Bluetick as a bobcat hound

H

HeartlandTrapper

New member
Im interested in getting a hound for running/treeing bobcats after graduating college. How are blueticks for trainability, loyalty, ability to cold trail and run, etc. Can you teach a hound to tree cats and coons, or just one animal? Im not very knowledgable on hounds since ive only raised labs for bird dogs. Any opinions and even breed suggestions are welcome. thanks, its just a small dream of mine
 
I've had a blue dog or two, Yes they will get the job done.

I see you said your not very knowledgeable on hounds.
If your going to get into hounding then your best bet is to save your $ and buy one that already hunts. If you have one that hunts coon you can train it to ATTEMPT to run bobcats.

A good bobcat dog is literally worth its weight in gold. The typical asking price for a bobcat dog is $10,000 if you can find someone to sell. A bobcat dog is special, most guys wont sell. You can get a pup that may be better on cats or big game and try, just because its a hound doesn't mean it will hunt.

I'm not trying to sound disheartning, but these are the facts, most of the seasoned members here will probably agree w/ me. It can take years of trial and error to come up w/ one bob dog, unless your pockets are deep and filled w/ cash.

I would start w/ a good solid 1 to 1.5 year old that already hunts, get to know him and after a couple seasons try to put him on some cat tracks.

Just my .02

Jon...
 
Dont worry bout sounding disheartening or anything like that. Like i said, im not very knowledgable with hounds. I have plenty of experience with training retrievers and training labs to point. I realize some dogs are just naturals, others take a ton of consistent training. Thanks for your input on this. The thing that got me interested was the fact that i trap bobcats already and love to catch em. Last season i was pheasant huntin when my black lab popped over a terrace at a dead run, he came back over it with a 12 lb bobcat in his mouth by the back, swingin and scratchin the whole way. My dog never looked more proud of himself, even with blood everywhere lol. We had to shoot and bring that cat home cuz it was a little crippled.
 
If your going to shop around for a blue, I think the Jet, Smokey River, and Cameron lines are the way to go.

All are proven lines, and have some good dogs that have came out of them.

Some guys say the Cameron line is over rated, but I have seen some real cold nosed hard working Cams.

I think the best route would be to start out w/ a coon hunter then live trap some bobs and work w/ the dog from there.

A blue is a good choice they tend to have a little colder nose, some will say their slow but I would rather a dog grub out a track then run it over.

It can be done, lots of hard work and patience.

Jon...
 
See I would rather have a hot nosed walker. I dont want to take all day to run a track thats 3-4 days old. I want the freshest one. But thats just me.

best of luck
 
Quote:
I've had a blue dog or two, Yes they will get the job done.

I see you said your not very knowledgeable on hounds.
If your going to get into hounding then your best bet is to save your $ and buy one that already hunts. If you have one that hunts coon you can train it to ATTEMPT to run bobcats.

A good bobcat dog is literally worth its weight in gold. The typical asking price for a bobcat dog is $10,000 if you can find someone to sell. A bobcat dog is special, most guys wont sell. You can get a pup that may be better on cats or big game and try, just because its a hound doesn't mean it will hunt.

I'm not trying to sound disheartning, but these are the facts, most of the seasoned members here will probably agree w/ me. It can take years of trial and error to come up w/ one bob dog, unless your pockets are deep and filled w/ cash.

I would start w/ a good solid 1 to 1.5 year old that already hunts, get to know him and after a couple seasons try to put him on some cat tracks.

Just my .02

Jon...

I agree, do yourself a favor and buy a started or broke bobcat dog.
Blueticks are generaly slower starters and you don't see as many that are bobcat dogs, not saying it can't be done but most the big,big bobcat hunters use Walkers, or Walker crosses.
Smokey River and Northern Blue Jet lines do work but you will never get any of that blood up close, it will be so washed out you might as well not bother.
Good luck
 
Take it from a guy with lots of time and money tied up in dogs over the years. Devin is on the right track, buy a started ,or finished bobcat dog, if you can afford one. Bobcats are the hardest thing there is to run with a dog. Not bustin anyone that hunts any other game, but I hunt all types of game, and some animals are flat easy, but bobtails are tough. It takes a heck of a dog to consistently put them up.I have run a few Cameron dogs, and they did have a cold nose,but not the best bobcat dogs I have owned or run. One of my best dogs is a Walker, and my second is a Red cross dog. The point is you never know what dog will make it when you start from a pup,If you go that route be prepared to cull some ,or feed dinks.Not tryin to be smart ,just the way it is.
Your best bet is to buy the best started dog you can afford, and hunt over it before you buy.
 
