Hunts I remember. Al Baldwin.

[al baldwin]

I sit here looking out dinning room window, to the west few hundred away,see a large rock that reminds of a bobcat hunt that happened many years ago. Started out as morning hunt before working swing shift in the pm. I had roaded deacon & chub a short distance up Johnson Mt. road when they started old old scent that rather quick turned into a jump race. They spent about half hour, with several short downs moving the track real good around in circles. Made a lose and the cat got out on them. Deacon was confused but chub soon found where the cat had eased out on them. As was his style in those type critters chud moved the track barking very little and soon I assumed he had topped high ridge and was now in salmon creek drainage. I listened as deacon giving a little more mouth confirmed my thoughts. I then drove around to the Salmon drainage and discovered chub had covered lot of ground and was bayed on that large rock that I can see from my window. Deacon soon arrived, I eased down to the creek and sure enough there was chud, deacon and a bobcat in plain sight on the face of that rock. The creek was up, worried about a dog falling from that face I pondered what to do. Well about that time a very nice but upset hippy lady arrived and informed me in she didnot want me to shoot that bobcat, she could not understand why I was even chasing the bobcat. I was no longer on her property, but those dogs had ran the cat around in the 200 acres she owned and had brought it right infront of her house. And about that moment deacon fell from the ledge, bumped his head on way down and was floating down the creek. I charged out to get deacon out of the creek, pulled him to shore and he soon was able to walk. That lady took off to town and assured she would bring me back some help, she was on foot and in a hurry. I had managed to get chub to come to me, deacon seemed to be ok and I decided to leave the cat on the ledge. No more than made it to the road when that lady and a local man I knew well, Gene Aubin arrived in Gene?s pickup. That lady was trilled deacon was ok and i had not shot the cat. That cats scalp meant four dollars bounty at the county court and was a big help puttin gas in my old pickup in those days. True stort as I remember it so help me God. Anyone wishing to write on this site feel free. Al

[GVBEAR]

Thanks for sharing your stories I really enjoy the reading. Especially the bear stories

[lawdawgharris]

What year was that Al? Did you ever have another encounter with the lady?

Tell us another, I know more than just myself love reading them.

It’s funny how our memories get triggered sometimes. I’ve been guilty of going down the highway and see a certain landscape myself and think of a particular hunt(s) because it looked so much like a place I had been. It bothers me that I don’t remember what I use to. When I was younger I could tell you every detail about every hunt I had made. I remembered who was with me, which dogs and what role each one performed that hunt, how many hogs we found, how many we caught, what they did, the location, how bud each hog was, etc. Not anymore though, I guess it’s complacency on my part. I guess I just don’t make an effort to remember. I still love it and it’s still a passion but not quite on the same level as it was when I was young.


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[al baldwin]

I am guessing the year was 1972. No, never had any more encounters with that lady. I never got to really know her, but from other locals all I heard about her was very positive comments. While she was upset at me for allowing my dogs to chase that cat, as soon as deacon fell from that rock she said something like I get help and was off on foot to town. Story was from others who knew her, her dad had left her money, she had moved to Powers gave $ 60000 for two hundred acres that had just been logged and started a hippy community. She soon moved back to Ohio and owned that property until about three years ago. I know for sure she sold the property to Ireland Logging for a large sum of money. I talked the people who logged it and was told they logged enough timber in about three months to pay for the property and thre is still a bunch of logging left to do. She had moved here from a large city in California.

[al baldwin]

Clarence Berg & Tom Barnette surprised me early one morning when they stopped by & invited me to go with them on a bear hunt. I had never been bear hunting and was eager to go. We were hunting on Coldiron Ranch. There must have been at least 500 head of sheep plus the cattle on that ranch. The ranch foreman had recently built a large amount of very good fencing and a bear was damaging the new fences and killing him a sheep when he pleased. This ranch had a very good road system and ranch foreman J O Taylor keep the roads graded so good in dry weather one could have drove a nice car if it had four wheel drive as the hills were very steep. We soon found a fresh sheep kill, turned out a coyote had made that kill. After inspecting the kill Tom tossed the sheep in the pickup bed and said that is good dog food. We soon found where the bear had recently damaged the fence & Tom/s dogs started tracking the bear, those dogs tracked that bear over most of the five thousand acres on that ranch and exited the ranch property onto to another ranch where they treed that bear in a small skinny cedar tree. It was a large reddish colored boar and it/s weight had that cedar bent into a shape so much it reminded me of a fish hook. I carried no gun but to my surprise Tom allowed me to go to the tree with him. Tom killed the bear with no dogs getting hurt. Clarence was elated Tom had killed the bear as that bear was on a ranch where predator control was his job. That was the beginning of many critters that I would assist Tom with. Clarence returned to that ranch the next day and set up to eliminate some coyotes. Both Tom & Clarence were great help in learning about hounds and predator control. But there is nothing like hands on experience on your own.

