Spring Bears With Hounds Proposed

[EYJONAS!]

Being a blocker in a cornfield or sunflowers is different than hunting over dogs. Pheasants certainly do tend to run more in standing corn (and in grain stubble). It's really pointless to hunt in that stuff with a dog. Hard to get the birds to hold and where are they when they do hold? Using a bunch of guys to drive a field by walking it allows the birds to stay ahead till they run into shooters at the end. Yes, the birds are moving but no hot pursuit so I doubt there's any significant "stress" involved. Again, any "pursuit" is typically not very long.

DUDE! If you wanna talk about bird hunting do it somewhere else, go write another chapter for your "how to not hunt upland" series of bullshit.

We're not talking about watching a Britney or springer point and hold birds in some SD sunflower field.

We're taking about hounds and bears. So pound sand and go somewhere else I mean wtf.....

 

[Irrelevant]

DUDE! If you wanna talk about bird hunting do it somewhere else, go write another chapter for your "how to not hunt upland" series of bullshit.

We're not talking about watching a Britney or springer point and hold birds in some SD sunflower field.

We're taking about hounds and bears. So pound sand and go somewhere else I mean wtf.....

Watchout, he's getting worked up. The mittens come off next.

 

[Nick87]

DUDE! If you wanna talk about bird hunting do it somewhere else, go write another chapter for your "how to not hunt upland" series of bullshit.

We're not talking about watching a Britney or springer point and hold birds in some SD sunflower field.

We're taking about hounds and bears. So pound sand and go somewhere else I mean wtf.....

I don't want to derail any further, but after this post I'm so coming out to the bighorn to hunt this year.

 

[Nick87]

Is there enough area in montana with black bears without grizzly that you could conduct hound hunting in those units only? Maybe for a small portion of the regular spring beer season?

 

[BrentD]

Maybe @BrentD can chime in on the most elegant SXS to hunt lions with.

Happy do so

I confess, I had to give this a lot of thought but since you bring up elegance, it will have to to be a Dickson round action or a Stephen Grant. Sorta out of my league.

But in a pinch I think my old Joseph Lang 18 bore double rifle (.635 cal), circa 1830, would do. What do you think?

The important part is what will make you look your best when you pull up to fire?

 

[OntarioHunter]

DUDE! If you wanna talk about bird hunting do it somewhere else, go write another chapter for your "how to not hunt upland" series of bullshit.

We're not talking about watching a Britney or springer point and hold birds in some SD sunflower field.

We're taking about hounds and bears. So pound sand and go somewhere else I mean wtf.....

Why aren't you in school today? Grow up.
We are talking about the ethics of chasing game with dogs. A few have attempted to equate hound hunting with hunting over bird dogs to make some invalid point about hypocrisy. It's absurd.

Nothing off track here. The topic relates to hunting dogs and stress on game being hunted. If you find that uncomfortable or not relevant to your narrow interests, perhaps you should look at another thread?

 

[EYJONAS!]

Is there enough area in montana with black bears without grizzly that you could conduct hound hunting in those units only? Maybe for a small portion of the regular spring beer season?

I would say that one's best chances of this would primarily be within the island ranges of Montana.
They don't have a huge bear population either too sustain spot and stalk along with hounds. Everything at that point would need to probably have a quota on it.

 

[TheJason]

Is there enough area in montana with black bears without grizzly that you could conduct hound hunting in those units only? Maybe for a small portion of the regular spring beer season?

The Taylor’s Fork and Cabin Creek come to mind.

 

[rwc101]

Happy do so

I confess, I had to give this a lot of thought but since you bring up elegance, it will have to to be a Dickson round action or a Stephen Grant. Sorta out of my league.

But in a pinch I think my old Joseph Lang 18 bore double rifle (.635 cal), circa 1830, would do. What do you think?

The important part is what will make you look your best when you pull up to fire?

That's the kind of gun I want to die holding while a flying cougar mauls me.

 

[TheJason]

I would say that one's best chances of this would primarily be within the island ranges of Montana.
They don't have a huge bear population either too sustain spot and stalk along with hounds. Everything at that point would need to probably have a quota on it.

Probably the Little Belts would be one of the best choices, although they aren’t free of ol’ ephraim anymore.

 

[EYJONAS!]

Probably the Little Belts would be one of the best choices, although they aren’t free of ol’ ephraim anymore.

No they are not, I would bet about anywhere from even the Pryors to Idaho and North there would be some sort of "possible" griz interaction and certainly wolves.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Probably the Little Belts would be one of the best choices, although they aren’t free of ol’ ephraim anymore.

Or Mecha-Godzilla Lobos.

 

[MTLabrador]

No they are not, I would bet about anywhere from even the Pryors to Idaho and North there would be some sort of "possible" griz interaction and certainly wolves.

There’s been a couple of grizzlies confirmed in the Cottonwood triangle. I have no doubt there’s been a grizzly or two in the Pryors.

 

[OntarioHunter]

There’s been a couple of grizzlies confirmed in the Cottonwood triangle. I have no doubt there’s been a grizzly or two in the Pryors.

They trapped one at Loma two (or three?) years ago so grizzlies are definitely moving east. Small herd of moose now resident at Bowdoin refuge outside Malta. I've seen them there the last two years. Things are changing.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

My dogs, like yours, quietly find the birds in cover and hold them on point until I flush and shoot them ... within seconds (but the birds you take are obviously not dispatched as quickly with your far ranging dog). How does that compare to the stress of an animal being chased by howling dogs sometimes for hours? Apples and oranges.

As to your contention that cougars sleep in a tree above a pack of baying hounds: I call bullshit on that one.

My daughter shot a lion over my hounds this month and the lion's head was resting on a branch and it's eyes were closed. I'm no detective, but I think my 10-year-old was correct when she said, "look, it's sleeping."

 

[Pagosa]

Is there enough area in montana with black bears without grizzly that you could conduct hound hunting in those units only? Maybe for a small portion of the regular spring beer season?

Yes, there would lots of spots without grizzly and/or wolves to run black bears.

 

[TheJason]

As for this bill, I think the focus needs to remain on the unnecessary conflict that it would create, as well as the safety issue for hound & human. MT is not WY or ID or anywhere else due to the widespread interconnectedness of Grizzly bear & black bear habitats.

This really is a central issue. It's not hard to foresee a hound season ending up in court due to potential ESA issues.

 

[TheJason]

Yes, there would lots of spots without grizzly and/or wolves to run black bears.

What areas would you say are free of grizzlies? Genetic interchange is such a huge component of potential ESA delisting that I could really see the fringe areas being ripe for litigation. Areas like upper Rock Creek, Big Hole, Smith River, and so one.

I'm genuinely curious, absent 704 and the Big/Little Snowies, what areas you would consider Ephraim to be non-existent?

 

[MTLabrador]

Small herd of moose now resident at Bowdoin refuge outside Malta. I've seen them there the last two years. Things are changing.

There’s been moose on the Hi line for a long, long time.

 

[EYJONAS!]

My daughter shot a lion over my hounds this month and the lion's head was resting on a branch and it's eyes were closed. I'm no detective, but I think my 10-year-old was correct when she said, "look, it's sleeping."

That's very cool, the Tom's always seem to be the sleepy ones and the females a little more cagy