Bobcat stories from the Southeast

[Dads dogboy]

Folks,

Here are the stories that I have been slow to get out. Dad has been a little down since mid May and had to undergo some Surgery this week. There never is a good time to be operated on but with Scenting conditions and the Heat being so bad we have not been able to hunt anyway.

As I posted earlier the Florida trip yielded some good Races…we did not weigh as many as Dad wanted, but then a Dead Cat can not be run again. When the Hounds have put the Ole Shorttail up a Tree, in a Hole or Logpile, or in a Culvert they have done their jobs.

Two Races stood out above the others….for these two we had Front Row Seats for the Cat Hound “Opry”. The first took place in one of the southern Clubs in Florida.

We had been in the woods since 2:30 AM. We had rigged several Cat that the Hounds could not due anything with. Scenting conditions were terrible, the Hounds could not trail, yet the Rig dogs could strike the scent in the air. It was dry and there had been almost no dew. The Hounds had been able to trail one Cat for thirty minutes or so, then the Cat came out to a road and that was the End!

About 8:00 AM we had decided to check along one of the drainage canals as there was a little water in them that seemed to allow more moisture in the air. We hoped that if we struck that the Hounds could smell enough here to trail.

Corky barked from inside the box just before Choctaw barked on top. As I got out to release the Hounds to try to find the Cat, I noticed Rivers testing the air as if he were winding the Cat from the top of the Box. When released ole Choc, Corky, Cherokee and Rojo went behind the truck looking for the Cat. But Rivers and Chic went into the Plantation with their Heads up trying to catch the Cat’s scent in the air.

Corky barked behind the truck….but nothing else could bark (his nose is a little better and his Brain is a lot better than the other Hounds). These Hounds went forward of the truck but no better luck than behind…..suddenly Rivers and Chic began a simultaneous explosion of Barking in the Plantation just off the canal. They had found where the Old Tom had gone to sleep off his Rabbit breakfast.

Thus started an episode of the “Opry” that will be hard to beat for years to come. Get comfortable and I will try to tell it like it was!

When Rivers and Chic opened they were running and as soon as the other 9 Hounds arrived the decibels of sound increased dramatically. The ROAR had commenced.

There was a ditch running into the canals and along this ditch was as bad a Briar Patch as we have found in Florida. The Cat knew that this was where he was going to have to play this out as the cover and water were his only hope to elude the Hounds.

For the nest 50 minutes there was never hardly a lose. When there was, a Hound was there to pick it right up. Hawk, our year old pup out of Rita and Red Cloud was able to contribute like an old dog. China the little Mark S. bred bitch from VA showed that she sure liked the smell of Bobcats as much as the Grey Fox she had cut her teeth on.

Yet when the Cat pulled some of his Bobcat tricks it took the old pros to sort it out. Corky would swing out and as the Cat hit the canal he would bellow out his find. The Cat would squat in the bad Briars (see the videos) then double back on its track, where Chic would scream out her find or Cherokee would yodel hers. Rivers would tie to him and bellow out his screaming baritone pickup, then chop away till the cavalry arrived.

Cimarron (whose mouth is what Hound men dream of) screamed practically nonstop as she and her sister Rose made their share of finds and held tight pressure on the Cat. From the truck Dad was able to hear every bark as the Race was never any farther than 300 yards and mostly was l50 yards or less. He said that at times he could not pick out any one Hound as the ROAR was just too loud!

At the 30 minute point in the Race, Dad said that 10 more minutes and the Cat better get Jim Moore’s menu out and decide on “Fly, Climb or Die”. I just knew that he was going to climb; we had seen the Cat come close to the road several times and knew that it was a rather large Mature Cat that was probably a Tom. Well Dad was right about how much longer the Cat could stand the pressure. There was a brief hush in the ROAR then Rivers and Chic started baying.

Big Tom bayed in Southern Club 1st time.
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I walked then crawled into the thicket and found just why the Race had lasted this long. I am not sure that the Videos do justice to how bad and thick it was. In places I was crawling to get through to where the Hounds had the Cat hemmed up. All the Hounds had surrounded the Cat but just could not get to him to end it. I poked him with my stick and we had another 10 minutes of great Hound music.

Then they surrounded him again, and more crawling to get to them. Now this was in May, Alligators are out in force in May, I was crawling through the only water in the area and just knew that I was going to meet ole Ali eye to eye any minute…but alas it was not to be.

2nd bayup
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I made it to the Hounds was able to get some more video and poked him for another 10 minutes of the “Opry”. This was starting to sound like something Uncle Ted Nugent Orchestrated as every Hound barked twice when its foot hit the ground. This time when I made it to the bayup I was able to stand and as the Hounds were getting Hot, I whacked the Cat and the Hounds were able to stretch him out. He was old with not many teeth left.

Last bayup, graphic action, viewer discretion advised
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Dad was tickled that we picked this one up as, while he likes to leave them to run again, he darn sure is a little Blood thirsty.

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We had great Hound work in trying conditions and were able to hear every Bark!

We hunted several more times over the next few days and had several Races. The Cats either went Down into Gopher holes, into Piles or up Trees. Twice Hounds started to tree but were not able to locate solid thus saving me some hikes into very unpleasant places.

The next installment I will tell about how these “Running” Walkers are becoming TREE Dogs.

[tmalone]

love to hear your stories , just like being there except no alligators or mosquito's or snakes ,hounds are looking good
tom

[Big N' Blue]

Thanks CJ, Just like being there!