BigGameHoundsmen.com

well i would like you to know that 30 years ago which at the time i didn't care about having a handle on a hound, i would point them in the direction i wanted to go and expected to pick them off a tree. well at a night hunt in south carolina a gentleman had his hound get a little out of the pocket. and crossed a tidal river that there was no way to cross. well long story short, it was up to this gentleman as to whether or not we would call time out and move to a different location. he said yes we sure will call time out, cause to get to her we will burn all of our hunting time up. i'll just call lizebeth. i politely chuckled and said there is no way you can call that dog. it was at that moment he proceeded to speak some of the same language that you discribed. i said there is no way that dog will leave that tree. his exact words were like hell lizebeth is in the water. and i'll be darned within 10 minutes he was putting a leash on her. so i just wanted ya to know that somewhere south of the mason dixon in them hollars and branches. there is someone else speaking that same language you described, as i recognized it immediately!

What about the eye???? Wise man once said the Eye was the window to the soul.

I have shod horses for near twenty years now....it never ceases to amaze me watching a horses eye go soft...there is no way to describe it...many people can never see it. It is clear as day though when you can.
A few times I have seen somthing that spooked me.

dogs eyes are very expresive as well.

Horshur,
Your 100% right. I have seen it in the eyes of lots of different animals. Good point!

Your right on about the eyes. Last week I had to put my best hound down, he had been dropping weight, not eating much and laying around the pen, turns out his kidney was shutting down and the vet did blood work and said it was bassically irreversible. That being said, the day before I took him into the vet was a cool morning in south texas so I took him and two pups to one of the best cat crossings on the ranch and his eyes lit up when he heard me getting the tracking collars ready, he ran out of the pen and loaded right up. We got out there found some fresh tracks and the race was on, he treed the cat really fast and I could just see in his eyes that he was in heaven already, I had two young pups and we were on a part of the ranch we call the mesquite flats, covered with trees that are about 7 years old, growing back in a field that had not been worked in years. The trees were all low to the ground so I bumped that cat out three or four times and ole Cody put him up everytime, the pups got some great work as well and are treeing really hard thanks to this day. At the last tree it was all I could do to pull Cody out from under it, he was spent, dead tired but did not want to leave that tree, the look in his eyes I will never forget, it was almost like he knew his time was coming and that he really wanted to thank me for running him one last time.

When I'm walk hunting I make my dogs heel (no leads), when I cross a fence I make them sit and wait. When I'm ready for them to get out and hunt I release them with "OK, go ahead". When I want them to check in, if they have a shock collar on, I give them a tone (it's the only thing I use the tone for anymore cause I don't want to confuse them, I read something by John Wick that said he trains his hounds to come to 2-3 long beeps, and if they aren't running to you, they get a nick), if no collar, then I "Whoop, Whoop" then call the name.

When I load up in the morning I tell them to "load", when I want to collar up, I call them by name and if the wrong dog sticks his head out, he gets thumped and told to "wait". When I want them on the box, I tell them, "Up,up".

When I'm roading, I have one dog that believe it or not will shift to different sides of the road when I yell out the window "Right" or "Left" he'll shift to that side of the road, mostly use when going around corners that I don't know what the traffic is like. First time my son saw it, he couldn't believe it. If they're checking something out that I'm not sure on, I'll say, "is that any good Huck?" and if he looks at me in the eyes I can tell whether its good or bad, he'll hunker down and walk away if it's trash. If I want them to check a track I say, "Here, check it" and point at it. That's pretty much it.

Budd Denny wrote: I don't say a whole lot to my hounds other then when petting them up at the tree.

I spent a lot of time with Ray Mears who was a true master houndsmen in every way I can possibly think of. He was like you Budd. I cant ever remember him saying a thing to his dogs. He must have, I just cant remember anything. He was really heavy into competition coon hunting though, and I do not think you are allowed to vocalize at all. Ray silently turned his dog loose, and silently patted the dogs head at the tree, and that was it. He taught me how to stand a dog on the bench at perfect attention like a soldier waiting for orders. Again, never spoke a word to them. They just developd an understanding. He literally won every show I ever saw him put a dog in. Just to see his dogs around his place on the chain they did not look so special, but when he cleaned one up and stood it on the bench it always looked perfect. There was never any question who would win. He was a master at it. He usually won a hunt at some level as well.

