BigGameHoundsmen.com

How many dogs should you run on bobcats at a time. Let us know what area you are from. I think that might make a difference in your answer. I like to run 6 to 8. When I am training I run them all up to 14. That can cause a lot of over running and longer races. In open country it will cause a few missed trees, harder to locate. It also lets me know what dogs do not fit in. When I am hide hunting or guiding I will cut my pack in 1/2 so I can have fresh dogs to hunt. I hunt Oregon east and west and northern Cal. Dewey

I hunt 3 finished dogs, 2 started dogs, and a pup. I prefer to try and keep 4 decent dogs and 1 or 2 young dogs. I hunt NW Oregon, and when drawn, lions in Eastern Wa. Any more than 6 and I start to pull my hair out.

1 to 4 dogs south central Montana

I think the odds are the best with 2 in WI, 3 is still ok with a trainee in there and 4 sometimes doesn't mess it up too much. (note that I said trainee and not tranny).

I actually think it is better to have more guys in the woods than dogs once you think it is jumped or close to it. Set up and ready to buckshot them on the circle. It all depends if your main objective is to train dogs or to kill the cat. I have no doubt what is the most productive, it's just not as good of a test for the dogs.

4 guys and 2 good dogs in good snow got a real good chance at a cat on the box in WI.

i am hunting 7 right now 8 when i let my terrier go with them. 5 of them are pretty well broke and capeable of catching there own cat so its not that stressful . i dont like haveing to many young dogs when cold trailing because that is when they tend to jump deer. the 2 young dogs i have havent ran a deer yet so thats good maybe they never will. treed a cat this morning in this wheather that is pretty good i think this winter the kitties better watch out im in southern oregon coast.

jc

I don,t think it makes much different on dry ground, if all dogs are broke dogs. Maybe one pup goes. I think maybe not on deep snow.
I like to take every dog I own, Feeding dogs & not hunting them, never mad much sense
to me. This way your culling program is always working.

Southeastern US.

6 to 8 Cat Hounds, 2 young Hounds (1 to 3 yrs old), 2 Pups (6 months to 1 yr)

CJC

I think it depends on the quality of dogs. How much they have been hunted .And how much they have been hunted together.I hunt in NW Oregon.If the dogs are inexperienced 1 or 2 is plenty.Also if the hunter is inexperienced 1 or 2 is plenty.If you can hunt as much as Dewey and Dads Dogboy a larger amount say 6 or more at a time would be fine.I have 3 that are two or older. 1 that is 6 months old and a litter of pups due any day that I plan on keeping 1 out of.

. Nolte's comment about more guys in the woods than dogs is what you will see here time after time, nothing against that but it's the truth. If your treeing cat's here consistantly then more than likely you have that ONE of a kind dog that most houndsmen strive to get a chance to hunt with. Of course with him you can pack dog's behind him but there just along for the ride, which is were I like to be to, somehow overwhelming the wood's with guy's seem's to take away from why I'm there. With good cat dog's 1 or 2 is the norm here in michigan.

ONE TO FOUR

When hunting alone I use 3 dogs but if I was joined by my buddies we would get as many as 7 dogs going at one time here in southern california.

Southern Oregon

I drop whatever I have in the box.. I've always had a hard time feeding something and leaving it at home.. My dog numbers are always different.. This year I should have 2 (maybe 3) experienced dogs and 2 or 3 pups.. Yeah.. I'll turn them all out and see what happens..

So why do you run a few dogs or several on a track? Some of you gave your reasons, that's how many you have, to many stomp out the track in the snow, to many young ones and you run trash, one supper dog does it all anyway... So is this true or is it the folk lore that has been handed down through the years from one person to the next? In different areas that I have hunted in there is truths that everyone knows. Are they truly truths or not? Somethings are not as they seem. For example starting tracks from the rig 40 years ago it was impossible to do, catch bobcat in the desert on bare ground, and have a walker dog that trees we all know that they are just fox dogs. Dewey

In the area I hunt and in the snow it seems the more dogs you have out the more trouble they have on cold trailing as the area gets to tracked up with dog tracks and the dogs are to busy checking every track out and it just slows the trailing progress up. If I could turn out on good hot tracks I would dump as many as I have, the more the better but it just doesnt work that way as the high majority of the tracks I turn out on are colder tracks that take some grubbing to get the cat jumped. There have been many times once the cat is up and jumped and I am able I will throw every dog that is in the box and this does seem to be a plus for putting an end to the race a little quicker sometimes. I sure wish I had the answer to all your questions Dewey as when you post one of these it makes me think way harder than I like too I have just hunted so long that I have to stop and thinks why I do the things I do and sometimes I dont know why I do things the way I do. what I just said just in that last sentence just about confussed me later, Andy

I have hunted from just 2 up to 9 at a time. I prefer to hunt 4 dogs that compliment each other in one way or another. The problem with only hunting mature dogs is they get old and die, as we all know. I had a few dogs that worked well together and didn't feel pushed to get younger dogs going. I figured I had 5 years before they started slowing down and that would give me time to get young ones started later. 5 years goes by way to fast. Next thing you know I have wore out and dead dogs (old age) and nothing to replace them.

I would probably hunt 6 or 7 finished dogs if I could find that many at one time worth owning. That is the challenge for me, raising or buying just 3 or 4 finished dogs takes a lot of time or money. I have never had more than 4 dogs at a time that were really all that good of dogs. So for now I will hunt the 6 I have and hope the young ones turn out.

I don't know if any folk lore has much to do with it, just what I feel most comfortable with. I think you could hunt 20 dogs if they were used to each other and were for the most part decent dogs. If one dog is doing all the work then the others shouldn't stick around for more than a couple seasons. JMO.