Common Enemies...

[Unreal_tk]

So in your neck of the woods what are the things to avoid, this could be a animal or a plant or even people.

Around here there isn't much during the winter to watch out for but going up a steep hill on a sled or truck with a sheet of ice underneath, during the rest of the year we have rattlesnakes, poision ivy/oak/sumac, stinging neetles to avoid. Another thing is during a storm you might have big ol douglas firs fall across the road so better have a chain saw. Also when walking at night be real careful about a bluff coming out of no where... had it happen a couple times now and almost had a bad night lol.

I am curious to see what other areas of the country have to deal with, im sure many have alot worse to deal with.

[walkerdog]

Foxtails are my #1 concern for my dogs, they bloomed and have already started to dry out, they grow everywhere around here.

[South Texan]

Unreal_th,
Like you, we have the stinging neetles and rattlesnakes. Also have to watch to keep from running a mesquite thorn thru your boot into your foot while going to the dogs, I have done that. Have had javelinas to come to the dogs while treed or baying, they can do a number on a dog real quick. Some bad packs of javelinas will come to barking dogs. But....I think the thing that scares ME most is the bees. Five or six times thru the years I have had bees come to the dogs while treed or baying a cat. And it seems as though it is happening more frequent. Last year as the dogs were baying a cat in a pear bunch I walked up and saw the cat backed up in the pear. I was wondering why the dogs was giving him lots of air, then about that time the bees hit me, then I realized what was going on. Luckily I wasn't over 75 yards from the truck. I ran back and jumped inside the truck, rolled the windows up and went to killing bees. I could here the dogs under the truck, bumping the truck and rolling on the ground, the bees was after them too. I finally raced the motor of the truck and took off for a quarter of a mile with the dogs running behind me, then stopped and loaded the dogs and got out of there. That cat is still there to run again. I didn't have that many bees sting me, but I come in an inch of blacking out. Seems now I am having a reaction to the bee stings, they used to not bother me.

Two mornings ago as I was road hunting, I saw one of my gyps coming to the truck with her tail tucked and scared. I knew something was wrong. As she went by my window going to the front of the truck I saw about 5 or 6 bees on her, then I realized what was wrong.

These are some of the things here in south Texas we have too look out for while hunting. Robbie

[Unreal_tk]

Never thought about bees, never had a issue with them yet. Javelinas sound just about like a pack a wolves in Idaho or other states here in the north. Foxtails I believe is the same thing as we call cheat grass, its nasty stuff for sure! Keep em coming fellas. Im interested what the guys from florida and etc have to deal with as well. I remember jc talking about something calls devils something in another post, in the area I live we don't have any of it so im interested to hear what it is.

[Dads dogboy]

Well, in AR we have the occasional Rattlesnake, Prickly Ash (Devils walking Stick which seem to grow right where you need to grab coming up out of a Creek), Red Wasp nests (they will only bother you when you blunder into one, do not believe people when they say a Wasp will not bite at night), Acres of nearly impenetrable Briars, and lots of Coyotes to tempt young Hounds.

In Florida the same but add those big Lizards and impenetrable Palmetto Flats (much like the Pear in South Texas). Surprisingly Cotton Mouths are not a big problem. They may make a Hound sick but seldom kill one unless the hound is bit in the head or neck and their Collar is not removed.

Mr. Robbie those Javelina's can be as bad as Wolves. Dad tells of Billy Swan having a Pack of Hounds decimated while treeing a Cat in South Texas.

[LarryBeggs]

For me #1 would be people. Most are great some are not.# 2 would be holes .I had a dog in one for four days I got him out alright.I was hunting with someone who lost a young dog and he couldnt get a clear direction on a signal . After a couple of days of walking and looking finaly found her in a caved in hole on a creek bank it was to late. I know of other storys from people on the coast. We put a cat under a large boulder years ago before tracking collars.Got in there to find the dogs had pushed dirt in on top of our best dog from the entrance on the uphill side of the rock .Were able to dig a small hole on the bottom side and get her out. If we hadnt been there she wouldnt have made it.# 3 would be blocked off roads and gates. I am getting to fat to walk that far in behind some of these places to get my dogs.#4 would be bees.Hunting in the winter is not a problem.Years ago when we could bear hunt dad had a guy with him that was allergic.Buy the time they got to the truck and drove twenty miles to the hospital he was unrecognizable.He made it but barely.Pluss I bow hunt for elk and those things have chased me all over the place.They were so bad one year that my twelve year old son would get sick to his stomache he was so worried about the bees. Lots of other things to poke and sting you that arent fun either but these are my worst 4. Larry

[Gary Roberson]

I have the snakes here but no javelina like South Texas. I do have a heck of a problem with sheep fences. I hate them a they break up about half of the tracks I start. They are usually 48" net and a barb over that, a real problem for dogs as they can hang themselves just like a deer.
Adios,
Gary

[CRA]

The worst thing around my area is "goat heads". Its a sticker plant that is low growing and can penetrate into the toughest footed hounds Ive ever seen. I absolutely hate them. They get buried into their pads and cause them to sometimes just stop and not move at all. The dogs I raised and are used to them would get one in their foot and stop and use their teeth to get them out of their pad on their own.

