EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I been hunting a pretty good many years now and I got my on opinion but its always good to hear others also .

Now I met ole Tdog and Kyle over in Rockdale today we go to one of Tdogs places.  Turn the dogs loose which I had Whitey , Horn , Bell and Little Horn the youngen and Tdog had his two young dogs coming of age and doing well.   We lettem out in 20 mins we has the first little hog about 75 lbs .  Next thing I know Whitey is gone 1000 yds Horn/Bell is gone 900 in opposite directions and all the young dogs were running wild behind baby pigs every were I mean every were we looked 20 lbs to 60 lbs .  It was a pure cluster muck is what it was .   We were busy trying to get to young dogs and they were killing pigs I know here and there .  Well are hour are so passes and we didn't go to Horn are Whitey which might have been a mistake anyway finally Horn comes back and he joins in killing and chasing pigs every were and this place is thick thick thick brush you can hardly see threw it .  Dogs are having a hard time going threw it .  Then a little while later Whitey comes back in and she joins in along with Bell .  The young dogs were just going crazy .  Finally I had enuff and Bell got a little hot on me so I started picking up my old dogs one by one .  Then finally we get all the young dogs in .

Now this is just my opinion I myself I don't like to get on masses of pigs like this dogs get scattered every direction everything turns in to a cluster muck and they will run your older dogs in the ground and then they start to get frustrated the older ones do .  I could see the frustration on my older dogs faces now the young dogs enjoyed the hell out of it and got a work out of a life time but my older dogs in my opinion don't need that kind of crap .  I think it does a older dog more harm sometimes that good to get on these kind of cluster muck hunts .  I think from now on when this happens I will pick my older dogs up and just let the young dogs have at the pigs it does them good .

Anyway like I said I could see the frustration on the older dogs faces not to mention it nearly ran them in the ground ,  I don't like it myself .

Yall's Opinion ?

I hate piglets. Dogs split every direction and it drives me crazy.

Just my opinion i always go to the older dogs first had that happen to me when i was by myself n glad i went to the older ones

Crap wrong button on last post. We had the same thing happen the other night dogs and pigs everywhere and dogs were I mean burnt slap out in 15 minutes

I agree with ya  I hate getting into herds of hogs seems like it never works out right! I like it when they get 1 hog lined out..

Honest question..... Why do you go to the older dogs first at a split bay? Is it due to age/fatigue/ time frame they gas out in or other reasons??

I have always done the exact opposite, not tryin to say my way is right or yours is wrong by any means, just wonderin what your reasoning is......

Mine is this...... i try to get to em all as fast as I can but with the dogs I run only the smart make it to old age, the young dogs often try hogs they shouldn't resulting in injuries and broken bays so I try like hell to get to them first and don't worry as much about the old dogs because i'm far more confident that they will set up on a hog and bay until help arrives...

I think they mean that the older dogs are smarter and have more experience therefore they go to them first because they have confidence that it will be a hog and more than likely a good one. That's what I got out of it. But I do agree with you young dogs are often over confident and are too rough resulting in some injuries!

If the sounder will stay bayed and just move a little ways away each time you catch one and allow you to catch several hogs then I think it's very good for the dogs. That's the easiest way for young dogs to learn to roll out after the catch dogs hit. The CD's hit and the older dogs move with the sounder 50-100 yards away, the pups see the dogs leave on the hogs and can still see and hear them so they go to them instead of hanging around the caught hog. But very few sounders bay up for very long anymore so I will have to agree that it is usually a pain in the butt. Especially if there is 3 or 4 independent real deal strike dogs on the ground and each one leaves on a different hog. It's not so bad during cool weather but it sucks during the summer. Either way I still don't like getting on sows and pigs. I would rather hunt all day long and catch one good boar or barr that catch 10 sows !

These pigs here were running machines wasnt no baying up they went in every different directions and I think the only big hogs that were got on were got on after the first one we got they rolled out but the young dogs stayed chasing all the little pigs .    Like Lance says its not so bad in the cooler weather but you get on groups like this we were on today were nobody bays and they all go in different directions two three different groups of hogs and you got independent older dogs they each go after a different bigger hog its a real real pain in the back end .  I dont like my older dogs on these kinds of pigs in hot weather it just aint worth getting a good good dog burnt up over three are four   75/100 lb pigs running in every different directions .  It seemed like there were pigs coming out from under every brush pile .   Now the young dogs it gets them excited and it gets their piggen on and they learn in a hurry what they are hunting and it puts some legs under them and its just good for them to get it set in their minds what they are doing but I dont like wasting my good older dogs on a bunch of shoats and 100 lb pigs that is running them to death .   If a dog is old enuff to go to the woods then if he gets on a big one gets gritty  and cant handle it and gets his ass handed to him that is just part of it and a lesson set in his head and he learned it in the woods he will remember it  .

Justin ,  if it would have been me on my hunt on my place I myself would have went to the older dogs first in a hurry .  Why ?   Because I know those older dogs of mine are more likely to be on the bigger hogs in the group they always seem to go with the bigger hogs for some reason plus its hot and I need to get to them not leave them hanging.  The way I see it the  young dogs could have stayed there and played with the pigs and littler hogs till we got back but I was hunting with Tdog on his place and so I went with him  .  My feeling at the time it was happening is we need to go to the older dogs first but it just didnt work out that way .  No big deal its just different strokes for different folks and I was hunting with him not him with me .  99% of the time when something like that happens am gone to my real dogs that I know what they are baying aint much doubts on that .  Youngs can stay and play till I get back .

