Negatives of running multiple species of game?

[alphaknl]

Other than the obvious "trashing," what less desirable habits show up if bobcat dogs are also used on bear, lion, or coon? Do dogs run on gray fox tend toward the same issues?

Ryan

[kickemall]

The only one I know of is if you run a lot of bear without running varmits quite a bit at the same time, when you switch, a lot of dogs want to false tree on varmits. If your running both at the same time with sensible dogs you wont have many problems.

[Tim Pittman]

Ryan,whether it lion or any other game,especially bobs,running multiple game results in more trash trouble.For bobs,if you take your dogs start'em on straight cat and not deviate you will have better dogs,than if you allow them to bounce around.Yes gogd dogs are good dogs but some of those might or would have been great dogs,if the confusion is/was taken away.I hope CJC will comment on this,or any of the very succesfull cat hunters.They aren't succesfull because they let them fool around with other game.There are some good hunters here,that if they cleaned their dogs up to the next level,they'd catch consideribly more cat.Believe me I've had the hardest time buying into this line of thinking,but proof is in the results I've witnessed in others,besides my own pack.Good hunting-Tim 541-912-6464

[coastrangecathunting]

One thing is if you have been running bear all summer dogs are used to running all out because there is so much scent. So when you dump them on a cat track they tend to over run the track. But i also agree false trees from coon and bear hunting is the biggest problem. I have seen a couple dogs that never had a problem catching any of the above listed animals. And they were cat dogs. It can be done and i would run bear and lion if it were leagal. If i was to go from bear hunting to cat hunting i would only take 2 dogs untill they got adjusted then i would bring the others in 1 at a time untill they were not acting like dip shits.

jc

[bob baldwin jr]

I will not knock another houndsman for running Bear , coon , Bobbers and coyotes with the same hounds if that is all they have . However from past experience with whatever color hound you have I have found OVERALL that the DEDICATED bear hounds tend to do better than those hounds used on multi-species game

[kickemall]

I will not knock another houndsman for running Bear , coon , Bobbers and coyotes with the same hounds if that is all they have . However from past experience with whatever color hound you have I have found OVERALL that the DEDICATED bear hounds tend to do better than those hounds used on multi-species game

Bob, if I understand your post right, I'm going to respectfully disagree. If a bear dog is used on cats and fox you tend to have a lot more sensible dog that can run a bear track that much better. Running varmits doesn't take away any of their ability on bear, if anything, it improves it.

[unclefester]

Ryan,whether it lion or any other game,especially bobs,running multiple game results in more trash trouble.For bobs,if you take your dogs start'em on straight cat and not deviate you will have better dogs,than if you allow them to bounce around.Yes gogd dogs are good dogs but some of those might or would have been great dogs,if the confusion is/was taken away.I hope CJC will comment on this,or any of the very succesfull cat hunters.They aren't succesfull because they let them fool around with other game.There are some good hunters here,that if they cleaned their dogs up to the next level,they'd catch consideribly more cat.Believe me I've had the hardest time buying into this line of thinking,but proof is in the results I've witnessed in others,besides my own pack.Good hunting-Tim 541-912-6464

good post-im just a lowly deer hunter but i want mine running only deer-no fox,coyote or piggies!!!!

[twist]

In the area I hunt and the style I hunt (snow) it sure doesnt hurt to have your bobcat dog be able to tree a coon. For one with a young dog that is exposed to coon hunting at an early age will help in the treeing end of learning to run bobcat. This can be done here in Montana because when we hunt bobcats Dec-April our coon are not in the same area as were we bobcat hunt. I myself do not tend to mess with coon a whole lot every once in awhile I will do some training with a coon on a pup just to get it clicking a little quicker. I just do not enjoy coon hunting any more but in my earlier days I could sure put the hurt on a bobcat and take that same dog out and put some coon in the tree with style also. I do believe what Tim is saying about his area that he hunts and the style they hunt (stricking) you should keep them clean with just one species of game and your catch rate will go up because they are hunting where there is coon, bear, fox and so on. so a good clean 1 game dog will catch more game in that kind of conditions. later, Andy

[Dads dogboy]

We would agree a lot with Tim Pittman, and some with several others.

Your Country that you are Hunting will dictate a lot of what you can and can not do. Where Dad Hunts the country is too big and tough and the Cat too SMART to have combination Hounds and have the expectation of catching or Treeing every Cat that you Jump(notice I said expectation...not Catching every one that you Jump). A Hound over running a track cause he is used to running a stinky Bear or Yote; or bogging down trailing like he needs to on a Coon or Lion = time a Bobcat will use to be in that "Nearest Faraway Place". And you will never get any closer to him!

The Folks in GA are almost all Fox/Cat combo Hunters. Their Hounds are always better Fox than Cat Dogs...however break them off of Fox and the Same Hound can become a hell of a CAT HOUND!

AS I stated in an earlier Post:
"(now to stir the pot) I have my doubts that any combination Hound, that is, one of these Bear, Lion, Coon, Bobcat or Grey Fox/Bobcat Hounds are ever TRUE Bobcat Hounds as the disciplense and protocalls are too different for each Game animal to be consitantly effective on Bobcat. The old adage "Jack of all trades...Master of none" comes to mind. There is the occasional "Freak" who comes along and will catch every critter it is put on...but to us that ain't a Cat Hound."

Still I go back to if running a Bobcat....running him with the Hope of Catching him rather than the expectation of Catching him, and being able to do this with several other Game animals with the same Hounds, makes the Person buying the Dog Feed Happy, then We are sure Happy for him or her!

CJC

[DerekE]

Twist,
Your post just re-enforces how different country makes all the difference. If I let my dogs run coons I would never catch a bobcat and I would be way overpowered for coon hunting. Could probably get away with running gray fox here but they are quite a bit easier to catch than a cat in this country. That's why I like this site, to see how people do things 1000 miles away. That's also why people should be careful buying a dog from way off. It may not work out moving it to a different area.
Derek

[Patrick]

In our country gray fox tend to put up a lot better race than a cat. Many times you aren't sure which it is until you get to the tree. So I enjoy getting after a fox just as much as a cat. To tailor which I am most likely to get after I can change the time of day or the locations I hunt, but they always overlap so you never know. When the fox died back about 10 years ago, I really missed the races and it was a good thing when they built back up.
I freecast and road my dogs, I do not hunt tracks much and I don't rig.
But the bears. About 12 years ago I quit allowing the dogs to get after them. Before that I enjoyed a bear hunt, but when I really wanted to just varmint hunt the bears could really mess up a good day. Hard to catch a varmint when you are in a thick bear country and constantly end up with the dogs off in the middle of nowhere after a bear, or bayed on a walking bear all day and into the next. For a long time I haven't had to worry about that and I don't miss it (too much).
Pat