Well, the time has come! Bayne and I have been packing "Big White" with what seems like entirely too much gear for our 4 month excursion up north, to take on the cats of the Bighorn Mountains! Our main goal is to help deploy 5 GPS collars on adult cougars so graduate student Linsey Blake (Utah State University) can look at cougar predation on bighorn sheep.

Aside from some initial tracking training (ages 4 months to 1 year), treeing of house cats, and a few interactions with a live cougar from the comfort of his leash, this is going to be Bayne's first introduction to the art of the chase...we'll see how he does! I'm a bit worried he lacks enough independence to stay on the trail, so that is something we will be focusing on during this capture stint. I'm hoping he gets inspired from other hounds on the project and will pick it up fast.

I don't know what kind of access I'll have, but I'm looking forward to posting pics and info once we get settled in and start capture work. Please let me know of special requests! I look forward to keeping you posted and hope you enjoy the ride as much as I'm sure I will!