Blue Tick Hound Owners?

[X-man]

Just wondering if there are any Blue Tick Hound owners here and what their opinion of them are as hunters? What game do you primarily hunt with them and what quirks or issues are common with the breed?

I'm a long time Beagle and Labrador Retriever guy, currently running three beagles for snowshoe hare and a couple of Labs for waterfowl and partridge/grouse. I like the looks of the Blue Ticks and have been thinking of bringing a couple in...if for nothing else, pets!

Feel free to jump in guys!

 

[glang1]

I had a female blue tick when I was a kid. I called her queeny, & she was a killer coon dog. I have many pleasant memories of chasing coons @ night with that dog. I found her to be a very loyal, gentle dog that was good around other dogs & people YMMV. They are short haired dogs, & don't like real cold weather, especially when they get wet. I would get another one in a heart beat, but my wife is allergic to dogs.

George

 

[gth]

We had a bluetic walker cross that was great on the rabbits.

When he died I got another purebred bluetic to hunt rabbits. I had a nice walker at the time that was great on rabbits so I figured he could mentor the bluetic. Didnt work, I spent more time dragging that dog away from coon den tree's than I did hunting rabbits.


He was a coon dog by instinct, we tried for along time to get him on rabbits but ended up selling him.

 

[coreyd]

Blue Ticks are great hunting dogs... My friend had one split on him for 5 days and when he finally caught up to it the farmer told him the dog had been chasing deer for days there. He had a litter of purebreds a while back and they have sold all over North America thusfar.

 

[Jeeped]

Just wondering if there are any Blue Tick Hound owners here and what their opinion of them are as hunters?

This is my girl Stella.

If you think a beagle will put its nose to the ground and ignore you in order to follow a scent, you ain't seen nothing yet. Blue Tics are very intelligent and strong-willed. They exhibit the most dextrous use of their front paws I've ever seen in a canine. They're muscluar and speedy, and will try to be the 'alpha' in most any multi-dog environment. They have a strong natural instinct for hunting, going after 'coons, rabbits, coyotes... you name it.

BTW, in order to keep the peace... you will want to spend a LOT of time teaching them that the neighbour's cat is not a coon or rabbit.

 

[Kenny_G2]

We had blues and walkers when I was younger for hunting coon, fox and deer. We generally went with Walkers as they were a dime a dozen and easy to train. With training we could get our dogs to hunt what we wanted when we wanted. Coons at night (no deer or fox allowed), deer in the day (no fox hunting), fox in the winter m(they would chase the odd deer). We found that you could not let them run rabbits (if you wanted to use them for fox, deer, coon) or thats all they would chase, day or night.

Once we stopped hunitng deer and fox, I used the walkers for rabbits. I ran 2 beagles and 1 walker. If you want a rabbit to circle in record time use a walker/blue, if you want slow and steady use a beagle. The 2 beagles would sort out the track when it got tough, the walker got things moving quickly once the trail opened up.

Temperment wise I have seen them all. Loving family dog to mean and miserable (he was a rescued puppy). It all depends on how you treat them.

 

[Thinking]

We used to use Blue Ticks and Walkers for deer, but they are a pain in the ass to get back. They'll run for a long ways, and we found that it ruined some hunts with trying to round the dogs up, and when we got them back they'd be useless for a day of recovery. We've moved to Beagles and have found them to be far better dogs to round up at the end of a chase.

 

[aacollectible]

We use to hunt coon and Bear with Blueticks. Used to tree the odd bobcat as well. Good cold nose dogs and will not give up a trail. They only have one thing on their mind.....and that is to track, tree and hunt! Never had much luck with them as house pets. They just don't listen.

 

[X-man]

Interesting....if I did try a Blue or a pair, I'd be primarily interested in their bunny hunting abilities. They're no racoons or deer in Newfoundland, although we have lots of fox, moose and caribou. Not allowed to run any big game with dogs and that includes bear. So, bunnies are it.

A lot of guys prefer the smaller (under 13") Beagles for bunny hunting, but I've had good experiences using taller dogs (15"+) as well. In fact, my best "rabbit dog" was tri-colour beagle cross that had foxhound and a touch of Lab in his bloodline. The thinking behind the smaller dogs is that they can go the same places the hares can. With all the wild rose thickets and other dense brush found in many of the best hare hunting spots, the smaller dogs don't get as scratched up, but they are at a disadvantage in Winter if the snow hasn't crusted over. The bigger dogs do much better in those conditions and they don't get their bellies scratched by ice/snow. I wonder how the Blues will run in snow? There won't be much "treeing" of game though. Unlike cottontails, snowshoe hare do not head for burrows, but continue to run.

 

[grnhawg]

Hell on coons! To fast for a rabbit except for in that deep snow. The ones I've known would hunt what ever ya told 'em to weather it was deep snow or the fires of Hell and wouldn't quit till the hunt was over. Solid generally good natured dogs around people unlike that damn Redbone of mine. Nice looking dogs too and like all hounds they are stuborn and will come back when they feel like it our there is a dead coon. They are hard working dogs known for a cold nose but I have never heard of one being a badass killer like are the Redbones and Plotts. Pete my Redbone gets a coon, kills it crushes it's skull them ripps the nuts off a male and eats them. If you try gett'n that coon before the ritual is over you best be covering your own nuts
Probably a good choice for bunnies on deep snow as well as dog that will lick your kids face.

 

[204saskman]

I got a blue tick coon hound. He is a resuce dog(he was left to die by previous owners) and i havent tried hunting with him but he sure does have a good nose and it finds what ever he wants. Only thing with mine is he was abused so bad as a pup that he doesnt like to come back if you turn him loose. He has caught a couple gophers and squirrls but thats about it.

 

[X-man]

I've had a few hard headed hounds in my day that simply didn't want to give into that damn hare they were chasing. Most times what we'd do there was leave our hunting jacket or knapsack where the dogs got their last start. Come back the next morning and the dogs would be sleeping on the jacket, waiting to go home!

I had one big beagle/foxhound/lab mix though that was just about the coolest dog ever. He was fast enough in his prime to actually run the hares down himself. One day he jump started a double. Caught the slower bunny, snapped its neck without breaking stride, turned his head back toward us and tossed the bunny back to us and kept after the faster one. Five minutes later I nailed him in thick brush but couldn't find him. A minute later the dog comes prancing up, having retrieved both bunnies! A bunny hunting retriever! Not a tooth mark in either bunny!

Still miss that dog, he had style. At the end of the day if he wasn't interested in ending the hunt without catching the last bunny, we didn't bother leaving a jacket for him. By the time we got home, he'd be waiting for us on the back step, and giving us a look as if to say "what kept you guys?"

The other beagles know not to tear up the bunnies either. It is something that you have to nip in the bud immediately, 'cause once a dog becomes a bunny eater, you'll almost never break them from it successfully. All of mine were raised from pups and they all know it is okay to give 'em a few licks, but no biting and no eating! Never had a bunny eater as a result and never will.