Cougar Hunting

[love the woods]

Hey You Guys That Go Cougar Hunting ,what Are The Costs?is It Just The Tag Or Is There Any Adittional Fees? Im Referring To Hunting With Dogs.also I Live In Agassiz,is There Many Cats Around Here And I Would Like To Try A Dog Hunt.let Me Know If It Is Worth It.

[Barracuda]

do you mean to say you have a number of cats in your area? if so i could bring my hounds over to run a few. I am not far from you at all.
as for how much it is to get into hound hunting all i can say is the purchase of the hound is the cheap part (no matter what it costs)
I have tracking equipment , and time invested in my hounds not to mention vet bill, etc etc.. so i can say it is not all that cheap.

[love the woods]

No Cuda I Dont Know If There Are Cats Around Just That Im Intersted In Maybe Getting Started.

[Clint_S]

Probably one of the most expensive sports you could think of to get into.

First and most important you need an understanding wife or better yet be single.
Dogs and feed come first. Lets say you have three or four hounds at $200 bucks each (if your lucky and not picky), your feed bill will be $300 to $400 bucks a year.
Tie outs are cheap but kennels are better so lets say $600 for some fencing and posts.
To train them and hunt them right you need shock and tracking collars. $1500 - $2500.
Vet bills seem to always crop up and Vets are charging ridiculous prices these days, anything that needs an xray will likely be $300.

So you've got your dogs and gear now it's time to train them. If you don't live right in hunting country you've got to get there and that gets you to the most expensive part of running dogs, GAS. Those dogs need to get out at least 2-3 times a week when they are young but less after that. Finding a cat track can cost a fortune and you can burn $100 every weekend without even trying. You'll probably want a dog box for your truck which will be a couple sheets of plywood and some time at the very least or $800 if you want one like mine.
Oh yeah a cat tag is $30 and a bear tag is $20, yearly.
I've missed out a whole bunch of little things like roll cages, leashes, nametag collars etc. that also all add up.

There is only one reason to get into hounds and if you don't have that it's just a waste of time and money, you've got to love dogs, and training dogs and watching them work.

Looking back at all those dollar figures, if my wife sees this thread I'm a dead man

[Sniper]

I'm curious as to how you use the shock collars? My son just bought a started 9 month old Redbone male and a 5 month old Redbone female. Both dogs look like they are going to be super hunting dogs they live to hunt, every time they go for a walk it's a cat hunt to them no such thing as just going for a walk! The dogs need a little work though, if they got loose on a cat track you wouldn't catch them until you got all the way up to the cat and that could be a long jog. I'm hoping to be able to get away without the expensive electronics for a while is this possible?

[black 'n blue]

Well said Clint. You nailed it. A very expensive sport, in time and money.
Sniper, you CAN do without tracking equip. and shock collars but this can be frustrating. Locating dogs can be VERY time consuming with the best equipment, and after your dogs run trash once or twice you will want a shock collar.

[leftcoast]

Geez Clint. Now you tell me. Oh well what the hay.

Sniper, a handle on them pups is of utmost importance. They have to know some basic commands. Can save their life. A shock collar is a real blessing but it is an awfully easy way to ruin a dog too. More dogs have been ruined by improper use of a training collar than just about any other aid there is.

A good investment is tracking collars. If you dog were to chase a cougar or bear and get injured so that it can't get back to you, a tracking collar can help you find it.

My pups were gone from 11 am to 4:30 pm on Friday. I had no idea where they were. They were out of whistle range. But I had a tracking collar on Lijah so I knw I could at least find him if they didn't show up. Course the tracker was in Combs.

=keith=

[Seabass]

A lot of guys who hunt don't always end up with the right dogs when they start out. You can buy the best (most exspenive dog) and get nothing. Two great dogs that breed might only have about 1/2 good dog pups out of a litter. Or none. I know a long time breeder who couldn't get his best dog to put out a single good pup. Dogs are a crap shoot. You might/probally end up going through a few of them to get ones that will tree a cat. You could go to the pound and pick up a mutt with some hound and it might tree cats like no tommorow. You just never know.
As for tracking equipment cougar hunting is / can be a very tough outing. Chaising 6 dogs for 6 miles into unknown timber, up mountains and down, is not for everyone. I've followed dogs in some downright nasty bush. I would highly recomend that you get GPS, knowlage of a compass, overnight survial gear. Most Cat hunting is in snow, so your in the mountians in winter time and you have to be prepared to stay the night if need be. Radio collars are a must. If you really get into it you will probally loose a dog overnight, everyone does.
This is what these hardy dogs are breed for and they have to be, it is what they love and aren't too good at anything else
This aint no picnic.
Enjoy it, I do.
Seabass

[love the woods]

Thanks for the info/Sounds out of my league

[Fred]

My buddie was out with Tony and his dogs last weekend and they got thoroughly turned around and even lost for a while. They fell down a couple of slopes and skint themselves up some and then ended up carrying the young dogs back as they were absolutely wupped.

Mikes Black and Tan got really sick and didn't hunt but the other one was a hunting machine. Least till it run out of fuel! Fred