Registered: Jan 2007
Location:
Posts: 8

And she hunts too, Tom!!

For young hunters that are learning, or for seasoned veterans, a fella can always find some useful tips and hints in the articles you have published Tom. They have already started this one headed in the right direction.

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Registered: Jul 2007
Location: Craig County Va
Posts: 1740

I love the T-Top line its just getting better and better look at all it has produced. Just couple that i really like is Da Moose , and Haze. But theres tons more you keep hearing about.

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Home of Craigs Creek Kennels & Hound Supply www.craigscreekkennels.com phone 540-864-5741. We hunt 4 & 5 nights a week and we test our products. I am a hound hunter & support all the Associations.


Team Virginia Cartel
Team Bright Eyes
'PR' Craigs Creek Soggy Bottom Savage
(Haze x SML PD RIVER Polly)

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Thanks...there's more to come and ever more exciting as we go forward in time.

The success or failure of any program is determined by the strengths or failures of the dogs it produces and the strengths and weaknesses of the folks who handle them...some make it...some don't... but ever forward always working to find that magical cross...again.

Those good ol' dogs of the past are always good to think about and talk about around the fire or in these forums but ultimately, it's what we're doing today that will dictate how well we're able to move the program forward tomorrow.

We feel that we've got some good plans in place to supplement dogs like Moose and Haze and many of those nice young studs out there...something that hasn't much been done before, something we can work on here behind the scenes and spring on the world

Anyway...thanks for the nice comments...there's more to come.

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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.

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Registered: Apr 2007
Location: new milford,pa
Posts: 6

T-Top Bubba.I believe this is Daggers brother.He has started treeing really well and will work a track but hasn't opened up on a track yet.I take my old dog on a leash with us and when he starts acting like he has a track I walk her over there.The last several times out she opened right up on it.I let her go and they tree the coon.He has a really nice locate and then turns it into a nice hard chop.I have high hopes for this guy.Les Hall

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Great looking young hound Les! It's easy to see that he's a brother to Dagger, they have the same build and color for sure.

I like Dagger a lot also, I think he has very good actions already for his very limited exposure.

We'll see how Dagger progresses after his next training session...I'm guessing he'll be ready to ramble on a regular basis...and then on to his next life...eh?

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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.

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Dave was out and loaded up Griz and Gun for a short hunt.

He let me know that he made two tracks, one treed on a den and the other with the coon on the outside...dogs looked good considering they haven't been to the woods since last November.

The weather has been great, mid 70s yesterday and close to the same today...it will get back to normal soon enough but sure nice to enjoy this kind of weather up here now at this time of the year.

We'll be back at it again on the weekend with a couple of young dogs...we'll see how it shapes up and hopefully some pictures.

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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.

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Registered: Apr 2006
Location: calcutta ohio
Posts: 223

looking forward to some more pics this weekend of dagger

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mark marshall

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Dave G. and his friend Brandon came to hunt last night and we got a coon treed, even though it was still 71 F. at 11:00 PM last night....too warm for this part of the country at this time of the year.

The dogs did a good job on this coon...they winded it and headed up the ridge and treed it in short order...

This is a very unusual picture of Yank actually up on the tree...


Here's a couple real nice shots of Dave's Dozer male...




Being as warm as it is up here in the north, it's hard on the dogs...they sill have winter coats and are used to dealing with the cold and then...all of a sudden, we're dealing with 75-80 degree days and nights in the low 70s.

The coons weren't moving good, the dogs covered a lot of ground without rounding one up until we hit this one spot.

Dozer is by way of Dual Gr. Ch. PR T-Top Dark Timber Moose and Nt. Ch. PR Brown's Leinie Red Rider. He's a nice young prospect with what I think is a bright future ahead of him.

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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.

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

It is good to see Dozer out hunting. Moe ran a track for a long way and got a coon treed finally but he was so hot that he just mostly bawled on the tree. It is hot down here in Tennessee too but there is only one way to get them used to it.

Last edited by Richard Lambert on 03-17-2012 at 10:31 PM

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Yep...I'm sure it's a lot warmer south of here than it is up here and we have cooler weather to look forward to in just a few more days...back to spring instead of summer weather.

Dave went out on Thursday night with Gun and Griz...he had a good hunt..
Gun and Griz in the background...


Gun


Both dogs did a bang up job on a couple of tracks, hunted hard, struck quick and drove the tracks to tree.

Griz is picking it up and is a happy camper to be out and about again. Our goal is to finish him over the next several weeks and then move forward with Gun and him together at the hunts.

Dave said he was trying to get some pictures on one of the trees and he had Griz tied and was fumbling around with the camera so after several minutes, Gun figured that was enough of that and took off hunting again. Dave took Griz to the truck and by that time, Gun had struck again, drove another track, located and treed alone with a double in one tree.

Like Dave said...he's a machine...impressive!

Gun and Griz were only out a couple of times now and since last November so it's good to see them take up where we left off last fall. Gun will first be 2 in June of this year but he has taken the next step in his progression like we thought he would. He strikes quick, hunts hard and doesn't make too many mistakes between the track and tree...he's a nice young hound and about ready to be introduced to the world in competition.

We'll be at it again tonight and see what comes of it. We'll hope to get some pictures of Gun, Dozer and Dagger at a tree...if we can get one treed hunting 3 young dogs together all at the same time...we'll see...eh? Stay tuned...

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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.

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

We went out again last night and it was warm again, although not quite as humid as the night before

We loaded up Gun, Dozer, Dagger and Sarge and headed out.

Gun...


Gun & Dagger...


Sarge & Dagger...


Dagger & Sarge


Dozer did a nice job of setting up the first tree, probably a lay up by the way they fell onto it without much ground work.

