Howdy Randy,
I didn't know that I had to check back here to see you had responded to my message. I thought I would get some kind of email notice like I do on PlottNews. SORRY
Well, sadly, yes most of that line of Doc Smith, Salmon River Plotts are gone. They were real bear catchers and many of them made very good bobcat and lion dogs.
I don't do very good with PM's on Trapperman. I can send them but can't include pictures and even though trappers write back I can't open their PM's. [I have some guys trying to help me with that but hasn't happened yet.]
Please send me an email address or a cell number and I will send you some pictures of bobcats and cougars we caught this winter. Or pictures of bears and dogs from last spring. Brad Dammermin owner of, "Idaho Whitetail Guide Service" is the real hound hunter and he owns my Salmon River bred Plott dogs now. I just get to go along.) He caught 3 toms that will make book with a 3 legged (Lost the leg on a bad bear last July.) Salmon River bred Plott named Gatlin. I gave him Gatlin as a 6 month old pup 5 years ago. He is a "Good One" and I think Doc would like the Plotts we are hunting.
I am pretty worried that Gatlin may get killed by a "rough bear" this spring because of he is Plott aggressive on a bear and now he will not be as agile on 3 legs as he was on all 4. Time will tell. We plan to get semen from him this month just in case. Brad also has plans to breed him to a couple closely related females when the come in season this year.
Brad is not into trying to catch a record numbers of bears. He goes out and hunts in the morning catches 1 bear and then takes the dogs back home and goes to work. He does keep track of what he catches and writes it down in the "book". "what dogs were on it and what they did or didn't do." He bear hunts nearly everyday during the 3 month spring season. The past 3 years he has caught 90, 88 & 90 bear in the 90 day spring season. It doesn't take a math genius to see he averages 1 bear every day. Rain, snow, hot or cold Brad and the dogs go catch a bear. To be factual occasionally the dogs don't catch one each day but because they have occasionally "split" races he will catch 2 mature bears in one day to make up for the few days each year that he doesn't tree one. He, as most real hound hunters, only count 1 bear even if a sow is treed and there are cubs treed on the race as well. If he counted them separately it would probably be around 120 bears put up each spring season. In 4 years that we have hunted together I have hunted 1 day that the dogs didn't tree a bear.
I am too old (75) and slow to keep up with the dogs on a "mean bear" walking and baying on the ground but I can keep up with or keep track of the dogs on a GPS on most of the races off my 4 wheeler by running the logging roads and trails in that area. Then I generally go into the tree with Brad and his 11 year old son, Cooper. If it is too far or too rough for me, Brad and Coop just go get the dogs and take some pictures for me to look at. Brad always says "It is not like you haven't seen a bear, a mountain lion or a bobcat in a tree before. You wait here it won't take long and we will go in and bring the dogs back."
Hope to hear from you.
Pete
