tracks were all over the place. I saw the dogs bunch up smelling around a large pine and got up there and it was a scrape but an older one these dogs just saw it by sight and investigate them. Well a littler further and I came on an old deer kill all devoured and scattered by birds and varmint, but I always check them becasue lions for some reason like to walk back by them when they come thru. Well I felt I might be moving too fast even though my little sorrel horse was just picking his way slowly. I got off and just led him as close to the edge fof the rim as I could . Well I had my bird dog Tuggs along for the excercize and he is no bother other than the fact that he pants louder than any dog alive. His big old tongue is out and he is panting like a lizrd and it makes it hard for me to hear at times. After walking a few hundred yards I noticed two of my dogs were missing. Old Blue my strike dog and Chassie a year and half old Nance Walker that is really a hunting machine. I sttopped and strained my ears but couldn't hear a thing. The other dogs with me naturally noticed they were gone as well and listened but didn't hear anything. Well I got out my Tracker and was surprized that they were off below me a pretty good distance. I mounted up and headed that was as fast as I could thru the broken country with lots of rock and brush. I finally got out on the edge and across about 300 yards I heard old Blue's long bawl and I knew he was cold trailing. Seems like the longer the bawl the colder the track with him. Soon I picked them out crossing a side hill and Chassie was working a bit ahead of him really trying to hustle the track and Blue was just walking it. Well the other dogs saw them and rushed across there and for a few minutes it was all silent, and I figured they had disturbed the sign and it would take a bit for them to settle and go to work. Old Jiggs my high tan dog out of Jeff Allen's old Hank dog was the first to sound off and his long horn bawl cut the silence. Next Toby and Nash two Topper Again sons with huge bawl mouthes joined in and we had some real music. Well they worked it dawn to a dry wash and then crossed it and up the other side and I was staying as close as I could and enjoying the music. I had made it to the other side of the wash myself and I was searching for the lion's track when I came upon another scrape. Oh Oh! we are trailing backwards scrapes don't lie. Now what? Ride like heck and see if I can get them caught and turned around. For some reason dogs on bare ground will at times move a track backwards better than they can the right way. Well I was whipping and spurring to get them gathered, but they crossed out of the closed area before I could get them and I had to cut around to find a gate to the road. After passing thru and closing the gate I couldn't hear them anymore and I took out the Tracker again. What is going on? The dogs signals was fading out quickly all of them. Oh boy too fast for a lion track did they jump and elk or something? I didn't think they would break off a lion track tehy seemed to be wound on but they were leaving the country. Well I did some hard riding trying to catch up with them and my Shadow horse can move along pretty good but I was losing ground. Tehn I got a sinking feeling: This isn't right somebody picked my dogs up when they came out towards the road. And that is excactly what happened. The dogs crossed the road and lost the trail and milled about and a guy came along and saw all these hot panting dogs out there and stopped and let down his tail gate and bingo he had six dogs loaded becasue the bird dogs stayed with me. Well he didn't know what to do but finally he looked at a collar and he called my phone. I missed the call riding so hard but got his message. Pretty funny! I found a whole bunch of really pretty beagles out on the road and they were hot and thirsty. I saw a truck and trailer parked down there and I figured they were your I will take them there and tie them and give them water. Nice guy but by the time I got there all thoughts of a lion were long gone.

Yep I took my advice and got off and walked and the dogs founfd a track but deaf old me I didn't hear them. Oh well better than doing honey do's at home. LOL!

I'll do those tomorrow.....

man from the way it sounds ill have to load up a couple horses, my old walker and couple my good young dogs and go get my but kicked by the desert down there. went to south idaho last week, took my dogs and had the horses ready but ended up spending a week longer working on them damn trucks then i thought i would and never could get away to do some hunting. to many wolves down low up here right now to even think about going. just gonna have to wait a month and start chasing bears, oh well it will be fun and thats all that matters. good luck to ya all

MIke your stories are great, it makes me want to saddle up and get at it, problem is in this country you would have to stay on the trail as it way to thick.I've always found that scrapes don't lie but I 've heard some say otherwise. Do you believe it is written in stone?

Pretty much on the scrapes becasue of the reason a tom lays them out it is like the message board.Now you may have one down on a finger ridge and he may walk out lay a scrape gaze off into the wild blue yonder. ( You know the feeling) LOL! Turn around walk back down the ridge a ways and head on but he will likely lay another pretty quick to assure his sign is clear. I had one old lion hunter tell me that if I found one of them scrapes out on a finger like that and I got the direction on even when he turned around a backtracked a ways to follow that line he had on the ridge. He won't cut across some open or none travelway ares to get to that destination but you can and save some time.

I have seen it work a time or two but I am usually so thankful when I find a track I just stay after it the way the toes are point and keep telling them hound look for him! Sic Sic Look for em!



I wrote a story in Full Cry some years ago about a female lion I caught that was walking in a fresh snow not very deep and she made several tom looking scrapes. No other lion tracks were found in the area. Some didn't beleive it but I have seen bitch dogs make kick dare marks just like a male dog especially when they are the dominant bitch. I am sure lions do some mock behavior as well but probably not very often.

Slowing down is one of the biggest secrets to dry ground lion hunting. Hush Mike yours giving all the secrets away LOL.

On a lion study in South Dakota the biologist and a houndsman trailed a lion in the snow to collar it. It was scraping just like a tom and when it was treed it was a female. I was told there was no chance that they treed a different cat than what they were trailing.(this is all third hand info) Some forgot to tell these females that there not suppose to scrape!!!