large pack Vs small

[coastrangecathunting]

i have been wanting to wright this for awhile guess i have the time now. we have talked about running cats with big packs and small packs . i have done both and they both work. i have came to the conclusion that i like the 6 to 8 dog pack because i like simi silent dogs . i have one that barks off track a little but the rest dont bark unless they have the cat. so if there is a lose there is complete silence untill one picks it up then the rest shoot to that dog and they all give some music skipping eachother . its what i like to here when running a cat . with a small pack say 2 or 3 it sounds good also but if u lose a dog then your down to 1 or 2 . with a bigger pack i can afford to sell one if im broke .
with that being said i think a better cat dog is made out of a smaller pack . or by thereself. it forces them to do all parts of the job at hand . rigging , starting , coldtrailing , jumping , picking up loses , puting enough pressure to tree , locating and treeing .
with a bigger pack you just dogs to do different parts of these things. i have 1 little female that dont rig or tree but on the jump she is hell on wheels. at the tree she just sit at the base of the tree . most people would have culled her , i was very close untill i put a garmin collar on her.
so that is my thoughts on making a catdog , it will make a better catdog by itself rather than in a large pack . it cant rely on others to pick up the slack. what say you?
if a guy could afford it i would take 1 dog at a time and put them on 3 or 4 cats by thereself then bring them back together as a team and i know it would make them better. but i cant stand to leave them home.
jc

[Tim Pittman]

I say,I think,what you said!!!!!

[Tim Cook]

I agree. Good post.

[Big Mike]

I agree completely with what you said.

I feel that you will catch more cats in the long run with the bigger packs. Because of the fact you can have dogs that specailize. When you get 8-10 broke real cat dogs in one pack it is a sight to see and hell for the cat population
.

[George Streepy]

I think that there are very few guys who have ever had 8 to 10 real cat dogs in one pack. If any of you happen to be one of the guys with that many good broke hounds then congrats. I have been around many people that had and hunted that many at one time but very few that had all the dogs contributing.

Quite often I hunted 6+ dogs at a time but most of the work was being done by 2 or 3 of the dogs. I feel if you can take 3 dogs that are actually able to catch cats and hunt them without the distractions of other dogs, that would be the most efficient. The problem is if you don't bring on younger dogs those 3 will get old on you very quick. This I know because it sure happened to me. Before I knew it I had one dog in the grave and two that seemed to turn grey on me over night.

I really try to emphasise lower numbers on newer hunters simply because when it comes to dogs it is quality not quantity.

One thing I always found amazing is the how the dogs that spent most of their time in the shadows step up to center stage when you take a main dog out of the pack. So I agree that some dogs will shows their best when there are less to coast behind.

Just my thoughts,
George

[South Texan]

Your thoughts are my thoughts George. I agree completely.

[Alabama Cathunter]

I have only been cathunting with walker foxhounds about 8 years and agree with what you have said mostly. Where I hunt it is so thick where the cat usually runs only 3 or 4 dogs can actually be running the cat at the time. these briar patches are so thick it is just about a single file dog race. When I was running half walker half beagle the race was actually better because the dogs was smaller and could get under the briars better and you could have a better roar of the pack. I caught several cats and that is what got me cat hunting. This worked out real good until you got after a cat that wanted to run the roads or got in some deep water the half breeds did not know how to pull up on the cat but when he was ducking and dodging they would put extreme pressure on him and with 10 or 12 dogs after him it was a outstanding race I have found that my walkers in a pond or wet weather place I get too hear more dogs doing the work. I also think it dont take but one real cat dog to make a whole pack look good.

[coastrangecathunting]

if you only have 1 catdog and a bunch of followers the followers are going to keep messing up the track, if u only have 1 dog that can catch a cat i wouldnt put more than 2 others with that dog. maybe the rule should be for every dog that does the job u can add 1 that isnt yet . 5 finished dogs with 5 up and comers . i know there are only a hand full of people in the world that have 5 finished catdogs but im just giving an example. but we are getting off topic. i am saying a finished cat dog will take longer to finish out in a big pack than if you hunt it by its self or with just a couple dogs.

with the price of fuel i cant afford to break my pack up and hunt them like im talking about. i know it would improve them . like you said goerge take out the lead dog and someone will step up. right know i think i could walk out to my kennel and take any 2 dogs and go catch a cat , not every cat but catch some cats. there are a couple that need to do it by thereself to get there independence . the 2 that need this are picking up loses and starting cats off the road but i want to see what they would do by thereself.

[George Streepy]

JC,

I had three dogs I was hunting last season (plus a couple pups). One dog was pretty well finished out and the other two were well started but still needed some work. I sold the dog that was pretty well finished and hunted the two younger dogs. There was a bit of transition time but eventually they stepped up and filled the shoes left empty by the finished dog. Within a couple weeks they were catching cats again.

I would get on board with a larger pack size being better. But only if the dogs are actually barking on track and not creating chaos. I think a guy would have to be fairly picky with the dogs they hunt. I have had several dogs that were a little bit babble mouthed but would do a great job catching cats. If a guy had to many dogs like that they wouldn't gain a whole lot. So five dogs with tight mouths or two that have a tendency to babble.

I think leaving dogs at home would have to be done regularly to keep the dogs on their toes. Or for a couple weeks at a time to really see what you have out of those up and comers that need some independence.

George

[Warner5]

Good topic J.C. , I agree with the rest of you on this one. What george said sticks in my mind. I would trade every half assed dog I have for one true cat dog. The type of dog a guy can build a pack around. I have some good dogs but good isnt good enough. , I pushed so hard this winter trying to produce a pack like the one J.C. has. Hunting,observing,thinking,hunting,hunting,hunting, 6-8 dogs at once is a handful on bobcat, I ran into problems I had never seen before. We were still catching our fair share of game but I didnt see the progression in my young dogs I thought I should,when on a track I found myself hoping it was a good track instead of knowing(I cant hunt that way) so I cut my pack in half and things got better way better. A hunter needs to set realistic goals. Running a large productive pack of hounds is difficult, but i'm willing to bet that hunters that run a large pack of cat dogs,probably started off with a small one. I like running and catching cats, I like hound dogs, I like and respect people that run dogs. I try to respect and understand their hunting style's. I think all the different styles of hunting is part of what we all love about cat hunting. Maybe a hunter with a large pack will catch more cats in a season , and maybe a hunter with a small pack has more elite dogs. I truly think the hunter behind his dogs has more to do with it than the number of dogs hunted. There is one thing none of you can argue with. If my math is right 4 cat dogs eat about half as much dog food as 8 cat dogs do. When money becomes an issue people learn to do more with less. The hunters I looked up to growing up(and I still do) made it very clear less dogs on bobcat.(quality over quantity), I think tough times forced them to do more with less, they figured it out and then passed it onto us. When I started writing this post I was just going to go with the flow and keep my real opinion to myself, but I cant. Where I live and hunt 4 dogs will do everything 10 dogs will do. Granted they will need to be 4 very special dogs,and its possible I will never see another like them in my lifetime but I need to try. If you dont believe me ask J.C. he was there 2 of those dogs were his. The sad thing 15 years later, still to this day every dog I work with is compared to those dogs and rightfully so. Thankyou. respectfully John.

[2olddogs]

thats a big 10.4 one good dog and a few tail chasers will screw thangs up in no time.Ilike to 6-8 dogs at time not all the dogs i hunt are that dream dog we all want but we get it done in the best of worst.