Hello Jerred,
Welcome to the great sport of hunting hogs with dogs. It is a sport with all the thrills, spills, trimphs and heart aches you can imagine. And it has a fulfillment and pleasure to own and watch work some of the greatest athletes in the world---your dogs. If I had 1 suggestion since your getting started it would be this---Don't let the first dog you get be a bull dog. :-) That symbol means a smile. It just always seems like the very first dog a person gets is a bull dog. So they go out and buy a dang good bull dog, and pet and groom him and spend time to get him well mannered and to catching in a pen etc.... But they for got one MAIN THING.... A 100% catch dog is useless as tits on a boar hog unless he can find a hog to catch.. Hope you get my meaning :-) One thing about it, you live in an area (Brazoria County) which has an abundance of hog dog hunters. Actually they term should be "over populated" with hog hunters. Man, Brazoria county has a bunch... Ok, back to your question ****"I'm wondering about some dogs i may be able to get reasonable priced".**** Well, I have no idea of what reasonable price is to you. Theres hog dogs that range in price from $50 to $5000. And some of the $5000 are worth $50 haha My suggestion to you since you are just starting out would be this---don't mess with puppies.. No matter who owns them, who bred them or what they are out of.... GET YOU A STARTED DOG! TO BEGIN WITH. I would think you could get you a good started dog in Brazoria county for around $500 (give or take $150) Theres lots of folks who have dogs for sale. Usually the best ones Ive found are when you hear about a hunter in your area and HE DOESN'T HAVE any dogs for sale, GO SEE HIM. You never know if he has a need for money or not at that time. Now, buying the dog. 1 First, find you a breed of dog that will hunt like you want one to. Since your new, Im sure you don't have any tracking collars. So don't buy a dog that is a long range dog, he will get out of hearing and you will spend longgggg hours trying to find one. 2. Find you a dog that will hunt like you are going to hunt. If you don't hunt tracks, don't get a dog that only can be put on tracks. If you don't have a 4 wheeler and the dog is trained to hunt infront of a 4 wheeler, don't get him. If your going to walk hunt-find you a dog you can cast and he will go hunting about 15-30 minutes/make a circle an check back in etc.. 3. You need to decide it you want a dog that runs quiet or not. Most folks in Brazoria county hunt with silent running dogs, but in other areas, people have open mouthed dogs or ones that are semi silent that let them know where they are. If your planning on hunting with other people, I would imagine you need a silent dog... Sometimes other hunters get quite "P-O'd" if someone brings a barking on the track dog. 4. You will need to decide if you want to pay $500 or more for a rough dog or one who stands back and bays. The rule is --the rougher a dog is, the more likely hes going to get cut up. 5. Get you a trial period on the dog. Ask the dog seller for a 30 day trial. And have him give you a receipt saying that very thing. Now, if the dog gets killed or maimed while you have him/her---you just bought a dog. But Actually you should know if the dog is worth a flip or not after about 3 hunts at the most. 5A. Another way to buy a dog is "in the woods". If you have permission land to hunt on, ask the dog seller to bring him to your land and TURN HIM ALONE ALOOSE. If hes suppose to be a started dog, to me, that means he is just now starting and is able to find HIS OWN HOG BY HIMSELF. Some dogs wont hunt by themselves, some are the worlds greatest if they have another dog with them. But go hunting with the seller on your land preferribly or if not, on his land and watch the dog work. Remember, you don't bayup hogs every time you go hunting. So If the dog does hunt out and TRIES, give him the benefit of the doubt and either go hunting with him on another day, take him on trial or just buy him right there out right. One word of caution. Not all dogs will hunt for everyone. Some dogs have to get use to the owners. I had a great older pup training dog one time that I sold when she was about 9 twice!!!!! And she wouldn't hunt for either hunter... Guess she had been around me for so long she just got use to me and how I did it. 6. Don't buy you a mess of dogs. Start out with about 3 and see how things go. Dogs add up quick...hahaha I had over 30 at one time. Some people say "Oh my gosh! I cant imagine having 30" Well, all I can say is between breeding and raising them on my own, people giving them to me, or someones good dog having a litter, it don't take long I assure you. 7. Understand that not everyone is honest about their dogs they have for sale. If you sell a dog, be honest with the person. Sometimes, I say to much of the faults of the dog rather than the qualities. In your area, it is critical that your dog not do two things*** #1 mess with cattle. You wont have permission to hunt very long if your dog bays cattle. Theres more permission land lost because of this in your area than you can imagine. A rancher simply doesn't like dogs on his cattle. And Lord help you if you hear the dogs baying and you cut loose the catch dogs and it's a 1500# bull and the bull dogs catch him..... ive been there more then once/and don't want that ever again... :-) #2 you don't want a trashy dog that loves to run deer more than hogs. A started dog wont be broke off deer mostlikely and maybe not cattle. But me personally I can handle it a lot better when a dog trashes on a deer more than cattle. I absolutely hate a dog to get on cattle... If a person wants to see me in full blown out-of-controlness, let me see one of my dogs on cows. I come un glued..hahaha Brings back to many bad memories I guess...hahaha I know Im probably skipping some important suggestions about getting a dog, but #8 is probably the one that means the most to me personally. 8. If you get a dog that PLEASES YOU, take care of him. If hes hurt, let him heal. Worm him for heartworms and hooks,rounds, and tapes EVERY MONTH. If his pads are worn off, doctor him. If hes cut, doctor him. And if he is a real good one DON'T BRAG ON HIM. Others will know if hes a good dog or not when they see him hunt. People cant stand a bragger to hunt with. Just take care of your dog and he will take care of you and hopefully give you many many hunts for several years to come...
Best of luck to you, Jim
PS:we are almost neighbors :-) Stop in at Rockys in Brazoria,
and ask him if he knows of anyone that might have a started one to let go of.
That's where I would start.