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Does a hound that trails a bobcat semi silent to silent until the cat is jumped catch more bobs than a hound that you can hear the hole time its trailing, or the other way around.Or would this just be a preference each hunter would have in his hound. Thanks JWS

a silent hound has this one advantage a cat that is suddenly surprised by a hound is as likely to jump up the nearest tree as run. however a good hound is a good hound it might lead to a cat hearing the hound and turning out some tricks if it hears it coming. but think on this that silent dog is not really running cats he's treeing them. now if that dog is really catching cats rather they are running or not fine, but if he's just bumping them up a tree now and then well thats not hounding them is it?

I used to have a strong opinion on that question. That was before I had a couple dogs that blew apart all my theories. Now I feel that mouth is a minor consideration in the amount of bobcats a dog can catch. There are so many other things so much more crucial to the actual catching of a bobcat. I have heard several theories on mouth and how much it is used. What I have seen is that there are some amazing bobcat catching dogs in every part of the mouth spectrum. Hopefully, you can find one of those bobcat catching wizards with a voice that you just love. My best bobcat catchers have not been the ones with the most melodic voices, but if you can get both in one dog, by all means do it.

The one exception that I would make to the "voice dont matter" rule, based on my limited experience, is this: If you are in an area where the cats are getting to vertical rocks, or rock pile refuge without fail, the only way I know of for catching them with a dog would be a dog that is completely silent until he has the cat caught or bayed. Alot of houndmen would rather stay home and watch TV than to hunt a dog like that. But it is the only way I know of for catching a bobcat in that type of habitat, other than traps.

PS I made the post before I saw Peglegs' post. If I had seen it I would not have bothered, as his posts usually say about all that needs to be said about anything he has ever written on, and he does it with fewer words. "Amen" would be about the only followup needed.

pegleg wrote:a silent hound has this one advantage a cat that is suddenly surprised by a hound is as likely to jump up the nearest tree as run. however a good hound is a good hound it might lead to a cat hearing the hound and turning out some tricks if it hears it coming. but think on this that silent dog is not really running cats he's treeing them. now if that dog is really catching cats rather they are running or not fine, but if he's just bumping them up a tree now and then well thats not hounding them is it?

X 2 I think peglegs opinion is true, with all game, a hound is on

Thanks pegleg,david,and catandbear for your thoughts on this subject.I read all your guys posts on here and have learned alot from you guys.I have lots to learn still and always will, on here and in the woods. There is nothing better than listening to a good hound singin in the woods.Thanks again JWS

I believe that the hound has to be able to track and figure the cat out with his mind as well as his nose, the voice can just make it easier or harder on them.
I also think that modern technology will help the silent hound gain more of an upperhand, before telemetry the way hounds were found was by sound and tracking, then beep beep collars came and we could locate a lot easier, now with garmins we can see (some to most of the time) what our dogs are doing so some peoples preferances may lean more towards silent now more than ever.

thanks david. a trap is pretty silent and effective and cheaper then dog food and a garmin and gas and vet bills and and....... it's absolutely fine by me that some prefer a silent dog but to be honest it does make me scratch my thick head and wonder