Hide Dogs

[Alex Sanderson]

I'm sure this type of question has been asked before but I need to ask again. I dont want to start any sort of arguement but I'm looking for any information I can get regarding people's opinions on the best hide dogs they've hunted with or know about. I know everybody won't agree but I was hoping to get a wide range of opinions anyway. Over the next year I'm hoping to get some information on some exceptional working dogs and talk to their breeders and hunt with them to find what I'm looking for. I've lost a dog unexpectedly recently and another is getting too old. Soon I'll be left with one young dog to hunt. I'm going to need a line on some good working blood. I am particularly interested in dogs from northern United States and Canada. So please let me know about the best hide hunters you know about. Breed or crossbreed is not important. Thanks very much.

[david]

Alex look into the Canadian Cur bred up by two men from Ontario. David Rogers was one of them. I think you will be impressed by what you learn.

[Alex Sanderson]

Thanks very much for the direction, David. You were right.

[Ker_man]

Alex I'm pretty sure that David Rogers has gotten back into the Canadian curs. If interested he would be a good one to talk to.

[coney catcher]

hello Alex , thought i might find you on here , hows it going.

Brian

[kordog]

what works for you as a hide dog may differ depending on where your hunting . now if i was looking for just a hide dog . i would want it to be warm to maybe med nosed for short races silent on track with a very soft mouth for treeing close to houses without raising much attention it would also have to rig and handle extremely well incase it got on posted land.it would have to be a dog that checks in and hunts with you. if its all about stacking hides you cant spend much time on each coon.thats here.now if you have trouble starting tracks a colder nosed dog would be needed ,but probably your not going to be a hide hunter if coon populations are thin.the great thing about a rig dog is you can decide where and when to let them go and even maybe how old the track is by how the dog is striking . also a rig dog tells you where the coon are just by riding around. as far as hounds you will see them once in awhile. alot of houndsman would cull dogs that would fit the bill for a hide dog ,because they dont fit their style of hunting and what they like in a hound .

[dchartt]

Leopard Hounds or Red Fever Redbones are my choices, and Ive never owned a red dog but Ive seen 2 males out of the red fever line that put more hides in the freezer than any dog Ive owned

[halfbreed]

i'll have to agree with a good cur dog or a treeing cur these days . but I would love to be able to have my pair of walkers that I owned in the 80's . we put up a lot of fur . that gyp I had could get one up in a hurry lol . my granpa used a pair of black & tan bird dog crosses to feed the family during the depression era and according to the old pictures of my fat uncles he did pretty good lol but your best bet like you said was to get you a list of folks and go hunting with them and see if their dogs fit your style . wish you were closer I have some young plott x mnt. cur pups that are turning it on .

[MoodyBlues]

Alex,

I know its not the style they are known for but I had a Cameron bluetick that filled my freezer full of fur in no time flat. Long-legged, great nose, calm temperment, and absolutely no quit. Dang dog wouldn't run a bear for me but he was absolute hell on coon. Passed way before his time. Good luck with your search.

[mike martell]

Alex

Back in the 70's and 80's---Hides were worth the trouble and coon prices averaged thirty dollars or more properly put up....Back in those days I hunted Plotts and Black and Tans. Both these breed strains could not tree a bobcat. I used my dogs for lion, bear and coon and could these dogs rig a track from a moving vehicle...They could strike a coon track from under the deck at any speed and it was very common to harvest over three hundred coons per winter. I included an old photo of me and my hounds about in 1980 with a two night catch of 25 coons. The Plotts are dirty tough and rugged for hunting the rig deck during frigid conditions and didn't quit with ice forming on them from swimming to catch a coon and placed back on the rig deck, they simply would die on top hunting. I would never keep this style dog in my kennels today. Look at your area, average weather conditions and if game is abundant or lean would determine nose style.....I liked a cold nosed hound, bump a colder track, just keep driving. very often I would rig a track and dump a dog and as soon as it lined out, I would drive off and hit a second track and dump and return to dog one and kept leap frogging....I was off work all winter and hunted 7 nights per week and this is where rigging plays a huge role, your dogs don't expend much energy until they are released and they never hit the ground until they opened on top. I rotated five dogs to be able to keep hunting every night. Many of the walkers are thin skinned and not haired out for the task. Back then, these were hide dogs by definition and you could not pay me to own them today!

[huntinwyo]

Why wouldn't you want to hunt these dogs now?

[mike martell]