BigGameHoundsmen.com

Just wanted to see how many hounds everyone's runnin with and what game

so far I only have one, and I pretty much run anything that moves. lol That probly isnt good but I like to watch her work and listen to her trailing.
Josh

Hey, Josh

Sound like my hound he's a huntin fool

Robb

I only have two Father and Daughter and they do just fine, In my experriance i have allways done darn good with just two. I hunt Bear and cat and very little coon as posable lol

I think that if your hunting big game you need at least two. If you are hunting coon you can do well with one. I have a preferance of three or four dogs each time you drop.

this is a big game forum, so your answers should be more than 1.

beardog-treed,

You wrote: "this is a big game forum, so your answers should be more than 1" I really don't know where your going with that.

Just FYI, there are a few folks out there that have hunted and done well on cougar, bobs and coon with one hound. I also would call a cougar "big game".

This being said, again, there are hound hunters that have hunted cougar with one dog the entire dogs life with no harm to the hound, have done well on "big game cougar". Bears on the other hand, another "big game" animal, I feel is a true pack sport and is better left to a pack of hounds.

There are people how will not agree with that as well. They have treed bear with one dog. Mostly, its usually one dog that does the treeing anyway. While I don't think this is the best way or safest way to hunt bear for the dogs sake there are people who have done this as well and will continue to do it.

One dog will work fine for most bears and most lions. However once in a while you will run into one that is either dog smart or just plain mean and that one dog better be smart enough to know to keep his distance.

Even with several dogs in a pack on a mean bear or lion you may paying a visit to a vet or losing a dog... More dogs on one of these I would think lessens the risk to the dogs. Ofcorse more dogs also means they usualy feel braver and fight harder...

So my answer would be take as many as you can control in the field. I personaly would not want to take more than 6. I did the best on lions with just 1 or 2 dogs. But that was likly due more to the dogs I had rather than numbers. Still have one of those dogs but she is over 12 now and realy slowed down this year... bears are slower tho and she has np on those.

On bobcats i like to run one hound, on cougar 1or 2 or if some pups are around dump them. Bears are different i have only 2 hounds now but if hunting with freinds everyone gets to hunt. I think the saying goes Dump the box!

law says up to 6 on bear here- im kind of glad for that law-- i might need a semi to haul my dogs if they didnt have a law like that --lol when i hunt with my buddies all of a sudden 6 isnt enough -
run some in maine and law is 4--- makes it hard to get much training done--or hunt with your buddies


if 3 dogs cant tree a bear -- 3 more of same quality probably wont either-----
ive treed a lot of bear with 2 dogs-- ive treed quite a few bear with one dog but only had a few dogs that treed a LOT of bear alone -
even the ones that can- i dont think its smart to hunt them alone- good chance they will get hurt or whipped - set them up to win--

i think 3 good dogs is about right --
if you want to always have 3 good dogs--- you better have 2 or 3 more in training -- lol

i used to always haul 6 dogs around , 4 seems like a day off

my buddy always said , more than one dog on bobcat is too many -

im guilty of running too many -


when conditions are tough -scent isnt great -old tracks. whatever - too many dogs can really mess things up - 2 may be 2 many - but need to get pups started -

pete richardson wrote:-
i think 3 good dogs is about right --
if you want to always have 3 good dogs--- you better have 2 or 3 more in training -- lol

i used to always haul 6 dogs around , 4 seems like a day off

my buddy always said , more than one dog on bobcat is too many -

im guilty of running too many -


when conditions are tough -scent isnt great -old tracks. whatever - too many dogs can really mess things up - 2 may be 2 many - but need to get pups started -

This is pretty much what we run by.. We normally run 2 on bobcat then try and drop 2 out on the next bobcat.. Well... that is what the plan always is.. Seems like they tend to all get tailgated But since we have 3 started dog and 2 maybe 3 ready to start this year, then 2 to start next year.. We have an endless supply I have myself, personally 3 dogs, my boyfriend has 4... We have too many but can't seem to get any less.. We will run about 4 on a lion, same with a bear.. Have dropped a hell of a lot more on some damage control animals.. Everyone has to get in on that

We have 8 in the yard. I like to run around 2-4 on bear and 1 or 2 on coon. But usually it's dump the tailgate, cause we all know it's no fun stting it out!

2 - are over the hill, and are around just for retirement basically.

1 - thats coming into his prime and needs no help catching a bear or a coon, and will be ran on Cat as soon as snow hits.

1 - other that should step up and help the dog above get things done. It gets lonely at the front of the pack.

3 - 1 year old started littermates in training.

1 - 6 month old for next year.

Seems like it pretty even. Guess its whatever works for you. Happy hunts!

I pretty much run bobcat and if I need to get the cat killed for someone than its one maybe two dogs depending on snow conditions. 90% of the time I'm just out there by myself and not after a kill then I start the track with one old dog and one young dog, after the cats jumped I empty the box. Sometimes it bites me in the ass but what the heck we are in it for the fun aren't we.
I have seen good proven older cat dogs that in some snow conditions just couldn't handle having a young dog in there with them.

thanks to all that participated hopefully we can get even more feed back