Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire hunting bears with dogs

last week i was in some real tuff country, and up the road coming to me was a kind of walker hound mix, she had a front leg swollen about twice normal, with a radio collar.
We took her back to camp and called the number on the collar for the bear hunter owner. He said she had got hurt in a fight earlier that day. He seemed totally unconcerned about her injury, picking her up to throw in a kennel by grasping the loose skin top of tail and back of neck. You could tell the dog was afraid of him.
She was also half starved.
It wasn't just me, but others that witnessed this thought we were watching a scene out of deliverance with these people that picked her up. The thought in hindsight was while we thought we did the right thing maybe the right thing should have been something else.
Are people that hunt bears with dogs that hard on their dogs? Course it's also probably the reason i like dogs more than people.

I'd call animal control and report it as a case of animal cruelty for investigation.

Each observer can file a complaint to keep the chances minimal of the report being "lost".

From what I know most hounds men, love there dogs, and take very good care of them, this guys sounds like an A$$hole!

Guys with bear hounds around here treat them better than they do their own kids. guy down the road has 6 of them, damn dogs eat venison all year long, nice dogs to, unless your a coyote or a bear lol

Yep, been my experience as well. Houndsmen, as a rule, take very good care of their dogs....alomost like family memebers.

You just ran into a putz is all.

Yeah, I've met some guys who are only one short step up the evolutionary tree from their own hounds.......

I'd do what others have suggested, call animal control and have them go take a look at that guy's dogs.


Casey

Im a houndman.. There I said it, Its like an addiction. Observation from the original post.
Good bear dogs are in great shape and might look skinny to the untrained eye. They are athletes, Your typical dog is overweight and people think that the hounds are skinny. They sometimes run for miles to bring the bear to a tree. Fat dogs don't do that.
Picking a hound up with the loose skin on his neck and back to load them is the best way to load them. Dog will usually jump in the box on his own but this dog was injured..was the best way to load him.
I don't like people to pick up my dogs.. They are valuable animals and I have had some stolen off of roads and it makes me very antsy when some one picks one up. We have tracking collars on them and can find them in pretty short order..
Just some perspective from a hound man..We love our dogs.

Billy

I'm with chaser.

There are a large number of hounds that are what I call 'hand-shy'. I suppose that could be bred out of them if a houndsman gave a crap about that sort of thing.

There's a goodly number of people hereabouts who won't touch a hound with a tracking collar on it--dealing with that grouchy ole man once is usually enough--he's kinda funny when it comes to them half-starved looking ranging ole long-eared dogs that seem to come in about 40 different colors.

One thing about it--you follow a houndsman around much and you will see some ruff-looking country

houndsman my azz

I'm with chaser and kkhamann. I've hunted with a lot of hounds men and while they love their dogs and are very proud of their performance, they don't coddle them. Picking up are dog by the scruff of the neck and the tail root is common and safe. For anyone who doesn't understand to interfere smacks of being a nosy busybody.

we can't hunt bears in Florida, but there are still a good number of deer hunters using dogs.
Personally, though it's a legal method for hunting in Florida, I don't really like dog hunters.
After watching their behavior for the past 60+ years, they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to sportsmanship, ethics, common sense, decency and basic human dignity.
They block roads, tear up roads, drive like maniacs in the woods, try to intimidate other non dog using hunters, shoot wildly at deer.................. no need to go on, but they are oxygen thieves.

I shipped quite a few dedicated deer dogs to the south, when I was in business. A hound that wouldn't quit a deer was worth a couple hundred bucks.

Not a bear hunter,but a coon hunter.My dogs(2),are family.When I get home from work,rain,shine,snow or whatever,the dogs get petted before I even go in the house.They are well fed,perhaps to well thanks to the wife and equipped with tracking collars when not in the kennel.Been coon hunting for+ years and have never came home without my dogs,except when they were taken to be buried.That being said,that is the best way to load a dog that can't or won't load by itself.

My grandfather was pretty involved with coon hunting for many years and kept Black & Tans. He usually had two at a time. Their pen was about 6' tall and about 15' by 15' square. He put a board floor in it so they didn't have to walk in the dirt. Each had it's own house inside the pen.

He got a lot of enjoyment from feeding them his own special stew.

He'd get meat scraps from the butcher and boil it up in a big iron kettle,...serve it to them hot.

He made sure that they got plenty of hunting time.

They led good lives for sporting dogs.

How many who advocated calling animal control are gonna be griping about big government by the end of the day?

If I found a dog that I thought was malnourished or abused I dang sure wouldn't call the owner to give it back.

If I saw the owner getting too rough with a dog is dang sure say something myself.

But I'd never involve the dog cops in it.

------------------

And how was he supposed to load the dog? Build it a little doggie ramp?

The dog chases bears for a living. I think it can handle being put in the bed of a truck.

Oh, I don't disagree with chaser and kkahmann, I've pitched a number of bitey hounds into the dog box by the loose skin. And they are dead right about "skinny" hounds being in great shape.

I had the privilege of working with hounds on a cougar study that were out 5-7 days a week from Nov thru May. They weren't turned out every day, but there were times their pads were bleeding from running lions 6-7 days in a row. These dogs got more lion hunting experience in one season then most hounds get in a lifetime.

Then again, I've seen few "houndsman" who shouldn't own a dog......

Casey

had a few people tell me that my bird dog(german shorthair) was underfed. damn dog got as much as he wanted, its just when he was active during hunting season he ran it all off....even getting extra fatty treats you were going to see his hip bones except during the worst of our winters....

i see lots of bear dogs in va. most dogs are treated very well and cost lots of money.i do not like shooting a bear out of a tree after its been run for miles but our bear population is growing way to fast. if you find a fat bear dog he must not run bear any more.

Cant use hounds any more around here but have taken three bear with hounds. The hand shy thing is rather strange but fairly commen. I have seen several great dogs that were never abused in any way shy away from a hand but stand face to face with a bear.