Over the years I have seen many dogs injured on bear and lion hunts. Almost everyone has been preventable. One rule I have adopted has resulted in a substantial decrease in the number of hound injuries on my hunts. I tie my dogs at the tree.
A few years ago I was bear hunting in central BC with friends. After a long and exhausting chase we caught a large brown bear. As we gathered around the tree, I tied up my dogs and asked my buddy if he wanted me to grab his dogs. He stated that he wanted to watch his dogs tree for a while and take some more photos. I kept all but one of my dogs tied and watched him perform. I then tied that dog back and let another tree for a while. I alternated the dogs and watched each with pride. After about 20 minutes, the bear had enough and nothing was going to keep him up there any longer. He climbed down the tree and waded into my buddy's dogs. We grabbed as many of his dogs as we could but there were too many. In the middle of the fight, his female plott was unable to back away in time and was killed. A terrible and a preventable incident.
I have seen other instances such as dog fights over a shot lion, young dogs wandering and hit by a vehicle and jumping dogs impaled by sharp objects. All of which would not have happened if the dog was tied.
Treeing
In my experience, tying an inexperienced hound will increase their level of engagement and focus. If you let them tree for short intervals they will become better tree dogs. They will be less likely to become distracted by other dogs and more likely to see the animal move in the tree. I have also lost valuable learning opportunities where a lion was harvested or jumped and my
dog was distracted and missed the cat come out of the tree. After it disappeared in the cloud of snow, the dog became disoriented and missed the outgoing trail.
Working out Problem Areas
I have also found this practise valuable when I encountered an older kill location. Quite often the lion has been in and out of the kill site numerous times and the abundance of tracks can delay your progress. I make a habit of tying my dogs back so they don't contribute to the problem and have an experienced hound and their apprentice work it out.
I know that cooler heads don't always prevail in the heat of battle but I hope that this one simple step will make your hunts more enjoyable and prevent unnecessary injury to your hounds.
Great post Aaron and great advice for hunters with all levels of experience. I know when my father and I are bear hunting here in Maine the number 1 rule is to grab a dog and tie it back before any shooting starts. We also hunt with a bunch of guys from North Carolina, they like to say that people who don't shoot bears in the head or kill emm with one shot usually don't own dogs. Both are sound rules to run hounds by in my book.
ReplyDeleteThanks again,Thomas Cochran