One Hound

[dagger1 8]

This maybe a stupid question but could you hunt small patches of woodland and rough land with only one hound any help much appreciated cheers lads

[milliken 791]

mostly depends how good the hound is and weather you mean flushing stuff out for a lurcher or proper hound work if its just flushing to lurcher in small bits then you just need a good searching hound

but if you mean one hound to draw cover hunt a line from start to finish then mark him in then they are very rare ive only ever seen two that could do it often this is why they hunt hounds in packs each hound brings diffrent thing to the pack some are great searchers some can hold a line very well and some are excellent markers and markers i would say are the hardist to come by they seem to be the gold dust of the hound world plenty of hounds will mark once the main markers start from i lost my good marking bitch i have nt been able to replace her

[dagger1 8]

Cheers for that info very helpful yeah I would be flushing to guns so I will be ok to hunt with one cheer atb

[DIDO.1 22,629]

You could prob find a better dog to flush small spots. If your hound got away on a line you might not stop him and on his own you might not hear him. Maybe a spaniel or large terrier type

[milliken 791]

very true springer or springer x terrier mybe a better way to go for flushing

[neil cooney 10,416]

Normally I would say that one hound by itself would be near useless but I remember one time the huntsman asking me to go to a spot and not let them in to a place we weren't welcome.

After a while a fox beat me and got by. Ten minutes later a brilliant Welsh bitch called "Fanny" came along the line and try as I might Fanny beat me too.

Anyway I stayed on point while the rest of the pack went around and around and around a large hill on another fox.

Anyway,around 40 minutes later and things have gone quiet and there I am standing there listening when from behind and past me comes the original fox and back to covert.

Ten minutes later here comes Fanny still on it's line.

[fat man 4,741]

Normally I would say that one hound by itself would be near useless but I remember one time the huntsman asking me to go to a spot and not let them in to a place we weren't welcome.

After a while a fox beat me and got by. Ten minutes later a brilliant Welsh bitch called "Fanny" came along the line and try as I might Fanny beat me too.

Anyway I stayed on point while the rest of the pack went around and around and around a large hill on another fox.

Anyway,around 40 minutes later and things have gone quiet and there I am standing there listening when from behind and past me comes the original fox and back to covert.

Ten minutes later here comes Fanny still on it's line.

I can just imagine if that hound got lost,did anyone see my fanny,lol. what a name to put on a hound.

[milliken 791]

sounds a decent bitch that neil hard to come by ones that can do it on there own

what would you say would be the least number of hound you could hunt successfully i know alot the footpacks round me hunt about 8 couple

[Bo Duke 420]

Normally I would say that one hound by itself would be near useless but I remember one time the huntsman asking me to go to a spot and not let them in to a place we weren't welcome.

After a while a fox beat me and got by. Ten minutes later a brilliant Welsh bitch called "Fanny" came along the line and try as I might Fanny beat me too.

Anyway I stayed on point while the rest of the pack went around and around and around a large hill on another fox.

Anyway,around 40 minutes later and things have gone quiet and there I am standing there listening when from behind and past me comes the original fox and back to covert.

Ten minutes later here comes Fanny still on it's line.

We've all got a story like that I can think of a few myself, Neil this isn't aimed at you but more at the OP but there's a massive difference between hunting one hound and one hound on a hunting day doing a solo job. It's none of my business but I'd hate to think of a hound living in solitude somewhere. They really are a far cry for your average domestic pet/working dog

[neil cooney 10,416]

sounds a decent bitch that neil hard to come by ones that can do it on there own

what would you say would be the least number of hound you could hunt successfully i know alot the footpacks round me hunt about 8 couple

My own opinion on the subject is that if you want to surround small coverts with lurchers and guns then mongerals bred for the job will do. If one of them is or learns to mark then better still.

If you want to surround big coverts then IMO you need hounds and as many as you can use. But quality is more important than quantity. But big coverts to be surrounded efficiently need a lot of lads and foxes will get by and then that's where you need a man who needs to know hounds.

If you're talking about proper hunting where you hope to use hounds to find, hunt and hopefully mark or account for a fox then you'll need a full proper pack.

So as you're talking about pure hounds and small numbers I would say 4 or 5 good hounds would be the least number would get away with to tackle medium sized bogs and coverts to account for foxes.

To hunt properly I'd agree that 7 or 8 couple of good hounds should do.

