BigGameHoundsmen.com

What are Gascons? I had never herd of them until I came onto this site. They are beautiful dogs, do they hunt like the other hounds, are they as cold nosed as a newer style Blue Tick. I have seen the Old Fashion blue ticks, but the Gascons seem to be bigger. I would love to hear what they are and where they origanate from.

I will attempt a brief answer,
there is also ample info on the web(http://clubbleugascogne.free.fr/)to further supply your curiosity:

The Gascon is a breed of hound presumably descending from the Saint Huberts hound.It was developed in the Gascogny region of France and employed mainly in hunting Wolf, for which it recieved fame due to its excellent application in this task.The great success led it to being awarded part responsibility for the extermination of the Wolf from western Europe.
Many Wolf bounty hunters used this breed due to its excellent nose, single track persistance, enormous endurance, large physical size, great voice and immense courage.
I have read accounts from history of the hounds remaining on the track of a single wolf for several days.

The popularity of the breed apparently diminished slightly with the descimation of its main quarry whereafter it was then applied in the hunting of wild Boar, Deer and small game for which it is most commonly used nowdays.

The Blue tick coonhound has without doubt Bleu de Gascogne blood as one of its cornerstone foundations.

The Virelade hound breed(Saintonage), also a famed Wolf hunting breed, was rescued from extinction by breeding Grand Bleu's from the Kennels of Baron De Ruble with the last 3 remaining Virelades, resulting in the Gascon Saintongeois.
Here is a picture - I hope nobody protests as it is from another site.

Go down about 4 threads to "difference" and read the whole thing... it will shed a bit of light about Gascons/ Gran Bleu-de Gascognes.

the American Blue Gascons are fundamentally old line heritage type Blues that have been maintained from some of the original stocks used bu the American hunters in the past... The Gran Bleu's again were basically bred for hunting boars, hares and stags in France... a study of conformation and structure will show that there will be a big difference in how they run and handle different terrain.

when the American Blue Gascon Association was formed for lack of a better name the "Gascon " label was put on them to differentiate them from the smaller types of blueticked hounds.