bowuntr
WKR
I've been hunting for the past 10 years with some houndsman buddies. These guys live to work their dogs and I am lucky and get to hunt with them every year. I've been on at least thirty hound hunts for bobcats, bear, fox and one time for mt lion. Lots of fun with some great guys.
I went last month on a brutal hunt that proved to be one of my most physically challenging days in the field. The dogs fought a big bear on the ground and the bear took them in to some inpenetrable country. My buddy did not get his dogs back until the next evening.
I got the call to hunt with them this week. First we were going to get this 12 year old boy his first bear. Then, if we had time we'd try and get me a big bear. I had until Friday to hunt. I met them at a ranch on Tuesday morning. Within the first 30 minutes the dogs strike and the race is on. They quickly bayed up the animal on the ground in the bottom of a canyone. We went down there and find out the the dogs are fighting with a big boar hog... and he's pissed. This kid put one round into the forehead of this beast with his pimped out model 94 John Wayne rifle and he had himself a trophy hog with 3 1/2" exposed tusks. One happy boy. We made quick work of the hog and were back at the truck hunting.
About 10 minutes later I saw a fat bobcat 30 yards away. The dogs saw it too and went bezerk. I asked my buddy if he wanted to catch the cat for the boy and he said "we're bear huntin... relax". Serious bear hunter... Another half hour later and the dogs strike again. The race is on... The bear wouldn't tree and took them over hill and dale. I actually saw the bear side hilling away with the dogs in tow. A pretty good chocolate. A couple miles later the dogs went in to a deep canyon and were heading for the top. The only way to get to the top was on a quad trail so we saddled up and headed up that way to catch them before they went over. On the way up I heard the dogs coming our way. We looked over the edge just in time to see the bear enter a pile of boulders and crawl in to a cave. Game on... It took us about 45 minutes to get to the rock pile crawling through some dense oak brush. It was real exciting watching that kid get close enough to see the bear in the opening and get a shot on him with his cool gun. During all the chaos, one of the dogs had snuck in to the cave and was in there with the bear. Amazing drive these dogs have. It even got more exciting when we couldn't pull the bear out because it was stuck. The kids dad crawled in there and unstuck him. You should have seen that boys face... priceless experience for all. We took pics, broke him down and packed the bear back up the hill.
Everything was great, except that we were missing two dogs. By the time we found them they were on the other side of the main ridge... treed. We had a few problems though... it was the end of the day and the dogs were a long ways off at the bottom of a big canyon. Can't shoot them from the truck... right... My buddy and I bailed off the side and dropped 1000 feet in to the canyon. 3/4 the way down we discovered that the dogs were on the opposide side of the canyon... still a long ways off. We kicked it up a notch, hit the bottom and made it up the other side. I was beat. The bear was way up in a pine tree... like 75 feet up. I was on the downhill side and my angle rangefinder said to shoot him for 8 yards and he was 32 yards away. Crazy steep. I made my way up to the uphill side and had a nice 25 yard shot. The bear was dead before it hit the ground... three fatal arrows worth. My biggest bear to date. What an incredible day... one of the best I've ever had in the field. My camera failed so I will post better pics later.
If you didn't know California outlawed bear and bobcat hunting with hounds, starting next season. I will not buy another bear tag in California. I'm pissed and sad for my buddys and their hounds. I videotaped this kids entire hunt for him. I'm sure he will show it to his kids and tell them about a day when you could hunt bears with hounds in California. I will post better pics when I get them.... maybe some cool video too. Ed F
I went last month on a brutal hunt that proved to be one of my most physically challenging days in the field. The dogs fought a big bear on the ground and the bear took them in to some inpenetrable country. My buddy did not get his dogs back until the next evening.
I got the call to hunt with them this week. First we were going to get this 12 year old boy his first bear. Then, if we had time we'd try and get me a big bear. I had until Friday to hunt. I met them at a ranch on Tuesday morning. Within the first 30 minutes the dogs strike and the race is on. They quickly bayed up the animal on the ground in the bottom of a canyone. We went down there and find out the the dogs are fighting with a big boar hog... and he's pissed. This kid put one round into the forehead of this beast with his pimped out model 94 John Wayne rifle and he had himself a trophy hog with 3 1/2" exposed tusks. One happy boy. We made quick work of the hog and were back at the truck hunting.
About 10 minutes later I saw a fat bobcat 30 yards away. The dogs saw it too and went bezerk. I asked my buddy if he wanted to catch the cat for the boy and he said "we're bear huntin... relax". Serious bear hunter... Another half hour later and the dogs strike again. The race is on... The bear wouldn't tree and took them over hill and dale. I actually saw the bear side hilling away with the dogs in tow. A pretty good chocolate. A couple miles later the dogs went in to a deep canyon and were heading for the top. The only way to get to the top was on a quad trail so we saddled up and headed up that way to catch them before they went over. On the way up I heard the dogs coming our way. We looked over the edge just in time to see the bear enter a pile of boulders and crawl in to a cave. Game on... It took us about 45 minutes to get to the rock pile crawling through some dense oak brush. It was real exciting watching that kid get close enough to see the bear in the opening and get a shot on him with his cool gun. During all the chaos, one of the dogs had snuck in to the cave and was in there with the bear. Amazing drive these dogs have. It even got more exciting when we couldn't pull the bear out because it was stuck. The kids dad crawled in there and unstuck him. You should have seen that boys face... priceless experience for all. We took pics, broke him down and packed the bear back up the hill.
Everything was great, except that we were missing two dogs. By the time we found them they were on the other side of the main ridge... treed. We had a few problems though... it was the end of the day and the dogs were a long ways off at the bottom of a big canyon. Can't shoot them from the truck... right... My buddy and I bailed off the side and dropped 1000 feet in to the canyon. 3/4 the way down we discovered that the dogs were on the opposide side of the canyon... still a long ways off. We kicked it up a notch, hit the bottom and made it up the other side. I was beat. The bear was way up in a pine tree... like 75 feet up. I was on the downhill side and my angle rangefinder said to shoot him for 8 yards and he was 32 yards away. Crazy steep. I made my way up to the uphill side and had a nice 25 yard shot. The bear was dead before it hit the ground... three fatal arrows worth. My biggest bear to date. What an incredible day... one of the best I've ever had in the field. My camera failed so I will post better pics later.
If you didn't know California outlawed bear and bobcat hunting with hounds, starting next season. I will not buy another bear tag in California. I'm pissed and sad for my buddys and their hounds. I videotaped this kids entire hunt for him. I'm sure he will show it to his kids and tell them about a day when you could hunt bears with hounds in California. I will post better pics when I get them.... maybe some cool video too. Ed F
