Cold Trailing

[david]

Can dogs have anything to do with cat population?

Sorry Mark, I totally missed your point. I should have known you were not changing the subject. Thanks for explaining it multiple times to give me a chance of getting it.

Excellent point.

[al baldwin]

The point i was getting at is i have heard so many times from people "the cat population is down" but there are other guys catching the shit out of em in the same areas. Are there dogs that find cats where other dogs cant? Are there hunters that can find cats where other hunters cant? From my limited experience i have found that not all dogs and hunters are created equal. If they were there wouldnt be anything left to run.

Mark those that don/t have a place to hunt except an area that gets hammered by others all week while they are working, then on the weekend it storms can have difficulty finding a cat track. Some run fox because they enjoy the races, the challenge, told by others who have experienced it, one can have race after race all night long. Not all short races, some can last all night. So I suppose rather than drive hundreds of miles to run a 10 minute big tom race & since they just enjoy hearing the dog run it is a lot more fun than cat hunting. Sounds like fun to me anyway. There has to be cat in some of those large locked up private lands, trouble is not all have an in. Just my opinion. Al

[kordog]

The point i was getting at is i have heard so many times from people "the cat population is down" but there are other guys catching the shit out of em in the same areas. Are there dogs that find cats where other dogs cant? Are there hunters that can find cats where other hunters cant? From my limited experience i have found that not all dogs and hunters are created equal. If they were there wouldnt be anything left to run.

Mark those that don/t have a place to hunt except an area that gets hammered by others all week while they are working, then on the weekend it storms can have difficulty finding a cat track. Some run fox because they enjoy the races, the challenge, told by others who have experienced it, one can have race after race all night long. Not all short races, some can last all night. So I suppose rather than drive hundreds of miles to run a 10 minute big tom race & since they just enjoy hearing the dog run it is a lot more fun than cat hunting. Sounds like fun to me anyway. There has to be cat in some of those large locked up private lands, trouble is not all have an in. Just my opinion. Al[/quote my friends downeast maine started running coyote ,and bobcat with the same hounds so they could run everyday with multiple runs a day,because the cat population just isnt high enough to target just cat to keep the hounds running.their catch rate on cat when they find one became a very high percent,because the dogs are so hardened and tuned in.the dogs they were using actually caught cat alot quicker than coyotes alot of the time when i hunted with them.coyotes are underated by most houndsman in my opinion.our season on cat also limits a cathound on how much it is run ,you can only run cat during the kill season which is dec1-feb.14. no training season.i think only about 300 cats or so are harvested in maine a season.is it because we dont have good hounds or houndsman?if this is the case some of you guys should move here,and have an absolute field day.

[mark]

You guys are right,things are tough all over.
Anybody can grab any ol dog and go clean the woods out.

[david]

Some run fox because they enjoy the races, the challenge, told by others who have experienced it, one can have race after race all night long. Not all short races, some can last all night. Al

my friends downeast maine started running coyote ,and bobcat with the same hounds so they could run everyday with multiple runs a day,

I run yote and bobcat. If I want to strictly hunt to bag something I go after the overpopulated yote not cat...

You guys sure got me thinking hard. They do the same thing in South Africa and it is strictly business. They hunt the Jackal canine and the Caracal cat with the same hounds.

I decided to do it because I have to travel for cats. Then I decided not to. Then I decided to, then not to, then to, then not to.

You guys might be pushing me over the edge.

I don't know how they do it in Africa without snow to tell them what is going on though. I think I would have to have snow to get on a cat, and I don't like that limitation. But I gotta find a job for these dogs.

[merlo_105]

Mark, That was kinda contradicting. Can't catch what ain't there, Dogs can't catch what they can't start...You need to get up there and hunt with Rebel and Jimmy and see Duke and Sandy run. David, you getting Sonny out much? That dog cracked me up was like a Coke addict on Cat scent.

[mark]

Al and Kordog, you are both invited to come to my place next season for however long you want. It wont cost you a dime once you get here everything is on me! Bring your dogs and we will hunt every place i hunt. Bring a camera cuz we dont kill cats and you may want to take some pics of all the different styles of dog boxes you will see. Neither one of you will have to work and we can watch tv if it rains and just hunt the good days so none of those excuses will work and you will be hunting cats that have had the shit dogged out of em. When you leave and you can look me in the eyes and tell me how thick the cats are and how easy they are to catch i will give you each a grand.

