BigGameHoundsmen.com

The way to find out if your dogs have grit or kahunnas on bear is to turn them loose on a wounded bear, but you better get your ass to them as fast as you can, because if your dogs like to pull hair, he will surely get hurt or killed. Been there many times myself.

In my opinion buckles is that when dogs have bears shot out to them they get to wool the bear this will often give the dogs false grit for lack of a better term they know when boss shoots they get fur. this is no way to really know what your dogs are doing when that bear is full of everything they know you are there and yes they ( most dogs act differently when you are there. to know what your dogs really are is to be on the mountain and get to where they are going and see them on that bear when they are not crossing a road or know you are there .
A wounded bear for sure is dangerous for dogs and humans but is no real test for what your dogs are on the mountain when they think back up is no where to be found . Again dogs get conditioned to game being shot or pushed out to them and act differently than at other times .

I have seen to many dogs that will not engage a bear till one other dog does withought that one dog often a whole pack becomes just a bunch of booger barkers with no pressure.

I'm talking about tying up your dogs, shoot the bear out and let it run down into the canyon wounded, and then turn the dogs loose. If your dogs like to pull hair, all you have to do is get to them and watch what they do. I can't speek for another mans dogs, but when I got to mine, they were all fighting the bear and always got hurt to prove it. I have also had some dogs that just hang back and bark their fool heads off. Most dogs are consistant. These same dogs are damed sure doing the same thing when running the track and putting the bear up the tree. Can't say that I been to the tree before them to see it, but I have had my share of tough bear kills on the ground and they weren't wounded bear. The same dogs have saved my ass several times when that bear came through the brush to get me.

The last two dogs that I bear hunted with one was a plott the other1/2 treeing walker 1/2 running walker. The plott would pull hair on a dead bear or one shot. The walker would never wool a bear dead or alive. Which was the bear dog? The plott would not stay 30 minutes on a bear that ran the dogs hard. The walker would stay all day and all night by her self after all the other dogs quit the bear. She caught many bear the next day. She bayed head on and within a few feet of the bear. She treed many know bad bear that other packs could not. She never bite a bear and never got hurt. Which was the bear dog, the one that wooled the bear and appeared to be a bear dog or the one that never fought a bear but always treed them. Did I mention that I did not run in there to kill them on the ground because the only reason that we killed a bear was a paying client, some of those we got on the ground. How many bears does a guy need to kill. I killed my share as a teenager not knowing any better and the bear were varmits. It just seemed a lot better to get paid for letting them kill them than let them go to waste. I have been up close to a lot of bear and know guides that have been on a lot more than me. We have seen very few bear that would charge you. I have been knock down by bears chasing dogs or running away and being in the way of the bear. They will do a bluff charge, most of the time they will back down. I was told years ago that to be a hound man you need a dog and to be good at BS, and you don't necessary need the dog. I still not sure where I fit in there. Dewey

thanks for the replys and i was just tellin bout tha plott i had just thought it was interestin that a dog would do that and have that much gritt and yall are rite about haven to much gritt cause im poor lol and cant aford vet bills

buckles the dogs know the difference and MOST act accordingly . I have seen the difference time and time again .Not just my dogs .

Here is a question for you do you think that if a dog is gritty on coon or bobcat hogs or lion or deer for that matter , are they just as gritty on bear?

By the way it is not a question of to much grit it is not enough inteligence that creates the problem .

dwalton wrote:The last two dogs that I bear hunted with one was a plott the other1/2 treeing walker 1/2 running walker. The plott would pull hair on a dead bear or one shot. The walker would never wool a bear dead or alive. Which was the bear dog? The plott would not stay 30 minutes on a bear that ran the dogs hard. The walker would stay all day and all night by her self after all the other dogs quit the bear. She caught many bear the next day. She bayed head on and within a few feet of the bear. She treed many know bad bear that other packs could not. She never bite a bear and never got hurt. Which was the bear dog, the one that wooled the bear and appeared to be a bear dog or the one that never fought a bear but always treed them. Did I mention that I did not run in there to kill them on the ground because the only reason that we killed a bear was a paying client, some of those we got on the ground. How many bears does a guy need to kill. I killed my share as a teenager not knowing any better and the bear were varmits. It just seemed a lot better to get paid for letting them kill them than let them go to waste. I have been up close to a lot of bear and know guides that have been on a lot more than me. We have seen very few bear that would charge you. I have been knock down by bears chasing dogs or running away and being in the way of the bear. They will do a bluff charge, most of the time they will back down. I was told years ago that to be a hound man you need a dog and to be good at BS, and you don't necessary need the dog. I still not sure where I fit in there. Dewey

I wouldn't call either dog a real "bear dog". Paint that picture however you want it, its your story, but there are bears out there that require some extra motivation than barking in thier face to get them to climb. Just don't see a dog that won't sink some teeth getting much of anything done with a walking well educated bear. Quitting dogs and dogs that let a bear call the shots to the extent of all night into the next day are called cat dogs. I don't think that walker would have looked so good in a pack of bear dogs.

