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<h3>CHAPTER VI. WOLF AND COYOTE HUNTING.</h3> In training a dog to run wolves, it is unsafe to allow a young dog to go alone, as some wolves prefer fighting to running, and if a young dog is whipped back a few times, he will become afraid, or will be perhaps, spoiled altogether. Training a dog to hunt young wolves is a harder task, and unless your dog is born for it, you will fail to make anything like a first class dog out of him. Almost any good fox dog will hunt old wolves, but very few will hunt pups, and my experience has been that a bitch will hunt quicker than a dog. There are a great many dogs that will trail and hunt a wolf to a finish, but will pay no attention to the pups whatever; but if you succeed in finding one that is inclined to hunt them, remember that practice makes perfect. Speaking of brush wolves: The kind of dog needed is a good ranger, extra good cold trailer and an everlasting stayer. Then if he will only run a short distance after starting the wolf and come back and hunt the pups, and then bark at them when found, you have a good, valuable dog. There are plenty of dogs that will hunt and trail wolves all right, but very few that will hunt the pups. Sometimes when your dog trails in near the pups you will get a fight, and sometimes they will jump out and run for it. Sometimes if the pups are quite young you will find the mother in with them and for the first few days she will be found near them, but as they grow older she will be found farther away. A Minnesota wolfer who averages 35 wolves a year pins his faith in the long eared variety of hounds, with features of strength, endurance, good tonguers and stayers. From another source we are advised that the best dogs ever for coyotes, are part English blue and Russian stag. English blue are very fast and the stag are long winded and have the grit to make a good fight. Another admired and capable dog is the one-half Scotch stag hound and one-half grey hound. A Wisconsin hunter writes that the best breed to catch and kill coyotes are one-half shepherd and one-half hound. They are faster than a hound and trail just as well on a hot trail. Another fast breed for coyotes is a one-fourth English bull, one-fourth blood hound and one-half fox hound. <h5><ANTIMG src="images/067.jpg" alt="Typical Western Wolf Hounds."> Typical Western Wolf Hounds.</h5> A Kansas hunter contributes some first hand discussion of wolf hunting as follows: I have been hunting wolves with dogs for eight or nine years and have caught my share. I only hunt in spring and late in fall, but any time is good when you can find them. But don't take your dogs out in summer, as it will be sure to be the time when you will find a hard race, and there is where you will hurt some of your best dogs. I use a pack of from three to five, but the more the better. I have tried most all kinds of dogs and have found a cross with stag hound and English greyhound suits me the best. I don't have any use for a full blood English greyhound — they cannot stand the cold weather and are too easily hurt in a fight. I want a dog that will weigh 75 pounds, with long legs and short back so he can gather himself up quickly. I don't think foxhounds are any good for wolves. I have seen thirty-five of them start after the same wolf, in good weather and four hours afterward there were only two, the smallest of the pack, still in the race. I have no doubt but that they could have taken the wolf several times in the race, but all they could do was to bark. I will not say a full blood stag hound is not all right, in a level, unobstructed country, but in many parts of the country many large dogs would not be able to get thru the fences or over the rough ground with the ease that the smaller ones do. I have never seen the big dog that could catch and kill a wolf by himself. I have killed them with two, but would rather have four or five. I always hunt on a horse, and they should be the best of horses, well broken and not afraid of wire. I never carry a gun of any kind, but always have a hammer, and if I want to succor the dogs in the race, I will ride up to the dogs and kill the wolf for them. THE IRISH WOLFHOUND. The Irish wolfhound of history is no more, the breed having become extinct years ago. There has been a determined effort, however, to approximate him with a present day breed. The modern Irish wolfhound is a cross between the Scottish deerhound and the Great Dane. Other combinations have also been tried, with more or less good effect. According to the idea of the American-Irish Wolfhound Club, the Irish wolfhound should be "not quite so heavy or massive as the Great Dane, but more so than the deerhound, which in general type be should resemble. Of great size and commanding appearance, very muscular, strongly though gracefully built; movements easy and active, head and neck carried high; the tail carried with an upward sweep, with a slight curve toward the extremity. The minimum height and weight of dogs should be 31 inches and 120 pounds; bitches 28 inches and 90 pounds. Anything below this should be debarred from competition. Great size, including height and shoulder and proportionate length of body is the desideratum to be aimed at, and it is desired to firmly establish a race that shall average from 32 to 34 inches in dogs, showing the requisite power, activity, courage and symmetry." "The coat should be rough and hard on body, legs and head; especially wiry and long over the eyes and under the jaws. The recognized colors are gray, brindle, red, black, pure white, fawn or any color that appears in the deerhound." THE RUSSIAN WOLFHOUND. The Russian wolfhound has a reputation for being a most capable wolf-catcher in his native country, but so far the pure bred hound of that family has not held his own with the American wolf. He has the speed and capacity for catching the wolf, but is unable to cope with him or detain him long enough for the hunter to arrive. Admirers of the dog say he lacks training and adaption and that he will with a generation or two of careful training and practice become the most available dog for the purpose. <h5><ANTIMG src="images/071.jpg" alt="Termination of a Successful Chase."> Termination of a Successful Chase.</h5> Others get good results by crossing in some fiercer and stronger blood. The Russian Wolfer has somewhat the clean cut appearance of the greyhound, though more stockily built, and has a long, silky coat of wavy or curly hair. "In general appearance" says an authority, "he is an elegant, graceful aristocrat among dogs, possessing courage and combining great muscular power with extreme speed, weighing from 75 to 105 pounds." <h5><ANTIMG src="images/073.jpg" alt="Good Dogs Make Good Luck."> Good Dogs Make Good Luck.</h5> <hr> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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