I am glad

[Mike Leonard]

Yes I am glad that this topic was brome out from the general cat hunting or lion hunting topics.

I have to say although I am somewhat expereinced when it comes to western type track to track bobcat dogs I am green as a gourd learning about cat races in other areas of the country. That being said let me say I am very interested and am a sucker any time a hound barks on a game track.

Most of my hunting time these days is spent behind hounds trying to sift and sort a lion track out of this four corners sand and clay but let me tell you I am not about any one thing when it comes to the hounds and you hard running bobcat hunters make my blood boil.

I am sure sorry old Big N Blue and me went to the dogs so early in life because we talk about silly things these days : like if a guy paid us ten bucks every time one of our hound barked how rich would we be. I am serious> I said Well that one that went off before daylight today could have made me a rich man but now I have a bruised toe and that is all. Funny stuff, but that is the way it is in the dog patch. You bobcat hunters out there roading them old hounds 50 plus miles a night have all my admiration. There was a day my only sleep was a cat nap between 6-9 in the evening and then I was off to run hard until a shower and head to work. Nowdays if the 10 PM news find me still up watching it makes news. LOL!

[Dads dogboy]

Mr. Mike,

Rumor has it that you might be listening to some of this Southern "Cat Hound Oprey" sooner than you might think!!!!!

Good Running to All

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

[Mike Leonard]

I can't wait to hear the music!

[Dads dogboy]

Mr. Mike,

We have been on the road continually for the past 10 Days!

When I have had computer service I have not had time to post, When I had time No Service!

Hope you have had a chance to listen to some "Hound Oprey" the Dixie Land way!

We have now landed in FL., but have not found when the Cats are moving! It is the Summer doldrums for bobcat Hunters. The sows have kittens and are not stirring. The Toms are finding plenty of food(baby rabbits, fawns, and turkey nests) with out having to feed far!

Mr. Jim in S. LA, Hootie in Western OK, Harold Parker in MS, and now us in FL just are not finding where and when the Bobcats are stirring!

BigNBlue, I will be in town tomorrow having Truck work done and will be able to post and call everyone!

Good Running to All!

C. John Clay

[Mike Leonard]

Good luck C. John!

Yes I have been enjoying the music, and am starting to pick out a few of the dogs I think I got Choctaw and Cherokee nailed but Rip I am not sure unless he has that big chop.

Tell me when them dogs have run hard on one for and hour are over and kept him up moving hard and no sulls or big losses and then they get him bayed if it is just and average cat does he fight pretty hard or give it pretty quick? Also when they been run that long or longer and they kill them do the stiffen up pretty quick?

I have seen some in our country if the dogs can really keep them moving hard a lot of the time where they don't get time to air up real good again they really stiffen out quick. Been told it is the lactic acid in those tight muscles on them but I don't know.

Lot of folks don't realize the damage a bobcat does not only to small game but they kill losts of fawns and they are super bad on poultry if they ever get started.

We had one that was working on the chickens and ducks at a place my son was on some years back. They would trap and get coons and blame them but he found some of them bigger turkeys and geese buried called me and I said you got a bad cat. He let the coons do the dirty work for him and he just cleaned up on the gravy. I brought in 7 hounds and we started him right from a brooder house, and they didn't go 250 yards and had up. I think he was so dog gone full he didn't want to run. LOL!

[wyatte]

I didn't know that Bobcats were big and bold enough to even try to pray on deer until a few years back when I came around on a road and there in the middle of it a bobcat had just killed a fawn, still had it by the neck, it ran off, and I dropped the dogs and had him in a few minutes, the bobcat was only about 18-20 lbs and the fawn was 30-40lbs.

[pete richardson]

wyatte -i know for a fact that some bobcat will kill adult deer in the winter here -have followed a lot of tracks in the snow- --trying to walk a cat up and found where they killed a few in fresh snow-
--
quite often ,, the bigger ones seem to be just hunting deer- they do make alot of unsuccesful trys at them -

[Mike Leonard]

Pete,

Here in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado it is very common to find bobcat killed deer. I had a beautiful example several years ago in a fresh skiff of snow. This bobcat slipped up on a bedded mule deer buck who was a two year old or coming two. He had two points on each side and was fat and in good shape and probably weighed 140# on the hoof becasue we have big bodied deer here and it is not uncommon to kill a mature mule deer buck that will go over 300# live weight.

