Catching your hounds.

[Mike Leonard]

A lot of good information has been shared here. One of my pet peeves is hounds that won't handle. I start all my early on with a whistle and it saves all that yelling. This might come from my bird dog roots, but I have been using a whistle on my hounds for over 30 years with good results. I also will reinforce it with the e-collar if needed to get proper attention. We handle our hounds daily and the bulk of my hunting is done free cast hound and me on horseback and they learn to handle pretty good that way.
Awhile back a freind and I were hunting and we struck the old tracks of a male lion and the dogs struggled but could move it , so we just rode along and watched them pound on it. This went on for a couple of hours and we started to lose hope that we would be able to warm it up but we had made a couple of miles. Well we rode up on this ridge and the dogs were right there in front of us working when all of a sudden one of my old female just threw here head up and let a beller out of her and all the pack came to here and the just left there running jumped. Well they didn't go 400 yards and they put this tom up a big pinion tree. Well when I rode up to that tree I told Larry that is not the lion we started on this lion is smaller he didn't make that big track. Evidently we had rode up on this smaller tom where he had come in from another angle and layed up there right below that little rim and just busted him. Well we let them tree for a good bit and took a few photos and a little movie clip and we wedre just about ready to gather the dogs and leave when I looked up on the hill and I saw a man and a couple of hounds walking my way. Well in a bit he walked up and I recognized as a friend I had hunted with years before. We said our greeting and he told me that they had been on this lions track where he came to lay up and their dogs could just barely move it, and they had been walking helping them a lot.Pretty soon another guy with him walked up with a few more hounds and I knew him as well.I guess qwe had just crossed the line of the track of the lion they had been trying to trail and popped it up. Well anyway none of us were interested in killing this tom even though he was a decent 130 pound type cat. They had a couple of pups with them that had never seen a lion and they asked if they could jump it out for the pups. I told them I sure didn't care it had been up there a long time and was well rested so I wasn't too worried about them catching it on the ground. Well my dogs were still setting there treeing so one of them climbed up there and poked him out and away they went. Well he didn't make it 200 yards and was up another smaller tree. Well the pups did run a little a barked treed a little. My partner and I never even went to the second tree we just got on our horses and rode down the little ridge and pulled up and watched them there at the tree from our saddles. Well they fuzzed the dogs up at the tree a bit, and they had them wound up pretty good. Well we had enough and so I hollered down to them that we were going to pull out and head back the other way. They said thanks and offered to catch my 6 dogs and lead them up to me. I said just hold your dogs and we will be ok. So they caught there 4 and when they did, I blew my whistle a few times until they quit barking and cocked their ears to me and listened and then I said. Ok Dogs let's Go! And blew it a couple of more times and we turned our horse and left out.In just a minute or so all my dogs and one of theirs that had slipped his collar were right there with out horse follow us out. Well when we got back we ran into these guys coming out and gave them a ride back to their truck. They said I never seen anybody that could call his dogs off a tree like that and have them all just quit and come on. We suually have to drag them all ther way back or they will slip back to the tree. I told them well these dogs have been hunted together a long time, and they get a lot of miles and this sort of thing just comes with a lot of practice and being out there with them. They all screw up to start with by animals learn thru repitition, and also those dogs knew I wasn't going to kill that lion or I would have back at the first tree.
So it's just a lot of handling and repetition and they sure don't learn a heck of a lot in a kennel or a dog box.

[Buddyw]

Mike, At first I thought it was just because I was lazy and didn't like trying to Lead (drag)3-4 dogs at a time away from a tree. One goes over the log, one under, and the Third around a tree.... Sure makes a Mess with those Leads..

Now over time, I've really come to enjoy having dogs that I can Say Hey.. come on let's go.. Leave it.. And walk out of the woods with all my dogs. Sometimes I even forget to bring them just because I don't hardly use them any more.Although I always like to have one or two with me..

I hunt with a Fellow that doesn't Tie up his dogs on the Box, leaves the tailgate down, Dogs can check tracks as they need or strike. Many times they can't move it off the road and they'll just load back up on the box as if nope.. Let's go!

I've learned there is some benifit to having a Good Handle. Dog and you all kinda work more as a team.