But our friends in America do use their breeds of hounds to hunt their quarry only using 2 or 3 hounds. But I'd say there's a lot of different factors involved.

Edited July 27, 2015 by neil cooney

[neil cooney 10,416]

 

Normally I would say that one hound by itself would be near useless but I remember one time the huntsman asking me to go to a spot and not let them in to a place we weren't welcome.

After a while a fox beat me and got by. Ten minutes later a brilliant Welsh bitch called "Fanny" came along the line and try as I might Fanny beat me too.

Anyway I stayed on point while the rest of the pack went around and around and around a large hill on another fox.

Anyway,around 40 minutes later and things have gone quiet and there I am standing there listening when from behind and past me comes the original fox and back to covert.

Ten minutes later here comes Fanny still on it's line.

We've all got a story like that I can think of a few myself, Neil this isn't aimed at you but more at the OP but there's a massive difference between hunting one hound and one hound on a hunting day doing a solo job. It's none of my business but I'd hate to think of a hound living in solitude somewhere. They really are a far cry for your average domestic pet/working dog

 

Absolutely, hounds are very finely tuned for kennel life within a pack also lads don't realise that huntsmen don't bring out 17 and a half couple etc. because it looks good.

A pack of hounds is like a jigsaw puzzle and if you're missing a piece or two you wont have the full picture.

 

Mind you, years ago trencher fed packs were popular with some folk only keeping one hound and when brought together they often gave good sport.

[Bo Duke 420]

 

 

Normally I would say that one hound by itself would be near useless but I remember one time the huntsman asking me to go to a spot and not let them in to a place we weren't welcome.

After a while a fox beat me and got by. Ten minutes later a brilliant Welsh bitch called "Fanny" came along the line and try as I might Fanny beat me too.

Anyway I stayed on point while the rest of the pack went around and around and around a large hill on another fox.

Anyway,around 40 minutes later and things have gone quiet and there I am standing there listening when from behind and past me comes the original fox and back to covert.

Ten minutes later here comes Fanny still on it's line.

 

We've all got a story like that I can think of a few myself, Neil this isn't aimed at you but more at the OP but there's a massive difference between hunting one hound and one hound on a hunting day doing a solo job. It's none of my business but I'd hate to think of a hound living in solitude somewhere. They really are a far cry for your average domestic pet/working dog

Absolutely, hounds are very finely tuned for kennel life within a pack also lads don't realise that huntsmen don't bring out 17 and a half couple etc. because it looks good.

A pack of hounds is like a jigsaw puzzle and if you're missing a piece or two you wont have the full picture.

 

Mind you, years ago trencher fed packs were popular with some folk only keeping one hound and when brought together they often gave good sport.

Yeah that's quite a good point

[milliken 791]

 

sounds a decent bitch that neil hard to come by ones that can do it on there own

what would you say would be the least number of hound you could hunt successfully i know alot the footpacks round me hunt about 8 couple

My own opinion on the subject is that if you want to surround small coverts with lurchers and guns then mongerals bred for the job will do. If one of them is or learns to mark then better still.

If you want to surround big coverts then IMO you need hounds and as many as you can use. But quality is more important than quantity. But big coverts to be surrounded efficiently need a lot of lads and foxes will get by and then that's where you need a man who needs to know hounds.

If you're talking about proper hunting where you hope to use hounds to find, hunt and hopefully mark or account for a fox then you'll need a full proper pack.

So as you're talking about pure hounds and small numbers I would say 4 or 5 good hounds would be the least number would get away with to tackle medium sized bogs and coverts to account for foxes.

To hunt properly I'd agree that 7 or 8 couple of good hounds should do.

But our friends in America do use their breeds of hounds to hunt their quarry only using 2 or 3 hounds. But I'd say there's a lot of different factors involved.

 

yea the same thoughts as myself we hunt 5 couple with 1 couple only being entered last season and truthfully could do with another 4 most of all i think we need a out and out marking dog this we dont have we do get some good hunting but breaks my heart knowing they have put him in some where and after us not finding them in time come away from a mark

[neil cooney 10,416]

Some lads will disagree with me but I think you can do a lot to help make a good marking hound.

Yes, a good marking hound is priceless and some packs are known for being a great marking pack but if you have good lads in the right place at the right time you can do a lot to help hounds be confident around a hole.

I do admit though that some luck is involved.

[milliken 791]

that where the problem lies we are a small outfit dont have anyone with guns or lurchers standing at spot just me and a mate the hounds and terriers the way it should be