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I got a dog from my buddy back in August and it's a Matthes/red bone, anyone know about their history?

Steve Matthes lived in Mad River,Ca He wrote a book called Ol Brave I know the history is in there. I was at his place right before he passed on and I'm pretty sure that they were'nt redbones but red in color for sure. Might ask this same ? on the lion forum as they were primeraly lion dogs.

The late Steve Matthes was a freind of mine and truely one of the lion hunting greats from the far west. Steve not only was a top lion and jaguar hunter(for he spent a lot of time successfully after the big spotted cats), but also one of the most inovative trainers and breeders of big game hounds.He was also a very nice man who had patience enough to put up with a young guy like me that was so full of questions. LOL!

Correct: Steve's dogs were not redbones but Steve was fond of that color and usually chose the red colored dogs to breed although many of his dogs had black saddles or even high tan color. Steve's dogs were a combination of local Coastal dogs mixed with some very early southwest hound lines that Steve said traced right back to some of the hounds that Ben Lilly owned. Steve's dogs were chosen for extreme grit and intelligence and he was a sticker for and extremely cold nosed dog but the dog had to be able to get up and move out on a track. Steve preffered smaller dogs and usually chose that size for breeding and some of his better males like Tippy and Frisco weighed around 40 pounds maybe a little less. His most famous dog Brave was a rather odd looking hound with high set ears and an almost cur looking head. Brave however retained a huge bawl mouth and was a very cold nosed dry ground dog that had zero fear in him, hence the name Brave. Steve's excellent book ( Brave and Other Stories) sadly is out of print but if you find yourself lucky enough to locate a copy you will have a true houndman's treasure.

There are a few hunters around the country that still have some of Steve's bloodline but they are becoming extrememly hard to find.


Hope your dog does well for you if it is from Steve's line you can proudly say you own a dog that has a line to one of the greatest lion hunters of all time.

Really appreciate the info. That is quiete the history. I guess I can consider myself really lucky then. If you send me an e-mail I can show you what his partial line looks like on my end atleast. Thanks for the help!

Sorry hre is a larger pic

I know a guide in south eastern co. that is running line bred mathes offspring and have been told there are a couple others in that area trying to keep them going and pure. they do lion hunt but I haven't been up there in some time, so couldn't say hat quality they are getting now but assume it's got to be at least satisfactory and all their hounds are the small, semi pricked ear, rust red colored type.

I dunno but I can gurantee you the dog in that picture is matthews lined

I only added info there not questioning your faith in your hounds bloodline. your post seemed to be asking for info on the mathes strain past and present. if i mistook your post in some way that would be my bad. who did you purchase the hound from? was it the original breeder of the litter?

m

Dick muldoon had matthis dogs that he got directly from Steve( at least that is what he said) Dick is deseased now

I met a guy from CA named Alan bear hunting in NM that had alot of Matthis bred dogs and sounded like he new Steve. Dont know his last name or where in CA he lived but he would be good guy to get ahold of about the line

m

wanapasaki wrote:Thnks Big Mike, yeah steve had mentioned he sells alot of pups to a guy in new mexico so im assuming we re talking about the same steve

dale cole in oklahoma had some mathes dogs that he got from dick muldoon in new mexico,i dont know either man but talked with both of them 4-8 years ago dont exactly remember.i was looking for a pup at the time.also there is a guy in texas that has some of them,a few years ago he advertised registered mathess pups for sale.i saw that in full cry.there is also a retired cop or game warden that writes a colum in full cry thats had some at one time.i can find his name if need be. hope this helped ps just remembered another guy,travis leteer in idaho had one or more a few years back.

The mans name you probably meet in NM is out of California and he has some of the the closest mathis blood his name is Allen Casibek (may have mispelled that last name) And he is a good houndsmen and hunter with a very vast knowledge of those dogs.

Kevin

wanapasaki wrote:Nah, I got the dog in Central California from Harvey Stepehens. I guss Harvey aquired those dogs from a gentlemen named Dick Muldoon? Still trying to get info on him. I know I can get paperwork on my dog, but there is no reason for Harvey to lie to me about the lineage. I'm just glad the dog apparently has a great pedigree. He is very cold nosed, and he started cold trailing at about 16 weeks old. He's a great dog and I expect great things this year.

i also remember a guy named ernie strahm in oregon that i think was carrieng on mathes dogs,he lived west of salem somewhere in the valley,but this was 20 years ago or more,some of the oldtimers here would know him

Dog is for sale now..