[al baldwin]

Mark thanks for the invite. Believe you misunderstood my post, know you have very good cat dogs . My point was some others may have good dogs also, however if one only has weekend s to hunt & hunting areas that are hunted all week days by hunters who are harvesting cats, could be very slim pickings even with the best of cold trailing hounds. I know there is not a cat behind every bush here in Oregon. I have hunted for hours myself had a ten minute race and thought , really like to hunt , however could have got skunked. That is why when guys tell me about those fox hunts makes me wish had some close to home, in safe area. I actually wish I could take you up on the invite, however believe it or not that would not be possible for me. Mark hard for me to travel, I have to hunt when I feel up to it. I do not try to hunt two days in a row, stay close to home, would not want to be a guest & wind up having to spend a couple days in bed. Not the way I thought retirement was going to be, however thankful, could be a lot worse. Al

[david]

David, you getting Sonny out much? That dog cracked me up was like a Coke addict on Cat scent.

Yes getting him out a few times each week. You are right about him. His drug addiction was the reason I could buy him. He is not a good pack dog because he is way too independent. But it was like pulling good teeth to get his owner to let go. 15 dogs, but he was down on dogs. Lol he doesn't feel like going hunting unless he has 17.

I could write a small book about observations on Sonny and what he has taught me. Sometimes he is an absolute star, sometimes I wonder if we are headed for divorce court.

One thing for sure, if there has been a cat in the area you will know about it. I had a coon dog here for awhile and I thought there just were no coon here to speak of. Until I put Sonny on one. Once he figured that it was going to be OK for him to chase coon, the coon population here suddenly increased by at least ten times.

No cats right here though.

I think he is about to enter the wide world of coyote hunting. Kind of a shame. But I like him too much to send him home, and I am not going to make him sit in a pen till next bobcat vacation.

Thank you for asking.

[kordog]

mark also thanks for the invite,but i have no interest in traveling at all.it just seems there is no room on this site sometimes for someone to talk without being talked down to instead of talked with ,and i think others would agree it gets a little old.i like reading experiences ,and hearing about cat hunting in other places .this site makes it possible.there is some good reads ,and information when you can get by some of the attitude.lol.my point is that the top bobcat hunter in the state of maine who travels all over the state to find cats caught about 26 cats with most all cats caught on the ground for the 6 week season this year hunting everyday ,but sundays.if we had a bigger population of cats you can guarantee this guy would be the one catching big numbers as thats what he lives for.i know from guys who talk on here that 26 is nothing for some of numbers there getting in areas they are hunting.when guys are killing 300 a year down in texas it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out there is more cat there then in maine.it would be neat to see how you guys that rig bobcats regurly would do rigging them here in maine ,as noone i know does it.my guess would be you would ride for nothing alot here because of the population,but i could be wrong.

[merlo_105]

David, thanks for the update. Yeah he was for sure independent. He likes his dogs there is no doubt about that. But listening to that many on a jump or sitting down at a tree sure is some good music. Will be interesting to hear how he does on Coyote if you decide that's what your going to be doing with him. Thanks again

[mondomuttruner]

Geez Mark, don't get your panties in a bunch..

[twist]

Conditions are all a huge part in catching what ever game one chooses to run with hounds. Weather, available road system, calibur of dog and last but not least amount of game you choose to chase. Any one of these will affect ones luck but when you start adding them together it just keeps keeps getting worse. Andy

[houndogger]

If it's raining for the World Series I'll be down! How big is your tv?

[mark]

No panties here Mondo,COMMANDO LOL
To bad Al and Kordog im sure we would have a blast! Was not my intent to "talk down" to anyone and didnt think i was. I started this thread stating that i feel my dogs are lacking in the cold trailing department. Never once talked them up or myself. Asked some blunt questions to see what other people thought and to get other people thinking (mainly guys just starting out) Sorry that i offended so many people. Good hunting and Good luck!