I would say the next common thing is very few water holes with very few shade trees. I have to always haul a lot of water for the dogs. Then there is some tarantula spiders, stinging scorpions, bees, and a few rattlesnakes. I dont worry too much about them around here.

The most dangerous thing in my area is the fox tail weeds as mentioned above. Those little weeds have caused me a lot of money in vet bills. I had one female that had to have 3 surgeries to finally get one fox tail removed from her rib cage. I also seen a friend of mine that had a very nice young cat dog, that was proving to be a complete package kind of cat dog get a fox tail in her lung and die a miserable death with nothing he could do to save her.

Another thing that I almost forgot about is Wild Burros. Those can be some aggressive dog chasing SOB's. One night I was out roading and I had one chase my dogs down and try and stomp them to death. My dogs did nothing to provoke the Burro to cause it to get aggressive. I was just roading my dogs one night for exercise and the next thing I knew I heard some god awful loud noises and dust flying everywhere. My dogs all ran from the Burro. I stopped the truck and started yelling at the Burro to get it to leave. After things settled down I couldn't find any of my dogs. I thought the Burro stomped my dogs to death.I thought they were injured out in the desert somewhere. I got out to look around with a flashlight and found one of my dogs one top of the cab of my truck, another jumped on top of the dog box with the tailgate still up. The other was laying down flat on its stomach under the truck scared to death. It was a wild surprise that woke me up from a boring exercise trip.

[Dale T]

I've know several guys that have lost hounds from the fox tails, and with the wild burros you don't go into there country without a gun they will come after you as fast as the dogs.

[Unreal_tk]

Great information everyone, keep it coming! Still nothing from the coastal guys or any idaho/montana fellars.

[pegleg]

I had to laugh at the Bees. Its exactly what scares me the most also everything else you can pretty much figure a way around or fight off. The story Robbie told happened to me verbatim except I had a small ridge with a fence atop it between me and the truck. I had a few seconds to think about it and knew I could probably clear it but that with enough momentum I could damn sure go under it. Home base slide at a dead run and off I went. At the time I was hauling a dogbox on a small trailer and I didn't hesitate just hightailed it out off there. Now our hounds may make us think they're dumb regularly but let me tell you not one of them got left behind. Some where making flighing leaps of the bank onto a accelerating trailer. Like fighter jets landing on a carrier. The javelina can indeed come cause hell. I have thinned their numbers a time or two over the issue but of course that's many years ago. The only other regional issue is the plants like spanish dagger ,various cacti and the ocotillo. The ocotillo grow in clumps ten ft high or so and have no branches just thorns ever half in in rows like a corn cob all away around them. Occasionally you'll get in a hurry and catch one between your thigh and your saddle and it rip along the inside of your leg from top to bottom. Most varieties of chaps don't offer enough protection in the right spot to ward the off effectively. Then I guess I should mention the illegal traffic from mexico. The improved fence and surveillance along portions of it has caused most to move into the formally secluded areas I hunt and to be more determined and aggressive in getting across and a higher number seem to be armed at least the professionals.

[J.T.]

AZ is dangerous, evrything has spikes/stingers/teeth and poison, snakes,cactus,spanish daggers,mesquite,cat claw,bull head thorns, jumping cactus, bees, wasps, wild burros, javalina, and not to mention the appearing out of nowhere mineshaft that anything could fall into especially the dark. Nevada on the other hand is pretty mellow besides the pist off mule deer or elk that will go after a dog or at any given time the temp will fluctuate + or - 50 deg in a few hours, t shirts to blizzard in minutes

[twist]

Not alot around here that is to bothersom during our season except the cold weather and try to avoid the real rocky areas as cats are hard to put up in these areas. The mountain areas as they seem to harbor the wolves, so I hunt the lower country, all private land. Andy

[TRW]

I would say rock bluffs and running collars to loose and people just driving fast in the woods would be my worst fear while hunting. But a young dog and a porky pine make for a shity hunt as well.

[Alabama Cathunter]

Well I guess living in Alabama I have lots to be thankful for. Some times I wish I lived in an area that had bigger blocks of timber land to hunt but the biggest threat we have down here are webwire fences that were put up 60-70 years ago for the hogs. Dogs get hung climbing those fences alot. then the automobiles claim lots of dogs. cars are probably our worst threat. Then like cjc we have those big lizarards that get a few but not bad. Well guys good hunting!