Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Hey Kevin, thanks for the feedback, what you're saying is pretty much what I've heard from the start. I'm not much of a "speed" demon so I don't much mind the top speed with the tracks on. Most of the time, we're navigating these steep hills so it's the ability to get where I'm going that I value most. I've got a windshield and roll bar system so I can drape a window canvas on the back to prevent the wind and crap from coming back over the box. Right now, the snow is going fast and it's being replaced by mud so I'm excited to get the tracks mounted up and see what I can get into.

Dave went hunting last night but I missed him when he came home so I don't know if he did any good or not...it's the first time any of the dogs have been out since last November...that can make for an interesting night sometimes. We'll give it a go this weekend if I get everything running the way I want and then we'll officially be up and running again for 2011.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Greenleaf, WI
Posts: 839

Tom we dumped Reba behind the house last night with Ipod. I'm telling you man WHAT A TREEDOG! I mean she is loud, clear and can get with it. She is moving over to my neighbor's place now so I can run her a few times with my old dogs and then she's on the solo program. Looks just like my little Ruby dog.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Hey Joe...thanks for the update. I should have snatched up that other female too but out of the two of them, I thought right away that Reba had the make up that reminded me more of Pete and some of those dogs out of him. She's got a good, compact structure and a great personality. I didn't really get to do anything with her other than show her a coon but she just seemed like she had the attitude to go once she kicked into gear.

I hope she keeps progressing and does you good, I know I sure like what her brother Cuz is doing out west and they're all just babies yet.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Got the Ranger out yesterday afternoon and two wheels off already. Hopefully by this evening, I'll mostly be done with mounting the tracks. It was unbelieveable the amount of snow still down there...I was driving the tractor through 2' easy and had to pull the Ranger the entire distance back to the field road. Anyway...we're back in the game and hopefully I'll have my new means of transportation ready to roll by tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Radford, Virginia
Posts: 2748

Glad you got the ranger unstuck Tom. You will be having plenty of fun with that thing now.

Buck and I went last night with Moose and Frog......we just couldn't get a good track going. They hunted good but nothing was moving where we were. I ended up having to go in and get moose at about 900 yards...he was cold trailing. Frog had come back and struck about 300 yards from us but there was nothing with it either. the moon is bright and I guess that might mean tough hunting for a few nights.

we are going to be taking ruby this week and buck will let her tag along too so I can get her finished, hopefully by mid-april. we'll see how it goes.

__________________
Soggy Bottom Redbones


GRNTCH GRCH 'PR' Soggy Bottom The Frog Dawg (current reproducers list)
NTCH CH Soggy Bottom The Bull Dawg
Soggy Bottom T-Top Miss Dottie
RIP
GRNTCH GRCH Soggy Bottom T-Top Haze HTX (Former#1 Reproducer)
CH Soggy Bottom T-Top Stella
GRNTCH GRCH Soggy Bottom T-Top Shadow
NTCH CH Soggy Bottom Bomber's Red Wire (Pigeon- former #1 Reproducer)
NTCH GRCH Red Cedar T-Top Lexus
CH Soggy Bottom T-Top Locket


Mike Laster
540-392-2441
pastorlaster@aol.com

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Dave came out with the boys last night and took Yank and Cherry to the woods. He took them last week one night and it was the first time out since last November. Needless to say, Cherry was wired and a bit of a handful so even though he made two trees and a track ending in an old hay barn, she was wired high voltage.

Last night, it was better and Cherry was more calm and down to business and Yank was his usual self...get struck...get treed.

The boys had a good time and no doubt, they are dog handlers and coon hunters in the makin'




The second track and tree was a den...


Is he in there??


Yep!


It's good to see the dogs pick up where they left off. Dave said it was good dog work on both tracks. He said that Yank pretty much led the race on the first track but it was only 30 seconds and Cherry was locating and treeing right with him. When he got to the tree, he said that Cherry was standing and winding down the ridge and into the wind so he shined down the hill and there were two more coons sitting in a tree about a hundred yards down.

Cherry is out of Rabble Rouser and Mya and is a real nice prospect. We'll work hard to get her into hard hunting shape and she may be the dog we put in the hunts this spring and summer. She's due in heat in the next few weeks but once we get past that, we should be able to do some damage with her.

