EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION. LIKES, DISLIKES,  AND PROBLEMS YOU HAVE HAD WITH IT.

I like it but the main reason I went to a catch dog is because I was losing hogs when they would bay in a thicket and I could not walk in close enough to shoot. I am talking about places where you are ten feet from the hog and can't see it.  I can send a bulldog in and from that distance and let them hold while I fight the last few feet to get into them. I also like catch and release and guns aren't real good for that. 

 I dont like the idea at all, If I was hunting with fellas that did shoot over dogs my dogs would not be on that hunt. I tend to want my dogs gun shy, I dont train them to be but if they hear a gun shot I want them to head for the hills. Reason for this is if my dogs get on a pissed off farmers place that doesnt want any dogs on his place and he starts shooting I dont want them to stick around and lose my whole pack.

I personally don’t have an issue with it. I shot hogs regularly for 10-12 years. With the right dog, weapon, and place, a single hunter can put a serious dent in the hog population. I will not hesitate to do it again when I have too.
The key to safety is simple.
Never get in a hurry, be 100% sure of your shot, and only “1” designated shooter. Multiple shooters are an accident waiting to happen in my opinion. An adequate weapon is also a must.  
I had and still have one dog trained to back away on command and I was always sure where my dog was at the time of the shot so I never really shot over my dogs.
The only accidents I know of in regards to shooting hogs was not being 100% sure of your shot and rushing it, inadequate ammo and weapons, multiple shooters and too many dogs.
What I like about it?.
Its perfect for solo hunting. Its also a proven way to really knock a dent in the hog population when I have to. Lastly, I don’t recall ever getting a dog cute when I was shooting due to the way I hunted them and never using more than two dogs during an outing. They can still get cute but I think it happens a lot less.
Dislikes?
I hate having to kill hogs in the hot weather by any means but that is the only way you will get one home when shooting.  
As social as I am, I don’t like anyone else but me shooting hog over my dogs other than a very few people that I trust. I have done it but it is very rare.
In other words, I get very anti social when I gun hunt. Hunting buddies will end up as spectators and hog draggers if they want to go with me..
I forgot to add that, for me, gun hunting at night with dogs is completely out of the question.

Been doing it for years and  years never had a problem but I got to know you pretty dang good if you gonna shoot over my dogs.  Not just anybody is gonna do it with mine.  I dont mind using a catch dog here and there but my first love is let the dogs work lettem do there jobs watch a great bay for a while  and then sqeeze the trigger .  I do know what you mean when you get in a tight spot and cant see thats when the man comes out in ya !

I hunt only two baydogs and shoot over them quite often, especially in a bay with more than one hog. I started shooting over them last year and it has enabled me to kill twice the hogs.

i dont like it at all but some do and thats cool! but iv only shot one hog over my dogs and thats because we didnt have a cd and hog went over 4 but i no when we shot we found my dogs about 2 hours later clear across the country, and i like to catch and release so that dont work when ur shootin lol

I am a very good shot but I will only shoot over a dog in an extreme situation. If I would shoot over a person I will shoot over a dog. If you have ever been shot over you know you are at the loud end of business. Personally I am with buckhunter1983 and want my dogs to run like a bat out of hell if there is shooting. I even try not to shoot over bird dogs but I only want bird dogs not to be gun shy.

That's how I do it but we don't shoot over dogs we wait till the dogs r clear of the hog then we shoot and a gun comes in handyfor a broke bay hog that crossed the road

I shoot over my and my buddy's dogs as does he.....BUT, you have to be really handy with your weapon or you're going to get a dog hurt or killed. You must be able to shoot very quickly. I use an M-1 carbine...30 cal. for this, in my opinion this is the perfect firearm and cartridge for this since it won't shoot through a hog sideways if it's over about 80 lbs. I have a synthetic stock on the rifle so it's short and quite light and I can shoot it with one hand if need be. It will kill any hog that you run up on with one shot if placed correctly. We are required by the landowners to kill every hog we can, but we usually knife them if the dogs have 'em caught when we get there. I agree with the other guys that you must be very careful about the people that you allow to shoot over your dogs....this is imperative, but if your dogs are used to it, I see no problem with it......as with most things, a little common sense goes a loooong way.

I hunt both ways depending on the landscape. There are pros and cons to both styles. The term shooting over your dogs isn't real accurate in my opinion. I have yet to... nor will I... probably ever literally shoot over a dog. If the dogs are good and the hog is bayed they should be giving it a little room which is more than enough to shoot. Plus you are trying to ease your way up to the bay. You should have pleanty of time to stop, think, look, ect.


Oh ya.. no one but me shoots with my dogs. ;)

I did it for many years and killed countless hogs with a single dog and rifle.  Pro's and con's both ways.  I started hunting with a catch dog when I started tieing hogs and hunting at night...neither possible when shooting.

I had a rule that me and only me carried a gun.  Adrenaline gets high, things get tense and the last thing you need is shots flying all over.  Had a guy shoot the tail off a dog one time.

I will say that there are some things that everyone should learn that can only be learned through this method.  Easing in on a bay...taking your time...getting a shot...busting a bay to let the dogs stop the hog in a more desirable location.  I can always tell those people who have never hunted this way...they hear a bark and they grab catchdogs and go running through the woods like a maniac.

