EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Got a question to every hunter because there may be some different reasons for things... When you get on a big boar and have the chance to tie it up and take it out alive, why are you taking it out alive? to put in your own pen? To sell? If it is a trophy boar why not make the mount and/or why not butcher it? I ask because I see a lot of pictures of big caught boars and wondering what different things are done with them now days. Thanks.

Sale or put in the pen

if its a trophy i dispatch when I get my hands on them, often they will break a tooth if you tie or pen them.  The boars usually stinkbad, if someone wants them more powr to them.

Some folks catch trophy class hogs on a regular bases( not me ) and can make a little money selling them. I like to change them out and cut em loose on the places I can. I'm more in to better eating hogs over big tusk. And the barrs make real nice sausage.

The question is, if you are going through the effort to catch them.  Which includes owning and feeding extra dogs (catch dogs).  Handling more dogs on a hunt.  Puting dogs at a higher risk for injury, and making more work for your self.  Why would you not keep them alive if you allready have them caught?  If you just want to kill them why not bay and shoot.  Its less work and less danger of dogs getting cut down.

Waylon

I will shoot one sometimes if hunting by myself.  My reasons for catching are more fun, cannot always get them out alive, thickets, gullies creeks, rivers, ect.  Often the brush is too thick to get a safe shot off, I am the only one that is going to shoot over any of my dogs.  and often a hunter comes and wants to stick one.

Cut and turn out, sale, or pen.  I don't like eating pig ones when i can eat a small one!  ;)

If they're taken out alive they are sold, bringing good money right now.

I can answer this question for myself.
A few reasons. I enjoy the sport of it for starters. I have to catch hogs in half the places I hunt. Maybe most of them. I'm not allowed to used firearms on these places so I have to feed a catch dog.

I also hunt for land owners that just want to get the hogs gone. We bay and shoot every dang hog we come across on a hunt and kill any pig we happen to catch. It sure makes for a lot of skinning and cleaning but that's part of it. For eradication, I don't think there is a more affective and productive way to clean out the hogs in an area.
I'm old school enough that I don't like seeing meat go to waist if I can help it. I don't eat boar meat either. I just don't care for the stinch but you can change those same hogs out and in a few months they will make some real nice sausage for me or whoever I give/sell it to.
That's my reasoning but I am a practical thinker like you and I don't like the idea of feeding a catch dog or having it on my place but that's just me.

When we tie a big boar its to cut him and feed him for a little while or it may be to work a few dogs in the pen who are getting a little too rough and you need a big hog to  back them up a little.

Our way is catch them tie them up an haul out of the woods no matter how thick it is or how much water is there. Sell them to a guy that has a high fence ranch. U make money an have fun at the same time.  Just the way we do it. No body will never shoot a pig while huntin with us cause u take a risk at missin the hog an hittin ur best dog. Just the way we do it

Thanks for the posts guys and keep em coming! I figured there would be this many different answers... I'm wondering, if you get a big boy (trophy) that has good ivory on him, could you get more than the average for him selling him to a big game high fence ranch? or is it just average price across the board to any buyer?

From my experience in selling to game ranches, it's maybe. If it's a super big hog with exceptional teeth then you can get a better price on it. But if the ears are chewed up at all, it won't matter how big his teeth are, it probably won't sell.

BoarNinja, thanks for your posts... you seem to be a rarity around here.  ;D If you don't mind me askin, how long you been doggin'?

I'm 44 now and have been around hunting dogs since I can remember walking. I've been using my own dogs on hogs in some form or fashion for about 25 years now and I swear I'm still sliding around that learning curve. Lol

That’s one thing about the woods that I cherish… whether you’re with dogs or not… seems like almost every time out there is something new to learn or observe. If you’re not passing on knowledge out there you’re probably gaining it in some form or fashion. Thanks BoarNinja, and I wish you many more years of fun filled hunting!  ;D

We bring out all we can alive and it's to sell them we
Across scales or to people wanting a little pork helps balance the books a little but if it happens to be the largest one ever it will have to go to get a nice mount for a little bragging rights

X2

We take every hog we catch alive ,yes 2 sell but 2 me its the challenge of taking a wild animal from its domain youll never c or hear of us killing 1 we never even bring a gun .  Its the challenge!!!

The $$$$ for us. We have a buyer 15 min away that releases them into a high fence and sells hunts. The pay out is good right now
-100              $.10/lb
100-130.       $.30/lb.
130-200.       $.30/lb.+$30 bonus
200+.            $.50/lb.

Mr. BigBadBoar can pay for a lot of dog food   ;D

If we catch a boar we usually change him out unless we have to bring all hogs out. We always catch them alive though, never sell them either relocate to a different area, or eat'em.

Once upon a time I consider it a challenge to myself, an Art if you want to call it that. Needed a few to train on, sell a few and so on, but to save one thats not all chewed up and have its ears torn off and hams ripped up, well it takes talented set of dogs to catch and tie consistantly wiothout having mangled hogs.

