dry ground bobcat?

[arizonabeagle]

i posted a few days ago about beagles runnin bobbers
got some good feedback on it and am excited to start out, but today at work i few questions popped in my head..now i know you guys in the snow up in the northwest will either rig dogs, or try and get em to strike from the box through the cat crossings..
now i was wonderin if the "cat crossings" for bobcats would be the same places a lion would cross? now when we dryground lion hunt it usually involves dogs in the box, and about 4 people with heads out the window lookin for cat tracks on the road and in the mud and then dumpin the stirike dogs to try and get a track strung out where the younger dogs will hopefully fire on it as well and get a cold trail goin..another way we'd do it is to just freecast, dump the dogs and get to walkin saddles in the mountains and ridges, i know lions like easy walkin like me and you do..what i'm gettin at is that theory hold true for bobcats as well? you'd figure since they're smallers critters that stick to thick brush more or do they walk roads when possible?
what would be my best bet to maybe get some green dogs goin in the right direction? show em semi old tracks first?
i also plan on, of course buyin some scent and runnin drags with em at first..should i show em the scent directly before startin em on a bob track like they do bloodhounds to find missing people? or just throw em on and walk em?
please forgive all my questions, i've never really started a dog on game i couldnt show em before expectin them to go out in the woods and hunt
thanks guys
Mike

[david]

Hey Mike, do you have areas where the dogs can be safely run down the road in front of your vehicle? There have been many thousands of bobcats started off the road in this way. If you have an idea where the bobcats live, this is a good method.

I assume if you are successful at rabbits, these dogs are not deer crazy. They will need to be broke off deer and coyote if you ever hope to catch many bobcat.

And, they need to become cat minded. They need to know we are cat hunting. That can take a little work, but from the looks of the video clip, they already like cats. When that kind of thing happens, make sure they know you like it. Dogs can learn the meaning of words like "KITTY". If they know what that word means, and they know you love kitties the same way they do, this all helps in getting them cat minded when you are out looking for bobcats. I suppose they will start rabbits too, but that is not bad, the rabbits dont go far, and you can get some lunch too. Then get em back looking for a kitty.

If you have dirt shoulders or dirt roads, you can look for tracks too. I have dragged roads clean for this purpose. It can work very well and can give you a pretty good idea how old the track is. There are lots of good things that can be used for a drag, including a few layers of chaiin link fence.

Elmer Blankenship, a legendary bobcat hunter, said a dog that can hang with a rabbit, can hang with a bobcat. You probably are going to have a blast. Good luck

[TomJr]

Your dogs are already trailing rabbits and because bobcats should be in the same area they must be passing the cats by. I don't know what your ground looks like there but here finding tracks is very hard due to the ground, its either got a hard crust over it or is covered by leaves. Bobcats don't have enough weight to break through and leave tracks. So my dogs have to do the work of finding the tracks. You are going to have to show them what scent to follow.

Because you can't find tracks and be sure they are following a cat I would do a drag with cat scent. I used Mike Leonard's method of laying a drag when my new pup was passing by cat trails to run fox ect. The advantage of laying a drag is you know what they are trailing so can keep them on task.

Places to cut a track are any place you see lots of rabbits or rock squirels, prey. Dry washes are usualy good, easy for you to walk and the edges are full of prey items. The cats will walk the edges to stay hidden and be watching for rabbits ahead, bobcats mostly spot and stalk. So they will try to keep hidden while moving and try to keep to places where they can get a good view. Small ridges overlooking washes or fields will be good as well. While you walk down the wash your dogs should be running into the brush along the edges and up on the banks ect. You can look for scat and try show that to the dogs, if they don't find it on thier own.

There is dry ground and then there is DRY ground. Right now here we have not had rain or snow since just before Christmas but because its cool there is moisture just below the surface on the north facing slopes so good trailing conditions. Now on the south facing slopes its drier and harder to trail there.

This is a good time of the year to start because the conditions are much better than they will be in the summer months. When the ground is powder dry its hard to get much going and most catchs will be pop ups.

Good luck!