10 4, hell we would work perfect huntin together lol, u go to the ol geezers and i'll go to the young dummies lol!

I'm just the opposite... I'm always going to the pups first.

The old dogs know their job... they'll be bayed when I get there. ;)

Thats my outlook as well Mr. Mike

Yep!!

So what do you do when all your chit eaters are young? Haha

im with mike , my older dogs know im coming sooner or later Ill be there , the younger dogs dont have that confidence yet and need me to back them up as soon as i can to build this confidence , as for masses of pigs in a area , it doesnt happen to often in oklahoma lol  , when I have had dogs all stretched out for miles was because I took to many or to many indapendant dogs , this really sucks on foot , if i only take two they will hunt together in most cases and not be everywere bayed miles apart JMO

I think it also has to do with the type of dogs your running mine will catch if they  can and that is another reason I go to the older ones.  If I knew my dogs would back off for sure then yeah would not be so bad but I have seen two of mine take on 200 lbs with just the right teeth to kill you.  With dogs like that to me its just safer for them.

Every situtation is different.  When it's hot I try to have a

Woops

Every situtation is different, when it's hot I generally try to set up for a faster hunt. This does not mean that's how it will work.  If hunting by myself I only take 1 dog and 1 pup trying to avoid splits.  I hate a pig killing, but it happens.  The more pigs I Kill the less their are to reproduce, so its not all bad!   Just frustrating.   As a rule I go to young dogs first trying to build their confidence!  Pups don't have the stamina a older dog has!  They get spent fast, they haven't learned to pace their selfs yet.   But again every situation is different, and I'm not saying what I do is rite, or what anyone else does is wrong...if its hot and have more dogs on ground and have splits we as hunters usually split as well.

I'm with Mr. Mike. ;)

It was really no big deal .  Like you say every time you go is a different situation.  I think after it was all said and done even ole T said we probably should have went to the older dogs .  But at the time he didn't know and I didn't know the pups was not gonna get on something they could not handle and by the time we got back it could have been a wreck there to .   So it is just a judgment call is all it is at the time it is happening.  I can say this I highly respect Tdog's opinion's and desions about everything when it comes to hog dogs and hog hunting Ive known him a long long time and is a great great friend .  We came out of it good nobody hurt so it was a good call.  I felt like the dogs were messing with a lot of young pigs yall don't get me wrong if I feel like my young dogs are on some hogs they may not can handle are in a bind then sure I myself will go to my young dogs first when it comes to that I know how fast a young dog can get wrecked and ruined .  Its all just a judgment call at the time it is all happening and a lot of factors come in to play on each situation .

 I wouls much rather them pups get them a hog.

X2

All depends on the situation and which dogs are where.....same as u would do  ya dummy!

  I would let the older dogs bay and collect up the young dogs. I expect my older dogs to bay until I can get there. Everyone is different though.

how do you look at a dog and tell it is frustrated???

I'm gonna go to the young dogs. If my older dog is bayed up and my young mutt starts hammering away I'm gonna go check him first to make sure he isn't screwing up. Once I got there and he was on a shoalt killing spree I would would go to the vegts and leave the young to play with some pigs.

I am going to the closest bay.  If none of them are bayed, I'm going to wait until one group or the other sits down.  I try to stay in Garmin range of the dogs. With today's hogs you can walk yourself to death (or burn a tank of gas) trying to stay with dogs that are running or trailing a hog.

Yall got to realize and I know yall was not there but there were pigs running everywere .  Little footballs size and more than a couple of herds of them .  All the dogs on the ground were young dogs except Horn, Whitey and Bell the other there were just young dogs learning.  The only real bay that happend was the very first one and it was caught when everybody got there.  The three older dogs rolled off and I think went with a couple of big sows that was proably there with all the footballs.  The young dogs stayed and were chasing , barking , killing and noting ever got bayed again it was just dogs chasing footballs catching them and doing what ever it was they done with them .   When the older dogs got back it was just a cluster muck young dogs would bark here young dogs would bark there a pig would squeel here and there and the older dogs were just running their selves to death between the young dogs and all the footballs running around.  My older dogs would come back to the wheeler and look at me like WTF man .  Then they would go to the young dogs again and by the time they would get to one the football would either be gone are dead then another bark from else were go to them and it was just back and fourth back and fourth .  After a few times of me watching my older dogs and them coming back to me which dont happen very often with those WTF looks on their faces and hotter than hell from running from young dog to young dog I just said the hell with it and started picking up my older dogs which my Bell dog was already hot from all of it .  My older dogs are not use to that kinda stuff they get out and hunt find hogs and are their with the hogs till we can get there are the bulldog not a bunch of young dogs running threw every brush pile barking and rasing hell .  It was just not a good thing for older dogs even tho lots of football size pigs which I have seen a lot of times my older dogs wont hardly mess with the football size pigs and leave to try and find the bigger ones .

Like I said a cluster muck is what it was .  A pain in de Ars !