It was warm and the dogs played out fast so we didn't push it. It was 75 degrees at 10:00 PM last night but the humidity wasn't quite so bad...at least not for us...the dogs looked road hard and put up wet

We made another drop that basically turned into two young dogs road racing. Gun and Dozer left Dagger and Sarge behind and went almost 1000 yards before striking and then loading up on a den tree. It was a long walk to round them up and after that, we called it a night...we should have known better before turning them loose that last time...but...we're coon hunters so once in awhile...we can have a lapse of common sense...eh?

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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.

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 1788

Nice Pictures Tom. You can see Gun is real strong in his front shoulders like his Dad Ace. Dave

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Yes, I agree Dave...Gun looks a lot like Ace when on the tree. He's got a bit to learn yet but it's a lot of fun working with a young hound like this that has so much potential to be a big time dog. Even on his not so good nights, he's better than lots of older and more experienced hounds that I've hunted with so only a bright future for him.

I think it's so interesting to think about the age of these dogs that we're talking about now. Gun won't be two until June and Ace is still just a two year old dog himself so there's a lot of future ahead of them.

I still enjoy the process of putting them together and then getting the offspring off to the right start and there's still nothing like seeing a young hound turn into something special for someone out in the world.

We're showing these dogs the woods again after a long winter and they're making good progress with getting back in shape but...a long ways to go yet. By the time April and May rolls around, we'll have something for folks to deal with in the hunts when they draw us so we'll continue to work through this spring and see how it ends up.

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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.

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

quote:

---

Originally posted by topdog
I still enjoy the process of putting them together and then getting the offspring off to the right start and there's still nothing like seeing a young hound turn into something special

---

Tom, you have such a way with words. This is a 6 mos old pup whose grandaddy is Rabble on both the top and bottom. A shot of Pigeon (Bomber X Bell) on the top and Sally (Little Zack X Sweetie) on the bottom doesn't hurt any.

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

It looks like that pup has his head pointed in the right directoin Richard...it's nice to see that they know which way is up...

It'll be fun to see that one grow and turn into something.

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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.

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Registered: Aug 2009
Location:
Posts: 3982

A LAP FULL OF FUTURE COONDOGS

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

That's a great picture John...everyone in it looks happy and content and I guess it can't get much better than that.

It's always interesting to see another generation of pups hitting the ground, it's one of the things I love the most about being around dogs. When we put Rabble Rouser with Annie a few years back, it was just like this...we didn't know what we'd end up with but the whole world was ahead of those pups. Looking back now, Red and some others are good examples of how pups can grow to reach their potential if given a good opportunity to learn their business. I'm glad that Red ended up with you and that he's being given the chance to see what another generation can reproduce.

Good luck with those pups...or maybe I should say...good luck getting them away from that young lady

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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.

Last edited by topdog on 03-25-2012 at 05:02 AM

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Registered: Apr 2005
Location: Gulf Shores,Al.
Posts: 839

What a mouthful..They have to be given Their oppurtunity says it all..Some Fantastic dogs there...

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Debbie Dorrance

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

I took Yank and Dagger out for a short hunt last night and treed a couple coons.

Dagger...




Coon...


Dagger is a greenhorn and is trying hard to learn his business. Last night on the first tree, the coon was way out on a sagging limb about 20 feet off the ground and right over the spring. He could wind the coon and even though Yank had already located and treed, he was working hard to find that coon because of the good scent. He covered pretty quick and treed good.

Yank is one of those dogs that figures out pleasure hunting pretty quick. If he doesn't get a coon once in awhile, his level of interest drops...it may be pleasure hunting to us but it's no pleasure for him...eh? He did a nice job on two coons with the second one being a layup. Dagger treed good on both trees but has some to learn yet. I'd expect that by next fall when the season is in again, he'll be ready to do some damage.

Every night out is another opportunity to teach a dog something...when we were done last night, Dagger knew how to load on command and understood who buys the dog food...

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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.

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 1788

T-Top Ace 3/25/2012

Tom I needed a little time a lone with my Dog. Ace looking up. Dave

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Ace looks good Dave, always a great tree style. I can't help but see Ace in Gun when he gets up on the tree...that's a nice comparison to make for sure.

I'm looking forward to the next time we're able to make the Ace and Cherry cross...can't hardly wait.

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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.

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 1788

T-Top Ace 3/27/2012
Called Tom last night and let him hear the old boy treed split 10 steps from a nice female. Neither one looked toward the other one's tree and both had coons. Dave

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

He sure sounded good last night Dave, and it's good to see the big guy up on the side of a tree like that.

Seeing him up there like that brings back a lot of good memories of some of his not so distant ancestors and how they used to grab onto a tree like that and tell the world that they had the coon...good stuff!

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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.

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Registered: May 2006
Location: Wiscoonsin
Posts: 1941

Fired JJ up last night. Two drops, 3 casts, 3 coon seen.
First cast. Cut her she bolted out 200 yards, struck and treed. All of 30 seconds.
Second drop. first cast. Struck off the leash. Blew thru the woods back out into the corn stubble, back into the woods and treed.
Walked her off the tree and cut her. She struck after about a minute. Treed about 50 yards from the last tree.
I spent more time driving, then hunting. Man that just bites.
Gots to go to work. Need to fix some tools.
Scott

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Red Ryder coonhounds.
Home of the
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Home of,
PR Nitech Leinie Red Ryder
PR Jan Da Red Ryder Butcher ( JJ )

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1120

Man oh man...that sounds like a good night of hunting Scott...they should all be like that...eh?

JJ is coming into her own by the sounds of it and with a lot of sense to back up some good ability...I like that kind of dog a lot...she's doing momma Leinie proud!

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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.

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