Dec. FL Cat Hunts
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:07 pm
12-02-09
Hello Folks!
As I posted earlier thanks to all of you for your kind words and prayers for Dad! He is one tough old man and will be Hunting all the way to the Pearly Gates.
We arrived in FL late Sunday night and were greeted with crappy Weather forecasts for the coming week. It was to rain Monday night so Dad decided that we would watch the Saints and Patriots MNF Game and see what the Weather did.
When the Game was over it still had not started raining, the Radar showed that the stuff was still West of us, so Dad said to load Ruby, Queen and the Pups and we would make around here close to the Camp. I headed down to a road that we have had good luck in finding a Cat on here lately, put the Hounds down to empty out and the Rain started. Not Bad, just enough to get you damp. Dad said to road the Hounds awhile as they needed the exercise and then we would go home.
We were pleased with how the Pups were roading, including the new Irish Pup who had never done this before. I guess he decided that in Rome do what the Romans are doing as he went to the front with Ruby. We commented on that being the Hound that he should emulate, a better teacher would be hard to find!
All the Pups walked over several fresh Deer tracks and one real fresh Yote track. Old Irish stopped and smelled the Yote a little too long and found out that that smell would make his neck burn…OH Well there were lots of other smells that did not hurt so it was not long until he was back in front of the truck.
The rain slowed then stopped as I was about to load up for home. So we put the Rig Dogs ups and proceeded with the Hunt. About 1:30 as we were headed down a company road I could see a Cat track in the road made just before the last shower. Ruby and Queen could not smell it though… when suddenly they blew up! I got out and there was the same size Cat track coming back up the road since the shower had quit!
I put the Rig Dogs down, they went back down the road and turned south into an old Sand pine Plantation and the Race was on. I turned the Pups out and all (including Irish) was there in seconds. The Cat headed West for a ways, went into a Cypress Pond causing a Bad loose. The Race was so intense that we thought that the Cat might have climbed. The Garmin showed Ruby and Queen circling looking with the Pups trying to find the track as well.
Suddenly Ruby opened on what looked like the back track from watching on the Garmin. She came all the way back down the original track then hit the road within inches of were the Cat had turned out. I asked Dad could she have the wrong end, he quickly said “NO, he told me to listen to her barking, to listen to the INTENSITY this said that She had the right end. The Cat had pulled a typical Bobcat trick and doubled back the way he had come and was probably headed back to his home range to run in.”
That is exactly what happened (that is why I am still the Dogboy as I would have probably shocked Ruby for backtracking as she brought the Cat back over ½ mile on exactly the same line that he had gone in on). The Pups with Cimarron leading caught up with Ruby and put the Cat out of the road and back into a Plantation. However the Wiley old Tom was not finished with the roads. This was to be his method of running for the next hour…into the Plantation then out to the road, up or down it then into water then back out to a road.
Old Queen (a SOLID Hound) kept pounding away at him in the water making it too hot with the Pups helping her for the Cat to stay there. Then Old Ruby (a SMART Hound) would have to find him up or down the road. After a while though the Pups especially Cimarron figure the road thing out and made it way too hot there for the Tom. One time though the Cat came out hit the road, ran up it 100yds or so, then back almost to the Truck then out into the Plantation on the opposite side of the road from his original course.
This threw a kink in the Race as Ruby went the wrong way on the road, Queen hammered out and up the road the way the Cat started then dropped the track where he doubled back. All of a sudden Rose one of the 9 month old Pups, Meg the TW Treedog prospect and old Irish opened right behind the truck headed East. Dad looked at me and said UT OH… this might be a Sissorring. We stood there for what seemed like hours…really only seconds, till Queen told us that they really had the Cat.
He had been running for over an hour by now and his forays were getting smaller and smaller. Suddenly Cimarron screamed out that she could see the Cat. Rose and King Arthur also said that the Cat had stopped to pull a Mike Tyson. Well we did not have any fighters with us other than Queen, so Dad said to pull up close to help. As we rounded a corner bringing the Hounds and Cat into sight, the Cat literally sprang from the ditch and attacked the Hounds catching Sage and King, making them hunt the Truck. The others worried the Cat back into cover where as the Pics show he made life tough for the Hounds and Cameraman. Meg, Queen and Cimarron would not allow us to leave this Cat to run again as they kept after him finally getting him to where Queen could get one end and Meg and Cimarron the other.
23# Tom fighting Hounds and Cameraman
23# Tom after 1hr 10min Race
23# with EFC
A great way to start our hunt!
Dad was pooped out but said that was the best Medicine he had had in weeks.
We did not think that we could hunt Tuesday night but we went even though the wind was out of the East at 10 mph gusting at times to 25 mph.
We loaded the Main Pack but leaving Rita and Rip at home for the next trip. This gave us ten Hounds to aggravate a Bobcat with. We hunted hard for 6 hours driving over 60 miles, striking several but the Hounds were unable to trail in the East wind. Dad said that unless we hit one hot we were just Hunting, but Hunting was better than NOT Hunting.
