Dogs for Hogs??

[Monteria]

Google Monteria hunting and you will see where my user name was derived.

After almost 30 years breeding and running hog dogs, I can tell you three things.

1) lots of people with no first hand experience repeat what they hear.
2) there are many methods, many special requirements and many different traits required for individual terrains, population densities and climates. There are lots of different ways to skin the hog dog cat and one size does not fit all.
3) and most important to your question, every dog is an individual and must be judged upon it's own merit. Breed, breeder, lineage, litter and parents don't mean ****. A cull is a cull and a stud is a stud no matter how they came to be.

As a result, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

And yes, pits have a great nose and tons of drive, and they can work great alone IF the circumstance is correct. I have run just a single catch dog in many situations where nothing else worked as well.

Steve

 

[Mike6158]

^^ Yup. Brent, my son-in-law, has been running dogs on hogs since he was in High School (in his thirties now). From what I've seen he pretty much follows what you just said. He hunts farm fields, creek and river bottoms... it just depends.

 

[Beluebow]

Bulldogs make great catch dogs after the hog has been bayed....tracking dogs not so much.

 

[DUCKMAN11]

Google Monteria hunting and you will see where my user name was derived.

After almost 30 years breeding and running hog dogs, I can tell you three things.

1) lots of people with no first hand experience repeat what they hear.
2) there are many methods, many special requirements and many different traits required for individual terrains, population densities and climates. There are lots of different ways to skin the hog dog cat and one size does not fit all.
3) and most important to your question, every dog is an individual and must be judged upon it's own merit. Breed, breeder, lineage, litter and parents don't mean ****. A cull is a cull and a stud is a stud no matter how they came to be.

As a result, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

And yes, pits have a great nose and tons of drive, and they can work great alone IF the circumstance is correct. I have run just a single catch dog in many situations where nothing else worked as well.

Steve

This is 100% correct!

A lot has to do with terrain. Are you hunting off horseback or out of a buggy or an airboat? Are you hunting in thick timber or a marsh or the red dirt of the west Texas mesquite ocean like we do? Are you hunting big parcels of land or 100 acre clumps? How good of shape are you in personally? Could you play 20min of competitive soccer with the high school team or do you get winded putting shoes on?
You got closer working dogs like pits and curs. And long working dogs like Catahoulas and walkers. Or these heathen German short hair pointers we got to chase quail with who have no fear in baying up a big sow.

There are lots and lots of variables and one size doesn't fit all. I will say that hunting hogs with dogs isn't for the tender hearted and thats why I don't personally own "hog dogs". I have lots of friends who do and I usually just drive the buggy. It can be pure pandemonium with 40 legs and 20 eyes and a **** load of teeth milling around a cactus patch. And like someone else said....don't get too attached cause it's not an if or when a dog or person gets injured.....its a "how bad".

I had a friend in high school who ran walkers and had a Argentine dogo named panic as a catch dog. When that big white beast came out of the box.... EVERYTHING was in panic mode.