catahoulas for bear and lions

[southwestwalkers]

Don't know to much 'bout this breed. I'm think it's not a true hound. Just wanted to see if any of you have done any hunting with them and what kind of hunting....

thanks, Robb

[Pops]

they aren't hounds at all. they are curs. cold nosed houlas are about as common as hen's teeth. most run silent. generally they are a lot grittier than most hounds i've seen so be prepared for a fair bit of stapling. they tend to not take any crap from other dogs (and since a lot of the houndsmen i've met in the SE tolerate fight picking hounds they don't like the houlas) but once they start fighting w/ another dog it'll be a blood bath cause they don't stop after a few nips. they also tend not to be stranger friendly in the woods and so are harder to steal. on thier own property (including your truck) they can be downright dangerous to unwanted visitors. now this describes the hyoulas i knew as a kid and about half are still like this.
the other half run the range to open, timid and super friendly. also there are now lines that have never been worked in the woods and are only good for the bay pen. worse yet there are some folks breeding only for the pretty colors & ribbons on the bench.
if you are looking for good stock that can be found on the web, i'd start w/ Doug Mason or Jeff Treader (Sanglier kennel) in TX or if you don't care about papers Larry Parker in LA has good gritty curs that have some houla in them.

[bigboarstopper]

Ive run only hogs with my own dogs and Catahoula blood has been the majority of it. Ive heard of people using them for other game but I think they fall short for everything else but hogs and herding cattle. Silent trailing and shorter noses is the standard.

My catahoulas have been very friendly dogs with one exception. And that one exception was pretty much as Pops described in the way they protect the truck, owner and family. Although dog fighting was not an issue. The rest of the dogs have been exceptionally friendly with children, strangers, other dogs ect. As a matter of fact my wife is a vice principal at an elementary school and she brings the dogs on "animal awarness day" where the children learn how to associate with dogs.

But to sum it up catahoulas are great hog dogs. If I was ever to chase a different game animal I would get a breed better suited for that particular game.

[pegleg]

I've seen a small number of them and hunted behind a even smaller number. I don't think they are really needed in a pack they only bring intelligence and aggression to the table. and those two traits aren't real hard to find in a hound. I have hunted behind some hound x's and they still didn't add anything. there main strength is in baying game not cold trailing or even real good at pushing a warm track. may help a bear pack that needs the extra fire. I would just have steer anyone looking for cathounds completely away from them as they are almost the opposite of what a good cat dog is. they can hold a rough cow up real good but are rough on them.

[southwestwalkers]

Thanks for the info gents... I like walkers and blueticks myself.

[arizonabeagle]

coldest nosed dog i've ever seen was a half catahoula half walker dog..she could flat out move a track..sharp as a tack and handled well too..

[wanchese]

best damn hog dogs you can get but the ones i got won't do anything on a bear. my male use to would run a bear but he ran up on a bear grabbed it like he does a hog , now he has claw marks from the back of his neck all the way to his hips and won't go any where neear a bear. he is still the best hog dog we have ever had just not good for bears. every one that i have seen is silent on track til they bay up but thats how i like them for hog hunting.

[Mike Leonard]

That old Cathoula got smart quick. Hogs can be rough but compared to a bad assed bear those no neck turning piggys don't hold a candle. They rip the guts out of a lot of dogs but that's because they can.Get one of them brave boys with those pig stickers to run in there on a big black boar bear and grab him by a hind leg and jerk him up and stick him. LOL!

I had an old partner from California years back and he said lets go hog hunting. I said ok want me to get the hounds? He said no just call Molly my border collie we will get a pickup load for a big BBQ. Ok so we go out to a place where the feral hogs was pretty thick. He had some feed out so we go down there and get out he said Molly, go get some pigs so off she goes. In a little bit we here her yip so we heads that way. Well pretty quick she is yipping a lot. Well we sneak in there and she had a sow with a bunch of pretty good sized shoats bayed up and she is running around them but staying back out of harms way. My partner lays down behind this log and he has this little 218 Bee Lever action rifle with a side mounted scope. Pop, Pop,Pop, Pop! and then says, come on Molly that's enough. That was it, he said I would no more run my good hounds on these than the man in the moon. Well like I said my hog hunting expereince ain't much but we ate good. Bears? I have had a good deal more to do with them and you ain't gonna do that with bears.

Catahoulas best I seen was catch dog on wild cattle but surly and sort of hard on others. Pretty dogs though.


Wonder if they would work on turkeys? Naw I doubt it turkey hunting is a highly technological sport.Putt! Putt! Phuftt! Damn Bert I had em coming in till that farmer over there stopped to open the gate and that door on his old Ford pickup creaked as he opened it and they are running towards him. LOL!