I've got the tracks mounted on the Ranger so now I only have to make the final adjustments and I'm ready to go...I'll have to admit that it was a bit of a project. It's raining hard here this morning and the snow behind the house is starting to disappear so that's good. If it quits after I get the adjustments made...we might play with the pups a little bit today, it would be a great day to do it considering that even though it's raining, it's pretty nice and will end up near 50 for a high temperature.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Aug 2010
Location: London, Ky
Posts: 77

Hey Tom,
If everybody had a couple of young handlers like that it sure would make things alot of fun. There is one thing i have learned to look for in t-top dogs is the head and chest. They look good .

Tim

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Hey Tim, we like them with a lot of leg and a good, sporty body structure. It's kind of a miserable day up in these parts today but Dave and I got the tracks all adjusted on the Ranger and we took it for a test run around the hills this afternoon. We ran it all the way around where I had it stuck and drove straight up the hill in a foot of slushy snow and never even came close to getting it stuck. We'll make a couple of modifications yet to keep the mud and snow from coming up off the outside the tracks but other than that, we've got a mean machine to get around these hills in any kind of weather conditions.

We'll be back at it with these young dogs next weekend and it won't be too many more sessions and they'll be ready for the woods.

The weather is supposed to basically turn to crap this week with colder day time temperatures and real cold overnight. It's still March in Wisconsin so we'll take it as it comes and make the best of it.

Keep those young dogs in the woods Tim, you're building a real nice stable of hounds down there.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 1788

T-Top Show-Time Coon Stopper ( ACE ) By way of Yank and Angel Treed on a coon last night 3/20/11. Ace is only 1 year old and the sire of some nice young dogs under a year old. We like Ace a lot here at Bristol Ridge Kennel. I believe Yank will make his Mark in time as well as Ace will. Dave

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

He looks good Dave. I enjoyed the rest of the pictures also, that was a good way to end a hunt.

I also enjoyed talking to you today and I'm real excited to see that male pup you've got there out of Ace and Douke...I'll be itching to get him in the program and get him ready for fall work.

I told you when we talked that I'm liking Gun real well...he's got that something special from what I can see. I don't often miss when I get a feeling like that so it won't be long and he'll get his first chance at night to track and tree a coon...I'm guessing he'll be on the track and on the wood first time out..

We've got a bit of weather to deal with this week yet but hopefully after this little blast, we can look forward to a longer string of good weather days to work with. I've got the Ranger ready to go and there's not too many places we can't get to now so we should be able to fire them up on a more regular basis pretty quick.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Hardy,VA
Posts: 736

Tom
Here is a picture of Joe and Penny from tonight. He is still at about the same place as the last time I talked to you. Tracking real good just needs some more time to get tuned in to the tree. He is doing better but still wants to track back. Treed in this big pine and I did not get him to look but feel confident he was there.


This is Penny and Joe. Joe is out of Moose and Lynie.

__________________
Smith Mountain Lake Redbones

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2006
Location: Montana
Posts: 934

Hey Tom, have you put some miles on the ranger with the tracks? Don't think you can stick them with the tracks but the wife will cuss you at laundry time unless you have an enclosed cab. Hunted with Mark this weekend and that Cuz dog is pretty tough for a young dog. Haven't seen very many seasoned dogs that would make him look bad. When you turn him loose he has one thing on his mind,.......... game, in this case coon never lion hunted with him. He goes until he hits a track and finishes it from what I've seen. Nice young dog. My Billy dog is my pride and joy but he and Cuz got on a tough one Friday and Billy looked pretty dumb when he came back and that pup ended up in a hole across the river. He came out before we got to him but it was an hour or two before that happened. I'll still feed my sorry dogs but I'd **** sure feed Cuz and be happy to do it. I wouldn't mind finding a sister to him that shares his ability. Tried to lease Shelly and talk Don out of his Shelly x Yank pup but he doesn't like my Billy dog after hunting with him for a few minutes and I wasn't rich enough to buy the Shelly pup. I'd love to buy a good female pup if you know of any or lease a top female if I could break even on the deal. Billy is tight mouthed and he is a tree dog, he isn't mean but trees hard and puts up with 0 ******** on a tree. You've seen him go once and you are likely a better judge of dogs than I am but I like him and that's what matters. I'd like something that is plenty open on track and a good tree dog but will back off if need be. My dogs are far from perfect but they tree game, if you hear of anything please let me know, thanks - Kevin

