get to the head

[Budd Denny]

Welcome aboard Norwester, glad to have your knowledge on the board. I think that bobcat and hare hunting are closer related than most think, must be the reason I'm starting to go over board with the hare hounds (both are aggravating as hell at times)

[Big N' Blue]

I must agree with Mr. Denny and Briarpatch that your post was excellent Norwester and I want to thank Mr. Edwards for starting one of the best threads in a while.
David and Dads Dogboy keep sharing your knowledge.

[david]

good luck in your search sir. Al Luttrell

I gotta admit, this thread is freaking me out just a little. It is like some bobcat hunters rendezvous in the sky or something. Man I walk up to the campfire, and I cant beleive the company I am in all of a sudden. You know, I never thought I would have complimentary things to say of the internet and computers, but wow, this truely is a great time to be alive. There really are other people out there that can understand someones complete focus on bobcats. It is hard for me to feel normal in this world on most street corners, but here, I dont feel so strange. It is a nice feeling. It is probably not that I am normal now, it is that you all are freaks like me. Same difference.

Edwards says he has no bobcats to hunt but I have been pretty good at studying a dogs gifts and predicting their bobcatness. Dan is an instant bobcat hunter; just add bobcats. He is so intense about dogs and their "catch" ability that he almost cant even enjoy it. Dead ringer for a bobcat hunter. You hunt when you dont even feel like it.

Norwester, I want to welcome you along with everyone else. I thought you had died and gone to heaven. Wait a minute, you are already in heaven. Where you gonna go when you die? How 'bout you stay right there, and when I die I will join you there on your porch listening to those hair dogs a doin' it right.

Dad's dogboy, You are a rare gem. You are connecting us with the old time bobcat hunters like no one else has done that I know of. Them old boys did't talk too much to outsiders like me, but my heart longed and yearned to hear what they would say. To have you share so freely is amazing to me and I hope you dont quit. You have not only heard what they would say, you have been with them and hunted with them for your whole life. It is strange, but the sport of the streight bobcat dog is very young as far as I can tell. Seems the first pioneers of it have been dying in my own lifetime. Your connections are with the very beginning of this sport. Incredible.

Al Luttrell, man, really, I am afraid to even speak. Your name brings up dozens of memories and feelings too deep to really describe. I met a man with the very same name you have on a road in the mountains above Fall City, Oregon. With him was his Son Jess and a man named Cliff. To pick out one short story: One day I ended up in the back yard of Jess' house where I became the unbeleivably proud owner of one of his young females. I would be embarrassed to tell you what I paid for her. I know now that she was a gift to me. I gave a tiny fraction of what he would normally get for a young broke dog. She was streight on bobcat and had been hunted hard. Just coming two.
She gave me my first bobcat Al. She was also the first hound whose death I had to face. Anyone listening on the mountain that day would have thought someone out there lost a good freind. They would have been right.
I got a pretty good idea the man that gave me that dog was your father.
I wish I could thank him again knowing what I understand now. He was a good man. You are welcome at my campfire anytime.

[al luttrell jr]

David thanks so much for sharing that story my dad was a great man and one of the best cat hunters there was. I am so proud and honerd to still be carrying his string of dogs.Hopefully someday we will have a chance to meet.God bless.
Al Luttrell Jr.

[Dads dogboy]

David,

Like Al said I too am very lucky to have My Fathers legacy to carry on.

As a bratty little kid it was hard to be "seen and not heard" but it is paying dividends today. The memories of the stories and conversations Dad had with the likes of Mr. Joe Rufus Lyne, Ira Woods, John Lott, Gov. Bill Daniels, Buster Moore, and the infamous Poole Butler of Texas; Cotton Fairchild, Eddie Jofrion & Banks Casson of Louisiana to name a few, were an education much appreciated today!

In regards to straight Bobcat Hunting, yes it would be a newer Hound sport than say Fox Hunting. However its roots go back to the early 1800s in the Southeast US. Some Houndsmen then as now just enjoyed the challenge of pursuing the super smart Shorttail rather than the circling run only chase of the Grey/Red Fox.

This D$%# Computer sure is earning its keep by allowing like minded peoples to connect!
They tell me "Connecttivity" is the word for this millenium. Dad cussed this thing and used to eat my #$$ out for talking to Hunters on it. Now every morning he asks what folks were talking about, if so & so had been on line, send so&so a letter and ask if they are finding Cats. Just goes to show you an old Hound can learn new tricks!

Mr. Edwards,

After rereading this thread about 5 times, THANKS for being the "agitator" (like in the washing machine) to stir things up and get the Dirt out for us all to see!

Good Running to All!

