rigging for bear

[lioncommander]

i am trying to desine a really nice rigging box but i am wanting to know the higher in the air your rigging dog is will it be easier or hard for them to rig a bear.

[houndman5]

the higher in the air you put them,the more game your gunna wind from off the hill. my dox is as tall as my truck tool box. it works just fine.

[lioncommander]

i am wanting to build the box so they will be standing about the top of my cab. that is why i dont know if that will be to high.

[1whitedog]

there are a couple reasons that sometimes i like a lot shorter rig
1) if im rigging when it is colder, it is nice to have that cold air off my old dogs
2) if you rig some rougher roads or roads that have alot of overhead brush

[BEAR HUNTER]

I agree. All the bear and cat hunting we do is by rigging. I have tried the taller boxes and the shorter boxes. I have found what works best for me is one that puts the dogs head just over the cab. If you get it to tall they dont have as steady a ride, get hit with more cold air, and I cant see the dogs as well.

The box I have now is my favorite. Has the riggin holes in the side and a rack for putting dogs up on the box. I will never go back to the box with out the holes in the sides.

[ZeluvaRIP69er]

On our Toyotas we have one of each.

On dads the box is pretty tall, the rig platform floor ends about 4 inches from the top of the mirror. It is very hard to see the dogs and that scares us a lot. We didn't make it so not much we could do lol.

The one that I used we did build, imagine three 2x4 stacked on top of eachother, going across the bed of the truck on the side rails, thats exactly how tall my rig platform is. Real easy to see dogs, they can get their heads out, I can crawl in there, it was prolly the best box we made for hunting.

I would definatly go with the shorter on, there is nothing more scary then lookin back and not seeing your best rig dogs and the panic of jumping out and they are thankfully on top fine, but they can fall off, even with rails.

I don't like rails on the side. I watched Cabo get turned off and his front legs fall through and if we wouldn't have caught him he prolly would have broken both legs.

I think a slide in box or one that is bolted into the truck that is low enough to see them, tall enough to get their heads out, and one they can be sent straight off the box without breaking a leg on a rail is the perfect box

[mpritchard]

The box I have now is my favorite. Has the riggin holes in the side and a rack for putting dogs up on the box. I will never go back to the box with out the holes in the sides.

Well Said Bear Hunter!! Them riggin holes are the cats meow. I have a short rack on the box for tyeing down tools etc, but only put up the dogs if they want to ride up there.

[mpritchard]

Some cool ideas here....

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=513

[radar]

Yep bearhunter is right... Here one of on the way home

Heres the one I taged this year my first bear!

[BuckNAze]

I agree with BEAR HUNTER, if you watch a wind tunnel of a car you see most of the air from driving the car/truck is coming right over the top of the rig. Although you need to make sure you aren't going too slow or not enough air will go over the top, but also you can't go too fast obviously with dogs on top. Mine seems to work ok, but going to get an aluminum one made shortly and get rid of my current truck:

Yes thats shit on the top of the box:

[1whitedog]

just a couple other quick thoughts why we are on the topic. i have two boxxes one is a diamond deluxe full size with windows and the works, the other is a $50 wood special with metal over the wood. both have windows and rigging racks. the diamond deluxe has a divider and two doors, nice sliding windows etc. the windows on my wood box are ply board over bolts with wing nuts. the main difference is that the wood box is 3/4 truck lenght. i like this alot and it gives you room to take trash to the dump or put game in the bed. just something i would give consideration. windows are very nice to have to if not a must, does'nt have to be anything fancey. one other idea that i have seen and probally will add to one of my rigs this year is a large PVC (4") pipe with elbow connected to the rig. this has a spikket on the back and is used to carry water for the dogs.

[Mackdog]

ZeluvaRIP69er: I have never had a problem with my side rails. If your dog is that clumsy, leave it in the box. My dogs use the side rails to rest against and I think it makes the rough ride much easier on them. I fear finding a strangled dog hanging off the side of my pickup from the front rail much more than a broken leg. Legs can be fixed.

Height depends on the terrain you hunt. In theory, when hunting steep ground you would want the dogs high and vice versa. A friend of mine suggested an adjustable height platform that would mount into two hitch recievers in a front bumper. It would be good fab project but would leave you with two good winch mounts as well (if your winch is mounted to a stinger). That way if your hunting flats, put em on the ground and raise accordingly. I believe having a platform close to the ground would be a good way to start cat strike dogs as well, given a good set of tracks. Let me know if you want more detail.

[BlacktailStalker]

Only thing I dont like about the rig holes is the aluminum gouges the shit out of the collars, they get scratched up pretty quick. Not a big deal but still...
I think my next box I'll go to a rectangular window that folds up to create an overhang and have inspection ports put in the part that flips up for when its latched closed (for ventilation)
This way the dogs will really be able to hang their heads out over the side and really work.

[lepcur]

Here's a couple pics. of mine, it works real well like this as I don't have to put the dogs on top if the weather is bad and they can all rig and without having to climb up top to secure them.


Here's a pic. of the rear view, the box on the left side is a onboard ice chest with 2" rigid foam and the right box is for dry storage, it'a all alum. pop rivited to a 14 gauge galv. steel frame to keep it light weight.

Here's a overall view.

Mike

[Machias]

That is a really nice setup Mike!