EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I would really like to hear about and see pictures of people that hunt horse back.  I guess the "real" cowboys that hunt this way don't have time for computers but I sure would appreciate any good detailed information about hunting this way and any pictures of your horses and how they work.  I know that most of the time people put alot of emphasis on the dogs but a good horse is equally important.  So post away Craig and Silverton and anyone else that hunts this way, I look forward to reading about it and seeing some of the pics............

Matt

Matt im going horseback hunting saturday will take some pics then !!!

Don't have any pictures hunting off horses but hunt this way some

Matt,

Our friend in madisonville hunts horseback with no bulldog. He has three curs and one huge toothless catahoula catch dog (just retired a couple weeks ago) and he usually hunts alone. He takes everything out alive. We think he's a little too daring, but he manages to tie some real trophies. We have hunted with him (us on wheelers and him horseback) and he really has the upper hand getting to the bay horseback.

M

The horses are usually just good ranch horses you can do anything off of, work or hunt.

If don't work cattle or ride the horses ALL THE TIME it can be hard to keep them only to hunt off of. Horse can't have no spook in them or it will put you in a bind. :o

This is disturbing but.... I cut Delta (my hog) loose in my horse pasture because Chris got sick of his horse having to live outside in bad weather. My pig had been living in his horse's stall. I figured our hunting horses would benefit from being around a hog on a daily basis, so out goes Delta.

Here is the sick part - Cooper, my mentally challenged Quarter Horse gelding immediately was attracted to her. Cooper started nuzzling her with his lips, gently nibbling her back, and licking her. Those two are just about inseparable. Delta makes some funny noises, and the whole display really leaves you wondering. I guess when I'm on Cooper in the woods I may have to watch him around the caught hogs. I'd hate for one to be molested.

M

hahaha yeah that picture you sent was funny....

Matt

Matt,

That wasn't the half of it.  :O(  They are in love.
M

that's VERY disturbing mandi!  :o :o :o

can't help you with the hunting from horses thing matt, never done it. like you i would be very interested trying it one day though...

been ther and ther aint nothin as much fun cept the first  leg,horseback is the only way to go in rough terain with no fences provided.

When hunting alot of country being horse back is fun....you can get to the bay fast.....see alot more over the tall grass....drag hogs out easier.... and if you know what your doing you can make a horse. Not to mention having one bayed up and easing in there to rope it is a blast! My two down falls to being horse back is ONE....you cannot carry your catch dogs as easy as being on a scooter...and TWO....when the day is over if your a good ways from the truck you cannot just snap the dogs up on the scooter and get back to ther truck in a hurry.

Matt

 thats the only way i can hunt alot of the places i hunt because we have to go so far to find a hog , i always carry my lunch and a small hatchet,extra knives to clean a hog, trash bags and some game bags to pack meat in,i use a cantle pack instead of saddle bag cause you will tear a set of saddle bags off going thru the brush .i use my horse to drag hogs on , pull them up in a tree to clean,i hang a bag of meat on each side of my saddle horn to carry back to the truck and put in ice chest, i take a ice chest every time i go but sometimes i carry it home empty.
  you could get a mule or a horse i have both, but some horses will be tuffer than others just like mules. i break alot of horses and all of my horses have to go hog hunting.
 before i bought a horse i would make shure he could stand being rode up to a bay or stand hogs running thru the woods around him. i can tell you from experence that not all of them can take it, but then i have some i can rope a hog off of and i have drug a few out of ponds and creeks to keep from getting wet.
        the only benefit to a mule is some of them can jump fences, but you will have to go thru about 10 mules to find a really good one.
          as far as hunting horse back with catch dogs thats probably the hardest thing . i have been lucky enough to raise a catch dog that  will stay with me until she hears a dog bay. alot of catch dogs want to start hunting on their own if left loose but this dog dosent want to ,she has really worked out good. i can carry her on my horse if we need to ride thru a set of cattle, after we pass the cows i drop her back on the ground. she has never messed with cows but i dont take any chances cuz a good place to hunt is hard to come by up here.

             i would say i hunt horse back 95% of the time but i have a 4 wheeler with a rack on back and im not against a nice walk in the woods.   what ever it takes!

                                              craig

(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_hunt_1-7-08_006.jpg)
waitin on the dogs.

(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_hunt_1-7-08_001.jpg)
 this is a cave i crawled in to stick a hog.   there are 2 baydogs a catch dog and a 200# sow back in there.

(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_pic_016.jpg)
 thats a mule i rode last winter some.

