Camping with Hound Pups + Encounters with Bow Hunters
Sharing the woods with non-hound hunters can be ... interesting.
I loaded up the truck with all my camping gear, stuffed my rag-tag pack of blue pups into the dog box with their mama and “uncle” Roux, then sped off to the mountains for an overnight trip. The archery elk and deer seasons were still in effect, and with it being one of the first cold fronts to come in, the woods were quite busy to say the least.
I made a video about this excursion and it’s live on the Hound on the Run YouTube channel now — check it out below.
At the time of the video, the pups were just barely big enough to fit-full size GPS tracking collars around their necks, which finally made it possible to cut them loose and let them run free.
Initially, my plan was to setup camp, sleep for a few hours, then do some night hunting for bobcats starting around 12:30 or 1-ish. But once I discovered how many other people were in the woods and with so many different camps scattered around, I had to make a judgement call to wait till daylight. The last thing I wanted was for Coulee and Roux to end up stomping through someone’s camp in the middle of the night and make a big disturbance.
I was within my full legal rights to run my dogs at night, but faced with the fact that sharing the forest with other hunters was an unavoidable reality, I decided to play it cool and keep things high and tight.
The next morning, I collared up the crew and we marched out of camp for a lively pack walk—one of the puppy’s first.
Of course, it didn’t go as planned and we had a run in with some fellow hunters of the archer guild. Other than the racing stripes these camo-laden lads developed in their trousers due to Coulee and Roux’s growling and bared teeth, the meeting was mostly peaceful.
And in case anyone is wondering, the tent you see me setting up in the video is called a Gazelle Tent. If you’re in the market for a nice big tent that’s super easy to setup, I highly recommend it. Obviously, I sped up that part of the video, but it usually takes me about 3 minutes to set the whole thing up. It uses a pop-up hub design with integrated poles, so you all you have to do is pull it out of the bag and pop the sides and roof out. It's not the smallest or lightest tent by any means, but I’m no backpacker and exclusively camp out of my truck. For the price, it’s a heck of a tent.
Check out the Gazelle Tent on Amazon here1: https://amzn.to/3TLJmDU
I also talked about a great old book called “Hunting Dogs” by Oliver Hartley. Since the book is in the public domain, you can download the digital version on Project Gutenberg, or buy it on Amazon here. Definitely worth adding to your library if you haven’t already.
I hope you enjoy the video. It would mean the world to me if you would like it, subscribe to Hound on the Run YouTube channel, and share it with a friend.
Happy hunting,
Niklas
P.S. Did you know I wrote a book about my bobcat hunting adventures? It’s called Cat Dog Chronicles and I wrote it to share my journey with both other hound hunters and non-hunters alike. Fellow hunters — I know you’ll find it entertaining and relatable … But if you’ve never been hound hunting but are curious about what it’s really like, my personal story will give you a glimpse into this complex sport and show that it’s not as easy as you might think!
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links—Hound on the Run earns a small commission if you purchase items on Amazon through these links at no extra cost to you which helps feed the dogs featured in the videos.