[al baldwin]

Thinking back, need to add a few words to the bear in fish hook cedar. Suppose that was the first time I had witnessed dogs have to grind out an old track move it and get treed. Those dogs had exciting voices with a couple screamers that added excitement to the sound. I had hunted with some type of dogs as longer as could remember in the hills of Sw Virginia, before moving to sw Or, but had never hunted with dogs like those. Combination dog that were very good at treeing bobcat, bear and the next time out run down a coyote. And I would later learn Tom was the best dog in his pack. Thinking that might have been about 1965. Al

[lawdawgharris]

Sounds like Tom was a heck of dog man. To have dogs that caliber and that versatile says a lot. There aren’t many of those guys left.


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[al baldwin]

Yes Tom was a real woodsman. This hunt is a real good example of that. We started a track on the 3000 line just of the Coldiron ranch property. Very quickly the dogs were on the Fred Waterman property in the bottom of Myrtle creek and began walking and baying. That is one very rough piece of realastate, immediately Tom said that bear is headed up that elk trail that goes into snow creek, get in quick, .He drove like a mad man, i hung on feeling very nervous. We quickly made our way about three miles up the 3000, then took a sharp turn down into and crossed the head waters of myrtle creek. Climbed the mile or so to the top of a ridge that separates myrtle and snow creek, turned onto a new logging road that took us to a landing where we could look into snow creek. We no more got out of that jeep and we heard the dogs. It was one of the neatest things I ever saw, we watch that bear coming up that elk trail, dogs get too close to him and he would turn like he was goin to charge, dogs would quickly race down that trail, bear would slowly walk on up that elk trail, led by belle dogs would be right back on him. Those dogs walked that bear within about 75 yards of us and we both got bullets in him. Knocked him to the ground & we rushed down & finished him off. A nice big boar reddish in color. I would have never know where that bear was headed without the natural ability Tom had at reading critters.True story as I remember it so help me God. That

[lawdawgharris]

That’s knowing your quarry and knowing the terrain for sure. I would sure love to have gotten to hunt with him. There is so much to learn from those kind of hunters. I’ve said it before, but all of my hunting buddies except for one, we’re old enough to be my father or grandfather. These guys taught me so much and probably forgot more than I’ll ever know. It sure made me look like a wizard when I hunted with the younger guys here and there. It wasn’t that I tried to look like it, but that it was my way because it was their way and the only way I knew. I have several young guys that hunt with me and I really appreciate them, but you best believe I’d do about anything to have those old guys back. Man I miss them!


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[al baldwin]

Yes Tom knew that terrain, but you would have to have been there to realize how far those dogs were from us when tom made the decision that bear was on the elk trail, and to realize what large track of area we are talking about. This next hunt took place one day when the dogs had been baying a mean bear for a couple hrs. And crossed the trail of smaller bear that would run. All dogs except belle took that small running bear and before long had a small bear treed. We were not surprised as this had happened a few times in the past. We went to that small bear tree and headed back to try to find belle to turn the other dogs back in to her. My mind is a little foggy just how it happened but, I was at my rig when I heard belle across a small canyon from me and knew she was still walking her bear. Had to be a lot of luck, but I saw that bear in a very small opening on that very brushy hillside and shooting at least a hundred yards of better, open sights with a lever action 30-30 knocked him to the ground. Wounded the bear kept walking and belle kept baying. Tom was on him quick and decided not to try turning other dog back in as a wounded bear was a sure way to get some dogs killed or hurt and belle seemed to know just are aggressive she could be on such bear. That bear went a far piece before tom caught up and finished him off. Tom & belle made one hell of a team, both were true bear hunters.

[lawdawgharris]

That’s impressive. Wish I had some Belle dependents too lol. Bear hunting sounds a lot like hog hunting except for the fact that bear will climb. Sometimes I think hogs do too because they just seem to be able to vanish at times.