Alot of folks talk about NEEDING ROUGH dogs to stop hogs, well how you going to tie one thats not looking like hamburger with a rough set of dogs?
I undertand you arent going to catch every hog, but I aint trying to start an arguement either. If it was easy everybody would be doing it. That said I have not tied a live hog in a good while, mostly cause its alot easier not too, the art in it theses days I would rather get to a bay, hold back my catch dog and watch my dogs bay, take mental  notes, photos and see what my dogs are doing, set the catch dog up for a clean catch, if you got more than one hog bayed try and set up for multiple catches and take my time and learn something about my dogs.
If I get to the bay before all the wild indians get in a hurry and run in try to get it over with, well I am too out of wiond to worry about tieing one up its not a priority anymore.

The only time I will even attempt to take a hog out is in the winter time, Idc if it has 4 in teeth and 400 lbs (caught this past summer). I will barr them out but heat stress and all that will kill one quick and all you have is a skull with a whole lotta meat wasted. Now if I catch that barr in the summertime or something I wanna eat, its coming out alive and I will stick it and skin it  at my house. In the winter I will bring em out and sale em. Just what I do. Anyone been doing it long enough knows about blowflies and maggots in the warmer days, it's hard to keep em out of the superficial cuts a hog gets when caught.

Boar ninja........Well I do know the reasons for sticking a hog after you catch it but was just making a point.  I've stuck my share when the dogs get unusual and catch and I don't have a tie rope because I wasn't planing on catching just shooting. I've ocasionally had the idea of getting a small dog like a JRT or smaller sized jag........ something that does'nt eat much.  Something that would catch and ofcourse then the curs would join in.  I'm like you I dont like wasting meat and If I could catch a few to bring out alive would bring my numbers up and have to clean less hogs.  My strategy would be walk up if its a toothy boar shoot it and if not catch it.

Walyon

We usually kill all hogs that our dogs are on I find it makes a better dog jmo we went a year or to without killing hogs and you could see the diff in hunt in the dogs .The only reasons we remove a live hog is to turn loose somewhere else or put in the pen for pups

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I myself prefer catch and tie shooting or stickin is easy and helps pay for gas and such but to each his own.

I have to say, I am glad I have a place or two to go every now and then that will only allow me to shoot the hogs. I would probably never shoot them otherwise. I really enjoy slipping in on a hog bayed with one or two dogs and waiting for a clean shot. I like not having to worry about cut dogs so much and overheating catch dogs and such. The only pressure I ever feel on those hunts is spoiling meat or flys blowing but that's only if it gets hot. In the winter it's just gut and go.

I used to tye and pack out every thing there were sevarel ranches that would pay 2 to 4 hundred for good boars i was poor so we hunted every night. Now the hogs have over run the country and i charge the same ranches that wanted to stock hogs to remove the kinfolks of the ones i sold them. ;D ;D

You're right about not needing rough dogs all the time. I just like a dog that isn't scared to get down and dirty when he/she knows they can.  >:D It all really depends on the moment, IMO. Sometimes tie and sometimes stick. I personally do not carry and gun in the woods anymore, and it will probably come to bite me in the butt one day... but for now, it feels pretty good to get on a big boar and kill it with just a knife, or tie it up and take it out.  ;D maybe it's just me... but I sure am grateful that's still a freedom of ours.  ;D

hey shinerslayer, you have a name and # for this buyer??

90% of the time we just barr them an cut them loose unless they kill dogs or tear them up bad then we just stick em but we dont tie the boars ... rarely take out sows so they can keep breeding on our leases  but we kill all barrs an make sausage

On management land I never kill hogs. If I am hunting for a farm or timber company I take hogs home if the land owner will let me ( or doesn't see).  I live across the river from a management area and try to keep it well stocked.

I've only caught one big boar, I keep'em alive and haul him to different locations around this area and take different pics at different times with different dogs that way it looks like I catch only monster hogs all the time and people around here think I'm a real go getter of a hunter  :D :D

Really, we only hauled out what was easy to get back to the truck and then we tried selling them, when we found no buyers up here we recycled them  ;)

We take all hogs out alive and  take to sell. If they have some color on them we will kick em back loose at a different place and get some more color in the heard

in most cases we kill everything we get , thats why the land owners let us hunt , to get rid of the hogs  , if I run out Ill do something else for awhile

Everything alive, ;D

IF THEY'VE GOT SOME SIZE THEN WE BRING EM OUT ALIVE. A 250LB. AND UP WILL BRING 50-60 CENTS A POUND. A 200- 250 LB. WILL BRING 40-50 CENTS. IF THEY HAVE COLOR AND GOOD CUTTERS THEY WILL BRING MORE.  WE CUT AND TURN LOOSE SMALL BOARS.

sell em

Mark them and let them go! I realize not everyone is lucky enough and have places they can do this but it's what I prefer. There is nothing like barring a rank boar hog and turning him loose pissed off!  It's almost my favorite part of the hunt. It's also nice to catch these hogs again and see how they have grown or changed. I honestly hate killing any hog but we hunt a few places that want EVERYTHING killed sometimes we get permission to take them with us.

catch and ty to sale

We catch an tie all our hogs. To sell