slowly loosing hope

robbyson99 · Post by **robbyson99** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:15 pm

SOOO bobcat hunting isnt going the greatest for me and my buddy todd. starting to loose hope in getting us a good running cat dog here in maine. nobody here in maine will take us with them because they see us as competition and dont want us to have a good running cat dog. i dont know what to do besides send my hound outwest to be trained. soo thats what im doing. im sending him to cannon valley outfitters for a month of bobcat training. i dont know how i feel about it yet but i have made the decision to do it. my pup is now 16 months old and ive only been able to get him onto 2 different cat tracks. he cold trailed the second one real well but i had to cut him off because it was getting dark. and that was almost a month ago. now the snow has sucked up here and its crusty at this time. i will continue to work with him over the summer as much as i can and he will be going out there for the month of september which will make him 2 years old at that time. do you all think that is too old to send him out there or should i try to send him out there over this summer instead. its going to be costly but im prepaired for that. i just want a good running cat dog and have no other solution. im loosing hope fast. ive ran a few "turkeys" with him and he loves them. my house cat will sit in the window of the house and as soon as he sees that damn cat he just about rips his head off his neck barking every breath. i think and still believe he will make an awesome cat dog if i could ever get him on a jumped bobcat but i havent been able to do that and dont know how to get him on one besides getting him some training from someone else. i guess what im getting at is the question. do you all think its wise to send him out there at this point. and is there anyone out there that has sent there hounds away for training and came back to you as a running hound.

corey robinson

Budd Denny · Post by **Budd Denny** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:40 pm

Sending ya a PM.

uncle Brisco · Post by **uncle Brisco** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:44 pm

ok, this is my idea,it takes a long time for me to start let alone finish a cat dog,how much money do you spend on 1 saterday just looking for a track,and even if you get to run it the ods of the poor dog seeing it are slim to none,now combine that with a season or two of crappy hunting ,heck you could easy spend a grand or 2 and be not much farther than you where when you started,now get bummed out and you start thinking of the pen,well every one is going to say" thats dumb heck it aint anthing like hunting here",which in most cases is 100% true but ,when you send yer dog to CanonValley your dog gets to hunt cats everyday for a month, and even get to see it a few times,and if your dog is as good as you think it should see it a lot,so now you have to go into it not with the idea its a trained cat dog,but its a dog that dang sure knows what a cat is,and a little of how they act,now put this dog on that cat track ,put yer pack on and go with him and help when you have too,in my opinion i feel by sending your dog there is going cut up to a year and a half off a three year project,at best, so you have to decide if you can save gas money in the long run,let alone wages for the wed. you had perfect snow and called in sick,or slide yer truck into a tree trieing to head off a trash race, its all economics in my mind

larry · Post by **larry** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:47 pm

I think you would be better off to spend the training money on a finished bobcat dog, then hunt the two together. If you have only found 2 tracks all year to chase it is going to make it pretty hard to continue what the training has started when you get him back. (let alone keep a finished dog sharp) Don't put all your eggs in one basket ( dog might not turn out) A guy can afford to go through pups, but once you start dumping money into em like you are talking, it could turn out to be an expensive lesson. JMO

Spanky · Post by **Spanky** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:02 pm

my concern Corey is you said....

my pup is now 16 months old and ive only been able to get him onto 2 different cat tracks.

"2" that ridiculous for a 16 month old hound. Why? is the bobcat numbers that low? How many times have you taken him out? What training have you done with him?

jst · Post by **jst** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:27 pm

If you have any buddies that are out of state that would take you to where you stand a higher chance of cutting a track and then run him with their's and see what he is made of. An out of state license and a little fuel, could indicate a lot before spending the money on training. At least then you would know if he will take to it or not. If then maybe send him to school.

