I hate snow!

Mike Leonard · Post by **Mike Leonard** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:24 pm

I really hate it when it snows in this country. The roads get bad and very hard to pull a horse trailer and the woods are full of dog box hunters so what do you do? Well you have some young dogs that need work ao you drive around with the rest of the crowd and hope to find a track. My dogs learn nothing in the box, my neck and shoulders get sore from straining looking thru the tracks for a lion or bobcat. The only excitment is when you nearly head on with a few other lion chasers rushing to get to the next road. So you drive and drive, and you listen to country and eat, and then you listen to bluegrass and eat, and then you listen to classic rock and eat. Before the day is over you have touched about every genre of music available and you find yourself listening to traditional holiday music, the foods all gone. the only track you found was a pint sized female and she already had two hound on her track. I hate it! Come on warm weather and wind.

At least when I am horseback and the dogs are on the ground I have to sing my own songs and with my gear aboard I can't pack much food. LOL!

As old Tex Ritter sang: Take me Back To My boots and Saddles

liontracker · Post by **liontracker** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:53 pm

The snow came too much, too fast!
Sounds like you better crank up the old treadmill after that feast!LOL

U.R.E. · Post by **U.R.E.** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:11 pm

Mike

I couldn't agree with you more!!!

I start my winter up in the high country and work my way towards the beach to avoid the snow!!!

In this area it condenses the cat hunters to a couple areas. I have counted 12 hunters in one area during a hard snow.

Don

Brady Davis · Post by **Brady Davis** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:48 pm

Amen,I know I'm looking forward to hunting decent days. Most guys love to hear the weather man say "100% chance of snow, cold as hell , and you might die if you go out!" THose days you see a bunch of other guys.

I had to laugh about the eating thing. So true, I always think lion hunting will be good excersize but I loose all the ground I've gained on those no track days...too much junk food!

Riding is the way to go.......

Big Mike · Post by **Big Mike** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:11 pm

I gotta second that Mike. That snow brings out every hunter that owns a poodle that ever thought about lion hunting. At least this year I managed to cut some tracks before others and save a few females. Dont mind guys hunting in the snow I enjoy it to a point. Just bugs me that it puts the lions at a disadvantaged and guys indiscriminatly kill females and shut down our season faster that it needs to be.

Cant blame them, they dont get a chance to hunt much, fresh snow hits they got a tag in their pocket, or a client frothing at the bit, and a legal lion in the tree its gonna hit the ground.

Guess im just selfish and want to be able to hunt through March

twist · Post by **twist** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:06 am

Mike, if you say those words here in Montana you might get leash wiped during cat season :lol:

BlacktailStalker · Post by **BlacktailStalker** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:32 am

Do you judge a guy for the method he hunts his hounds ?

There is some places like here where those horses would have 3 broken legs in 50 yards if they tried to walk through our 2-3' deep slashes.
The undersides of the dogs look like a 4 year old had a temper tantrum on them with a cheese grator :lol:

I don't know or have heard of a single guy who has/does dry ground with any regular success in our area. 99% of our area is a road at the bottom of a mountain along a waterbody with 3-5,000' elevation beside it at inclines a man can barely scale in bear season let alone cat season.
When the snow flys here its the beginning of cat hunting, fortunately most guys wont even hike this crap for deer so the number of houndsmen in a 100km radius I can count on one hand so I guess we don't get the gong shows like some areas.

Where our dogs don't excel in 2-50 day old 1500 mile tracks like Larrys dogs, because of terrain, they climb like friggin' monkeys up stuff that most dogs look up and start treeing because they can't get any further :lol:

liontracker · Post by **liontracker** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:20 pm

What Mike is talking about, is his area is extremely shot out. The season opens the first of October. The only time you will see a dog box is on a fresh snow. Then the roads are crawling with "Houndsmen" that shoot anything that goes up a tree. The lion population in his area is in serious jeapardy and it seems like no one cares...gets pretty frustrating.

Mike Leonard · Post by **Mike Leonard** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:28 pm

BlacktailStalker Post subject: Re: I hate snow!Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:32 pm

Bawl Mouth

Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:47 am
Posts: 273
Location: Vancouver Island, British Columbia Do you judge a guy for the method he hunts his hounds ?

BLACKTAIL,

NO I DON'T I WAS JUST STATING A PERSONAL PREFERENCE. TRUST ME THERE ARE PLENTY OF AREAS RIGHT CLOSE TO ME WHERE YOU WON'T SEE ME ON A HORSE EITHER. I JUST STRAP ON MY PACK GRAB MY WALKING STICK AND WHISTLE TO THE HOUNDS AND AWAY WE GO. IN FACT IN SMALL AREAS OF FAIRLY DENSE CAT POPULATION I LOVE FOOT HUNTING TOO. IT IS A GREAT FEELING TO BE THERE ON THE GROUND WITH 6-7 HOUNDS WORKING RIGHT ALONG WITH YOU CRAWLING DOWN INTO THOSE DARK NORTH SIDE HAUNTS AND SEEING IF YOU CAN ROOT AN OLD PANTHER RIGHT OUT OF HIS BEDROOM. SORT OF GIVES ME GOOSEBUMPS JUST THINKING ABOUT IT. THE FIRST TIME I EVER WENT DOWN INTO ONE OF THOSE ICE BOX HOLES AND THE DOGS GOT A LITTLE GAMEY BUT REALLY NO WILD BARKING OR BAWLING, AND THEN TO HAVE THEM JUMP A COUGAR OUT ALMOST UNDER YOUR FEET IS ENOUGH TO STOP YOUR HEART. I NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE OUT HOW A LION WHEN HE GOES TO LAY UP FOR A GOOD WHILE CAN LEAVE SO LITTLE SCENT CLOSE TO HIS HIDEOUT BUT I AM SURE MANY OF YOU LION HUNTERS OUT THERE HAVE EXPERIENCES THE SAME THING.

HAVE FUN

schoonie · Post by **schoonie** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:40 am

mike alittle dry ground don't sound that bad,was on one couple days ago,17 below zero,foot stiff snow after six hours of that,i was sure ready to go south. larry

liontracker · Post by **liontracker** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:32 am

Knee deep for 3 hrs to a 2 week old track, in wet glazed over snow, then a couple of hrs to try to get a line on him. 45 degrees high, then 10 degrees on the way back to the truck. Wet, cold, tired and hungry. At the end the young guys said, "how old are you"?LOL At least now I know where he hides out...