Reference Letters
02-25-2010
Mike,
Thought I would drop you a quick note. I named the dog I got from you Hawkins, he has been at about 24 trees with lions in the last 3 weeks, he has been super agressive, a little too much as I knew it was just a matter of time before he got a hard lesson and I was hoping that it would not kill him. Treed a cat for my wife this morning and he jumped and got ahold of Hawkins and chewed him up pretty good. Took me a while to get him to come back over to the cat after it was dead, he did not want anything to do with it, he is not feeling very good tonight. There are some pretty good holes in his neck and head as well as is hind quarter and front leg. I am hoping this does not set him back too bad as he was doing so good. Thanks for the great dog, he is more than I ever expected. I enclosed a couple of pictures from this morning.
Shawn Peters
Follow up: I spoke to Shawn in February and Hawkins has been on a couple more lions and a bobcat and is doing great.
11-25-2009
I have been getting dogs from Mike for the past 6 years or so and I can say without a doubt that these are some of the best dogs I have ever had. I know that whatever Mike tells me about a dog is true. His pups take a minimal amount of time to adjust and are quick learners. His pups, of which I have four, are already performing like 3 and 4 year old dogs. People I hunt with are blown away by these pups and wouldn't think twice about getting a pup from Three Bear Kennels. However, don't take my word for it, just take a look at Mike's DVD-it speaks for itself!
Dennis Melkonian, California
559-271-8724
10-23-07
Hi, my name is Matt Fernandez and I am a bear hunter here in Vacaville, CA. I have been buying young started dogs from Mike for a few years now. I have 9 dogs and 7 of those are out of Mike's dogs. All of them run a bear with incredible speed and when they catch a bear that doesn't want to climb, they have the grit it takes to make it climb. The last 3 young dogs that I bought from him were Curly who is 9 months old and out of Sharp, Foxy who is 9 months old and out of Blackjack, and Lacy who is 12 months old out of Arrow. The other day those 3 young dogs got after a bear by themselves, they started the track at 1 pm and bayed the bear all day long sounding like 3 old veteran bear dogs baying. They finally treed the bear at midnight. I couldn't be happier with the dogs that I have been buying from Mike.
Thanks again Mike,
Matt Fernandez
September 23, 2007
Hey...Just a quick note...the dog I got from Mike turned out to be one of the best in our pack..We are weekend hunters due to jobs, and so far this year we treed 8 bear. I know that does not sound like much, but last year we treed 0. The dog is 14 months old and has never crossed the road any farther back than 2nd...barks constant on track and trees merciless...another added plus is that he honors in unbelievably..Nobobdy wanted to talk much about him at first, mostly because they thought I was nuts for what I paid for him sight unseen, but now they all want Mike's phone number...I will be ordering another very soon.
Thanks Mike,
Dan Ducommun, Ladysmith WI
715-532-7765
January 25, 2007
I have run dogs for 30 years and had 11 generations that I have owned and raised out of the same bloodlines. I decided to get out of the dogs, but when I sold them I was able to get that bloodline back if I wanted to start again. Well that didn't take long and I had 3 more dogs, but there was something missing in these dogs that the other dogs had, and that was jump speed heads up catch dogs. So I gave Mike Kemp a call. I have known Mike for years and knew he had the type of dogs that I was wanting to get back to. Mike said he would pick one out that I would be happy with. A few months later he called and said he had a young male. I wanted the dog to cat hunt with. After we put the dog on the first bobcat track, he led the jump race right fom the start and has led any race he has been on since. The dog was just what Mike said it was and he locates and trees like a 5 year old finished cat dog. (There are pictures of Joker on the home page)
Thanks again Mike,
Mark Moncrief
December 8, 2006
I was looking for a line of proven bear dogs with little to no luck before I gave Mike Kemp a try. I had bought young dogs from breeders in California and Oregon with nothing more than weak promises and had little to no luck with the end result. Since I am an outfitter I need dogs that will get the job done.
I gave Mike a phone call and talked about buying 2 young dogs out of his stock. It was hard for me in the beginning to spend that kind of money on a started dog from Mike but in the long run I had invested more time and money on dogs from other breeders that didn't make the cut.
The day came where I picked up my 2 young dogs out of Hollywood. I got a male (Boone) and a female (Lady). I wasn't sure if I was getting in over my head having 2 young dogs. I had ran into trouble in the past doing this.
The first day of hunting with them was a good one. I thought I would give them a try and turn them both loose into the race and see what they would do. A couple hours later when I got there Boone and Lady stayed put with the older dogs with a nice bear treed. I could always turn them into a race with confidence.