(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_hunt_1-7-08_013.jpg)
 it took 3 hrs following the dogs with my quick track to catch up to this sow 

Matt,
    If you want to go horseback   let me know, we can hunt in Centerville. I will arrange to have a horse ready for you, Sean, and Mike.   Best way to get hooked is by doing it.  What I need is some more hunting buddies that want to hunt that way.

   Take Bay City for example.   Forget the wheelers, ride along the river. Get to a gully, you just cross through it. Forget dragging a hog by hand, just dally off and pull.

Sean, I made a mistake, being the camera man, we will have to arrange for a smoother ride, and low to the ground. Here is your ride ;D
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p204/ccoughran/DSC01341.jpg)

Chris,
I would love to hunt that way but it is just not feasable for me.   I have to burn the rubber of a set of truck tires just to go hunting and the fuel cost is bad enough without haveing to have to buy and pull a horse trailer.

I would like to make a horse back hunt one of these days.  I used to ride and help pasture break horses for a guy that trained barrel and cutting horses but I havent stepped foot in a stirrup since my car wreck in 2001.   I would imagine I am a bit rusty.....LOL

Longshot

James,
   Any time you make it to this part of the country, let me know and we will setup a hunt. I don't hunt horseback all that often, but when I do it is a real pleasure.

You aren't joking about the fuel money. We get decent mileage in our trucks, but hook a stock trailer to it, and it drops to 10mpg.

shoooot, i'll ride in that. looks pretty comfotable. that head-dress on there would have to go though   ;)

When we go horseback we hunt 6 or 7 rough cur dogs.No need for a catchdog.You can catch lots of hogs off of a horse.The hogs that get away from the dogs alot of times we rope.I started out hunting off of a horse,no dogs just a rope.The dogs followed us off one day and that was that.From then on we took dogs also.Stared out with Kelpies,collies and heelers.Didnt see my first cur dog until I was around 12 or 13.A guy came up here from South Texas to help us gather cattle.He had some of the best curs I have seen to this day.Good looking dogs that could preform.I was hooked on cur dogs from then on.

Sean, I am proud of ya.  You didnt call it a tiara this time. ;D ;D ;D ;D

No I wont forget. :D ;)

I was gonna say to that my horse would go to dogs barking,just like a catch dog.He had been rode so much hog hunting.If you were'nt paying attention and he heard a bay he would leave you reaching for leather.lol

My horses can hear a bay from 2 miles...I didn't really need a tracking system untill I started hunting out of the truck more than horseback. We hunted horseback all the time on the New Mexico border. No fences in that country just miles of sand hills, wheat, and peanuts. That was a sweet deal. I do believe that it is the best way to hunt hogs unless you got a bunch of fences to deal with.

Paul T

Everytime I go home I hear about these guys but in South Texas I never do. Only one unit manager on the King uses Catahoulas/Curs to work cows and he breds his own. Not trying to start anything, or burst a bubble, but alot of people throw King Ranch out there alot  ???

Its not hard to hunt the King Ranch, thats what they mostly are now. THe lease out of alot of it. They are on the verge of going broke every other year if they don't.

Not trying to argue the guys around there got good dogs and horses. I know one guy down here who ride horses for a ranch that came from that away and he also knows how to use that rope. :o

You are right though Russ, alot of people throw it around loosely. Not down here because there is a good chance they will get caught on it but I have noticed it when I was other places. The King Ranch ain't no different than any other.

ha ha ha patrick. i wish you would,lol.  :D
on the subject of hunting from horseback; i have never personally tried it, but i am VERY interested in trying it. i've walked through a lot of rough stuff in my short time(by a lot of exp. hog hunters time) hog hunting. i think i would like to see how it is from horseback. i'm definitely not a cowboy, i've only rode a horse a few times. it sure does look like it could make a hunt more pleasant though  ;D

I'll bite on this one. I've hunted on horses a few times, been riding since I was little, even got into roping for a little while.  I'm no cowboy by any means. The way I see it, you can't beat a 4-wheeler. You can cover more ground in a hurry, plus you can carry a bulldog. Also, 95% of the hogs I catch are in stuff you couldnt ride a horse into anyway. I havent ever seen a hog roped, not saying a feller couldnt do it, but when you put a hog on the end of a rope, he aint got but one place to go...someone that ropes them..send me a video of that.

Oh yeah, there aint no such thing as a "real" cowboy anymore. A lot of folks may rope and ride for a living, but not because they have to, because they want to, thats the difference to me.

