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I would like to know your opinions. I don't, our dnr, recommends us to use them while hunting bear with dogs here. My train of thought is this. If a wolf is going to kill your dog, it will period. They will go to the voice. The bells are suppose to detere them. I feel its a target for them, or for the bear. I've watched a bear charging dogs in thick ferns, they shut up, run for saftey, and once one of the dogs locate it, they will regroup, and open again. If you have bells on them I dont feel they have a chance, the game knows exactly where they are, from the bell. I would think the same applies for a wolf.

WE WILL NEVER KNOW. I RUN BEELS BUT IF THEY WORK YOU SEE NO EFFECT AT ALL.

I dont have any wolves where im at but my buddy that hunts up north all their life use to hunt with bells on their dogs, now he cut them off because your right that bell is just a dinner bell for the wolves, makes it easier for the wolf to find the dog if he lost site!

i started out with the bells for the wolf purpose but know i use them for my own purpose if they are coming to the road you can here them. i agree that if the wolf is going to get your dog he's going to get him bell or no bell. as far as the bear i haven't seen where they single out the dogs with the bells.

I run bells on all of my dogs . I have been to cat trees and seen where the wolves have circled my dogs dont know if the bells saved my ass or not but I am a beleiver. As far as bears had a bad one the other day it was singleing out a white dog of my buddies that was giveing it a lot of room and not the dogs that we had closer with the bells on

fox hunter wrote:I run bells on all of my dogs . I have been to cat trees and seen where the wolves have circled my dogs dont know if the bells saved my ass or not but I am a beleiver. As far as bears had a bad one the other day it was singleing out a white dog of my buddies that was giveing it a lot of room and not the dogs that we had closer with the bells on

Boy, I've seen them light, or white dogs, have a target on them, before. Darn bear, that is the first dog or dogs they single out. Unless they are all white. Seen it lots of times.

I have had the same experience as fox hunter, with wolves coming in and circling a tree with dogs with bells on. Can't say it is the bells that saved the dogs, but then again I can't say it wasn't and bells are cheap. I first ran a bell on a dog I had that was silent until she jumped, and a very fast coldtrailer, for trailing lions, I have known two people who lost a silent trailing dog to a lion that they caught up to by themselves. As that dog got older she started to open and I quit using bells until the wolves moved into the country. Now I run bells on all my dogs and like them because I can here them if I am close and the dogs aren't barking.

my group lost four dogs a couple years ago, in three different locations all four dogs had bells on them.

i used the bells for about one season. i have no idea if they will keep your dog alive or not. the reason i quit using them is i think they are kind of abnoxious. i noticed when pups were trying to honor to other dogs or listen for the pack, the bells were always making a bunch od noise and they couldn't hear the other dogs. i couldn't imagine being a dog and having a bell jingling in your ears the whole time. As far as wolves and a bear being able to pick them out with the bell on, i would think they would be the target. a dinnerbell so to speak.

wiwalkerman wrote:my group lost four dogs a couple years ago, in three different locations all four dogs had bells on them.

I just did a college speech on wolves.. I did a lot of research and found a lot of pictures of bear dogs killed in MI, WI, MN... Over 50% of the photos I found... the dogs had bells on them...

2 of the 3 dogs we've lost to wolves had bells on. but its hard to say if we may have lost more without them. bells are invaluable for the fact that it makes the dogs 1000x easier to pick up when they come to the road. that alone has saved their lives more times than i can count - im 100% sure of that.

i love the sound of the bells - i know the dogs are still alive!

i love the sound of the bells - i know the dogs are still alive!

that's true ROK i've never thought of it that way.

this is another reason the GPS units are so valuable around here or anywhere.