__________________
Montana Red Kennels - Redbones that catch game and hold it untill you get there.

Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Bobcat Bustin Billy

Nt.Ch.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Coon Slammin Sage

Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Tree Bangin Buddy

Gr.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Kim's Cat Crazy Maci

'PR' MT Red's Tree Ringin Rhea

(406)564-3061

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Hey Jason, it's good to see you get Joe out and about. Getting things to fall into place is just a matter of repetitions at his age and not much more. Young dogs will always have their ups and downs but when it clicks in a prospect like Joe, it will be more up for sure.

Hey Kevin, I like Cuz a lot also, he was a good starting prospect but it takes lots of woods time to make a dog and I know you guys put the woods time on them out there, even if you have to travel great distances to do it.

The guy who owns the dam to Cuz isn't too far from me and I believe he plans to make the cross again with putting Yank on her. She's a nice female and her litter mate brother is a real nice hound also so when we put her with Yank, it can't hardly fail with old Rat showing up 3 times in that pedigree within 3-4 generations. Cuz has two litter mate females that I know of that are doing OK and at least one of them will get a real good chance to get a lot of woods time here in Wisconsin. The other mate is still owned by the guy who has the dam so although she won't ever see competition, I'm sure he'll make a good country coon dog out of her just like he did with the others that he owns. If we make the cross again, I can see if I can get my hands on a couple of pups and grab a female for you. I'm usually working on something around here and just about everything I keep to start is wound tight T-Top so I might be able to find something that you'd like.

I have put a few miles on the Ranger since the tracks and I know what you're talking about with the flying crap from the tracks. They stick out beyond the fender wells with their wide base and it does kick up debris, mostly from the front set of tracks. I've already got it figured out though, I'm going to rivet a plastic fender onto the existing fender and I'm going to make it out of plastic cut from a barrel because it will have just about the exact perfect curve to it. I only have to extend it about 4" or so and it won't bother anything because I have to get that much clearance for the tracks anyway. I know one thing for sure, there's not much stopping it once it's locked in and moving...holy crap...it will dig and move over just about anything. It's a little more work to turn it sharp but nothing we can't handle versus what it gives in return. The weather is really bad with high winds, ice, sleet, snow and rain but I won't worry too much anymore about getting out and about around the woods because that machine is gonna open some doors for me.

We'll stay in touch and see what shapes up for this spring and summer.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2006
Location: Montana
Posts: 934

Thanks Tom. If the cross is made please let me know. Right now I have Billy and Sage and a pup out of them. I'd like a female I can cross to the pup down the road if they turn out. If the male pup doesn't make the cut but the female does I could put her under Billy. I need to put the last three wins on Billy and get Sage to at least Nt.Ch. too, guess I should go to more than one hunt a year. Hopefully this summer. I wish the hunts weren't 300 miles away and we had more than one a month. I put on 900 miles from Wednesday thru Sunday just to tree some coons pleasure hunting. I like the dogs you are producing so something that is wound tight T-top would suit me just fine. This is how my pup is bred so if you come across something that looks good with this please let me know:

----------Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch.'PR' Bates' Bawlin Boomer(Rat x Raven)

----Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch.'PR' MT Red's Bobcat Bustin Billy

----------Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch.'PR' Jackson's Red Belle (Ranger x my old Sallee bred female)

--'PR' MT Red's Tree Bangin Buddy

----------Gr.Nt.Ch.Ch.'PR' Sandy Creek Jake

-----Ch.'PR' MT Red's Coon Slammin Sage

----------Nt.Ch.Ch.'PR' Red Cedar T-top Lexus (Rat x Raven)

__________________
Montana Red Kennels - Redbones that catch game and hold it untill you get there.

Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Bobcat Bustin Billy

Nt.Ch.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Coon Slammin Sage

Gr.Nt.Ch.Gr.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Tree Bangin Buddy

Gr.Ch. 'PR' MT Red's Kim's Cat Crazy Maci

'PR' MT Red's Tree Ringin Rhea

(406)564-3061

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2008
Location: VIROQUA, WISCONSIN
Posts: 865

Winter just doesn't want to quit. Here in wisconsin. ugh But at least we don't have knee deep snow to walk through. Anyway will get out this weekend and enjoy the dogs.

