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Just wanting to find out as much as I can about bobcat hunting in the West Virginia/ Virginia area! I have a nice young female I would like to start training to hunt bobcat and raccoon. But need help in the training part as should I set a trail drag for coon first or bobcat. Or should I get a seasoned dog to just run with them. What are your tips, thoughts and suggestions on how I should start off?

where about you hunting around, I'm not far from wv in va. The best advice I can give you that I have received on starting cats from scratch is to get a skiff of snow and go ride some roads, try to find a track and walk the dog out the track until they get excited about it. I've always wanted to run some cats but have really struggled to get my feet off the ground. However I've got 2 very solid coon hounds and for the most part all I hunt is mountain country and national forest. The best I can tell you on starting a coon dog is to scrap the drags and baying a cage coon. Catch a coon and soak it down good and cut it loose wait about 15 min and then cast your dog toward the area you turned the coon out. Let your dog run a couple turn loose coons on top of hunting spots you know have a coon population. Putting out a feeder will help but I expect like me you will have more bear hitting the feeder this time of year than coon and that may lead to other issues.good luck and have fun!

What type of dog is your female?

I know that some of the men who catch bobcats in that part of the country are fox hunters primarily. They do not allow coon races but will run cats with their fox dogs, especially in the winter when fox running is not as good.

Just another angle to consider. Might depend on if your dog is coon bred or fox bred? As you will find in other threads on here: coon can be a huge distraction when trying to trail bobcats. But coon are fun too, and maybe even a lot more fun than bobcats. I think bobcat hunters might be doing penance for sins rather than trying to have fun.

Where do you plan on hunting in West Virginia? I did some hunting there and can help point you to some decent populations and area's that get good enough snow to help train your dogs. If coon hounds is all you can get your hands on you'll be fine. People forget all these West Coast dogs came from the East coast and Coon hounds. Some dog's will have it some won't.

I do most of my hunting in and around greenbrier county, WV and up into Pocahontas County, WV

Well north eastern fox dogs and bobcat dogs have historically been more houndy single or couple of hounds .