bobcating from the jungle to the desert/REAL DEAL CAT HUNTER

[high desert hounds]

I had bobcat hunters down the past couple weekends from the valley. one group of hunters from the wilsonville area and the other hunter was from the sweethome area. conditions for the first hunt were poor two week old frozen snow with large slopes of frozen bare ground. we ran three cats and were unable to get any treed. that was my first chance to hunt around bobcat rig dogs and i was impressed with the dogs and there drive to stick to a tough track. the following weekend was with a diffrent hunter and conditions were perfect. three inches of dry powder blanketed the desert and quit by nine pm. we pulled out of burns around one a.m. and cut our first cat track around three a.m. the track was headed across the sage brush flats. not positive but i believe the dogs caught and stretched that cat before i could get around to the dogs. we gathered some pritty scratched up hounds and cut country to another and cut a huge tom track. the trach was drifted in and the dogs were a little slow to get it started but after

[high desert hounds]

about a mile of tough going they realy picked up speed. after about two and a half miles they treed the tom. it was a wopper 29 1\2 pounds. we ran one more track but lost it on a wind blown top. so after two days rest i loaded the box and headed for the jungle. i got there around five a.m. and had a cat rigged a mile into the hunt. the dogs ran that cat forever. we never caught that cat and even though we rigged a few more cats we were unable to get one jumped. it was a real good time hunting with some guys that have a diffrent style of cat hunting. they have excelent dogs and are top notch dog handlers. not to mention they were pritty damn funny. three good hunts. i will keep the desert but i will definately be visiting the jungle again.

[catenaround]

how are your nance bred dogs doing ever get them lined out i would still like to get one from jeff if cards fall right

[orbowhunter1971]

Nice stories, thanks for sharing

Need to get over on your side and see how you guys work them,

Marc

[high desert hounds]

The nance dogs exceeded my expectations, I had some real bad luck and had two die. The real surprise for me is Jeffs old strain dogs. They are known for there lion ability but they have gathered a lot of bobs already this year. where they shine the most is in the dirt when the other dogs hang up and stand on there heads they can usualy move that track on thrue till the other dogs pick it up. One thing i failed to mention in my earlier post was the likeness i've seen in the dogs here and the dogs from the valley. there didn't seem to be any real diffrence in nose power or drive. I'm certain any of my dogs could excell in that moist jungle terrain as i am certain the dogs from the valley could excell in this dry arid climate. That is the real beauty of hunting Oregon, we can challenge and push these dogs in every imaginable condition. 20 bellow zero and five feet of frozen snow, 40 degrees with moist thick underbrush, 100 degrees with rock and sage brush for as far as the eye can see. Yah, I would say we have it as good as anyone in the dog department.

[catenaround]

Guess the cards fell right, have a Jeff Allen bred pup on the way, here Monday, one of Tucker's granddaughters.

[high desert hounds]

I just got back from hunting the valley with a good friend of mine. lately there has been some chatter on here down playing some of the local hunters. I just want to make a point of telling everyone on here just how good these guys dogs realy are. These dogs handle like a dream. These dogs ride loose on the box, rig cats but dont jump down until the truck stops. They get down and work the track without any commands and then if they cant move it they load up with a simple verbal command. All of this without the owner ever leaving the truck if he doesn't want to. I have seen these dogs cold trail thrue rock slides and sheer rock bluffs, run full speed thrue the deepest of brush and locate bobs in trees where you need binoculars to see into the canopy. some of you will call B.S. on this but it is all a fact. I have good bobcat dogs that run here on the desert and I get my rear handed to me every time I go over there. Anyone can catch cats in the snow but those Oregon boys have as good of dogs as ANYONE, and they are as good of cat hunters as you will find anywhere in the country.