Amen Duane, How has the Bob kitty hunting going anyway? I can tell you are still after after them, I hope you have been catching a bunch. Nothing will drive a guy more crazy than running a bobcat with a dog.
 
There are good dogs of every color. If you buy a pup make sure it is from proven stock. I run red dogs and I've always caught more than I lose. I've seen a couple nice blue dogs. I wouldn't buy a finished dog myself. I like to raise them and train them. If they don't turn out don't be afraid to cull them and start over. A lot of dogs will tree a bobcat now and then but not many do it on a consistant basis. A dog needs to have a lot of brains, desire, and speed to catch cats regularly. I like a dog that will put his head down and work a track that's tough and when it gets better picks his head up and runs to catch. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
ive been looking into it, and it sounds like a walker is the way to go. I think ill go along some coon hunts with experienced hounds and hunters to learn more before i get into this. I cant get a dog until i graduate anyway, i wouldnt have the time to take it out and work with it, it wouldnt be fair to the dog. Thanks for the advice, and keep it coming if anyone has more.

-HeartlandTrapper
 
Another question, is there any way to trail with the hound on a leash? i realize you wont tree anything doing this, but just to lead me to dens, kill sites, etc..
 
Quote:


Some guys say the Cameron line is over rated, but I have seen some real cold nosed hard working Cams.

It can be done, lots of hard work and patience.

Jon...



I personally am one of those people who think they are overrated. Hounds and curs of just about every breed can do it, but to do it well, find the best bobcat hounder out there and get a dog that is started or finished from them. I have spend $1000's of dollars chasing cats with crappy bobcat, but decent coon hounds.

You will save yourself time and money getting a dog that has an idea of what it's supposed to do. Bobcat training pens like Cannon Valley's in MN is supposed to be TOP NOTCH for getting a young prospect started aswell.

I gave up on it because I didn't listen to what I am telling you, that was told to me when trying to do it. Ran tons of cats, just never put one on the tailgate....

Do you have a BUNCH of bobcats in your area? That is the first question you will want to ask yourself. If yes, then proceed, if not, hunt something else. They will Tee you off so much if/when you don't see something to run, you will hate it forever.
 
Yes we have a ton of cats in our area. A neighbor of ours traps 20-30 a year and that number hasnt declined since he started trapping 20 years ago. I catch a few when i can and we always have to occasional sighting.

I realize it might be tough for a coon hound to start running cats, but what if the dog is never introduced to coons? what if i trained it off one of my trapped cats and only allowed it to hunt and be trained with bobcats? good coondogs were started with coons. if you start a dog on bobcats there shouldnt be any reason why they wouldnt be good at it right? as long as you can find them a trail
 
HlandTrapper, You are getting a weath of info here from guys that have spent(or wasted) 10's of thousands of dollars.
It seems to me you are willing to listen,and are trying to make good decisions.I wish 20 years ago I had access to all this info.
As said a "good coon dog" may not be a bobcat dog.Bobcats are small, they leave very little scent, they are also long winded, will jump on and off rocks, and jump tree about half the time.If your bobcat numbers are high you can sort thru some dogs and find a good one,but it will take time and money.Don't get me wrong I was where you are at at one point,I figured ,"I can see a track, the dog should run it".If it was that easy, any dog could tree bobcats.Your hunting terrian has alot to do with success.If you have lots of rocks, you will run some cats you never see.
The best thing you can do at this point is hunt with a cat man,and be sure you are "nuts before you get to deep".
Devin, I'm still going,rocked up 7 so far, hunted all day today, and all I got,"was to pull 66 quills out of my buddies dog" Ain't bobcat huntin great?
 
thanks everyone, it seems i need to tag along with a veteran houndsmen for a while before i get carried away. I love calling and trapping, this hound hunting has peaked my interest. I appreciate the info, good luck with all your hunting seasons

-HeartlandTrapper
 
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thanks everyone, it seems i need to tag along with a veteran houndsmen for a while before i get carried away.
-HeartlandTrapper



Best post in the thread. Now you have a CHANCE to be a sucessful bobcatter.

