EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

In the woods how much do you trust ur dogs.  Do you let them dictate where you go or do you make them go where you want.  Personally I think the dog knows best and if I can I let them decide which way to go and I more or less follow.  And this is for more short range dog.  Why I ask is I have hunted with some that will leave a dog if they are not going where they want to go and let the dog catch up and it drives me nutts let the dog work.

they can smell alot better than i can, i'll locate a good spot to hunt and i let the dogs hunt!
"patience is a necessity for perfection" if they go left even though i see tracks to the right theres a reason for that... if there producing pork i dont complain i compliment!

I usually trust mine but they are longer ranged and can get deep at times.  NOW last night I heard him bark and open on trail and knew right then my deer broke dog was running a hog with a big white flag, and antlers  ;D definitely made it a bad night for himself after that

On most places i hunt, i pretty much know where im wanting to go when i start out...
Say if you have a dog that hunts 200 yards and it is 500 yards the other way, i would think that it may be on a track and just let the dog hunt...  
I would see it being more of a problem with long range dogs than short range...

whats the hurry let em hunt i poke around sit on a long till they start checking in and then head out. several times dogs have been 300 or 400 out and circle a differnt direction behind me  and bay then i have to back track so what hunting is r&r time. 

i like close to medium working dogs with a great handle on em [ a must for me ] and it just depends on where i'm hunting. alot of times i'll turn out on a border of property wich only one side i have permission and i go into my side and the dogs MUST HUNT WITH ME , regardless of hog sign . other places i just let them have their head and i hunt with them . the problem i see with alot of hunters is they don't have a handle on their dogs which i think should be a priority these days due to the limited space and mind set of the land owners neighbors . like i tell the yunguns i don't hunt with dogs the dogs hunt with me . just the way i was raised .

thats why i find me a stump and sit, when my dogs would act piggy and would be on somethin id sit and listen

I like point my dog in a general direction however I follow his nose!

I use our hounds to smell and locate, if I could do it then I would not need them. However I can not do it so I trust in them. I will pull them off as we get closer to the boundaries of our hunting lands if they have not picked up a scent worth running. I also trust my dogs around my kids all the time and I can leave my kids outside with the dogs and run inside to get something and not worry about thier safety.

I trust my old cur dog to catch a piece of meat or a biscut before it hits the ground. When I got to the woods I usually determine a path to hunt. I'll stick to that route unless the dogs take off in another direction.

I got to the proptery I want to go and I let my dogs hunt . I move up and go as they go.  Unless I know for sure were some hogs are but then soon as I let them out they know it before I ever crank the wheeler and are most the time on top of it .

If I am hunting with someone and it is his hunting spot I tell them how I like to hunt and hope they hunt that style...but ultimately I will hunt their way if that is how he wants to hunt. It really bothers me to leave the dogs behind on a track while we keep riding. The dogs will learn to hunt for super hot tracks and I don't like that style... they develop bad habits that I don't care for...this type of dog tends to worry about keeping up with the four wheeler and misses a lot of hogs. I like my dogs to be thorough...

when I have my way...

I am the pack leader and I plan the hunt beforehand taking wind direction into account as well as where the hogs usually stay and where they run. I also look at the hog sign...If the sign is fresh I gaurantee a strike...I hunt crosswind or into the wind...always looking at the dogs when they check in or run by...if the dogs stop to work a track I stop and wait on them to either strike or give it up and come back. If I don't  see a dog in a while  I check the tracker to see if they are moving or all in one spot. If in one spot for more than a  few minutes they have a caught hog or a bayed hog. more than likely the hog won't  break at this point...

If the dogs are winding and go in the thick brush and then circle back I know they are smelling hog but are losing it in the brush. I lead them back in until they pick up on the hog scent again...

It's all about good dog work and teaching good hunting dogs to be better hunting dogs...

I try to never call the dogs off of a hog but will if I feel it is for the safety of the dogs...like getting shot or ran over...

We are a team and I am the leader. I can have the dogs catch the bayed hog or have them back out if I choose to shoot over them...no sense in getting a good dog killed or crippled over a big boar...

Don't have that pack anymore but am working on a new one... :)

Reuben you hit the nail on the head for me.  Why do people move so fast?  Want to cover more ground?  Think they know better than the dogs?  Just bugs me.  That being said I have been pretty fortunate to not hunt with this type much but dang when I do.

Yep, I know it is not the only way...but for me it is the best way...

i just keep driving in to the wind , or always keep the dogs in front of us

I like to turn out near hog sign, that doesnt mean they are close, thats up to the dogs to figure out.  If only one or two dog leaves out I try to head in that direction, after I give them adiquet time to work it out.  When I dump I like for them to hunt out the area as far as they will, as long as they act like there is sent, then move on to another area.  If its only a mile or so and not to hot i'll ease a long giving them time to hunt.  If its hot I may load them and move to another area.  The dogs are on the payroll, so let them hunt.  I have several dogs that will pick there on track, and go in seperate directions,  so if I have a split pay Ill try and go to the younger ones that may not stay hooked up all day first.  And then go to the other dogs.  But anything can happen and I may feel a need to go to the wrong dogs first,  I just try and use my better judgement.  That said I often make the wrong decesion.  I cull hard,  If I cannot trust a dog, ex..  trach, bay cows, ect.....They dont stay on the pay roll long!   All It would take to loose a majority of the country I hunt, would be to bay the cows, or chase a deer once.  I wont allow dogs to growl at one another,  They are there to do there job.   If I cannot trust them at home with the kids, there is no way I can trust them in the woods.   Sit back, let them hunt, drink coffey, and go to the bay, is my favorite way to hunt. 

IF YOU DONT TRUST YOUR DOGS U NEED TO GET A NEW PACK.  SOMETIMES ITS HARD BUT THEY ARE THE ONES WITH THE NOSE.  I PULLED UP ON A FIELD ONE NIGHT HAD 2 HOGS 150 YRDS OUT I COULD SEE PLAIN AS DAY IN THE MOON LITE.  WE TRIED TO GET THE STRIKE DOG TO SEE HIM HE WANTED NO PART. WE WENT  SO FAR AS TO DRAG HIM 3O YARDS CLOSER AND CAST HIM OUT.  WHEN WE LET HIM LOOSE  HE RAN 6O YARDS STRAIGHT LEFT AND BAYED ON A 2OO LB SOW ACROSS THE CREEK IN LESS THAN 3O SECONDS.  WHOOSE THE ONE WITH THE NOSE?  ID RATHER MY DOGS FIND ONE ON THEIR OWN THAN ME GUIDE THEM IN ON ONE I SAW.  PERFECT TIME FOR THE BIG BULL LITTLE BULL STORY.....U GONNA BUST THREW THE WOODS AND CATCH ONE HOG?  OR SLOW U ROLL AND CATCH ALL THE HOGS.  GOOD HUNTING. FOR ME ITS ALL ABOUT THE DOGS!!

If i could find hogs i would not need a dog. Let them hunt!!!!

got a buddy that when his young dogs would get out away from the other dogs he would start calling.didnt matter if the old dogs were trailing hed start callin an callin.even calling the old dogs off.i told him you just called the dogs off the track.he said must not have been that hot.but he never did it again.think he figured it out.LET EM HUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like to pull up
Drop the tail gate drop my main dog and she goes were she goes
I rarely walk behind em at all


It gets under my skin when ppl drop the dog and it goes right
And they walk left lol

But it is what it Is and Ain't wat it isnt

i feed them  and train them to find hogs so i let the dogs do what there payed for and hunt and find hogs for me not me hunt and find hogs  for them