Red Bone Hounds

[Ray Ford]

Anyone out there have any experience with Red Bone hounds? 
Anyone out there know if the name is "Redbone" or "Red Bone?"  One word or two?
Does anyone know if there are any owners or breeders in my area--eastern Oklahoma?

[bobg]

  I think it is one word. My uncle ran them for a while. Good hunters but all the ones he had where the most head strong dogs i ever seen. He finally switched to Black and Tans. Sure were a lot easier to handle.
            bobg

[scootrd]

 I think it is one word. My uncle ran them for a while. Good hunters but all the ones he had where the most head strong dogs i ever seen. He finally switched to Black and Tans. Sure were a lot easier to handle.
            bobg

I've seen it spelled both ways ...same as Blue tick or Bluetick
dont know whats correct

[bobg]

 Do a search for coon hound breeds. Redbone and  Bluetick on there are both listed as one word. Guess it doesn't really matter though does it?
   bobg

[mechanic]

They are good dogs but very territorial.  If another dog comes into your yard it's likely dead.  They are very independent animals and take a lot of training.  On the good side, they will tackle anything and are fearless.

[bobg]

 If i remember right they were bred to hunt bigger things like some of the big cats. Haven't seen a Redbone in years. Most of the guys aroung here are running Black and Tans. One of the guys runs Walkers. I have a way of upsetting him when i tell him they are the biggest beagles i have ever seen.  . Sorry folks if i get carried away when it comes to hounds. I love to hear then bark. I have owned beagles for 50 years. I would rather hunt rabbits than anything i have ever hunted. I still own two beagles even though i don't hunt anymore. Right now they are sound asleep on my bed.
                bobg

[rwng]

I've never owned one but I have hunted (coons) with them. My friend had them for it and swore by them. Said he wouldn't use anything else. They were very efficient and intelligent while hunting but a little aggressive and head strong at the kill. My friend said that the male we were hunting with, had a deep hatred for coons, due to bad experience as a pup.

[squirrellluck]

Used them to run deer here years ago. Think Cash caught 2!!

[Ray Ford]

I made my post sometime back and have neglected to check back--but thanks for the responses.  About Redbones, some of the things that you guys said fit with what I remember hearing as a kid: tough, head-strong, harder to train....  (The word was about the same with buckskin horses: tough to break but tough horses after they were broke.)  

I've heard about Redbones all my life, but I've never owned or hunted one.  And I would like to before I get too old.  (I'll be my Biblically alloted three score and ten on April 4, 2010.)  But to be frank, I have a couple of young Pit/Staffordshire mixed females that are very near the same color as a Redbone, and a cross might very well produce some good "ketch" dogs on wild "hawgs."  Just a thought.

When I was a kid following an older man with hounds around in the woods in the Deep Fork bottoms in Oklahoma, there were more Blueticks and Black and Tans than anything.  A few Walkers.  Didn't see any Redbones except in the magazines.  Same with Plotts.  Then, Blueticks were considered the most trainable.  I heard it said that you could do more with words with a Bluetick than you could with a club with Black and Tans and other breeds.  I suspect that varies a whole lot between individuals.

One thing that I did learn as kid, from often being told, was that, in order to do a good job training a 'coondog, a hunter had to be smarter than the dog.  The implicit suggestion was that every hunter wasn't.

[SHOOTALL]

We hunt deer with them . Good dogs for that .

[mechanic]

We had one for a while when I was a boy, but it had to go.  It killed several pets of the neighbors, etc.  Even though they were in our yard, it made for bad feelings.  One of the dogs we found dead was a pit.

[Ray Ford]

One of the dogs we found dead was a pit.

That is interesting.  It is a rare dog of another breed that can handle a Pit.  And I'm certain that we'll be getting some stories about non-Pit Bulls that successfully fought Pits.  Pits, of course, can be killed by two or more good curs: the Pit will latch onto one of the curs and the others will cut him to pieces while he is holding onto the one--which a good Pit will do until he dies.

I think I'm understanding why Red Bones/Redbones are not in everyone's back yard.  Sounds like only a semi-professsional dog handler should own them.  That is what I say about Pits.  I still would like to have one of the red hounds.

[mechanic]

One of the dogs we found dead was a pit.

That is interesting.  It is a rare dog of another breed that can handle a Pit.  And I'm certain that we'll be getting some stories about non-Pit Bulls that successfully fought Pits.  Pits, of course, can be killed by two or more good curs: the Pit will latch onto one of the curs and the others will cut him to pieces while he is holding onto the one--which a good Pit will do until he dies.

I think I'm understanding why Red Bones/Redbones are not in everyone's back yard.  Sounds like only a semi-professsional dog handler should own them.  That is what I say about Pits.  I still would like to have one of the red hounds.

Obviously having one for  a while does not make me an expert, but others I have talked with tell of similar traits.  I never knew him to be agressive toward people, just animals.

[SHOOTALL]

the redbone's we deer hunt with won't pack with other breeds , fight to much . But they run deer as good as any .

[Ray Ford]

the redbone's we deer hunt with won't pack with other breeds , fight to much .

Shoot,

Will they pack with other Redbones: do they fight each other?

[SHOOTALL]

  you know um good . they won't pack with other RB's either .

