Hello Matthew,

 

  Thanks for taking the time to write me.  You have asked some good questions. 

 

First-What Kind of dogs do I use? 

Well Matthew, the answer is not quite as simple as it seems.  It all depends on the type of hunting Im going on.  Some areas such as large grain/rice fields where there are sometimes miles and miles of roads to cover, I use a rig/hood dog.  This is a type of dog that you can put on the hood, on your four wheeler or on top of the dog box in the back of the truck that can wind the hogs.  I can cover lots of ground this way, and not tire out the dogs by running them on the ground.    I personally have several dogs that will do this simply because I had my training pasture to train them in.  So I feel lucky to have more than one.  Of course I have my favorites and the ones I feel do the best like anyone.  The breed really doesnt matter, it depends on the dogs ability.  I have both plotts and cur dogs, and hound/cur/pit mixes  that can rig. 

 

   Next, if I am going hunting in the woods, where I just cast a dog, I have dogs who do that better than others I have.   I usually cast one hound to do this if its a larger piece of property.  But have curs who can do it also. I wouldnt want to cast a hound that is LONG RANGE on a hunting spot that was 500 acres.  Thats when I would cast a closer ranging dog that would check back in.   When I hear the hound hit/strike, I send a couple of rougher type stop dogs (nut dogs as we call them)  to him that can pick up the track and get the hog shut down and bayed up hopefully.

 

  Next, if Im going to put a dog on a fresh track, I usually put one hound on the track to get it started and then send the other dogs as mentioned above into help.  We use to have a great type dog I called a pack dog to run with the strike/find dog.  Good pack dogs are hard to come by.  I presently am trying to find another pack dog.

 

Next, walking in the woods.  If I were going to do this which I very seldom do, I would probably turn out a couple of small to mid range dogs that would make a circle and check back in every 15 minutes or so.   I guess Im lazy, but im not into me walking the woods, I would much rather the dogs hunt the woods and let me know with their bark if they have found one.

 

Second-How many bay dogs do you send out at a time?

  Well, you say baydogs and I think my interpertation of that is how many strike/find dogs do I send out at a time.  Different parts of the country have different wording on things...haha  If your talking about strike/find dogs, I dont like to send out more than two at a time.  Ive found if I have to many dogs on the ground that I catch less hogs.   What I mean by that is I have been hunting where the dogs find several hogs, not just one, and with a pack of dogs like 5 or 6 being on the ground, that once the hogs are found, the dogs usually break the pack up and all of them end up on their own hogs which makes a mess on trying to get one when more than one baydog is needed to hold the hog, plus the time period it takes to get from one hog to the next.  Its hours sometimes.  But this is an opinion question.  Everybody has there own Idea of how many dogs to put on the ground at one time, and Im no one to tell them they are wrong.   I just know I like the way I do it in my own hunting style and if someone hunts with me, they do my style,   If I go hunting with someone else on their property, I adjust to the style they use and are most comfortable with.   I think thats just proper etiquite, if there is such a thing ...haha

 

Third-how many catch dogs do you send out?

 

  This too, is an opinion question.  To be honest, about 60% of the time, we just have one.  Theres several reasons for that, but if I had my choice, I would always like to have atleast two true full blown catch dogs when going hog hunting.   The second dog is not always needed of course, but things happen sometime, where that second one is certainly needed. 

 

  I have a friend of mine that I go hunting with about 10 times a year who never takes less than 4.  Does he turn them ALL loose on every hog? of course not, but he has them as backups. 

 

Its been my experience in going after a specific "whopper" type hogs, that I have better luck on the big bad running hogs, If I will hunt with one good find/strike dog that will stand back and bay about 10 feet that doesnt pressure the hog to run.   and ease in with 3 or 4 fast catch dogs to get him stopped.    Some people do the exact opposite on a big bad running hog and go in with 5-10 or so bay dogs and a catch dog or two.   Im sure it works for them.  Ive just had better luck doing it the opposite where the hog is not feeling pressured and carefully sneak in to get him caught.   But its what ever a person likes and how he likes to do it.  Thats just the hunters preference.

 

Thanks for writing,

Jim