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

[Hipshooter]

John, Your dad has the best line of cat dogs in the country.
I know for a fact that several cat hunters that catch cats on a regular basis have your dad blood lines. I have hunted with them. When I hunt with these guys , all they can talk about is Finney Clays dogs.
John, I hope u are learning how to breed these dogs, like your dad has done.
I sure enjoyed talking to your dad the other day

[david]

David thanks so much for sharing that story my dad was a great man and one of the best cat hunters there was. I am so proud and honerd to still be carrying his string of dogs.Hopefully someday we will have a chance to meet.God bless.
Al Luttrell Jr.

Yes it was double hard to take the loss of my dog when I learned we had lost the man who gave her to me at about the same time.

I hope we do get to meet. I want to introduce you to my only son. His name is Jesse. I call him Jess.
I am greatly blessed.

[Rusty Hill]

Dan sure can stir things up, thats for sure . i just found this site and am still trying to catch up on everything thats posted.
i have coonhunted for over 25 years, but here recently with the talk from the Dept. of Natural Resources about the booming Bobcat populations here in southern Indiana, i have become fascinated with the idea of running Bobcats.
the rumor is that within 5 yrs or so there will be a season on them.
i will have to admit that i am now obsessed with learning everything i can about them and
posts like this where you experianced cat hunters start explaining things are extremely helpful.
i can see now that if a season becomes a reality, that i will no longer be a coon hunter.
thanks Dan for starting this thread...it is a good one.

[Riverbottom]

I'm still new here and catching up on some of these threads. This is a good one. I've never been more than a part time cat hunter. Now days I go a couple times a year, with part time cat dogs, and most of the time I'm thinking "I really need to quit wasting all my time trying to get this stupid cat jumped, there's rabbits all over the place and I've got a whole pen full of beagles that ain't been out since yesterday"

But Dan's original question is something I can relate to.

Do you guys believe in dogs that want to get to the head? Do think they have more guts, brains, or what is it that makes these dogs that way? Do you think they can catch as many cats as a dog that is a "track" dog?

I'm one of those guys NorWester talks about that runs those heads up, high flying, run to catch hare dogs. I love speed. But the kind of dog Dan described can't catch anything but a bullet around here. I HATE a dog that only cares about getting ahead of the other dogs.
Here's what they do to a race when running hare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmMmVG0eDTM
They might work well for coyotes, maybe fox, but they would loose you more cats than they would ever catch unless you have a good steady dog along to keep the track going.
The very best, all around, good conditions and bad, hounds that I have ever had the good luck to own or hunt with, big hounds or small, all had one quality in common. They were hunting alone every time you put them down. Didn't matter how many other dogs were down with them. All they cared about was running that track as fast as they possibly could. They usualy ended up at the front of the race. They didn't get there by "running to the head". They got there because they had more nose or brains or talent or desire or what ever you happen to call it. They were just better than any other dog they ran with and they didn't even know or care. All they cared about was closing the gap on what ever was leaving that trail.

[Dan Edwards]

Truthfully, I am not referring to "gettin ahead of other dogs". More like gettin ahead of the critter............SORTA.

[NorWester]

I'm still new here and catching up on some of these threads. This is a good one. I've never been more than a part time cat hunter. Now days I go a couple times a year, with part time cat dogs, and most of the time I'm thinking "I really need to quit wasting all my time trying to get this stupid cat jumped, there's rabbits all over the place and I've got a whole pen full of beagles that ain't been out since yesterday"

But Dan's original question is something I can relate to.

Do you guys believe in dogs that want to get to the head? Do think they have more guts, brains, or what is it that makes these dogs that way? Do you think they can catch as many cats as a dog that is a "track" dog?

I'm one of those guys NorWester talks about that runs those heads up, high flying, run to catch hare dogs. I love speed. But the kind of dog Dan described can't catch anything but a bullet around here. I HATE a dog that only cares about getting ahead of the other dogs.
Here's what they do to a race when running hare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmMmVG0eDTM
They might work well for coyotes, maybe fox, but they would loose you more cats than they would ever catch unless you have a good steady dog along to keep the track going.
The very best, all around, good conditions and bad, hounds that I have ever had the good luck to own or hunt with, big hounds or small, all had one quality in common. They were hunting alone every time you put them down. Didn't matter how many other dogs were down with them. All they cared about was running that track as fast as they possibly could. They usualy ended up at the front of the race. They didn't get there by "running to the head". They got there because they had more nose or brains or talent or desire or what ever you happen to call it. They were just better than any other dog they ran with and they didn't even know or care. All they cared about was closing the gap on what ever was leaving that trail.

You know I've watched that video a bunch of times and a couple of things occur to me right off the top of my head. First is I can't believe those hounds can't smell that hare...they react like it wasnt even there. No nose power what so ever? Secondly, look at where the hare first comes out on the trail, then look at where the dogs come out. It appears they are not anywhere the line that hare is laying down. Makes me wonder if that is the hare they were running and not a stray that popped out on the trail as the hounds grew closer.
Of course that would make it make it pretty impressive that the lead dogs didn't switch tracks.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm....