The Best You've Ever Seen?

[NorWester]

On another thread within the Bobcat Hunting forum I saw a post extolling the virtues of a bitch I was vaguely familiar with at one time.
I saw this bitch hunt a few times, very talented perhaps but inconsistent in my opinion for whatever that is worth.

So is the best ever, one that looks like it's from another planet on the right day at the right time when all the stars are aligned and the conditions are just right?

Or is it the most consistent, day in, day out type...... perhaps not as talented as the afformentioned superstar but makes up for it with work ethic and traits that come closest to getting the job done when you want to hunt...... not when the dog feels it's in the mood or when conditions allow?

Who's your best?

[coastrangecathunting]

great toppic . i have hunted with some awsome cat dogs. every one could have been better in some way.on todays market these dogs would maybe sell for 10,000 . i once wrote on here when my dog barks i load my gun. and alot of people said some shit about that. i did not reply . when it comees to dogs i know my shit. i have put on miles in a pair of nikes to prove it killed bears on the ground , roped off bluffs for a bobcat ,jumped out cougers with snow balls to run them again . when i was 15 i caught 114 coons in the month of nov after wrestling practice just to keep from eating dinner.
some dogs dont strke off the box but do everthing else . some strike off the box but dont move the track as fast as the dog that dont strike. both dogs would cach the same cat just in different fashion. one of the best cat dogs i ever seen wouldnt hunt worth a shit when it was raining. she would hup up and want in the box. but on a cat race i never seen a dog hit the road in front of her. she wasnt my dog she belonged to rene sears. her name was dot .he had another dog named hiedi that would catch over 90 % of the cats she ran . another was tini out of hiedi .iwill just start naming dogs he had that would catch 90% of the cats they ran dolly , holly,hiedi, dot,tini,heidi 2nd. next was loyd basey he had buege , kate, ann, molly . my dad had buster ,ben,kelly,ace, . i hade cindy and rose. Albert baldwin had pusher,and some more i never hunted with. all of these dogs caught 90% of the cats they ran and all of them had something they could improve on. just because a dog is weak in some way dosent meen they dont catch game.

hope i didnt get off the subject. jc

[david]

coastrangecathunter, did you know Lloyd Baseys Heidi dog? She was red and white. Lloyd died not too long after he let her go. I am the one that bought her from him and brought her to the midwest for another man. I ended up owning her myself eventually. She had about the sweetest most musical voice of any dog I have ever owned. Even after she lost her hearing I would turn her loose just to hear her work a cold track. She could not hear me call, so I would have to head her off to get her back. It was a pain, but sometimes a guy just needs to lay on the dog box, look at the stars and listen to a dog like that. I think it might have been a little taste of heaven. Lloyd never let her work a cold track because that was his style of hunting but I sure enjoyed listening to her work. I bawled like a darn baby the day she died.

Sorry I got off topic. Let's see... She was not the best I've seen, but she was the best I've heard...very consistent voice. Day in and day out. Any time you put her on a cold bobcat track: melodic ecstacy. (are we back on topic? hope so)

[coastrangecathunting]

ya i knew that hiedi dor she was the litter mate to alberts pusher ,my cindy and my dads kelly another one in that litter was willie. he was catching his own bear and cats when he was 2 my dad sold him to scott in idaho.

[david]

It took me two or three days to get that dog bought. He Just was not sure about selling her and finally decided he couldnt do it. Then When I got a couple hundred miles away, he called me and said I could buy her. The whole way back, I sure was hoping he did not change his mind again. Then his wife was crying about like the way I did when Heidi died. I thought she was going to start pounding on Lloyd for letting Heidi go. Man, I felt like a villan. I am very sure I will never buy someones daughter for slavery, but after that day, I think I already know how bad that would feel.
I told them it was OK cause I could find a different dog, but Lloyd said no he had made up his mind.

She was a nice dog. Sweet temperament and easy to get attached to. she was a rig dog right up until she died.
I hope you guys have kept that stuff alive.

[NorWester]

David, you deleted your post?

I remember that walk in the swamp from "hell".....

I was convinced at one point that "P" insisted on setting Pepper down just to ensure I wouldn't see a cat
As I understood it cats weren't her thing anyhow, so I wasn't sure what the point was but that's ok, it was a good time none the less.

Your post kinda had me backed into a corner so I guess I'll try and write something that won't embarass either of us.
For the record I would never intentionally embarass you, you're the guy that got me started and I like to believe in the right direction too!

Never saw Camo, except from looking in the dog box at her. That was the one with the reputation as the "closer" for whatever cat race she was dumped into no?

I did see Rachel hunt a few times, (if it's the same dog I'm thinking of) black and tan leopard cur right?

Even hunted with Heidi some too, though she was well into her twilight years and maybe a little senile as well as half deaf?
Still remember the night we spent an hour or two looking for her only to find her chewing on some ice chunks outside some bar in that little town close to where we turned her out.
I recall her being happy to see us but none too concerned either that we felt she'd been missing

[david]

ya, sorry Norwester, I had to delete it after I read what I wrote. What happens is, I come to this board when I realize that I have nothing of real value to give to civilization as we know it. I know how to catch bobcats and that is about it. I am not finding a big market for that particular skill. So I get on here and try to find someone that might appreciate what the rest of society sees as perfectly meaningless and worthless.

What I am saying is, it just sounded like I was blowing my own horn, and it made me look as insecure about myself as I actually am On top of that, I was ripping on The Old Master which just re-inforces the same point.