Anyway he slipped up on the big jumped him in his bed under a shaggy cedar tree and the buck never made it to his feet. Once he had him killed he drug him, YES DRUG HIM, across a little trail and cached him under another tree about 30 feet from where he killed him. there he fed and did a very neat job of covering him. In the new snow it was like a story as it read out. He then proceeded to take a nap nearby. His nap was interupted by the bawling of Little Blue and Kate and in a few minutes he was stretched out on a limb looking down at a funny looking guy with a black hat who was petting the dogs. A few minutes later a couple of other guys show up and pretty soon the Colt Woodman comes out and the next thing you know his troubles are over. Beautiful tom cat 35 pounds and he know is full mounted saved for posteriety in a home in Michagan.



Yes they kill deer, and some spend most of their time hunting. they make one kill they don't have to go hunting again for a good while.

[Dads dogboy]

Mr. Mike,

Rip has the sharp crisp bell like Chop. His Litter mate Rita (our Main Hound) has the smaller yodeling chop!

We have found when a Bobcat has been run hard an ole sow Cat will duck and dodge to the bitter end. In some cases she expires without a Hound touching her. An Ole Tom will run and duck and pull his tricks but when Hounds pressure him hard and if he has cover or h20 he will stop and try to fight it out. If we can, we try to blow the Hounds off and leave him to run again. Sometimes this is not possible for several reasons, then I have to go in with my stick.

Also we have treed Bobcats after long races and have had them fall out of the tree they had become so stiff! So what you were saying about them is probably true!

In years past Dad has tried to rope Bobcats that were bayed, like you all do lions, it never worked. They expired very quickly. He attributed this to their being such high strung and nervous animals.

Enjoyed the exchange that Mr. Dan started and like Mr. David was drawn into the fray!

So long for now!

C. John Clay

[Mike Leonard]

Trust me C. John more lions expire from roping than has ever been told in print. It is a bad practice if you wish to keep them alive. Men who both roped and tied a lot of lions developed methods that helped by the use of a cable with cable clamps so it could not cut the wind off but in reality the shock affect is usually what does it if the have been run hard. Cats are very unlike canines when to comes to handling and stress.


I always wondered why they wanted to rope and tie so many lions and take them back to put them in a cage. Surely the zoos could not use that many. Reckon?

[Dan Edwards]

In years past Dad has tried to rope Bobcats that were bayed, like you all do lions, it never worked. They expired very quickly. He attributed this to their being such high strung and nervous animals.


I have noticed this with coyotes also. I have caught many of them alive and alot of times, they just die somehow. I think just like your daddy does, I think their nervous nature makes their heart stop or blow up or something. The rigger sure does set in fast on one though that has been pushed. They are stiff almost immediately.

[Mike Leonard]

On coyotes it has to be the stress becasue they are long winded rascals and I learned that first hand in an unpleasant manner.

When I was just a kid our neighbor down the road was one of the best trappers in the country he could really gather the fur. He took wonderful care of the fur and prided himself in no bullet holes or tears. He would use a mallet sometimes byt he didn't even like bruises so he used a choke cable set up. A cat was done in no time I mean they ran out of wind and it was over, a fox not much longer but some of those coyotes would last forever before their eyes glazed. Well He had on laying there that he had put the choke on and was handling another task and I was standing there watching him and the dead coyopte right behind me. All of a sudden i felt somthing grab my leg and that old dog had come back to life and he had me. Boy if you ever wanted to see a stomping storm of a war dance you should have been there. Vernie finally knocked him off me and fixed him with his oak 2x2 but my wranglers and my leg didn't look too good. Boy my Mother chewed on him later but he still had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard watching me dancing around with that coyote. LOL!

[Dan Edwards]

Thats why the truely single handed coyote dogs are almost non existent. Them bastards just wont die. They just cannot be choked out hardly. You put one on the throat chokin though and the other poppin the rib cage and he wont be long for the world or I will just walk out there and stand on its chest. Its over in less than 10 seconds usually then.