I roped an injured hog out the back of a pickup truck once.  the Hog rammed the truck and dented it pretty good.  I was wishing I had a horse yesterday as I walked a few miles up and down hill through some slick as snot mud.  But I am a good eater and benefited from the exercise  ::)

Craig, keep the pics coming brother, I really enjoyed those.  You need to live closer, I have a place to stay and hunt now as far north as Texarkana now, one of these days we need to meet up in that part of the world.
Scott I know of the guys you are talking about and they are the real deal, in my opinion a man that works cows and for living is doing so because he has to, not because he wants to only.  I look forward to trying this type of hunting and would really like to find a horse that I could hunt off of without having to worry about what the horse was going to do.  Hunting is challenging as it is just paying attention to the dogs much having to worry about what you are getting around on.  I still think this is the way to go for hunting alot of properties and you can cover so much more ground in a short period of time.  I think if I own a horse to hunt off of it would have to be one that came from someone who has already hog hunted off of it.

Matt

I beg you pardon! Were you just trying to be funny, or trying to prove that you are have no idea what you are talking about. My dad always said, never say stupid things in front of people.

Paul T. 

We jerk the hog over when we rope one.It aint like mugging a cow on the end of a rope.You better jerk him the way you want him.LOL

They are still around...  ;)

I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE SOMEONE ROPE A HOG.  I THINK I'D PAY TO WATCH THAT.

Alot of the guys jump the hogs when they are trying to push cattle out of the brush. IF the hogs break out into the open they will cut out rope them also. :D

Txhoghunter,

    I think that there are some people that forget there is a world other than the one they live in. Maybe you fall into that category.

I know several people that make their living as cowboys. Do they have to do it, nope. Do they have a choice, yes. But so has every cowboy for the last two hundred years. They are a cowboy because that is their chosen profession. I have a friend that was at the house last night. He is a cowboy that happens to now work in a chemical plant. He spent the last 25 years as a day hand, and is one of the best I have ever seen. He still has my respect as a horseman, even though he decided to change careers, for one with a more steady paycheck. He used to start colts for the Rice's and the Dorman's, put a good foundation on them, then they were finished out as cutters. One of the ways he started them was hog hunting, and pushing cattle. Wet saddle blankets make the horse, and that is one of the ways he did it.

Roping a hog is no different than roping a bad cow or bull, except that a hog only weighs a portion of what a cow or bull does. Its easy to snatch them down not to mention when that rope comes tight those dogs are putting some ivory in that pork. In order to enjoy it you have to be into that type stuff....which I am......but still not sure whether or not I could be concidered one of those "REAL" cowboys, maybe I live in the wrong county I don't know. All BS aside its is fun and some good watching.

okay this is getting way off topic here and starting to veer away from anything having to do with hog hunting. matt's post is not about whether or not there are real cowboys anymore. this is texas, of course there are   ;D . the post is about hunting hogs from horses. and i for one am interested in this. so if anyone has pictures or information they can tell us, it would be appreciated. take all the "real or not real" cowboy stuff over to the cattle boards, they will probably have a field day with it.lol. let's stick to hog hunting on these boards, or at least keep it connected to hog hunting; as was the original intent of this thread.

Sorry Sean.

   

it's okay chris, i'm just trying to get the thread back on track. i for one really want to know more about this subject. like matt, i'm definitely interested in trying this type of hunting one day...at least to see what it's like.

Sean

  i have 3 extra horses in the pasture, you, Matt and Mike need to come up for a hunt , would make some good video.
you might want to get you a helmet cam.  cuz  your going to need both hands to fight brush with.
   come a day early and we will go on a little pleasure ride to get you guys freshened up  ;D

   i rode 20 miles yesterday  in some really rough rocky country. woke up at 4am caught horses,loaded dogs,on the road by 6am,stoped ate breakfast,drove to the ranch,dogs on the ground by 8am ,hog caught at 8:10am, in a sack back to the truck, then we spent the rest of the day hunting and came up empty ,back to the truck at 5 pm.  just a sample of what to expect.

(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_pic_061.jpg)

(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_pic_062.jpg)

(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_pic_060.jpg)

this is the crew from yesterdays hunt, we found a clear spot to take a break.

                                          craig

Saddle gun question. 

    Those of you that carry a rifle in a scabbard. Which way do you prefer it to sit. Butt forward, or to the rear?  I have seen both ways, and can see good and bad with them both as well.

Seems that butt forward would be more likely to hang up on vines. I am leaning toward butt to the rear, but looking for input.

Craig.
   You need to plan a road trip down south. I am trying to put together a hunt to get Matt, Sean, and Mike in the woods horseback in two weeks.  Are you up for a trip?  Property is about two hours south of Dallas.

