I am looking to purchase my first hunting dog. I mainly want a good family companion that will hunt with me instead of hunting dog that I keep at the family home. I live in Fort Worth and have decent sized yard for the suburbs but I do not have "land" there by any means. I mainly hunt Deer, varmint, predator, and hog in N. TX but I am not looking for a "Hog Dog"
I am looking for a dog that will track & trail and will find small game. I am pretty sure I have settled on a BMC of the treeing or smaller variety. I have contacted Mr. Paul Hillis regarding his Ladner Yellow Black Mouth Curs and he seems to be a very knowledgeable breeder who has been working with this line for years. This line also appears to be well known for their treeing ability with little training and they are in the 40-55lb variety of BMC that I am looking for.
Could some of you more experienced "dog hunters" offer your opinions on my choice of breed and if anybody has dealt with Mr. Hillis before, please give your opinion? If you know any other BMC breeders, please let me know. One thing is, I am not looking to ship a dog, I want to pick it up personally so it will have to be within a 3-4 hour drive from Fort Worth.
As I said, I am inexperienced in this area so any advice would be appreciated. Even if you just offer me food for thought.

From what you put here it sounds as though you want a family dog 1st. And a tracking dog 2nd. And small game dog (assuming squirrel but maybe rabbit or maybe even coon) 3rd. without the NEED for it to be a "hog dog" any trailing/treeing breed would be pretty good. I'd say you are on the right track with curs. Also coonhounds, labs (looks like you might want something smaller than a lab though), GSP's and (I might get shot for this one but I know they are great for this setup) Weimeraners. Hounds may not pay the best attention (especially once they are on track), the rest might need some training incentives to force them to trail game.

To sum it up Curs are always a good start for a multipurpose dog.

You would be right on all counts BigJoe. I have historically been a scent hound guy and have owned (although not for hunting) a few beagles and have a gun shy beagle now. The general nature of scent hounds to follow their noses and bay a lot does not lend well to my suburban existence. Plott Hounds were in serious consideration until I started thinking about this. This lead me to the Curs. Ya see? I have a wife, daughter and a beagle that won't listen to me now and by God I'm gonna get a dog that will love and listen to me unconditionally. Hahaha is that too much to ask?
If anybody knows of any good TX BMC breeders, let me know. I think Mr. Hillis has fine dogs but I would love to get a 2nd opinion. That's just my nature.

The Black Mouth Cur or the Catahoula seems to be what you would want..both are very family oriented, can be watch dogs and agressive, and have enough hound in them to track, trail or tree.
I'd stay away from those that are bred and raised strickly for homeowners and not to work as you would possibly lose a lot of the performance in getting a pet quality animal. I have had both
and the Catahoula's I had were quite a bit more agressive, and the black mouths were more like Labs..Don

That is good advice Don. You guys are making me feel much more confident that I have made the right decision. Thanks.
Nobody has dealt with Mr. Hillis or any other breeders within a few hours drive of Fort Worth?

I got my little bmc from a guy that raises coon dogs up in northern wise county. He had alot of dogs. I forget the name of his kennels but the guy is also a preacher. I love the temperment of my little bmc. I honestly need a bigger yard to be fair. She is awesome with my kid and will run non stop.