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[al baldwin]

I did not mean for it to sound impressive. Those bay bear in this large rugged terrain were a lot of hard work and one needed to young, rested & in good condition. Seems I was young & in good health but, often not rested. But if you ran bear that just ran & treed & you had enough road system it could be fun. On this hunt those things just feel into place. Tom & Clarence arrived on an early Sunday am and we headed out to an area where in the middle of a vast timber country grounds was a decent size ranch that raised sheep as part of their income. The logging roads were very dusty and no reason to use dogs to strike, Tom was a master at spotting any type of critter track and soon found where a smallish bear had crossed. Dumped a couple dogs and after a bit track got good & Tom dumped his box, after a good trail dogs jumped a running bear had a good race that we listened to most of and treed a small bear. That was good enough for Clarence, we had all the dogs and he said let/s go home. As usual Tom had different plans and continued to search for another track, soon found another and things went smooth again and soon had the second bear treed. Clarence again expressed his opinion, lets call it a day. Sun had came out starting to get warm and Tom agreed. As we headed in the direction of home Tom spotted where a decent bear had crossed since we drove in that am. Clarence pleaded, don/t turn lose, Tom could not resist and those dogs were soon in full cry, had a good race ran & treed a decent size bear in an area of the ranch that allowed us to get the bear out. Clarence could not believe it but again we had all the dogs. Tom was very happy he had his dog food for the week, I was looking forward to getting a little sleep Clarence was elated Tom promised to call it a day. True story told as I remember it. Thinking this may have been 1967.

[lawdawgharris]

Al, the impressive part of the mean, walking bear story was Belle. Staying with the original bear and not getting brushed off on the second and not being intimidated solo to me is impressive.

Tom’s drive is funny to me. I remember a hunt that two buddies and I made 15-20 years ago. We had gone to a ranch where the hogs were really costing this ranch in feed. They a couple of bunk feeders out for the cattle and hogs were eating every bit of their share of it. The cattle would stand back and watch the hogs eat. The small set of woods,about 30-40 acres, they were staying in was on top of a hill with a small creek at the base of it. We cast dogs and I think there must’ve been a hog under every bush in there. Knowing it was supposed to be easy, we took mostly young dogs. We started catching and tying hogs and it was fast and furious. We wouldn’t have one tied and the dogs would be baying another. This lead to us splitting up and going to split bays some. We ended up with a split bay, one in that little creek and another out in a thicket of briars and saplings out in the middle of this pasture. We get down to the creek and the one buddy sends his catch dog and gets caught. This creek is very narrow, not over 6 feet wide in most places, but to our surprise was neck deep. Our buddy found out when he fell in trying to fish the caught catch dog to the side of the bank. The third buddy laaauuughed, and I might have a little bit, but once we had tied that hog too the third buddy was laughing and giving the other one a hard time. Well we head across the bottom to old Yonder gyp that’s bayed solo out there. We were all panting pretty hard ourselves and the buddy that was laughing so hard was ready for this to be the last hog. Now Yonder is know for having plenty of bottom and drive as well as relaying really fast. Our laughing buddy says ok, whatever y’all do, whoever gets in there to the hog first, catch Yonder and the other two can get the hog tied. Everything went just like we planned it and I had Yonder on a lead while we were standing around talking. Well funny buddy wasn’t paying attention to Yonder but she was on the end of the lead with her nose in the air wanting to go to another hog. The wet buddy looked at me and we grinned and he nodded indicating for me to let her go. I reached down and unsnapped her quiet like and she was gone. When funny buddy looked around a saw her gone he said where’s Yonder? I said well she was smelling another hog so I let her go. Now funny buddy has a high pitched voice anyway, but when he gets excited it could crack glass. He started hollering expletives “g$$ d$$$ it, son of a $$$$$…….”! Oh man listening to that and watching him take his cap off and slam on the ground, oh man we were literally laughing so hard we couldn’t breath nor could we see for the tears in our eyes. It was truly worth unsnapping her. It wasn’t just a minute and she was bayed and we called it quits after that one. I think we caught 18-20 and all 100 pounds and up. It was a good time for sure!


