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Went out last night about 9 oclock . It is rifle deer season now so i will only hunt at night . I pull up to my usual spot, collar up the dogs and start roading them to clean them out. After they are cleaned out i tell them to load up and start rigging back out the road i just cleaned them out on . They strike and up the hill they go . As i watch the garmin i can see they are only 26 yrds up the hill . (i love that thing). So they start to open heading up the hill. I drove around above them after they started cold trailing to keep the cat from heading to a fence he likes to lose the dogs in. Before they get to me they start parralling the road heading back down the mountain. In the back of my mind i start thinking of the house that is down the canyon, it is still a mile away but that is the direction they are headed.
The house down the canyon is one of those houses that probably has one of those crops that is really close to harvest time. They also have a couple pitbulls i was told. The dogs still have to go over 1 ridge and down that drainage quite aways before they get there so im not to worried yet but is is on my mind.
They are moving the track pretty good now and head over the ridge towrds the house . They are in some 15yr old reeprod that is full of briars and poison oak. There are some oldgrouth trees in the bottom that i have treed cats in before so im hopeing that is where the race will end.They head right to the oldgrouth and keep going now im worried.
I drive down the road to get closer when i stop and get out i can here the pittbulls barking because they can here the hounds. f%%% S%%% G%% Damit .The hounds jump and head down farther . I drive down the road and when i stop and get out they are treed .Im happy and it was a great cat race around 2 hours, but these pitbulls and weed growers got me nurves. got to finish later

So on my garmin it says 786yrds thats a long ways in this brushy broken up ground. I grab my trusty mini mag flashlight ,the one that takes dubble A batteries. That is going to leave me stranded one night forsure. On the way to the tree the pitbulls quit barking so im thinking they are either in the house or they are coming to the dogs . Im thinking that would be really great to run into them with no gun.
So i finally get to the tree and my best dog is at least 20 feet up the tree . like i wasnt stressed out enough. Sure enough she falls out . thud . I just found the cat when i here the people down at the house start shooting . All the dogs shut up and listen so i start calling them and head tords the truck. With my 7 dogs i made it to the pickup thank god . It was 3 in the morning what a stressful night . Now looking back it was a great cat race and the dog that fell out of the tree is fine i guess its all good.
Thought i would share it with you.

jc

Thanks for sharing it's a good story and I sure hope your dog is OK...

That is the kinda hunt that make your muscles hurt afterwords because you had them all clenched with worry and stress all night.. Good story tho.. Glad it all worked out and you had a cat up the tree.. My old Mabel dog fell 60ft out of a tree (twice) and it didn't do anything long term to her..

Great story JC and you would do it all over again in a heart beat later, Andy

great story man! sounds like some sh%t that happens to me on a regular basis so I feel ya. it's never quite as fun while it is happening as it is when your safely home with all the dogs and tellin the story.

Sounds pretty western !
At least there was a tree in the story

Hey where is my voice mail recording of the race ha ha ha. Like you did not already have enough on your mind. Great story. Glad all the dogs are OK, and you did not find that Oregon mountain farmers crop. that could be bad.