At about 9:30 pm Corky Rigged Hot like he was winding a Cat beside the road. I put them down and the four Rig Dogs looked hard in a fresh clear-cut for 15 minutes before opening. I turned the rest of the Hounds out to help in locating the Shortail and sure enough Sage found him slipping out into the road. She screamed out her find and the others Harked to her.
For the next Hour and 45 min we ran the smartest Cat that Dad said that he had run in years. The first trick he pulled after about 20 min of fast and furious running was to hit a Cypress Pond and stay in the water. Again we thought that maybe he had gone up. I had even loaded two Hounds that had come by the truck looking for the Cat. After what seemed like hours but was really 10 min Rivers found the Cat out in the water and flushed him out. He and Corky (his littermate) ran the Cat by themselves until the Cavalry arrived.
Then the Cat pulled the first of several double back road tricks always moving further and further to the North. Cheyenne (Rita and Rips littermate) a very GIFTED SMART Hound proceeded to put on a show! The Pack would be burning the track up and she would be doing her “Cunning Running” swinging ahead to find where the Cat was going to hit the road next, then calling out to the Pack to catch up or be left behind. Without a Hound that will do this in a Pack, Dad says that these very SMART, BAD Bobcat will usually evade capture by most Packs.
The first 45 min was wild however the Garmin allowed us to stay right with the Pack, even allowed us to be able see the Cat several times.
The last hour I never moved the Truck! The Race went up and down an SMZ out to a road back into the SMZ out to the road on the other end then back. We were never more than 350 yds from the Race and most of the time less than 100 yds.
All Ten Hounds contributed with their own style. Cheyenne with her swinging; Corky, Rivers, Chic with their track grabbing; Sage, Cherokee, Penny and Brandy with their track pounding; Sandy and Choctaw reaching ahead to hold him on his double backs. All were making Mr. Smart Cats Life more and more difficult!
The last fifteen minutes the Big Tom found the wettest part of the SMZ to make his Custer. He would squat and wait for something to dang near step on him before moving, then swim away to another hiding place. However he was wet and giving off more scent than usual so the Track dogs were able to root him out one more time. A Big Tom when pressured like this will sooner or later decided to pull his Cacius Clay but this Cat did not have Angelo Dundee training him as Chic, Cherokee and Brandy were in the Ring with him and ended the fight before it really got started!
22# Tom
EFC with 22# Tom, Smartest Cat run in twenty years
Dad was a little weak at the conclusion of the Race. I asked if he was alright…he said yes a Race like that should make any Houndsman a little weak. He further stated that if I could find him one like that every week he would live to be 99. I DAMN sure will be trying!
C. John Clay
Still, Dads Dogboy
Hello Folks!
As I posted earlier thanks to all of you for your kind words and prayers for Dad! He is one tough old man and will be Hunting all the way to the Pearly Gates.
We arrived in FL late Sunday night and were greeted with crappy Weather forecasts for the coming week. It was to rain Monday night so Dad decided that we would watch the Saints and Patriots MNF Game and see what the Weather did.
When the Game was over it still had not started raining, the Radar showed that the stuff was still West of us, so Dad said to load Ruby, Queen and the Pups and we would make around here close to the Camp. I headed down to a road that we have had good luck in finding a Cat on here lately, put the Hounds down to empty out and the Rain started. Not Bad, just enough to get you damp. Dad said to road the Hounds awhile as they needed the exercise and then we would go home.
We were pleased with how the Pups were roading, including the new Irish Pup who had never done this before. I guess he decided that in Rome do what the Romans are doing as he went to the front with Ruby. We commented on that being the Hound that he should emulate, a better teacher would be hard to find!
All the Pups walked over several fresh Deer tracks and one real fresh Yote track. Old Irish stopped and smelled the Yote a little too long and found out that that smell would make his neck burn…OH Well there were lots of other smells that did not hurt so it was not long until he was back in front of the truck.
The rain slowed then stopped as I was about to load up for home. So we put the Rig Dogs ups and proceeded with the Hunt. About 1:30 as we were headed down a company road I could see a Cat track in the road made just before the last shower. Ruby and Queen could not smell it though… when suddenly they blew up! I got out and there was the same size Cat track coming back up the road since the shower had quit!
I put the Rig Dogs down, they went back down the road and turned south into an old Sand pine Plantation and the Race was on. I turned the Pups out and all (including Irish) was there in seconds. The Cat headed West for a ways, went into a Cypress Pond causing a Bad loose. The Race was so intense that we thought that the Cat might have climbed. The Garmin showed Ruby and Queen circling looking with the Pups trying to find the track as well.
Suddenly Ruby opened on what looked like the back track from watching on the Garmin. She came all the way back down the original track then hit the road within inches of were the Cat had turned out. I asked Dad could she have the wrong end, he quickly said “NO, he told me to listen to her barking, to listen to the INTENSITY this said that She had the right end. The Cat had pulled a typical Bobcat trick and doubled back the way he had come and was probably headed back to his home range to run in.”
That is exactly what happened (that is why I am still the Dogboy as I would have probably shocked Ruby for backtracking as she brought the Cat back over ½ mile on exactly the same line that he had gone in on). The Pups with Cimarron leading caught up with Ruby and put the Cat out of the road and back into a Plantation. However the Wiley old Tom was not finished with the roads. This was to be his method of running for the next hour…into the Plantation then out to the road, up or down it then into water then back out to a road.
