Are they good for general hunting?
Not in the United States. The Ridgeback has been used successfully in hunting bobcat, mountain lion, bear, fox, squirrel, coyote, deer, wild boar and raccoon in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. There have been reports of Ridgebacks having been train to point upland game and retrieve game and fowl, but their true talents lie in cornering the prey for the hunter to finish off. As a rule, they are silent trailers and only bay once the prey is sighted. For this reason, Ridgebacks are not used alone to hunt deer, fox or raccoon unless they have a bell around their necks for location purposes. They can be hunted with breeds which are more vocal on a trail.
Nowadays, fewer states allow hunting with dogs in general, so most of today’s Ridgebacks are content to keep the backyard squirrel-free or to chase rabbits in a field. Most Ridgeback enthusiasts do their "hunting" these days on the lure coursing field chasing a white plastic bag! Lure coursing is a thrilling sport and fun for all the family to watch. Read all about it in "Starting Your Dog in Performance Events." [QUOTE/]
yeah, dogs that are good in one place stop being good when they go somewhere else. the only truth behind that, is that dogs from humid environments do poorly at first in arid environments, but once they get acclimated (few weeks to a year) they are just as productive.
if it is such a failure in the USA, how has it been successful on so many DIFFERENT species of mammal?
since silent running dogs put MORE game in the freezer, why would you put a bell on the dog to warn the game it's coming?
you can dog hunt SOMETHING in pretty much every state. off the top of my head Mass, Conn & RI MIGHT be the only states that have completely eliminated dog hunting. however I am almost positive even in those states rabbit, coon & squirrel can be taken w/ dogs.
clubs that focus on show are the WORST place to get information about working dogs.
now mind you, I could be wrong since i've only been hunting w/ dogs for 34 years. Matt has been hunting RRs for at least 10 years & giving seminars for the RRCUS member clubs on how to start training RRs for hunting. SO while my direct experience hunting RRs is limited, my access to extensive experience is pretty good. but hey, maybe we're both wrong & the non hunter that wrote the RRCUS page is right.