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Just wondering what everyone else's thoughts were on what happened to the breeding of walkers over the past 30 years. When I got into hound hunting I purchased a couple finley river pups and caught a pile of game with them, and a couple years later three house bred dogs. None of them were culls, just balanced hounds ,showed them some game and took them to woods and they went to work, and honest tree dogs, now over the past 15 plus years you have to go through a pile of them to get even a decent dog on track and tree, I think we are going backwards???

I have always pondered that myself. I came to the conclusion that when the price of fur went thru the roof, everyone wanted a dog and the price went from 200 bucks for a decent dog to thousands and then came the puppy mills. I remember a time when a hundred dollar dog would catch you game and a two hundred dollar dog would do it anywhere you turned it loose. jmo

There are some hunters still breading for those traits in the walker hounds. Just need to check out who you buy from. Al

If anyone knows who's still breeding with good results feel free to post.

al baldwin wrote:There are some hunters still breading for those traits in the walker hounds. Just need to check out who you buy from. Al

I agree Al, Just off the top of my head if I was looking for a Walker I'd get a hold of Bob Marosok. But you will need to be willing to pay for his years of hard work . Biggest trouble with guys buying pups now a days comes from trying to save a buck and buying a pup from someone that uses the original breeders name to try and sell pups. Pay the money and buy the pup from the man with the name that is being used to sell the pup.

They are still out there. Andy

I think the walkers are bred too much for the competitions. They want a dog that will not cold trail, rather run the woods grabbing trees.
I know that there are still some strains that are good hounds but I would stay away from the type of hounds that are winning the hunts.
Adios,
Gary

it just isn't the tree dog , its the running dog also, in my opinion its the people that owns the dog, a lot don't know what a dog is suppose to do other than eat and poop, a lot wouldn't know a hound is he licked them on the hand, in the running dog world the pens have ruined the walker hound, they breed for speed and don't care what he does as long as he crosses the road first, don't care if he will even bark, and breed cutters and slashers, that will cut thereselfes out of a race, as long as they win they don't care, as I see it a 50 cent dog for a 50 cent trophy, as I see it breed your own cause a lot of peoples preferences are a lot different than mine ! I will only buy a pup from a man that hunts with me and then I have to see over and over what the male and the gyp are like . if I don't know forget it I wont own one, that's why I breed my own . I want a complete hound not a pack dog, he must be able to run it by himself , trail it jump it and run it for me to even consider breeding one , but most don't care they think theres is the best and are blind to the fact that they are culls !!! that's my opinion on hounds today.

I think the Internet strain of walkers has taken it's toll! Before I converted to Walkers I was bitter about the breed as a whole and didn't like walkers PERIOD because I watched truck loads hunt and none suited me, for big game many lines/strains are spineless!..... An old bobcat hunter from Oregon told me something about forty years ago that really stuck, at the time I called bull@#$%t on him, he said, eventually if you hunt hounds long enough you will never own any other breed of hounds than the Walker, here was his take and reasoning..... There are ten times more walkers than any other breed of hounds and ten times more culls!

You just find the right strain and you will never hunt anything else. Words of wisdom that I hold today........For me? Seeing was believing and once the Walkers kicked my other breeds butt on big game and all around hunting (All around hounds are all I will feed)that made my big game breed and strain look sad? I switched but still struggle to find the strain that has the consistency to suit my daily demands, this quest is never ending.Old fashioned get out and hunt hard is dwindling because you don't need to prove a line, the perception and power of the internet has created far greater hounds than in the early days before all the gadgetry.

You need to be able to sort the fly shit from the pepper! Good hounds and hunters are out there! 90% of the game is treed by the same ten percent, always has and always will. The time and dedication required to make a top houndsmen is immeasurable and to become a top breeder is so far beyond most houndsmen's expertise even after many decades of successful hound hunting. Good breeders are still out there but most are hunting and don't need to advertise on here! I made the mistake of buying the internet hype and went through many of the top Walkers in the Nation, even traveling to the East Coast for one walker strain highly promoted on the internet and found them to be mainly culls!

The problem in my opinion was/is the promoters who call any line/strain one thing while looking at the pedigrees are simply outcrossed to other lines, those breeders still cling to the originators name for Salesmanship purposes, that to me is like crossing a ford to a chevy and wondering why the parts don't fit?.... I find the best hounds for what I hunt are bred within driving distance of home and still think this way! Just my opinion for what it's worth, not to cause a fire storm on here....Hunt what you like and do what you want.

Mike

I have not been in the game very long. So I don't know what has happened to them the last few decades except from what I have heard from people who have seen the change. But I can tell you what is currently happening more often then not and its changing the breed for the worse by in large. I know there are allot of people out there breeding correctly and I am sure thankful for that. But as mentioned a little before the most drastic change is coming from the competition hunting world. I am a walker man and have got my hounds from a guy who is doing it right, but have seen the best and worst of both worlds and the competition breeding stock as a whole makes me mad. I have allot of friends in the competition game and some have fallen into the money trap which is what is causing the entire situation. Right now you can sell pups out of the hottest stud dog and any grand night female for 500 bucks a pop. The good thing is if you are a good handler you could finish a lab or a border collie out to be a grand night. And in the competition game in my experience, every tree is circled anyway. So the first dog to go in and tree is the best regardless if there is game in the tree or not. So there are allot of guys out there with 5 grand night females in the back yard that can't tree a coon on there own, much less a tougher big game critter. But since they tree, and throw pups that tree, they are bred every time they come in heat. Less brains, and nose, and tracking ability with every breeding. And I don't see it getting much better any time soon. So be smart about who you buy your hounds from. Papers are worthless, its putting game in the tree that matters to me. I may be preaching to the choir but I have only been seriously hunting for three years and it makes me mad. With all this said I have done some competition hunting and have papered dogs, but I wish people would stop breeding treeing idiots to treeing idiots so that 25 years from now good classy walkers wont be hard to find.

I was in a conversation about this the other day but not just walker hounds but all breeds of hounds . I too believe its the competiton hunting ruining the hounds

Whats wrong with most today is they got away from what made them good/great! Goes for strains and breeds. Like Al said there are guys still doing it today. And can't type enough to improve on what Mike stated.

Who is breeding a consistent line of walker hounds that are proven on cat.?

I am in Lufkin Texas and I have a male walker that I brought from California I got him from a non conventional breeder who hunted all the way up to when Cali banned dogs from running bear his mother was a cat only hound and his father was a bear and cat runner non trial type hounds I have only had him out twice here and by instinct only zero work up he has successfully trees two Bobcats and killed about four neighborhood cats but I am looking to breed him he is only three if anyone is interested or knows some one please contact me I hate to see bloodlines that have the instinct die out


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