Spring Bears With Hounds Proposed

[QuazyQuinton]

Interesting topic from where I sit in Oregon. We used to be able to hunt bears with hounds until ballot-box biology stopped it in 1994. Bear populations have certainly increased since then, and most hunters believe we have too many bears, and they are having a significant negative impact on deer and elk. Most hunters would like to regain the ability to be able to run bears with hounds, but they see the social/political obstacles as too great to overcome at this point.

The flip side for Oregon hunters is that when we lost hounds, we got a spring season (I believe this happened at the same time.) Spring bear hunting is becoming a thing in Oregon. This year ODFW reports that there were 5000 new applicants in the drawing, and no hunt had tags left after first choices were filled. Tags that used to be easy third choice draws are now <100% as a first choice. For my family, spring bear has become a tradition, and my dad and uncle are now going and planning their own trips separate from me.

I think hunters need to think this through carefully. Using hounds will increase success, but it will subsequently decrease opportunity. Spring season is a very cool time to be in the woods, but I'm afraid hound hunting will diminish it for the larger number of spot-and-stalk hunters

QQ

 

[OntarioHunter]

Besides being 1) impractical (grizzlies) 2) potential to adversely impact the resources (cubs killed and elk calving disturbed) 3) unnecessary (no evidence current harvesting is not keeping black bear numbers where they need to be), bear hunting with hounds will almost certainly bring up the ethical question of chasing any game with dogs. It clearly serves a management purpose for cats and varmints. Let's just leave well enough alone. I have to wonder what idiot even made such a proposal knowing the heat hound hunting is receiving in other jurisdictions.

 

[rwc101]

All you have to do is be a blocker in a sunflower field to see that at least 60% of pheasants run and never flush. To be fair, lions can't fly away after being treed. If that were the case I might have an interest in hunting lions with hounds.

 

[Ben Lamb]

All you have to do is be a blocker in a sunflower field to see that at least 60% of pheasants run and never flush. To be fair, lions can't fly away after being treed. If that were the case I might have an interest in hunting lions with hounds.

What shot size would you even use for flushing, flying lions?

 

[Nick87]

What shot size would you even use for flushing, flying lions?

00

 

[OntarioHunter]

Interesting topic from where I sit in Oregon. We used to be able to hunt bears with hounds until ballot-box biology stopped it in 1994. Bear populations have certainly increased since then, and most hunters believe we have too many bears, and they are having a significant negative impact on deer and elk. Most hunters would like to regain the ability to be able to run bears with hounds, but they see the social/political obstacles as too great to overcome at this point.

The flip side for Oregon hunters is that when we lost hounds, we got a spring season (I believe this happened at the same time.) Spring bear hunting is becoming a thing in Oregon. This year ODFW reports that there were 5000 new applicants in the drawing, and no hunt had tags left after first choices were filled. Tags that used to be easy third choice draws are now <100% as a first choice. For my family, spring bear has become a tradition, and my dad and uncle are now going and planning their own trips separate from me.

I think hunters need to think this through carefully. Using hounds will increase success, but it will subsequently decrease opportunity. Spring season is a very cool time to be in the woods, but I'm afraid hound hunting will diminish it for the larger number of spot-and-stalk hunters

QQ

Do they allow baiting? Seems like a sensible tradeoff for eliminating hound hunting. I can understand hound hunting bears in the rain forest there. It's impossible to see more than ten yards in that jungle. How else could they be harvested?

 

[MTLabrador]

00

Not enough pattern density. #4 buck.

 

[rwc101]

What shot size would you even use for flushing, flying lions?

I have spent more time trying to figure that out than I would like to admit.

 

[Nick87]

Not enough pattern density. #4 buck.

All depends who's dog your using to flush them apparently.

 

[Valley1320]

Hey Ontario have you ever hunted bear or cats behind hounds? With a houndsman that hunts fair and cares about his dogs.

 

[Irrelevant]

I'm sure other bird hunters are following this thread, and will see the misinformation that is evident.

Don't forget to tell those chukars to hold and flush per our northern expert on the matter. I know I've NEVER had the experience of a running chukar. EVER.

 

[JLS]

So for those who've run hounds for bears, what do your hunts look like on the ground? Like from when you leave the house to getting back to the truck. Just trying to better understand the nuts and bolts.

What @Valley1320 said. Dogs will run a track backwards, so it’s pretty important to try and make sure they’re going in the right direction.

I’ve run way more cats than bears, but IME bears are much more difficult to bay/tree. The last bear I ran with hounds was a pretty grueling all day pursuit. We didn’t have much of a road network to use and that made it more difficult.

 

[JLS]

Don't forget to tell those chukars to hold and flush per our northern expert on the matter. I know I've NEVER had the experience of a running chukar. EVER.

Maybe @teej89 can chime in on the efficacy of catching up to running chukars.

The sound of humans hyperventilating our way up the mountain is probably every bit as stressful to red legs as a dog(s) is to a cougar.

 

[rwc101]

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

 

[Valley1320]

What @Valley1320 said. Dogs will run a track backwards, so it’s pretty important to try and make sure they’re going in the right direction.

I’ve run way more cats than bears, but IME bears are much more difficult to bay/tree. The last bear I ran with hounds was a pretty grueling all day pursuit. We didn’t have much of a road network to use and that made it more difficult.

I've ran both cats and bears and cats have been far harder for me cause the cat hunting i do is 90% dry ground and I'm still learning and getting my dogs better. But I agree bears are definitely harder to get in a tree but can usually run more bears than cats

 

[Ben Lamb]

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

Some asshat is going to try and say that a 28 gauge us all you need. Some other jackwagon will tout the 16.

Me?

4 bore. Come at me, Chester Cheetah!

 

[JLS]

Some asshat is going to try and say that a 28 gauge us all you need. Some other jackwagon will tout the 16.

Me?

4 bore. Come at me, Chester Cheetah!

Creedmoor. All. The. Way.

 

[Nick87]

Some asshat is going to try and say that a 28 gauge us all you need. Some other jackwagon will tout the 16.

Me?

4 bore. Come at me, Chester Cheetah!

You know that kind of recoil will blind you right?

 

[OntarioHunter]

All you have to do is be a blocker in a sunflower field to see that at least 60% of pheasants run and never flush. To be fair, lions can't fly away after being treed. If that were the case I might have an interest in hunting lions with hounds.

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 slowly walking it in a line 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.

 

[rwc101]

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.

I've used the same technique in milo, grass, sorghum, sunflowers, corn, and cattails. All with dogs. Some flush, the majority don't.