Boy I was glad to experience that true Southern hound style of communication with the Clays and their hounds. I sure am glad you explained it some Mr. CJC. I was too embarrassed to ask too much about it and interupt the flow. I have heard some similar sounds used, but I honestly think the Northern meaning was almost opposite. We are a little backwards up here.

al baldwin wrote: Those dogs were taken in by the fire to relax and get ready for the next days hunt after a hard hunt. Lloyd often told me he like to hunt on windy days. remember that he hunted very fast cat crossing & quick to the next crossing. We sure liked a different style of hound, but I had respect for Lloyd as a hound trainer. Thanks Al Baldwin

Al, I knew I was in the presence of a powerful dog trainer with Lloyd. I also could tell he and his wife had a lot of emotional attachment to the dogs. I brought one of them east with me, to the sound of his poor wife bawling her eyes out. It was hard. I hope that never happens again. I could see why though, Heidi was one of the sweetest dogs I have owned. Watching her with Lloyd though was like watching a ballet dance or something. A work of art of some kind. And just like you said, she was hot nosed by training. she knew not to work a cold track. She actually was a cold nosed dog when we got her to where we appreciate that sort of thing. Lloyd was definitely another great houndsmen, little known, but probably as good as any famous dog man. completely different style of hunting than I have ever witnessed before or since.

You guys this tread is a treasure. Thank you all for sharing. Wow.

david, was that lonnie mears dad?

Yes, Slow and Easy, that was Lonnie's dad.

slowandeasy wrote:...i'll be darned within 10 minutes he was putting a leash on her. so i just wanted ya to know that somewhere south of the mason dixon in them hollars and branches. there is someone else speaking that same language you described, as i recognized it immediately!

(in reference to the Dads Dogboy CJC post)

I thought this was pretty fascinating. Amazing how many years and places these traditions have remained. Just one more thing about these hounds that makes a guy proud to witness it.

it is so funny to see some of the old timers bought up. it is a shame some of the younger guys have such a sorry attitude toward some of the papered dogs. how many times i hear papers don't mean any thing to me. i think sometimes it is a sorry excuse, for not having the funds to put some of that blood in their kennel. but the proof is in the pudding. when guys that are at the top of their game such as the glens here in az. when asked what marvins dogs go back to even warners wife wendy said to me names such as finly river chief, i think houses bawly, and some others. so the old papered dogs mean something to the ones that pay attention to a bloodine and then line breed it for years. a little of topic but it was nice hearing about one of the oldtimers. take care!

slowandeasy wrote:it is so funny to see some of the old timers bought up. it is a shame some of the younger guys have such a sorry attitude toward some of the papered dogs. how many times i hear papers don't mean any thing to me.

I got to thinking about this a little bit and that is usually a dangerous thing. I've had good in both grade and papererd and don't really have a preference. Somewhere along the line the almighty dollar became a driving factor for registered dogs and I think that is when it got tougher to find a good one. The amount of work time and money the originals put in, slowly got eroded away by guys breeding names (instead of performance) for dollars. Regardless of papers or not, if it's better than what I've got I'll probably try to get some of it. Just my opinion, it's worth about what it cost you.

Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:09 pm
Posts: 264
Location: AZ.




QUOTE: Slowandeasy: once you have what you want your papers can be as simple as index cards in a file box.



Newby, although your name leads us to believe you are new. you already appear to have enough savy to do very well with your hounds, maybe you are just wanting people to think your new . just one thing, you have been misimformed in your thinking that grade dogs are of lesser value than papered dogs. the value placed on talent is always the same. TALENT=$$$$$$$. and normally word of mouth travels like wild fire. only the jellous and chest beaters will put the mouth on others. but those with sage wisdom will always be aware that the papers don't have to have pretty colors that have made registrys rich. they can be kept on toilet paper as long as the guy keeping the records knows talent when he looks at it. take care!



nolty, i'm with ya on everything ya said. even if we are just cat tormentors

This has been a great post, thanks for sharing some of your experience and knowledge. My biggest frustrations in hunting dogs is not being able to communicate with them better. I think the dogs understand far easier and faster than I do. They get so much from my body language and tone of voice quicker than I get at times what they are trying to tell me. When something goes wrong with them it is usually my inability to communicate what I want or I have not taken the time to teach them. They so much want to please and do right what they are breed and train to do. It is such a pleasure to hunt with a well mannered and trained dog. In the same token I will not waste much time on a dog that is not open to training. Dewey

my hound is a young blue tick actually 13 weeks yesterday. he is learning sit and i hold my thumb and pointer finger together with the other 3 straight up almost like im holding a snack for him. im also working on lay down i hold my hand out flat and move it in a down motion all at the same time. ive been saying "get the cat" every time he sees one and he is picking up on that nicely so ill prolly keep using that when i want him to start hunting, or looking for track/trail. that keeps his little brain going it seems so thats what we have been working on lately.