__________________
CARL GUDGEON


NT CH GR F CH CH'PR' RED FEVER CHIEF -

'PR' GUDGEON'S TAKE A CHANCE - POINTS TOWARDS CH and WCH

Nt Ch GR CH 'PR' GUDGEON'S CLYDE "JUNIOR" AND POINTS TOWARD FT CH

'PR' GUDGEON'S LIVING THE DREAM (Dreamer) 2 1st place wins
PR GUDGEON'S MAGGIE
CH 'PR' GUDGEON'S WILD WILLY
PR GUDGEON'S Fog Horn
PR GUDGEON'S JACK
'PR'GUDGEON'S SING ALONG DANCE

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

It must have been blowing 50 MPH last night and all night long. That's about the nastiest night I can remember in a long time...rain, sleet, snow, wind, lighting, thunder...crap!

It's supposed to stay cold for the next 7-8 days also but at least we should have a couple of calmer days on the weekend so we can mess with these young dogs again.

Hang in there Carl...we'll be out of it in no time...eh?

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

I got a call last night from Jason G and I heard the dogs treed in the background...they sounded real good Jason, I'm really sorry I missed your call but I sure appreciate that kind of message. I think you said that the dogs were Joe, Chick and Zoe but which ever ones you had, they were sure barking hard on that tree. I appreciate those updates Jason, I think about some of those young dogs that I've had my hands on at one point or another and I sure enjoy hearing updates one way or the other.

We have had a cold snap these last several days and we got some snow and ice. The next few days are going to be cold again but at least some sunshine and next week is looking much better, especially looking way ahead to next weekend...back in the 50s....

We'll get some pup training done this weekend, these young dogs are getting real close to being able to move on to the next stage in their lives with new people in new places.

I'm gonna do some work on the Ranger to fit some custom made fenders on it so that the tracks don't throw up so much crap but one thing for sure, we'll be using that rig to mess with pups this weekend and I'm looking forward to it.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

I heard from Bret H. yesterday and he had a good training session with his Moose and Leinie pup called Badger. It won't be long and Badger will be maturing into a real nice young hound. He's just a year old this month and a real nice prospect. Bret has been kind enough to keep me posted on how Badger is doing and I'm enjoying it as much as anything I've been a part of in awhile...it reminds me a lot of me many years ago...It's like I told Bret, there are times when things don't go right where it seems like even minutes can seem like hours but at some point down the road, we realize that these days and nights will be the best times of our life.

Badger...lookin' good...on the wood.


Here's his reward


It has been a lot of fun hearing about how Badger is coming on and Bret has been handling most of the load by himself, training a nice male pup without much aid from older dogs. Making a dog is a process and not an event...it takes education...opportunity...and repetition and Bret is doing a good job of this.

I'm looking forward to see how things go over the next year...it should be fun.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Chattanooga, Tn
Posts: 22586

Rabble Rouser...next generations..... It is a good thing that you added the "s" when you started this thread. You are now working on the grandpups and it won't be long until you have some great grandpups. A couple of those Rabble "pups" even have their own stud dog threads now and are posting about their pups and their winnings (Haze and Deuce). Rabble now has produced 9 Grand Nite Champions. Isn't that some kind of a record? T-Top Kennels, just like the Everready Batteries, they go on and on and on and on... Two years, 53 pages and 1,318 posts later!

Last edited by Richard Lambert on 03-27-2011 at 03:18 PM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2007
Location: Russellville, AR
Posts: 39

Post 1319

Hey Tom have you seen the tree my pup DVD yet?
Pretty interesting stuff, I was wondering if you seen it what you thought of it. Thats what you need to do Tom film a training video for the coon hunter that doesn't like to read, like me. LOL

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

I had a message from Buck this morning letting me know that he and Moose had a good night down at Southern English Days winning first place Nite Champion with 883 1/2 + and no minus or circle.