I carry mine butt backwards, if the brush is thick you will hang it up butt forward. I also like a pistol in a scabbard that laces on right behind the cantle. Pistol is a little eaiser to handle horseback, if you are shooting at a hog on the move.

Paul T

That sounds like a good time!  I need to talk Mike and Sean into doing that, going by mapquest it is about 7.5 hours due North from here, about like driving to my deer lease in west Texas.  Either that or take Chris up on his offer and come down and here and hunt, I bet we could have a good time either way and maybe catch a hog ot two.
Matt

hey, once the expo is over saddle me up, i'm ready! (ummm....i don't really have to ride that little donkey do i??)

  keep me up to date , im  always ready for a road trip.

   i dont carry a riffle ,just a knife.
 if you will notice the yellow mule to the left, he carrys a rifflle standing straight up and down on the right side of his saddle horn, its a soft padded scalbert with a zipper on top to keep the trash out.

Craig,

    I have been looking at the picture of the sorrel. Is that a rope halter on him too, or is it some type of cavason?

Chris

 thats just a rope halter , im riden him with a ring snaffle bit,  i always ride with a halter when im hunting so i can tie up quick and get in on a bay, i like those rope halters or cowboy halters is what everybody here calls them, cause you dont have a big snap hanging under their chin.

[/quote]

I beg you pardon! Were you just trying to be funny, or trying to prove that you are have no idea what you are talking about. My dad always said, never say stupid things in front of people.

Paul T. 
[/quote]

This is just my opinion Boar Dogs, keep that in mind before you start throwin words like "stupid" out there. I work full-time on a ranch. Between the three of us that work here we run over 1000 head of cows, calves, and bulls. I don't consider myself a cowboy though. There may be some cowboys from the old days left, but just because you can ride a horse and rope a cow don't make you one. To me a cowboy was someone who made a living off of a horse because they had to, there wasnt any other way to work cows. Don't get me wrong, theres nothing wrong with getting cows up on horses, but I know a sack of cake and a 4-wheeler sure is easier....

Sean,

   You will have to take your pick.   

You don't have to ride the little donkey, you can ride behind it. Or you can ride CrackerJack, we picked him up this past weekend, he is 350# of piss and vinegar.

 Here are some pics of your other options.


Your legs might drag a little.
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p204/ccoughran/dasiytaylor8.jpg)

This one likes to lay down on the job
(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p204/ccoughran/IM000044.jpg)

This is Jake, I picked him up 8 years ago, He is not much to look at, but he is pretty solid, and anybody can ride him. Point and click.   Heck, you can even put Clifford up there.

(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p204/ccoughran/IM000024.jpg)

Another of Jake,

(http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p204/ccoughran/Picture011.jpg)

Craig,

   Gotcha. I was looking for a lead in the picture, but did not see one. Hence the question about a cavason, though it looks pretty high up for a cavason anyhow.

  In our barn we have everything from dainty little heads to jug heads, so the rope halters are nice to have around.

Scott,

   I think you might be on to something about ranchhand vs. day hand.

Sean, that is the last I will say about it.  I promise ;D

Circle C 

 here is a better picture of my whole rig.
(http://www.texasboars.com/photopost/albums/userpics/normal_hog_pic.jpg)

it sounds like everyone that has commented on this subject is partial to the ranch hands , day workers ,and cowmen of there area and i am not trying to knock anyone because they have done something to earn your respect but my comment is dont knock someone because they are not from your area there are plenty who have the skills to be a top hand on any big ranch but financially they cant do that whether they be from kalamazoo or kickapoo

Mike P,

    I don't think I have a  "my cowboys are better than your cowboys" attitude. Well, I guess I do pick on the Okie's, but come on, they're Okie's they were bred to be picked on.

Ever heard the story about why it is so windy in Texas?    ;D

There are great horsemen, an dog men all over the US. What is really unique is when you have a person that is great with dogs AND horses.

There is an old saying that goes "Jack of all trades, master of none" I fall into that category. I can sit a saddle, and sort of handle a dog, but that's about it ;D

MR. JUDE HART WAS A GREAT FRIEND OF MINE.We spent a lot of time together and he was one of the best horseman/dogman of all time. His bloodline still exist in my yard and many others too.The only way he hunted was horses but he most allways had a wagon pulled by 2 big mules on the hunt with him. There just is not enough room for the things you need when you have only horses,, in my oppion. And its hard enough to find good help if you hunt a lot, probably harder to find good help that just happens to have horses and trailors and a truck with some gas in it .I think that hunting with horses is a lot of fun and horses has some advantages over atv's but horses along with atv's is the way to go.AND AIRBOATS.... ;D ;D

i have a video of a hog dog hunter in south texas named James Land. he hunts off horseback and shoots a rifle over the dogs, or he calls them back and shoots. you only have to watch this dvd once to know he's the real deal. great with horses and dogs, and just deadly with a gun. on one part, he shoots 3 hogs in different locations in succession through thick brush after he tells the dogs to back off. you have to actually see it to truely appreciate it. just thought i would mention him since seeing his video is what first got me thinkin about hunting from a horse.

