sight hounds

[easttntrapper]

Been thinking of trying a sighthound for some out of season fun (when bear and bobcat isn't in). I was wanting more of a one dog varmit hunter. Rabbits fox and coyote. I want something that may trail real hot tracks to get game going and gritty enough to handle caught game. I know it won't trail like a hound but if it goes by a thicket with game in it and smells it I want it to go in and get it. Lots of var its where I live so shouldnt need any major tracking skills. Is there a stock of sighthounds that meet these requirements?

[Diana]

What you want is a staghound. Most sight hounds will stop when they become unsighted. There are some with decent noses that will trail though, they're just not as common.

[Idcurs]

You need a wolf-yote dog out of Ne. those boys hunt yotes in the breaks and it is brushy.Most of their dogs will wind a hot yote track when they loose sight.And they are gritty and fast.I have yote hunted with some of this stock in N.Mex and they are very good.

[david]

send a message to Dan Mcdonough on here. When he describes a lurcher, it sounds an awful lot like your description of what you want. that is the offspring of a greyhound or stag of some kind crossed on usually a collie or terrier of some kind. Check out the book "Rogues and Running Dogs" by Plummer. These were the dogs of the European poachers who made a living off what they could catch and sell. No guns or weapons involved, the dogs did it all, including bringing the game to hand if they could carry it. Complete silence was a virtue for these dogs though, so I dont know if that is what you want. They will trail.

[easttntrapper]

Thanks for the replies. I have been looking for info on staghounds from hunting stock but haven't found much. I was also looking at lurchers but was worried about a loss of speed.

[stevemac]

lurchers are well fast enough for fox a collie grey or bull grey will pick up a fox no worries and have the nose to find one in cover as well. I would like to give some of your cur types over a stag or greyhound ago good hunt and plenty of speed

[Idcurs]

Talk to David Hise in N.Mex he has some buddies in Neb that have wolf Stags that have some running dog back in their bloodline and they will wind game when the loose it in the brush.They are fast and tough,most can handle or kill a yote alone.I would get a pup from that line,don't get a started or older dog.most yote guys don't give wolf dogs a name much less handle them,just load them and drop out of the box on a yote!!!!!

[Cowboyvon]

Yeah David Hise can point you in the right direction... I think for what you are wanting to do a border/Lurcher would be best.. I think in areas with more brush and obstacles a smaller more compact dog would work better.. I had a 1/2 hotblood 1/4 stag that would run rabbits on the wind and a few of my stags would too on coyotes... not fast enough to catch one but if you were in an area where they could break them out into the open you could catch one... sometimes... there are dogs can single hand a coyote but day in and day out its better to have a pair or three... coyotes are tough and sneaky and it is hard on one dog..





This app dog could single hand a coyote.. never seemed to get tired of it.. he ran for the fight

[easttntrapper]

Thanks for the leads. I am now leaning more towards a fast lurcher. Info is hard to find but I am thinking this will be more of what I am looking for.
I really like the pics good looking dogs.

[coney catcher]

I have been running lurchers for over 30 years in england and there isnt much that i have not caught with them, with the right breeding and proper entering they would be perfect dog for what you want, over the years i have taken a lot of foxes with them,. Lurchers have tons of stamina, plenty of brains,good nose and speed a plenty, they also need to have good feet to take the knocks and strains.
I work as a full time pest controller so my dogs get a lot of work on the rabbits , sometimes having to run over 50 times a night.
I have been over to Canada {southern ontario} a few times and there is a lad over there has some fantastic lurchers that he takes coyote regularly with them.
I
hope this has been usefull to you.

Brian

[Dan McDonough]

I live up in the woods and there is not as much open farm ground around here as there is even 20 miles South of my location. I have several Stags, lurchers (Stag/Border Collie) and a couple of whippets. Any one of my dogs has the speed to catch a coyote. The whippets are to small for anything over fox but the others are plenty big for the job. I've fished through a few Stags and the ones I've kept run track and wind very well on warmer tracks. I have a Stag male named Duce that will do all of the above and he trees also. I have every intention of breeding Duce to my lurcher female, Vicki. If that sounds like something you'd like give me a call, I usually keep two pups out of a litter and sell the rest. There won't be any varmint they can't catch in North America and they should have tons of brains.

When these dogs were young they were run on just about everything that moved. They can catch all of it! I've seen them snatch birds out of the air fairly regularly. I've watched them think ahead ( a big feat for a human in chase) and make catches that were not possible in a straight pursuit. The amount of gaminess and go in these dogs would make any breeder of any kind of game dog drool. They are a lot of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dan McDonough
507-261-9121

[Idcurs]

If you look at the country in Cowboy's pics it is big wide open country.The country in Tn is a lot thicker for the most part.What may work there will never work out here,there are no lurchers or whippets that can catch a yote in the west,they just don't have that top speed.A lot of stags get out run by yotes out west,many have the grit and bite to kill a yote alone just not the speed.Many wolf hunters out west put some hot blood in their dogs to get that blazing speed.The problem is a lot of hot bloods are not near tough enough to handle a yote or a bobcat.I have hunted a lot of wolf dogs out west and seen dogs that were a one dog wrecking crew and have three or four that can't catch a yote much less kill it.Uphill Doc on here can tell you about half stags,3/4 stags and full wolf dogs,and the speed of all three.He hunts in wide open country in Id and catches a lot of yotes.

[Dan McDonough]

That's a lot of nevers and no's. People told me that I was crazy for wanting to try Stags in the North woods and one of my dogs came from someone who was getting rid of it because he thought he didn't live in an open enough area for the dog to work. It's one of my best dogs now and there are less open areas where I hunt.

I've been told a lot of things that have fallen to the wayside.

Easttntrapper, if you pick the right dogs, you'll do fine and have one heck of a good time doing it.

So much more is possible with the sighthounds than most folks think and I and a couple of friends of mine are proving it and we're just getting started.

[houndsnhorses]

I'm getting a stag/grey cross and plan to breed it to my super fast walker hound. Will be running them on lions, bears, and bobcats. Don't know what to expect but I can keep you posted.

[Cowboyvon]

I have a 1/2 Scottish Deerhound 1/4 catahoula and 1/4 american bulldog thats going with the lion hounds now.. interested in seeing what becomes of it... he is still pretty young