That win finishes Moose to Grand Nite Champion.

When Moose went east this last fall, the goal was to finish Moose to Grand Nite Champion this winter and I'd say a pretty nice job done. Richard did his part when hunting Moose for a couple of weeks and Buck did the rest, it's a great accomplishment to finish a young hound like that in just 5 or so months.

Moose is a nice young hound that has finished before even becoming a mature male so I'm real proud of those guys and the accomplishment by a nice young hound.

I think Moose has something to offer in the stud pen also but I'm not much for putting a young male at stud before he's finished because it messes them up to some extent. In this case, we put Moose on Leinie and then only on two other females. Even though Moose and Leinie pups are looking real good at just a year of age and most of that litter will probably make good dogs, we still didn't want to put him on too many females and perhaps cause him to lose his edge. We will never know if a male can reproduce if we don't put him on some females early but we proceeded with caution and restraint so that we could finish him first.

All that being said, it's tough to be hunting a young hound one weekend and then not have that goal to chase the next weekend so we'll hope that we can keep Moose in top shape and still get him to some of the bigger hunts through this spring, summer and fall.

Later on today, we'll be messing with yet another generation like we have over the last few weeks and most of them are real close to taking the next step and going to the woods full time...it's exciting to think about how these youngsters will grow up and what how well their skills will fall into place.

We are working on the 5th and 6th generations now and hopefully this thread will help us document progress like it has since we started it.

Stay tuned...it's going to be a fun ride!

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Sep 2004
Location: wisconsin
Posts: 10

T-Tom.......it was.............


Burrrrr.... cold last night.

Pete

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Hey Pete...better days and nights are comin' but you're right...it was cold last night for sure.

Smoke looks good, she's a nice female with a real good background and I'd guess that she'll do right by you for many years to come.

We did some good training today and had a bunch of dogs to mess with. We had a few friends come over and they brought a few young dogs with them to join in the training session. We made 3 different drag runs with two or three dogs on each of them.

This is slim (orange collar) and a nice male out of Yank and Shelly...I'll call him Jasper...(yellow collar)






This is Gun and Fuzz


This is Gun and Deacon...




Say hello to Dozer...Owned by Dave Geiger...




Dozer is a nice looking male that is another decent prospect out of the Moose and Leinie cross. He has limited exposure but did real good once he got the idea of what was going on. He knows what a coon is and I believe his trigger tripped during this session...he's a good looking prospect for sure and I'll guess that he's going to make quick progress going forward based off what I saw today.

Gun is done!! We let him be the lead dog on two different drags today, one was fairly short and easy and one was long and more difficult. In both cases, he tracked good, located fast and treed hard. He showed me what I need to see before I'll send a young dog to the woods. He's 9-10 months old and is ready for hard training and that's what he's going to get starting now this spring.

Deacon is very close to being done with the program and will be ready for the woods in another week or so. I believe he can be moved up to lead dog status and we'll find out if that's the case next weekend. I'd say he's about ready to start practicing his southern accent and to move on down the road...

Fuzz and Jasper are a few sessions away from advancing but are doing real good, they're just younger and a step or so behind. I like what I see from them and I'd guess that they'll make dogs

There was a nice young Bluetick male along and also a grade Walker/English male. Both of these young dogs did OK and I think benefitted from the exposure.

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Sep 2004
Location: wisconsin
Posts: 10

T-Top
Either the prospects are getting better or the trainer is getting better (lol)

Nice prospects, love the photos

We have came along way from Ginger, Ruger and Doc seems like yesterday
I will see you guys at the hunts

Pete, Amy and the Goof Troop (Ryan Carson and Malia)

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mat taff
Post 1319

Hey Tom have you seen the tree my pup DVD yet?
Pretty interesting stuff, I was wondering if you seen it what you thought of it. Thats what you need to do Tom film a training video for the coon hunter that doesn't like to read, like me. LOL

---

__________________
Tom Solberg
T-Top Redbones

Unrealistic expectations are a roadblock to success, judge your dogs by what they are ready to give not by what you wish they'd do.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged