Treed

[Bluedog88]

What do you do when the cats treed in a huge thick pine and climbs up so far you can't see it anymore?

[catdog360]

Pet the dogs and tell them they did a great job and go tree another one. Feeling pleased that you know you'll get to catch that one over and over again.

[david]

Bluedog, catdog 360 has the best answer.

Hopefully you are not as stupid or as desperate as I was. But if I had been beating my brains out for 18 months trying to tree my first or second or tenth cat, and that happened when I was young and strong, I would be up that tree with my camera or my gun. I have a few different memories of that actually.

You can climb right past the cat and not know it though. They are not necessarily close to the trunk.

Probably my favorite all time cat hunting memory was climbing up an adjacent tree, and looking across a sea of snow covered treetops. The two tallest trees were the one I was in and the one he was in. It was an amazing sight to a usually frustrated kid trying to train up some cat dogs. I will never forget it.

That time, I chose a different tree because I did not want the cat to jump out.

But If the tree the cat was in was impossible to climb, and there was a good climbing tree near it, I would climb just hoping for an angle to study the cat tree from. Sometimes it didn’t work, but sometimes it worked awesome.

If the cat tree was on a very steep slope, I would climb the slope and standing on the ground, try to find openings to look at the tree straight across; And then pick a good climber from that elevated view if I had to climb.

When it works it is fun to be looking straight across at the cat at the same elevation as you.

I can’t recomend climbing at all though. It is extremely dangerous because of the danger of falling. I don’t know the percentages, but there are men who are paralyzed because they were as dumb as me, and much less fortunate.
If you are athletic, and want to invest in safe climbing gear though, man the view can be amazing from up there (especially when the wind blows and you are swinging. It might give you just the angle you need )

[al baldwin]

Agree with catdog 360, dead cats don/t make tracks. However need to take some for the dogs when training young hounds. Thing that bothers me most in those situations is did the dogs have the critter or did they FALSE TREE, OH NO NOT MY DOGS! However it can happen to the best of them here on the Oregon Coast. Main thing is keep having fun while striving to improve your dogs. And if you a point where you catch 8 out 10 jumped cats, try leaving a few females. Wishing all a great holidays & may 2019 be better than ever. Al

[Redbarntrailhounds]

I have definitely climbed a few trees. The best tree climbing story I have was on a November coon hunt when I was 16.
It was after midnight on a school night and my buddy asked if I had time for one more spot. I said sure. We went a few miles to the next area and released three dogs and waited. In short order they had a coon running. We headed into the woods again just as excited as we were on the first race. We didn’t have tracking equipment just bells and endurance to stay with the dogs.
This time however there was a few surprises. The dogs had crossed a huge frozen up swamp pond that stretched farther than we could see. I slowly proceeded out across the pond. I yelled back to my friend to tell him it was safe. He was waiting up the bank while listening to the dogs.
He then came flying down the hill and as he passed me we both broke through and were standing thigh deep in mud. It was at that moment that dogs informed us to hurry up as they had the raccoon treed.
After struggling to get back on the ice we eventually succeeded and decided to just ge the dogs and head home.
After a short trip we found the dogs treeing on the biggest pine tree in the county. We began to look for the raccoon and after the shivering started I decided this walk would not be for nothing and I started up the tree. My freind watched the tree above me with his light for the fleeing coon. I climbed higher and higher. “I got got him”,my friend yelled. I asked where it was. He said it was just above me. I went to the far side of the tree just below the big coon. I told him to shoot it out. He pulled up his scopes rifle and shortly after yelled back for me to get down it was a bear.
One step down and there was a grouchy raccoon heading straight up towards me. Not sure how I passed him up but now I was in between to upset critters.
I kicked the tree and yell at the coon enough he finally climbed out a limb and let me pass. Needless to say I was thankful to be on the ground again and plenty ok walking out without that coon!

[david]

Oh man, what an awesome story. Make a movie of it. Lol. Repeat it to your kids at least once a year so they can tell it to your grand kids and their grandkids.

[Redbarntrailhounds]

Maybe I will tell the kids that one when they are adults. I wouldn’t want my kids on that ice or up a tree.

[merlo_105]

I personally don't say a word to the dogs till the Critter is found. If I never find the critter after how ever long I am there for I just call the dogs and walk back. If I do see it I love them up and let them tree then walk away leaving it in the tree. Good luck...

[david]

[dwalton]

I pack binoculars to trees, a lot of bobcats can be seen with a closer look with 12 power to help. I have climb a lot of trees also when younger. The best story that I have with climbing a tree I was down on our southern coast that has a lot of Tan Oaks which are heavily leafed and grow in clumps. I started up to see if if they had a coon or cat because we could see nothing up the tree from the ground. As I was climbing up a ways my buddy suggested to hold up and maybe I should back down easily because he could see movement up just above me and it was big and black. It took me no time to get back to the ground. Have a good holiday season with good hunting. Dewey

[hndhunter]

I treed this bobcat look for him in the tree for 2 hours couldn't find him ended up going home grab my two older kids and a set of binoculars went back found his out track ran him again three-quarters of a mile. Took me 30 minutes to find him with my binos. I could just pick out some tips of hair sticking out. A buddy wants told me a set of binos at a bobcat tree is just as important as the rifle.

[Bluedog88]

Thanks for the replies! It was 2 sets of tracks in the snow cut them on a side road about noon. They went into a bunch of thick blow down. Dogs worked them back to the main road. Found another track crossing the road toward where I can from. So i loaded them went back up the side road and found where all 3 sets came out. Dumped the dogs and followed the road up about a mile up at 6000 ft the snow got to deep. Started hiking up and heard the cat was jumped then Treed. Knew she would come of that tree after a while if all 3 weren't up that same tree. Still 1000 yards in deep snow. I couldn't use my snowshoes with all the thick brush. It was 3 trees 2 thick evergreens and a ponderosa pine. Treed in the thickest evergreen.Soon as I hollered good girls it climbed up and out of sight. It was raining and I had a cold but I petted them up walked around with my binoculars and couldn't find it again. Spent a while walking around looking and thinking what to do.....chainsaw....climb....burn it down...shotgun and a few hundred rounds of buck. Back to the truck loaded and dried the dogs. Then went back to the tree though some more on it and gave up.
Only thing that ever bothers me is feeling like I let my dogs down. And not being able to shoot out a cat to my pup that's been working so hard with the older dogs
Best dog Treed close to the same area last week. Bad snow and I couldn't tell. Same thick tree couldn't see anything it was so thick and I wasn't carrying binoculars. Didn't pet her up and now I'm sure there was a cat up there.
Lesson learned always carry binoculars trust your dog and maybe some tree climbing gear.

[merlo_105]

Well think of how much fun you and your dogs and your young up and coming pup had with that cat, I'm sure you want more days like that. Best just leave it in the tree. Good luck

[catdog360]

See you have tried that cat twice and he's still there to catch again. Your pup is learning way more catching that cat multiple times then killing him.

[Henefer-hound-hunter]

Me and my nine year old boy walked 2 miles through a little over a foot of snow to a bobcat tree today, when we got there they had actually holed it in a creek bottom under a fallen down tree, two dogs were down in the hole one baying at the hole. I finally got them out of the hole and that hole was deep! My boy asked now what, I said the bobcat one this round, he looked at me disgusted. I said let’s pet the dogs and we will get him next time. That was a little frustrating it would’ve been his first bobcat tree, and he worked hard to get there:)