From the REALLY experienced bobcatters, they describe a good bobcat dog like this, able to cold track like a bloodhound, push the track with the speed of a greyhound, and locate like a squirrel dog. I didn't have any one dog that did even ONE of those things. We treed some, but never located any because they timbered (jumped tree) and my worthless dogs stayed treed like they were supposed to (on COON!!!). Good luck with everything. I hope you get to see first hand how a real catter does it, then do it yourself.
 
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We treed some, but never located any because they timbered (jumped tree) and my worthless dogs stayed treed like they were supposed to (on COON!!!). Good luck with everything. I hope you get to see first hand how a real catter does it, then do it yourself.



Ain't that the truth. Bobs will make you eat humble pie day after day. Nothing like following the hounds on an race through knee deep snow and then getting 100 yds from the tree and watch the cat bail. Over and over again. You find yourself wishing that it would take to a slashpile or brushpile just so it would hold. Bobcats are real finnicky to run. My current cur likes to climb the tree and puts too much pressure on the cat and they almost all bail a few times before they run up a tree he can't climb. I guess I am to blame since I encourage him to "get the fur" the rest of the time. He's good at treeing for the same reason. He puts a lot of pressure on the cat when its on the ground trying to catch it.

If running cats was all you wanted a dog for, I would forget about color and save your money while you explore your options. Then when your ready to commit buy the best cat dog you can find. It might take some time but nothing compared to the time it takes to invest in a dog that doesn't fit your style of hunting.