Sean,

  Good dogs, fence jumping mules, and a boy can he shoot.  Watching that video of his impressed the heck out of me.  Not really action packed, but a great video nonetheless.

http://www.hogsanddogs.com/default.html

MOMMA'S DONT LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE COWBOY'S,  ;D  Sorry just came to mind. I have hunted off horseback once and i am not going to lie it was the most fun i had hog hunting, BUT it was down on a 25K ranch in beumont,tx and everything was on the ranch we didnt have to load and unlaod nothing just open the gates and kennels and off we went and it was mostly open marsh. We caught 10 or so hog each day. Really fun

Hey Circle we hunted down near oakwood saterday should have came and brought the horses for a hunt.

Ellis,
   I have a small place in Pleasant Springs, between Centerville and Crockett, right off Hwy 7.  Here is the website to my "neighbors", I am across the hwy and down the dirt road from them, but it should give you a reference.
http://www.centerranch.com/

About the largest continuous tract we hunt over there is 1,000 acres, with some others in the 700 acre range. Not large places, but large by Centerville standards.  Have a friend that hunts the river bottoms in Oakwood.

This post was created asking some info about hunting horse back and what its like….ect. The issue here is you have some people on here who do go horse back and are trying to give some detail of their experiences then you have some folks here that know someone who does. There is a big difference in the two! I’m not going to get into the whole real cowboy/ranch hand/day worker argument cause I could care less. But I will say that sometimes it’s better to sit back and listen than to speak of something you know nothing about. I too have seen that James Land video and its pretty neat except for the part where he is walking to the bay barking like a dog……that was a first for me……but it seems to work for that man and maybe one day I should try it. If a person is given the opportunity to go horse back they should but I personally would recomend thinking twice about it if you don't ride well just for the saftey of you and your horses. Hunting horse back is a bit different than riding someones horse around the arena. Just my opinion.

c Miller,

    I have witnessed  on one occasion of a person baying the hog. It was Thomas w/ Ugly Dog Ranch.  We had a couple of bays going, and catch dogs loose. He spotted a hog "hiding" and barked/bayed at it. One of his catch dogs came in and caught the hog. Would not have believed it, had I not seen it with my own eyes.  Could have been a fluke, but it was neat regardless.

Like I said im not saying it don't work and it sounds perfectly logical....just not sure if I could do it with out laughing...expecially with others watching me do it.

c miller,
 
    I didn't feel bad about laughing, we were laughing at Thomas for quite some time.  Just something funny about a grown man barking at a hog. ;D

Like a old man told me one time and he was dead serious. Take your strike dogs and rub them down with (sow -in -heat) scent and them big male hogs won't break bay. NOWS THATS LOGICALL,,BUT Realdog will get mad at me if I tell all our tricks of the trade..HEEE--HEEE-HEEE ;D

Yup, alot of people think they are good riders until they have to work off the horse or do multiple things while riding a horse. :D

I believe they came down here just not King Ranch. I grew up in Santa Fe with Clay and a few others on here. But they were working on the Jones Ranch, not King. The Waltons have had a quail lease over towards Rachel and Tacubuya on Dick Jones' Colorado Alto ranch for years. I also believe they are the real thing, just the location given is about 45 mins south-southwest of Kingsville and 20 minutes away from the Encino Division of King Ranch.

  :D That's like walking around the brush moo-ing like a cow to get a baby calf to walk out....

When we used to run a couple herds of goats, we had 3 Great Pyrenees LGD's. If they were out of sight and we needed them back for some reason, we would grab a kid goat, flip it over,let it bawl, and the Pyr's would come running.

Along the same lines, we have had a catch dog out when a bay busted. Could not call her back in. We tied a bay dog off to a tree, and walked a hundred yards or so. The bay dog started barking, the catch dog came running.  Has worked for us twice now.


Some things just work.

Brute, can you call a calf out?  Never seen it, done, but does it work?

It has worked for me several times before, learned it young from my grandmother. :) Our cattle like to leave the calves in the brush for a good week, some times two.