But I will repeat this: it is a good question you raise. The balance between giftedness and consistency. The most consistent dogs I have had did not show remarkable giftedness. And the most gifted dogs I have seen were too much like humans to be completely consistent. Would sure love to find the extremes of both in one dog.

blessings to you and your remarkably beautiful family.

[Mr.pacojack]

David there are 2 people I always read their posts, You and larry. I love to read your posts, I always feel I learn something from them or at least something to make me think about. And larry's because, it amazes me everytime that one person can be so full of crap.
Keep it up David, I don't think I am the only one that likes to read your posts.

[briarpatch]

Pacojack.............Well said and I agree with you 100%. It is not difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Briarpatch

[NorWester]

David wrote,

ya, sorry Norwester, I had to delete it after I read what I wrote. What happens is, I come to this board when I realize that I have nothing of real value to give to civilization as we know it. I know how to catch bobcats and that is about it. I am not finding a big market for that particular skill. So I get on here and try to find someone that might appreciate what the rest of society sees as perfectly meaningless and worthless.

What I am saying is, it just sounded like I was blowing my own horn, and it made me look as insecure about myself as I actually am On top of that, I was ripping on The Old Master which just re-inforces the same point.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh..... David, that's the trouble with driving truck, gives a man with lots to think about and imagine more time for it (thinking)
The upside is of course you have lots of time to think and imagine

Although written on a public forum, I'd like to believe you were addressing me and given that context, the things you wrote between the lines could really only be understood by myself and a few select others here.
..... and you didn't write anything we don't already know, so no need to censor the truth as you see it and feel it (not with me anyway) So toot away as you see fit

David wrote,

The most consistent dogs I have had did not show remarkable giftednes

Some talent (giftedness?) comes in forms that are not as readily identifiable as others. Sometimes it takes years of reflection to realize what one was witness to before the scope of such talent is appreciated.
Others jump out at you like a punch in the nose....... (the ones that make you say WOW!)

For me personally, due to the conditions and terrain I hunt in, the talent I most appreciate is exactly that consistency you wrote of.
Unfortunately it's like hoping to find a ruby amongst a sea of shiney rocks, all trying to look like rubies.

In other words the dog that makes me say "WOW" while running in the first week of April or mid September always seems to look less than ordinary come January

At anyrate, the bottom finally fell out up here and I've gone back to work
So mark that on your calender, the NorWester is working. The end may be near.
My brother is convinced this is one of the seven signs of the Appocalypse, so enjoy every moment you have

[Dan Edwards]

The most consistent dogs I have had did not show remarkable giftedness. And the most gifted dogs I have seen were too much like humans to be completely consistent. Would sure love to find the extremes of both in one dog.



I too have noticed this exact same thing. I have seen a dog now though that is consistantly gifted but I do not believe he has much heart. Fortunately enough for him, he just doesnt need it. I call a spade a spade so you really should believe me even if you have never seen it. He has changed the way I think at least for now.

[Riverbottom]

He has changed the way I think at least for now.

I understand exactly what you are talking about. Not sure if that is a good thing

The most consistant dogs I have seen were consistantly bad. Never seen one that was consistantly good and don't expect to. I just try to go with the ones that piss me off the least often

I have a question that is directly related to this topic. When you are deciding who stays and who goes, who's name lives on in your pedigrees and who's name only lives in your memory, do you go with the dogs that are outstanding, talented or gifted in certain traits even though they may have glaring faults in other areas? Or do you chose the ones that may not be as gifted or talented, but have no major faults? In other words, do you cull faults or do you keep the superstars?

[NorWester]

If and when I get or see a superstar I'll be breeding him/her and worry about the rest later Until then I'm stuck with the promise of mediocrity and those that are consistantly bad

Tom wrote,

I just try to go with the ones that piss me off the least

Of course I like that approach too

[Dads dogboy]

Norwester writes that the most consistant that he has seen are consistantly bad. We would agree, a sorry Hound seldom has a good day...but it is possible.

The opposite is true the Good Hound will have an off Hunt, when nothing seems to go right. Mr. Dan is surly right as these Hounds are too Human, we all hve those days when "Sh__ Happens" inspite of all we do to prevent it!

Dad has Hounds who work hard and are SOLID Hounds, then he has had the rare gifted Hounds who have an intangabile something that allows them to find a Bad Cat when the others can't! They have a way of doing things that are hard to believe, you would think that they are just LUCKY...but when they do it time and time again......

These "Smart" Hounds come along about once a Hound generation. They are what Dad strives to breed, but they seem to be more of a gift from the "Goddess of the Hunt" than the product of breeding.

Dad has seen "Nicks" that have produced more than one Smart Hound but while the whole litter will be Solid Hounds there will only be one Smart Hound per litter!

Solid Hound are consistant and hard working, get the job done...but OH the Smart Hound...they are what keeps us going...to breed the next one and watch it do with style and panash(sp) what others have to grind to do!

C. John Clay
Dads Dogboy

[Riverbottom]

So...

Does Mr. Finney breed to the good solid hounds or does he use the gifted ones?

The gifted ones seldom if ever pass on that gift, but the good solid ones can often throw whole litters of good solid pups.

I believe the way to a good solid pack is to breed good solid, fault free hounds. Enjoy those superstars when they come along, but don't fill up your kennel with their pups.

That's what I believe, not what I do