Tim
 
Well I’ll tell y’all my bobcat hunting experience , by th way I’m wanting to try it again is how I found y’all’s post here , but anyway I got my 1st hound when I was 9 & im 52 now . Got her started on coons & she made a pretty good dog . Since then I’ve kept a coon dog most of those yrs since . When I turned 12 me n my dad got in a deer doggin club in South Georgia with th best group of guys ever & had major fun running them till I was about 20 & kept a couple packs of deer dogs thru those yrs.& I got some catahoulas when I was about 18 off mr. Stone that were th old time real ones & I’ve still got that blood here today . I caught cattle with them for a lot of years then cow work got kinda thin & I got to running hogs pretty hard for bout 7 yrs there & still got some catahoulas out of that old line , but have not hunted much in th last 4 yrs due to running a business for my Dad because of his health . I got a 17 yr old boy that wants to run dogs & he’s recently got him a few hounds , so I’m bout to get back to hunting , but anyway I always got full cry magazine since I was a kid & always dreamed of running big cats & big game like they do out west , but that’s a long way from Georgia so bout 20 yr ago I got to realizing how many bobcat we had in south ga & I got it in my mind that if they can run em out west n they’d stay in a tree that I could do it here even though nobody that I knew of did it except for the guys that run em like with fox dogs & I didn’t want to run em that way . I wanted to tree em with just a couple dogs or 3 maybe 4 .. so I called up a buddy of mine that trapped a good bit n ask him if he was catchin any cats n he said yeah he was catching quite a few , so I told him my plan n that I needed a live one to try n get a couple hounds I had going on them , so I basically done just like I was starting a coon dog except with a bobcat . I’d let ‘em tree on it in th morning awhile then in th afternoon then I’d turn it loose with a good head start & I done that probably with 5 differant ones & that’s when I really got turned on , because them things have got more tricks than I could imagine . I seen them do things I would never believed if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes , so I was on fire wanting to run bobcats & I seen that I was gonna hv to find me a good solid straight dog & then I could build me a pack from there , so I got to searching & finally found Mr. Cannon in Minnesota . I called him n told him what I was trying to do ( I think he thought I was crazy ) but he told me about his pen & all & said he only had one dog that he would sell that he’d guarantee wouldn’t run nothing but a bobcat no coon only bobcat & he didn’t really want to sell her , but anyway he finally priced her n I said I could have a trial on her as long as I needed & anytime I wanted my money back for her that he’d buy her back , so with that being said I figured I couldn’t go wrong & told him I’d take her , sent him th money & he put her on a plane & I picked her up in Atlanta airport or Chattanooga one can’t remember
But anyway I got her home & spent th next couple weeks getting her accustomed to me n her new place & all . She was kinda rattled I guess from th plane ride n all & I wanted to get her over all that before I hunted her . So finally I decided it was time for her to show me a cat & I took her over in th river bottem close to my house one morning & cast her & she took off hunting bout a hour goes by & I hadn’t heard her strike & so I moved off toward where I thought she might be & never heard her , so I get my tracker out n can’t get a signal on her at all & my tracker would get a beep on one 8 to 10 mile away there where it’s flat like it was , so I got to thinking someone done stole her & went to riding & looking & that’s when my heart got broke . A log truck had run over her n killed her & it busted my tracking collar is why I couldn’t get a signal on her . It made me sick getting that dog run over like that & I was dreading telling Mr.Cannon about it cause he thought so much of the dog , so I didn’t call him right then & bout 3 weeks later or so he called me one day & I said hello & ask him how he was doing n he said fine & then went right in to telling me how much he missed that dog & on n on & wanted to know if he give me my money back plus 500 dollars would I let him have her back & he’d pay the shipping too . So as bad as I hated to I told him I was sorry but a log truck got her the first morning I hunted her & she was no longer with us as bad as I hated it ..So sadly that ended my bobcat dream for awhile until I unexpectedly had a dog that actually showed me how to get it done & that’s one thing that I love about hunting dogs & gives me the passion for it & this has probably happened to some of you folks too sometime thru your experience with these ole hounds, but anyway I had a hound that was off of a good catahoula bitch dog & a sure enough good redtick coon dog I had . I was hunting hogs up in th mountains here where th hogs were kinda thin & I made that cross trying to get some pups that would range a little farther than my catahoulas & maybe have a little more nose on them this redtick was a lay up specialist & would throw his head up & wind & could track off th ground a cold track too , so anyway my cross worked out good but one pup out of that litter had no interest a bit in a hog or a cow so I was just letting him run loose n be my yard dog cause he had a big personality n I liked him . I had a big river bottem pasture leased at that time with cattle on it close to my house & ole Bill would follow me to th pasture & he got to where he was treeing coons pretty regular along th river & in the woods that was in th pasture , so I’d go check my cattle in th afternoon & then ride around n drink beer while ole bill would hunt . He didn’t throw a lot of mouth on track , but boy when he’d tree he would set there & chop em off & sound good doing it I’d let him tree a good while & then I’d usually go shoot it out , but sometimes he would throw a locate & then just chop a time or three then wouldn’t say nothing for a few minutes then he’d chop a few more times & so on & he’d keep doing that for a long time finally I’d usually drive off n head back home cause I thought he was slick treeing cause he wasn’t sure of hisself . I thought he was looking up a few barks then circling trying to pick up th trail & couldnt n come back to tree n chop a few times then circle again ( no such thing as these fancy gps trackers where u can see ever step they make back then ) & I don’t like going to a dog unless he’s treed solid for fear of making em slick tree and he wouldn’t do that ever night now it was like he might tree 3 or 4 times n have th meat then he do that crazy half ass treeing shit one night then might tree n hv th meat 3 times then do it again until one night he was doing it & he wasn’t far from th edge of th field where I was setting in th truck & I said the hell with it I’m gonna put th light on him n see what he’s doing even if it does make him pull on up n it be slick , so I put th light on him & I’ll be damned if he wasn’t sitting on his ass looking straight up not saying a word except for ever 3 to 5 minute he’d chop a couple barks so I shine th tree n to my surprise there sat a big bobcat . That dog learned on his own somehow that if he didn’t open much that cat would stay in th tree n not jump . I was like damn ole bill is a smart son of a gun . Here I am with a cat dog & too dumb to realize it . I felt even more retarded when I’d get to thinking bout that 3500 dollar dog that I got run over by a log truck when this ole cull hog/cow dog showed me how to get the job done all alone !!
 
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