Hounds for a novice

[Gaz_Lurcherlad 382]

Once I’ve got my house done and have much more spare time than I have now I’ll be looking for a few hounds maybe 3 or 4 I’m wanting to know what would suit me best will be mainly used for a gun pack and hunting up with my lurchers and terriers I’m not a complete novice my grandad had 8 or so back when I was a kid will I be better off with a hound or what people class as a bushing dog any help would be great I just don’t want to end up with the wrong pack for the work I do

[Gypsydog94 4,561]

Make sure you got plenty of land to hunt to keep you going through season. And if only gun pack and pushing to lurchers I wouldn’t want full hound that will drag a trail for miles so maybe a cross breed to a spaniel would be better suited? 

[Daniel cain 45,079]

We had a few oldies from a beagle gun pack yrs back and a few full Welsh hounds....gave us loads of sport just using runners and what ever else was out with us... Ideal for starting off any young lurcher, terrier or spanials etc... Make sure they only hunt ... And not rabbits and hare checked the dates it were 11 Yr ago... 

[Rat face 1,655]

On 18/03/2021 at 19:17, Gaz_Lurcherlad said:

Once I’ve got my house done and have much more spare time than I have now I’ll be looking for a few hounds maybe 3 or 4 I’m wanting to know what would suit me best will be mainly used for a gun pack and hunting up with my lurchers and terriers I’m not a complete novice my grandad had 8 or so back when I was a kid will I be better off with a hound or what people class as a bushing dog any help would be great I just don’t want to end up with the wrong pack for the work I do

Depends on the land your wanting to hunt, I don’t think you live overly far away from me, what I will say Is hounds are not like any other type of dog in my experience, they do what they want to do not what you want them too do, the idea of them sounds great but having them is a different story around here there is too many restrictions, busy roads are everywhere, 

I got a couple off a mate last season they was full fox hounds, Iv been around hounds for most of my adult life just following different packs, you have to fully understand hounds and how they work to keep a pack to a decent standard.  Other wise you’ll just end up with a small pack of hounds doing what the hell they want lol, 

I don’t really know much about bushing dogs so I can’t comment much but they would  be possibly the better place to start and  if you enjoy it move on to some bigger hounds in my opinion 

[white van man 3,299]

On 18/03/2021 at 19:41, Gypsydog94 said:

Make sure you got plenty of land to hunt to keep you going through season. And if only gun pack and pushing to lurchers I wouldn’t want full hound that will drag a trail for miles so maybe a cross breed to a spaniel would be better suited? 

That’s the way I want to go in a few years. Couple of beagle x spaniel terrier types and couple of Lurchers. I’ve got enough ground for a couple of hounds but not the space at the house.

[Neal 1,857]

11 hours ago, white van man said:

That’s the way I want to go in a few years. Couple of beagle x spaniel terrier types and couple of Lurchers. I’ve got enough ground for a couple of hounds but not the space at the house.

I'd gladly swap you the space at my house for the chance to walk on Dartmoor regularly.

[white van man 3,299]

31 minutes ago, Neal said:

I'd gladly swap you the space at my house for the chance to walk on Dartmoor regularly.

No deal . Let me know when you are down Dartmoor way again 

[Gypsydog94 4,561]

15 hours ago, white van man said:

That’s the way I want to go in a few years. Couple of beagle x spaniel terrier types and couple of Lurchers. I’ve got enough ground for a couple of hounds but not the space at the house.

If I didn’t have my lurcher I would have a couple here as my mates have got the runners. If I was to have full hound would need good people with you to keep them right. And make sure you got plenty of the quarry you choose to hunt as blanking day after day will soon have them rioting 

[Neal 1,857]

On 22/03/2021 at 10:05, white van man said:

No deal . Let me know when you are down Dartmoor way again 

Thanks. Will do. 

[Jimjoe 1]

I use springer harrier Cross good drive fast good recall wont go out too far

[Shovel shy 4,033]

Had most breeds for foxes.best dogs I owned wer beagle x springers that we bred here ourselves.

[Gypsydog94 4,561]

On 21/03/2021 at 21:38, white van man said:

That’s the way I want to go in a few years. Couple of beagle x spaniel terrier types and couple of Lurchers. I’ve got enough ground for a couple of hounds but not the space at the house.

I’m the same here. Like I said in a different reply. If I didn’t have the lurcher I would kennel a couple. Farmer wanted a problem sorted the weekend. Got me and some mates together think I counted 7 lurchers. And only my two terriers trying to push thick bramble and gorse. They never done much work like that and don’t speak on scent. It wasn’t very successful

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Foot pack requires harriers in my experience mate .Stay away from English foxhounds unless you can buy puppies and have several thousand acres to go at .Draught hounds are a pain and old hounds selective hearing .We had 4 couple of harriers years ago to hunt mink and made the mistake of getting one draught fox hound .By Christ we had some riots ,not funny when everything is based on goodwill .Beagles would be my choice for small country but don’t expect any exciting up close hunting when fox is the quarry .Beagles wont pace English fox hounds and end up trailing way behind ,speaking at a line couple miles away .Small harriers  are ideal ,leggy ,pacy and wind enough to press a fox to be caught by the pack accidentally of course .

I was whip to a bobbery pack of mink hounds ,loved it ,all trencher fed at a central farm costing nothing to feed .

The sound of your own pack is something I’ll take with me to the grave .Loved it ,every minute ,even the riots lol.

[Gypsydog94 4,561]

1 hour ago, foxdropper said:

Foot pack requires harriers in my experience mate .Stay away from English foxhounds unless you can buy puppies and have several thousand acres to go at .Draught hounds are a pain and old hounds selective hearing .We had 4 couple of harriers years ago to hunt mink and made the mistake of getting one draught fox hound .By Christ we had some riots ,not funny when everything is based on goodwill .Beagles would be my choice for small country but don’t expect any exciting up close hunting when fox is the quarry .Beagles wont pace English fox hounds and end up trailing way behind ,speaking at a line couple miles away .Small harriers  are ideal ,leggy ,pacy and wind enough to press a fox to be caught by the pack accidentally of course .

I was whip to a bobbery pack of mink hounds ,loved it ,all trencher fed at a central farm costing nothing to feed .

The sound of your own pack is something I’ll take with me to the grave .Loved it ,every minute ,even the riots lol.

Ever done much with bobbery packs? Can imagine they could be a laugh

[bowderdale 22]

If your sorted and looking for some x bred hounds I’ve two 11 month old ready to enter this season, unfortunately I’m losing my kennels and have to pack up. Send me a Pm if your interested.