BigGameHoundsmen.com

Best person to get my dog started with or talk to about Bobcat hunting. I have been thinking about sending my dog to someone to get started on just bobcat hunting but I don't know where to start. So I figured I would ask on the forum and find out who agrees with who! Is the best bobcat dog trainer/ hunter. Or maybe the best place close to Virginia to head to do my own bobcat hunting/ training with someone.

For your dogs sake and your own. Find someone as close to home as possible. Most importantly make sure the habitat and style of hunting is as close to yours as you can get. There's proponents of many different styles. The real trick is realizing what is most promising for your area and what you envision as bobcat hunting. If you don't enjoy one style your not as likely to continue.

Crossed wires. I had some information here that was incorrect. I'll post the correct information when I get the time. Ben Martin is NOT the man training young dogs on bobcat.

I agree with Pegleg. Start looking around your area for houndsmen who run bobcats. Try and hunt with several different hunters if possible. That is easier said than done, but do try. The guys that are already hunting in your area have taken alot of the guess work out of the equation and they have figured out what methods work well and which ones don't work at all. Sending a hound off to be hunted and trained is a crap shoot. Assuming the trainer is topnotch and does what he says he will do, there is a very good chance that his style of hunting may not work in your area. There is also a good chance that he has a different philosophy on what constitutes a 'well handling' hound.

I am not sure what your situation is, but I would start off by seeking out local hunters and try to develop some friendships in that area.




Tex

I would agree with Dan.A pen would be a great way to get a dog started on cats.If the dog can't tree a cat in the pen after some training then there wouldn't be any sense in taking him to the woods and expect him to tree one.

That is my position on pens. Their very best use is in exposing a dog to a good amount of game to get it started and have a good first look at what the dogs natural tendecies are. If I had one near here I would ise it the same way may outside coyote hunters do to start hundreds of dogs each year.

Hey Dan, where's Ben Martin located? Thanks.

What county are you in adshields?

I've thought about the cat pen thing a lot over the years. In certain areas I'm sure its a good starter. But for others its almost the wrong thing to do. One issue I see that I don't see as much other places is the dog has to have the mindset to wait between cats and be willing to work hard for them when they come. Sometimes you know a dog is ready it just needs a few cats.but more often the dog needs to get to the point its thinking and learning about them more then being fired up. This isn't going to happen in a pen where the cats aren't behaving normally. Which brings us to the two types of cat hunting. The hardworking thoughtful approach or the hard running hair trigger type. Both work but they also have their limits. Sometimes the best thing I can do for a hard charging hot headed dog is to burn it out and wear it down. They then start finishing more of those tracks they had been blowing up on and loosing. But if you have the conditions those dogs can stay in the scent on a cat and push it enough to catch it. Maybe understanding which type of hunting best suits you is the first step in bobcat hunting.

I believe William landrum does some cat dog training after bear season goes out, never have personally used him but a couple of guys I bear hunt with own dogs trained by William or have had dogs trained by him and have heard nothing but good about him and his program.

That number went to someone else's voicemail Dan

I got my wires crossed on the name of the guy doing this. My apologies to Ben for having to take all of the calls about he pen. It's not leagal where Ben lives. He is NOT the guy with the pen. I'll get it straitened out when I have time. I'm on the road at the moment.

Thanks for all the advice guys! I talked to Mr Martin today and we had a nice long conversation on bobcats and hunting leopards. I think I'm just going to get me some tracking scent and lay a couple trails out for the dogs to work and put some traps out and hope for the best. But If any of you find out about someone that might be close to goochland, VA on next state or two over training bobcat dogs fill free to pm me. Thanks Again!