When I hunted this way, I shot 95% of the hogs I killed within 50 yards of where the dog first struck. 

 I agree 100% with everything !

how many people have ruined dogs by shooting over them. if anybody has, did the dog ever come around again?

How would you ruin them? You should be breaking them in slowly just like bird dogs or what ever else.

I've never ruined one myself and am not sure how you could either.
I do know of some dogs that just never get over being gun shy but peronally have never ran across one.
I have had a few that got the habbit of running and trying to catch after the shot but that is the only thing I ever had a problem with.

Montana,
I had planned on tracking you and Katie down for a hunt this Spring but I ended up working right through it. If you guys hunt through the Summer and dont mind hunting with a trashy dog or two just let me know. I have some catching up to do.

The times I have done it we only used one dog at a time, with a backup dog in truck.  Dog had great handle and would stop runners and back up when told to bay.  Big rule was never to put finger on trigger until dog completely backed up.  This was in Florida and was more open.  I agree with someone above about it not being the best option in the thickets.  That Florida Cur my buddy had really impressed me.  It was nice because you really got to see how one dog could bay up good on different types of hogs.  It seems the way I have hunted in Texas the last 8 years we turn catchdogs loose from far out and rarely see a bay but is nice when we sneak up every now.

I'm to lazy to skin a hog so I keep it alive until I get it to the kill plant!! They only charge $10 I figure it will cost me that in soap to get the dried blood off my hands!! LOL I also release alot of hogs so I figure if there dead then no good to me!! Have several friends who has hunting game ranchs give them the ones that we are not allowed to turn loose!!

 I shoot over my dogs when I hunt alone. I have two dogs that that bay loose and dont mind gun shots. One dog will even back up more when I move in to make the shot. Just have to take your time and hunt loose baying dogs. Both will catch after the shot if the hog drops, if it doesnt drop they wont touch it. Had to make multiple shots on a sow one night and they didnt touch her until she was down.
 I think you can do it at night, you just have to be quite and helps to have someone else with you to hold a light.
 I like to shot over them sometimes. I can go alone and make a quick hunt by the house. I have used a 7x57,30cal and tuesday I used a 12ga slug. I can say all rounds work good. The slug flat out knocked him down. My 7x57 has yet to exit on a hog. Smallest being 75lbs.

** Tuesday night I drop my two grown dogs out. They bayed a good boar in a corn feild. No way for me to get in there and shoot so I broke the bay and the hog went into a creek. Thats the only bad thing this time of year. Impossible to shoot in corn that is 6 ft tall.

you hav to get down on your belly in the corn  ;D

i hav shot over my dogs for years and hav never had a problem

As far as the ruining them. I ask because I have a dog that was a great strike dog. Great hunter, just an all around great dog. Pretty much 'finished'. But I sold her to a buddy  and he shot over the bay. He soon got tired of hunting and sold her back to me. Now since she has been back, she will strike a pig, but as soon as the other dogs get there or she sees us coming she leaves. Does not stick around. (We do not shoot over them, we don't even carry a gun)
The only thing I can think is that she got scared of the gun??..
That is why I asked if anyone has ever seen that ruin a dog.
Do you think she will come out of??


Alan - Come on...we have been hunting quite a bit lately. We just do it at night or first thing in the morning.
        We would be glad to have ya!

I got a dog several years ago that I shot over a couple times and he did the same thing.  Would still hunt decent, but would come out of a bay when he saw me coming.  I think I only shot over him twice, but it took a long time before he got right again.  Good luck.

Man I hate to hear that. I guess I have never seen it because the dogs I have always shot around was raised as pups and always around shooting. Something to try would be to let her bay a hog outside the pen. Send her to it from a distance and let her bay a wile. As you approach her, talk to her and encourage here to keep on working. Stay close but work your way around the pen encouraging her only if she stops barking. It may be touch and go at 1st but I think she will eventually stop worrying about a "BIG BANG" on your approach in the woods but it may take a wile.

I will be in touch to organize a hunt with you guys soon.

It almost sounds like she was being hunted with a dog that like to cause trouble with her.  Maybe not, but I've seen them decide to eliminate the possibility of dog scraps.  Will she leave a bayed hog, if she is the only one baying?  Have you gone in to her with no other dogs around to see if she stays?  Just curious.

I've never shot hogs over my dogs but I shot a barn sparrow off my back porch the other day and my two best dogs would not come out the rest of that night.

I shoot over my dogs and take my youngins with me to the forests or gun range as soon as they can leave the house to get them used to it. Majority of my kills are with my knife but in the case of a big scrappy boar my dogs know I'm coming. I have noticed my older 2 dogs know the command to back up and will do it consistantly but my 7 month old pup I just started still gets so excited and stuck on working the pig it takes a few tries to get her out which leaves her on the pig by herself. Good training for her but gets me uncomfortable and I start getting ansy to drop the pig or put the big dogs back in. Good times!  ;D

I am fortunate to have my kennels in the country where I can shoot right next to them. I have had very good luck shooting with them in the kennel (their safe zone) and then feeding them right after (positive reinforcement). It doesn't take more than a couple days and they are bouncing around waiting to be fed when I am shooting.