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over the years of running the bobcat what is your catch percentage. im talking not with your best dog im talking every race u ever had . EVER. a track that the dogs could move . in your mind a catchable cat track .

By race are you including all tracks ever started, tracks moved but never jumped, or just jumped tracks?

JC: It should go up and down with the current dogs one has. I marked 50% but thinking about the last two years I have completed over 70% of the tracks started and over 90% jumped. Dewey

im going to change dogs or go hunt a different area my 30% looks pretty sorry.
jc

JC, by Race, I presume that you mean a Cat Race after the Cat is jumped. That being the case we catch,tree or put in a hole or log pile over 90% of these. 7% or so we catch the Hounds off of for reasons like they are approaching a Hwy, a property we do not have permission to be on or other not so good reasons.

Now we only run 1/4 or so of the Tracks struck....so we are feeding sorry Hounds too!

This isnt all to do with your dogs here guys, lets face it, experinced cat hunters are going to set dogs up for success, where as the amiture cat hunter is going to catch fewer cats. However when a cat is jumped we do expect to catch it, thats the dogs half of the deal. Some do get away tho, thats what keeps it fun and interesting, its like a test everytime.

I fully expect to end 85 to 90 percent of the "jumped" cats my dogs can get that far with. If they can get the cat as far as the jump it should be treed or holed up in the rocks. Those percentages drop fast depending on the terrain you are jumping the cat in.

I judge catching a cat by the terrain the cat was caught in. Some terrain is so easy that I would fully expect to tree every cat that was jumped, while other terrain is so rough that if you averaged 30% you would be doing well. I believe a successful cat hunt and catch percentages has a lot to do with the areas you are hunting in.

I would say if you have an overall catch percentage of 50% on all your tracks started you should be very pleased with the hounds you are hunting.

Times two CRA. Also will add, not sure how cats do it, but, as long as I have hunted cats in this area, there have been some that can be very hard to get a tight jump on. In visiting with the hunter who has bobcat hunted harder & longer than anyone in this area, he stated it/s simple, if dogs can/t smell a track, they can/t run it. Thanks my experience Thanks Al Baldwin

X2 with CRA very well put.

I voted 70% and above and it is close to 100% but feel bad because I'm a cat hunter but I'm also a lion hunter and turn out on most of my cats in the snow and any cat I turn on is fresh enough that I Know I will catch. So feel free to strike my vote from the record.I only catch 4 to 6 cats a year anyways.

i run over a hundred cats a year . and have for almost 20 years . before that i was hunting with my dad and heard alot of races . i can say 30 % is a fair number in that time , i have started from scratch 3 times in the last 15 years so catching 1 out of 5 was common with training a young dog . if i was smart and kept a finished dog the whole time i guess my percentage would be higher. now that i have built a good pack again i will never start over from scratch . it takes way to long and is to much work.

jc

jc, please what ever you say, don't say never for never is a long time. and i felt as you also. someone i considered a best friend, and partner in hounds that we advertised for about 8 years in two of the major hound publications. said to me one night after showing a stud dog to someone interested in breeding to him. i wonder if any of these people know what they are hunting with. he looked at me and smiled, i really don't think we will know till it's gone. more true words have never been spoken. so take care of it while ya have it as it can slip away quickly. take care

J.C., I know your story. Looking back there alway's seems to be a better way to have gone about things. I also know that if you could have done it any different you wouldnt have. Because that 30% catch rate is proof you have put your time in, taken dogs that were nothing and made something out of them. Plus, I appreciate your honesty or maybe its just your realistic approach to training. More than I can say for some others on here. John.

I don't hunt many cats myself but the guy I've got my dogs from John Ray n my buddy that hunts with him are very successful. Not many get get away n if they do it's from goin in a cave or a place like private dirt where they would have to catch hounds. Last year I don't think any got away n this year I think a couple made the cave or hole in the rock. As far as terrain it's in the u.p of Michigan. We have the same success on bear. The ole boy has line bred these hounds for 45 yrs n he's done something rite. I plan on breeding them for the next 45,if I live that long.

im lost for words . i didnt know there were so many guys out there that caught over 50% of the cats the EVER ran in there entire life.
is it the country?
the breed of dog?
the houndsmen?
it cant be the houndsmen the only thing he can do is put the dog on a cat.
dont say walk the track with the dogs and help them out . if u tried that where i live u would never here the race . or know where your dogs are . if u could keep up with the dog u would never catch the cat
i think it is the terraine and the cat u are running.
there is a cat that i have ran 4 times this year .
first time lost it in a windfall patch
second time dogs treed couldnt find it
third time dogs treed couldnt find it
forth time it went on a rock
did i count any of these as a catch no.
that sure kills the percentage.
i have 6 or 7 cats like that around that i run, ask TRW how they run around here.