[LEO]

My cousin used to have one that was a fair coonhound but it was a very cold nosed dog so some of races were lengthy, I used to kid him and say that we weren't interested in chasing a coon that was here last week.  The dog wasn't terriblly agressive toward other dogs but wouldn't tolerate any foolishness from them either.  I used to work with a fellow some that had a redbone bloodhound cross that was an incredible man hunter.  He did it to avoid some of the health issues that bloodhounds have but are not as common in redbones.  It seemed to work for him. This dog was fairly agressive though towards other animals and most people (not a bad trait in this case considering its intended use) but not a dog you would want as a family pet.  This is my limited experience with redbones oh and as an after thought, they are a beautiful hound and since they are a solid color you don't have to worry about the markings like on a black and tan, walker, bluetick, or english/red tick hound.

[Ray Ford]

I've done some looking around on the internet.  There are some Redbones around--high-priced.

[bobg]

  Ray don't leave me hanging here. Are you going to get a Redbone or not? If you do let us know how it works out. My uncle probably didn't weigh 100 pounds. He had to put the redbones on a leash to get them in his truck. They would drag his butt all over the place. With the black and tans he could let them loose and say truck and they would jump right in.
            bobg           

[Ray Ford]

Ray don't leave me hanging here. Are you going to get a Redbone or not? If you do let us know how it works out. My uncle probably didn't weigh 100 pounds. He had to put the redbones on a leash to get them in his truck. They would drag his butt all over the place. With the black and tans he could let them loose and say truck and they would jump right in.
            bobg          

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I got involved in some other things and....  

I don't know yet if I will be able to get a Redbone.  If I do, I'll let you know.  To be frank, while I would like to have a red hound to hunt, I would also like to have one to breed to a female that I have--a chocolate, red-nosed Pit Bull.  I picked her up from a Creek guy, a friend of mine.  He had had her for years but was intending to put her down because she was in such bad shape.  I intervened, took her home, and nursed her back to health.  I would like to have a pup or two from her to make into squirrel dogs.  A Redbone is my first choice for a male for her.

She will hunt.  My friend, when she was young, would take her fishing with him.  He just turned her lose to run the woods.  There's not much that she didn't catch and kill and bring back to him.  Once, when he turned her loose, she spoted some geese on the lake near the shore.  She dropped into a belly crawl and crept toward the birds.  When she reached the edge of the water, they spotted her and lifted off.  She launched into the air some four feet and grabbed one.

I had a Pit/Lab crossed dog once that was a good squirrel dog.  The only problem with him, as far as hunting squirrels was concerned, was that I had to fight him for the squirrels: if he got a chance, he would eat them.
He would also eat people that messed with him.

I'm going to get back into looking for one of the red hounds.  We have lots of 'coon on Eagle Chief Creek where it spends a mile on my land out in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma.

[Daman]

I had a Red Bone for several years (got him for my eighth birthday) and after about two years I had him where if I said catch it it was caught didn't matter what or who. He would catch bulls that had broke out the pasture by the nose and throw them. He did well with my other dogs, but I brought them home after he was grown and they were 6-8 weeks old so he kinda raised them to his own liking. He died of a heat stroke on July chasing a rogue bull some guy had brought in to breed his cows and it broke out. He came and got my dog to round him up and he ran himself to death in a thicket fighting that big old bull. Can't say there was any more fitting way for him to go since he loved to catch animals and especially cows.

I would not recommend a Red Bone for someone with little kids who have friends over cause mine was aggressive to anyone who didn't live at my house.

Daman

[HL]

Not a full blood, but I picked up a Redbone/Black Lab pup at our local shelter almost 2 years ago. The momma was a registered Black lab and the guy that dropped off the 5 litter mates said she preferred the neighbors Redbone to the stud he had picked out for her. Three pups came out looking like black labs and 2 like redbones. She must have been the runt, since she has topped out at 67lbs. She is headstrong, but very obedient and does very well with other dogs. She has had a very big attraction to the deer in our neighborhood. Redbones are very dedicated to owners and are a very loving animal, when not hunting.

[Ray Ford]

For the first time since I've been looking, there was an ad in the Tulsa paper yesterday for UKC Red Bone puppies.  I'm going to check it out--even if they are priced high for me.

Maybe I can get bobg down from where he is hanging.

[bobg]

 Sure would like to see another Redbone Ray. I was at my uncles one afternoon and a deer came out on the end of his property. He said watch this this Bob. He took his Redbones down there and put them on the deer track. When they showed some interest he beat the living heck out of both of them. Brought them back to the house and smiled and said bet they won't be interested in deer anymore. He was the most miserable man i have ever known. In his later years he told me i was about the only person who would even talk to him. I always got along good with him.

[Paints-n-cows]

If you are still looking for some Redbone pups, I know where there are two of them.  They are 7 week old females and are located in northwestern Missouri.

Two of my friends swear by their Redbones.  They talk about how they hit the ground running and are good on a track/tree.  However, for me, I want a dog that wants to hunt for me...not just for themselves.

They have never said anything about them not wanting to pack with other dogs but I would suspect that the hardheadness is probably the cause of that.  While other dogs sort of socialize for the first couple of minutes, the Redbones just take off to do their business.