Old Queen (a SOLID Hound) kept pounding away at him in the water making it too hot with the Pups helping her for the Cat to stay there. Then Old Ruby (a SMART Hound) would have to find him up or down the road. After a while though the Pups especially Cimarron figure the road thing out and made it way too hot there for the Tom. One time though the Cat came out hit the road, ran up it 100yds or so, then back almost to the Truck then out into the Plantation on the opposite side of the road from his original course.
This threw a kink in the Race as Ruby went the wrong way on the road, Queen hammered out and up the road the way the Cat started then dropped the track where he doubled back. All of a sudden Rose one of the 9 month old Pups, Meg the TW Treedog prospect and old Irish opened right behind the truck headed East. Dad looked at me and said UT OH… this might be a Sissorring. We stood there for what seemed like hours…really only seconds, till Queen told us that they really had the Cat.
He had been running for over an hour by now and his forays were getting smaller and smaller. Suddenly Cimarron screamed out that she could see the Cat. Rose and King Arthur also said that the Cat had stopped to pull a Mike Tyson. Well we did not have any fighters with us other than Queen, so Dad said to pull up close to help. As we rounded a corner bringing the Hounds and Cat into sight, the Cat literally sprang from the ditch and attacked the Hounds catching Sage and King, making them hunt the Truck. The others worried the Cat back into cover where as the Pics show he made life tough for the Hounds and Cameraman. Meg, Queen and Cimarron would not allow us to leave this Cat to run again as they kept after him finally getting him to where Queen could get one end and Meg and Cimarron the other.
23# Tom fighting Hounds and Cameraman
23# Tom after 1hr 10min Race
23# with EFC
A great way to start our hunt!
Dad was pooped out but said that was the best Medicine he had had in weeks.
We did not think that we could hunt Tuesday night but we went even though the wind was out of the East at 10 mph gusting at times to 25 mph.
We loaded the Main Pack but leaving Rita and Rip at home for the next trip. This gave us ten Hounds to aggravate a Bobcat with. We hunted hard for 6 hours driving over 60 miles, striking several but the Hounds were unable to trail in the East wind. Dad said that unless we hit one hot we were just Hunting, but Hunting was better than NOT Hunting.
At about 9:30 pm Corky Rigged Hot like he was winding a Cat beside the road. I put them down and the four Rig Dogs looked hard in a fresh clear-cut for 15 minutes before opening. I turned the rest of the Hounds out to help in locating the Shortail and sure enough Sage found him slipping out into the road. She screamed out her find and the others Harked to her.
For the next Hour and 45 min we ran the smartest Cat that Dad said that he had run in years. The first trick he pulled after about 20 min of fast and furious running was to hit a Cypress Pond and stay in the water. Again we thought that maybe he had gone up. I had even loaded two Hounds that had come by the truck looking for the Cat. After what seemed like hours but was really 10 min Rivers found the Cat out in the water and flushed him out. He and Corky (his littermate) ran the Cat by themselves until the Cavalry arrived.
Then the Cat pulled the first of several double back road tricks always moving further and further to the North. Cheyenne (Rita and Rips littermate) a very GIFTED SMART Hound proceeded to put on a show! The Pack would be burning the track up and she would be doing her “Cunning Running” swinging ahead to find where the Cat was going to hit the road next, then calling out to the Pack to catch up or be left behind. Without a Hound that will do this in a Pack, Dad says that these very SMART, BAD Bobcat will usually evade capture by most Packs.
The first 45 min was wild however the Garmin allowed us to stay right with the Pack, even allowed us to be able see the Cat several times.
The last hour I never moved the Truck! The Race went up and down an SMZ out to a road back into the SMZ out to the road on the other end then back. We were never more than 350 yds from the Race and most of the time less than 100 yds.
All Ten Hounds contributed with their own style. Cheyenne with her swinging; Corky, Rivers, Chic with their track grabbing; Sage, Cherokee, Penny and Brandy with their track pounding; Sandy and Choctaw reaching ahead to hold him on his double backs. All were making Mr. Smart Cats Life more and more difficult!
The last fifteen minutes the Big Tom found the wettest part of the SMZ to make his Custer. He would squat and wait for something to dang near step on him before moving, then swim away to another hiding place. However he was wet and giving off more scent than usual so the Track dogs were able to root him out one more time. A Big Tom when pressured like this will sooner or later decided to pull his Cacius Clay but this Cat did not have Angelo Dundee training him as Chic, Cherokee and Brandy were in the Ring with him and ended the fight before it really got started!
22# Tom
EFC with 22# Tom, Smartest Cat run in twenty years
Dad was a little weak at the conclusion of the Race. I asked if he was alright…he said yes a Race like that should make any Houndsman a little weak. He further stated that if I could find him one like that every week he would live to be 99. I DAMN sure will be trying!
C. John Clay
Still, Dads Dogboy
Great story with an amazing punch line. Thanks for the pics too!
Wait a minute though. You might be disqualified for having been born in the USA. 