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[al baldwin]

I don/t understand hog hunting, but it sounds dangerous to me. Clarence had a good reason for not wanting to turn those dogs for the second and third time. Days prior to that bear hunt he & Tom had gone thru several days of losing a couple dogs, then Tom would take a few dogs to hunt as they searched for those lost dogs. Clarence said they would find a couple lost dogs, but would lose a couple more. Clarence was a good dog man, when he hunted alone he most likely only had three dogs. He had very little trash problems and his dogs all had a good handle on them. He had a sense of humor, very witty and would help his friends any way he could. He loved to tell a story about Tom. He said one time he & Tom were bear hunting, said bear came across a road, dogs crossed and Tom crossed. Little later, bear came across road Tom crossed and then dogs crossed. little later Tom crossed bear crossed and then dogs crossed. He got a good laugh out of it. He said Tom was the only hunter he ever knew that you could hunt with one day, then go hunting with him the next day and tom would have a different motor in his old jeep pickup. And that was a true statement, tom used to change those motors like some folks change oil. Belle staying on that bay bear when all other dogs took the running bear was just bred into her, not by me, but by a bunch of houndsmen whom I never knew. Thanks for the conversation. Al

[lawdawgharris]

Man that’s a funny story Al. If you had said Clarence was extremely good looking I would’ve thought you were talking about me lol.

Hog hunting isn’t much different than most other big game hunting with dogs. It’s all dangerous if you don’t use your head. I won’t lie, I’ve been in some pretty good fixes. I remember one such hunt I was alone. I have an intestinal disease that really works on me all day, everyday. The only difference is the severity. Anyway, it had been being pretty hard on me and to add fuel to the fire, I had just came home the day before from having a plate and screws put in a broke arm. I was feeling bad but I was losing my mind staying on my back inside. I decided I had a pair of pups about 9-10 months old that I was going to take out to the woods a couple hundred yards from the house and just let them roam. I also had a new catch dog prospect that needed to learn how to move in a vest and needed some handle put on him. This is my therapy! Well the catchdog and I are standing in the woods while I pet and talk to him. We were having a pretty good conversation when those two pups fired up on something not but about 150 yards away. I figured it was trash so I didn’t get in a big hurry on top of the fact of how I was feeling and it was summer time in Texas. As we get up closer I see it’s a hog and a pretty good one. He sees me and breaks to run but when he hit the dry creek bed, those two pups turned him and he was backed up to the straight bank side. He was about 230-40 pounds and visible teeth. This is the part of the story where instinct and habit over road common sense. My catch dog wanted to go so I sent him. BAM, eared up and caught solid. The hog was trying to spin to get him and the pups were tagging his back end trying to help. I got down in there and the hog was trying his best to get in my pockets. We danced a minute and I finally got him and the catch dog pinned against the bank. This is when I first realized I had made a bad move. I had zero use of my broke arm and this ole boar was kicking like a donkey. I couldn’t hold both of his hind legs or get him thrown on his side. So I used the catch dog pulling one direction to my favor as he was on the opposite side of the hog. As I kept the hog pushed against the catch dog and bank, I reached under him and grabbed his opposite side front leg and pulled it under and across his body while lifting up on him. At this point the pups are laying back at a distance barking a little because it’s REALLY hot. The catch dog is hot and looking at me like “does it always take this long?” He’s hot, I’m hot, the hog is hot but the hog is madder than he is hot. I get him on his side it gives me a chance to gather myself and catch my wind. Meanwhile he’s getting madder and I really need to get my catch dog off and unvested. So I decide to dispatch the hog instead of tie him and grabbed my knife. Well the problem was I didn’t have strength enough in my broke arm to drive the knife and when I went try, it made this hog that had grown into a rhinoceros way angry. I had to drop the knife to keep balanced and in control for the wrestling match. By the time I had him under control, I couldn’t find my knife. So, while I was catching my breath and he was too, I remembered that I had handcuffs on my hunting belt. I cuffed a front foot to his opposite hind. Then I snapped the leash I had around me to the cuffs and ran the leash around a sizable root up high on the bank to keep the hogs feet upwards so he couldn’t get up. Then I got my catch dog back and unvested. He was give out and hot and rightfully so. I finally found my knife that literally covered by about a foot or more of sand that covered it while we were wrestling. I used my good hand and dispatched the hog. I laid there a while allowing myself and the dogs to cool down and then took them over to a pond about 75 yards away and let them lay in the water for about 20-30 minutes. Not my brightest moment for sure, and as Al says, this is a true story as I remember it!


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