I've known of a few folks roping on mules when it wasn't an all mule deal, and have penned cattle a few times on my mule but generally if I'm goin huntin I want my mule and if I'm playin cowboy I want my horse.
  We didn't wind up getting enough ice to be a problem and less snow than was initially predicted possible. Supposed to be 6 degrees here in the morning and -2 the next morning.

 Those bear and their disposition make Black Bear look like a coon hunt.

   I am just fixing to start him, have handled him just a little, he's about half halter broke and have trimmed his feet and roached him a couple of times,  Gonna be a well made mule but not a pretty mule, his full sister on the other hand is pretty fancy. They are both gonna be right in my size preference.
  When I get a good stretch of weather where I can stay after him for a few consecutive days I'll have him on some long rides. Long rides any way for him, they can't stand near as much as a broke mule when you first start them, same as a young horse. High hopes and time will prove or disprove it.
  It will be hard to beat my older mare mule I have ridden for so long she is quite dependable in all departments.
 

  Mike the weather is bad, the chores are done, give us a detailed hunt story on the bear hanging up. Cold or hot strike, long race, how many times bayed before killed, what was he shot with, how many times haha and anything else you recall.

  t-dog, not speaking for Mike, but I know there aren't Black Bear in Sweeden, they have Brown Bear and they are quite different. At one time there was " I think" a 2 dog limit you could have on the ground per bear track, It's gonna take a real strong minded dog for 2 of them to stay on and bay a Brown bear. Mike can give you the facts, he's been over there and hunted with them.  It is real interesting to me to put dogs on a Brown Bear but that's way to far from home for me to venture there.

  By 8:00 this morning the windshields had a skim of ice on them and the horses had ice in their mane and low on their sides, but I think the ground temp is such that other than the bridges and overpasses it's not going to ice over.. The snow isn't a problem, but I hate the ice storms.

  Spent the morning adding bedding to the dog beds, feeding and putting out round hay to the horses and mules in an area where they have a wind break. Supposed to get about 4 inches of snow, possibly -2 degree nights and mid teen days for a day or two. Probably have to feed wet feed for a day or two while we can't break the ice for the dogs. That's a pain in the rear but it keeps them well hydrated, I fill buckets half full of feed and fill it up with hot water, it will soak all that up, then add more water until it is a slurry and feed it.  The horses and mules have a little wet weather branch they can water from so we won't have to break ice for them, and I'll grain them every day for extra calories, normal weather I just grain them every other day but they have hay in front of them all the time.

  That has been a good series of hunts for sure. A few days rest and the dogs will be tuned and ready for another round.  I forget what time frame you get to hunt the Marsh, but I was thinking the weather had been some hindrance to you guys Marsh hunt this year.
  The 2 years I got to come down the rain interfered a little bit. I guess Feb. in your area is just weather prone.

   The half brother/half sister has been my very favorite cross to line up on an individual (male or female) for many years.       These older pups are his second litter, the next in line is just now getting old enough to start, the younger one will be several months away from starting age, so I don't have a "real world" comparison other than similar physical traits and their behavior.
   His oldest litter was from an outside female and I only got 1 of them, it that started real well but received a handicapping injury. The only other one of them I have kept track of that was hunted made a very nice bear dog.
    This male is from an extremely line bred strain of dogs, it was an absolutely closed program, bred by one man, from around 1960 until 10 or 12 years ago.   He started with dogs from 5 crosses, several of which were related and never put anything else in them.

 Haha, I can't count 7 of the 10 pups are out of 1 male.

   I got to thinking about these 10 pups and although I knew it all along it dawned on me that 8 of them are out of one male dog. I lost him about 90 days ago but this gives him a real good chance to "prove" to be a prepotent reproducer, and if so, I did collect him back in the middle of the summer. There are 7 of this oldest litter and all 7 are doing good for their age, 2 of the 7 that I don't have, already bayed their own hog as well. They were 1 yr old Feb.1st.
  I know thats not, and am not claiming that to be phenomenal or anything but in my long time fooling with working dogs I have only had a few litters that all made. Looks like these could.

    Mike, do they hunt hogs when the bears are denned or when it isn't bear season. If they do their hogs probably don't have any domestic influence, do they? One more question, do they still have the 2 dog limit on bear?
  Glad you could show them a good time with a good hunt.

  t-dog, Ray Charles could see that's Walker coloration, and somewhere along the line I heard you say it was the House's Lipper blood. That goes back to the salt in the stew saying, "if you get too much salt in the stew you can dilute it down but it's still in there" and in genetics it can pop up way down the line.

   Those hogs between the Pearls better look out, the Marsh crew is coming. About like Ice and the Illegals.

  That family looks like family, good hunt. Now that Lipper Walker dog may cause some variance in the color scheme haha.

  They are doing good on the hogs, but they are still soaking up quite a bit of electricity. The one that outshined the other dogs baying that boar solo got fried off a coyote before we struck the next hogs. But it doesn't cow them down.

 Dang, 6 boats, you guys were loaded up. Dang, that's lots of hog draggers.

   According to science hogs are the smartest animal in the woods or on the farm and the boars are packing knives.

   Cajun there isn't really a cure for Nutria Itch is there? You just have to suffer it out don't you?

    I appreciate what you guys do for the veterans, congrats on a good hunt for a good cause. I can absolutely testify to the fact that even though sitting in the boat and looking at the terrain it looks like a cake walk, the marsh can be extremely difficult. When you step through the upper crust it literally grabs hold of you and sometimes you might not be able to get out alone. You do get better at where to and not to step. It was a totally different terrain than I'd ever hunted in, I'm more of a hills and hollers guy haha. I wouldn't be able to ride my mule there, she'd wind up gator bait.  Glad it went well for everyone.