Time went on like this. The dogs always made the races and stayed put at the tree. They did well but the time came at 10 months of age when I had a mean bear bayed down in a creek bed. I had 3 older dogs there and I thought this would be the test for these young dogs. I turned them loose and within minutes I could hear them down with the other dogs baying that big bear. When I got down there they were at the front line with the older dogs. I couldn't believe it.
They both will strike and trail on their own with no to little help from older dogs. They are built well and are very intelligent. They can be hunted day after day. I am very impressed with what Mike sent me and that helped me make my decision to buy 2 more this upcoming year. All I can say is thank you Mike. It is a pleasure to hunt this line of dogs. They are an important asset to my guide service business.
Tim Lockwood - Outfitter
Lockwood Hunting Services
P.O. Box 327-Windsor-CA- 95492
(707) 888-2859
tim@lockwoodhuntingservices.com www.lockwoodhuntingservices.com
July, 2006
Fellow Hound Hunters;
I was looking for a line of dogs that would suit me in the country I hunt in Washington State. The only hunting we have now is for the timber companies a couple of months during the spring and in that short time we need to produce.
We ordered a dog from Mike Kemp. We winced at the price, but he gave us a guarantee on the young dog out of Blackjack. Mike said he would pick one out that would suit us.
The dog has proven himself from the first day we hunted him. At 11 months old baying on his first bear on a rock bluff, he was with the lead dogs. His second bear was in a thick brush draw where he was baying very tight and holding the bear in place. The third bear was a 6 hour run and bay. He was there to the end, even though he had been bitten several times and needed over 25 stitches.
I was afraid at 12 months old he might be bear broke. After 12 days of healing we hunted him again. This time we hunted the ash covered foothills at the base of Mt. St. Helens. We turned loose on a hot strike and after two hours of bay and go, bay and go we found the dogs and they sounded treed. When we got to the dogs they were bayed on a big mean bear. The bear was working the dogs as much as the dogs were working him. Out of the eight dogs we turned loose four had quit, but Gamble (out of Blackjack) was shoulder to shoulder with my two lead dogs, still in stitches, holding the bay. I was very impressed with the way Gamble was acting; he showed no fear at all of the bear.
With our season over I am thinking about Gamble and what kind of dog Mike sent me. Gamble's disposition was excellent, he minds very well, easy to handle, he is not shy or skittish and not growly. He took to water with no problem. He has got the desire that drives him to run for the front of the race or on the firing line on a bay-up.
Oh Ya! The price..............I am ordering two more.
Thanks Mike for sending me one of the best young dogs I have had in a very long time.
Tony Locken
Ridgefield, WA.
Phone 360-887-8515
ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW, 08/01/06
I hunt bear here in Washington State with Tony Locken, the houndsman who got "Gamble" who is out of Blackjack, from Mike Kemp. We picked the yound dog up from Mike around February, which gave us about a month of coon hunting with the young dog before our bear season started and I tell you what, I couldn't believe what I was seeing this young pup do on coon, it was outstanding!
Starting into bear season this pup didn't miss a lick, he was always right there with the lead dogs and he handled very well from the start to finish. The first bear bayed was on a rock bluff and they had him held very tight until the bear was harvested. The second bear that I saw Gamble on was a mean one, the dogs had him bayed up on a dirt knoll above a rocky bluff, the bear would try to break through the dogs to get around the corner to the next ridge and this pup never backed off, but the bear finally broke through and made his way to the next ridge with dogs on his tail, Gamble included. (just as a reference point, there was 12 dogs turned in on this bearand Gamble was one of the 5 that made it to the end.) This is the bear that gave him the 25 stitches that Tony talks about in his reference letter. The last bear was a bruiser, on this bear we turned 8 dogs in and he beat 4 dogs out at the beginning of the race. When we located the remaining dogs, they had the bear bayed up in a creek draw. When we got to them the only dogs there were Tony's lead dog Buck with Gamble right by his side barking every breath! Two of the behind dogs came in at the same time as we did, and the bear was harvested on the ground.
All I can say about this experience is that when Tony told me he was buying another dog from Mike Kemp, I told him to put me down for one too!
T.K. Richardson
Stevenson, WA.
Mike
I would like to thank you for the pup I got from you this summer. He has done everything you said he would when I got him. At 8 months old he ran the first bear he saw, not only did he run it, but he caught it as proved by the holes in his rump.
This pup at 8 months old handles like a 10 year old but runs like a 2 year old. This reflects well on your breeding program as well as your pup training program.
I think that these dogs that you are raising will run and catch game anywhere they are hunted.
Victor Truxell, (VA)