Doogie · Post by **Doogie** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:30 pm

The guy at Cannon Valley Kennels is a straight shooter, he'll call and tell you if your dog is going to cut it or not, and either only charge you for the time your dog has been there or allow you to send another dog to finish out the month. I wouldent blink at sending another dog there.

thanks Uncle Briscoe

robbyson99 · Post by **robbyson99** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:49 pm

thank you all for your help and opinions. this hound hunting sport is not easy and im new to cat hunting only doing it for the last few years. i knew it was going to be hard getting started and i love a challenge but its running me ragged. i guess i need to stick with it and work with my pup. i dont have any out of state friends that run hounds at this time. heck even in my state of maine i dont have that many people that take me with them. i dont know if its the same as any of yalls states but here in maine all the hound hunters are very protective of the cats and bears around and dont want any other people running there bears and cats. therfor they will not take me with them to train my pup. to me thats a challenge and want to train my hound to be a great cat dog and thats what im set out to do. again thank you all for your help.

corey robinson

Spanky · Post by **Spanky** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:19 pm

sent you a pm Corey....... :wink:

jst · Post by **jst** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:54 am

I have kinda run into the same thing since moving back to Oklahoma. There is one older fellow here that is supposed to be the man to talk to about running cats. I have talked to him and he is not very helpful. and Said he would be glad to take me hunting with him as soon as I had a place for us to go. And that he didn't walk so "keep that in mind". He went to school with my dad. So I asked dad if he had a disablility. He said not that he was aware of. Kinda P!$$*& me off if you know what I mean. All I was wanting was some pointers. His advice was "get you a good shock collar and use it." I think I am pretty much done with him.

duke · Post by **duke** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:14 pm

you have a house cat use it toomake track it works for my dogs

Melanie Hampton · Post by **Melanie Hampton** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:20 pm

jst wrote:I have kinda run into the same thing since moving back to Oklahoma. There is one older fellow here that is supposed to be the man to talk to about running cats. I have talked to him and he is not very helpful. and Said he would be glad to take me hunting with him as soon as I had a place for us to go. And that he didn't walk so "keep that in mind". He went to school with my dad. So I asked dad if he had a disablility. He said not that he was aware of. Kinda P!$$*& me off if you know what I mean. All I was wanting was some pointers. His advice was "get you a good shock collar and use it." I think I am pretty much done with him.

I am not condoning what this guy did to you at all.. But lots of reasons people don't want to take new people out to their spots is because next thing you know, the new guy and all his buddy's are there. You get run out of your spot.. Not saying you would do this, but it happens.. I know from experience..

jst · Post by **jst** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:41 pm

I am not condoning what this guy did to you at all.. But lots of reasons people don't want to take new people out to their spots is because next thing you know, the new guy and all his buddy's are there. You get run out of your spot.. Not saying you would do this, but it happens.. I know from experience

..

And I have thought of this. However I have been around lots of other hounds guys and any time you mention having trouble they are more than willing to at least give advice. I would not have a problem with him telling me I will take you and run one of your pups with my dogs, but you not welcome to hunt by yourself. To me that would be perfectly acceptable. I think I will seek my counsel elsewhere though.[/quote]

DerekE · Post by **DerekE** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:47 am

jst, I sent you a pm
Derek

horshur · Post by **horshur** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:18 am

jst wrote:I have kinda run into the same thing since moving back to Oklahoma. There is one older fellow here that is supposed to be the man to talk to about running cats. I have talked to him and he is not very helpful. and Said he would be glad to take me hunting with him as soon as I had a place for us to go. And that he didn't walk so "keep that in mind". He went to school with my dad. So I asked dad if he had a disablility. He said not that he was aware of. Kinda P!$$*& me off if you know what I mean. All I was wanting was some pointers. His advice was "get you a good shock collar and use it." I think I am pretty much done with him.

Wait!!!!!!!! maybe maybe not.
I had sorta the same deal except I actually had rode range with the guy and even once put a note on his truck of where a Big Tom track was and it had resulted in a B@C cougar but when I asked for some help he was an ASS!!!! except I had a track and inspite him being a dink he was waiting on it the next morning....."Ain't much of a track" is what I got(sleeted some that night) Then he say's "Not sure if i should show you this or not"
The next couple hours I listened to 30 or more years of experience and watched him throwing boulders over a Rim and then his dog struck on a Tom we had put up...my dog got to see her first Tom after a 20 minute chase.....was a day I will never forget!!! Theres more to the story but it was a foot in the door so that now, somtimes ,my dogs and I can do the same thing on our own.
I wouldn't write him off if I was you.

slowly loosing hope

slowly loosing hope

I am a satisfied customer of Cannon Valley Kennels