RockyDog
Member
This past winter I held a special tag for lion in a unit near my home. After talking to a few local houndsmen I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do this hunt on my own. My thinking was I could experience all that went into cat hunting like working with the dogs, the gear, learning where and when to find tracks, and most importantly learning more about lions. Also, I wasn't too keen on going out for a day and shooting a cat out of a tree that someone else caught for me. After finding out just how tough lion hunting can be i doubt that would have happened anyways.
so, i took in 3 free/cheap dogs and bought gps tracking gear and a snowmobile. fyi, bringing home 3 hounds just before christmas can do interesting things to a marriage. The end result was I had an exciting winter of great days in the hills, chased about 15 cats, treed 4 cats, and did not kill one.
Some of you may know Shoots-straight and that he is a real lion killer. Shoots hunted with me several days and we did chase cats but for one reason or another never treed one while he was along. I tell ya he is the type of guy that will get up early and drive/snowmobile all day and refuse to accept a dollar for gas, he just loves doing his thing in the hills and helping people. I owe him a big thanks and a bigger payback someday.
TJones also graciously offered to borrow me a dogsled for the winter, that helped with the hunting also. A few other guys hunted with me a couple times but i was out solo hunting most days.
The first four cats i chased were treed, including one very nice Tom. i thought id have more chances to kill a cat but after that there were numerous long chases that didnt end with a cat in the tree. I suspect the dogs hunting abilities were messed up by either a huge tom that put them (and me) through the wringer one long day or me screwing them up, maybe by putting them on tracks that couldnt be run, i dont really know. either way a switch flipped in the hounds and after that 4th cat they would chase all day but never have a lion treed for me. this resulted in alot of snowshoe miles and frustration on my part.
Even though i didnt kill a lion Im so glad i gave it a shot. It was great being out during the winter, getting to know the hounds, good excersice and thrilling chases.Finding a huge tom track and releasing the hounds got my blood racing. I spent alot of allnighters in a truck and on a snowmobile. I spent several days out but would have loved to hunt alot more days, another lesson i learned is that being a hound hunter is really for either single guys without young kids or for those lucky enough to have incredibly giving wives. A hound hunter never knows how long the day might end up being or what day the good tracking snow will fall.
Pics from the hunts to follow.
so, i took in 3 free/cheap dogs and bought gps tracking gear and a snowmobile. fyi, bringing home 3 hounds just before christmas can do interesting things to a marriage. The end result was I had an exciting winter of great days in the hills, chased about 15 cats, treed 4 cats, and did not kill one.
Some of you may know Shoots-straight and that he is a real lion killer. Shoots hunted with me several days and we did chase cats but for one reason or another never treed one while he was along. I tell ya he is the type of guy that will get up early and drive/snowmobile all day and refuse to accept a dollar for gas, he just loves doing his thing in the hills and helping people. I owe him a big thanks and a bigger payback someday.
TJones also graciously offered to borrow me a dogsled for the winter, that helped with the hunting also. A few other guys hunted with me a couple times but i was out solo hunting most days.
The first four cats i chased were treed, including one very nice Tom. i thought id have more chances to kill a cat but after that there were numerous long chases that didnt end with a cat in the tree. I suspect the dogs hunting abilities were messed up by either a huge tom that put them (and me) through the wringer one long day or me screwing them up, maybe by putting them on tracks that couldnt be run, i dont really know. either way a switch flipped in the hounds and after that 4th cat they would chase all day but never have a lion treed for me. this resulted in alot of snowshoe miles and frustration on my part.
Even though i didnt kill a lion Im so glad i gave it a shot. It was great being out during the winter, getting to know the hounds, good excersice and thrilling chases.Finding a huge tom track and releasing the hounds got my blood racing. I spent alot of allnighters in a truck and on a snowmobile. I spent several days out but would have loved to hunt alot more days, another lesson i learned is that being a hound hunter is really for either single guys without young kids or for those lucky enough to have incredibly giving wives. A hound hunter never knows how long the day might end up being or what day the good tracking snow will fall.
Pics from the hunts to follow.
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