Dewey, you don't still have that female do you. I might know a guy that would like to have her

In our country, you will kill nearly every bear you can with a dog like that. Even if she wouldn't put enough heat on it to stop it, she'll be there until you can. I LOVE start dogs exactly like that because eventually I will get some tougher help in there. Some of those might get beat up and we'll have to get some fresh help in, but that one dog will always make that possible. And you can hunt her the next day and the day after that.

Intentionally wounding a bear and then putting dogs on it doesn't make much sense to me. You go from a successful hunt where nobody was hurt to one that could be fatal. I have had to put dogs on wounded bear at times for f'ed up hunts, but I'd NEVER do it on purpose. Almost every one I have has resulted in cut up or hurt dogs. That money is much better spent on filling up the cooler.

"I was told years ago that to be a hound man you need a dog and to be good at BS, and you don't necessary need the dog"

It's good to see that quote still works today.

Nolte is right there are many places that a dog that will just push the bear and keep it moving is the best way to kill or catch a bear especially if the dog does not have all the tools of a top dog ( which most do not imo ) but on the other hand those type of dogs are rough and often a detriment because they just push those bears further out into no mans land instead of stop them .

Dewey neither was a bear dog in my opinion and the plott was not worth the grain to feed it. but the walker was usable and worth keeping till something better found in my opinion.

Simley She stopped a lot of bear that no other dog in this country could catch. I have seen her get in a moving bears face, like a foot from it barking every breath but never grabbing or getting caught herself. She may not of been a bear dog but she was always there when all the other dogs got hurt and quit to go on and tree or hold the bear for us by herself. Vet bills don't make the bear dog, it just makes someone ego. Dewey

Larry, your right on. I'm speaking for my self when I say that, I prefer bear dogs that will put the pressure on and make that race as short as possible. I don't like to go into the woods to waste gas, and chase down a bear that has a pussy chasing after it. For the guys that like dogs that don't fight the bear, more power to you. You have every right to enjoy a long race. I enjoy listening to the dog race also, but my main objective is to catch game not listen to it.
As for vet bills, they are part of the game when hunting with hounds, and if you don't want your dogs to get hurt, perhaps you should find another sport.
I've hunted hogs, bear and lion, and I solved my vet bill problem by going to my local vet and asked if he would set me up with a surgical kit, including the lidocaine pain killer. He obliged and showed me what to do. Try it some time, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to stich up a dog or know what to do when his chest cavity is ripped open. It's better to save a good dog than to let die in front of you.
In addition, any dog that can't put a bear up a tree by its self, isn't woth having to hunt big game.

Smiley wrote:buckles the dogs know the difference and MOST act accordingly . I have seen the difference time and time again .Not just my dogs .

Here is a question for you do you think that if a dog is gritty on coon or bobcat hogs or lion or deer for that matter , are they just as gritty on bear?

I can't relate to everything, but my dogs hunted with the same pressure on hogs, bear, and lion. I'm talking about not being afraid to dive in and bite.
On hogs, they would grab the ears or bit the hind quarters. On bear, they were fighting and biting until that bear went up or I shot it on the ground. On Lion, I have only had one instance where they caught it on the ground. It came out of the tree. The dogs caught it on the ground, and killed it by themselves. My son had his brindle boxer with him, that had only been on one bear tree, and he bit down on that lions spine. This doesn't happen when dogs are just baying. My two dogs were a Walker/Bluetic mix and a walker/Cur mix.

Dewey I am not saying anything like vet bills make a bear dog . . You are absolutely mis understanding what I am saying.
I also have seen dogs that would not bite a bear act just like you are saying put the bay pressure real tight but guess what the bear says just how tight he will allow and if that bear is allowing that close of a bay that is not a bad bear dogs know the difference and bears know the difference when being chased , let me rephrase that educated dog and educated bears know the difference .

I love to see good dog work and yes I love to watch those close bay dogs go. but they are lacking something to put them in the top dog department and to me it may be just that one thing but they need to make contact NO I do not mean tackle the sucker but just hitting in and out knowing when to make contact and when would not be good to make that contact . Smart gritty dogs do this and will make more of a difference than just dogs baying.
But those packs that do have just bay dogs or just bite a bear that is climbing or when you are there ect... they tree many bears and I will feed them but give me one that will say stay 10 foot and when that bear is moving or running and can make contact that is the dog I want .They both work but my style and my likes are that way and my experiences have shown me what works the best where I hunt for catching and treeing those rough bears.
I also know that killing is a bunch different that catching killing is much easier than treeing or catching .