EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Seems like everyone is giving up the ghost on hog hunting these days if there is hogs to catch ill never stop

People come and go. Most all the folks I started hunting with and lots I've hunted with over the years have gotten out.

If they loose their places to hunt from what ever reasoning, or just dont have the time, then why continue to pump money into the hunt? Iv thought bout getting completely myself bc im always gone for work, hav to much to do when i get hm and not enough time to get them done, plus since i moved, im the new kid on the block and the majority of the land is already spoken for n i wont go behind someone elses back and hunt the land that they already hav permission to run on.

Most of them are just selling all there dogs then when they get them sold they will be looking for some better dogs

Its a constant cycle. Your average time span of a dog hunter is about 2 years. lots get out after the 1st year when its off season and they are still spending money on the dogs. Happens in all forms of hunting with dogs, no matter what animal your targeting.

Hunting with dogs is hard work you have to really enjoy it to stick it out most people don't have the work ethic to keep going after the initial glory is gone. But not having spots has a lot to do with it as well.


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I was thinking about this the other day.  The guy who got us into it, is not hunting anymore. TLW I wont get out.

Summer time, happens every year

^ very true I see it a lot in bird dogs too

I'd probably have a lot more friends and For sure money  if I wasn't so ate up with dogs and horses .. I think that's the secret , you've just got to be absolutely ate up with it .

All my friends are horse and dog people .  .. Which is great ! I wouldn't want it any other way

Everyone I went to school with is pretty much married and they've got babies now it seems .. They have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm talking about when I start talking dogs or horses to them and why that's cool


I can't tell you how many times I've "missed out"  because I was out in a pasture / in the woods or gettin to bed early so I can wake up before the sun , while everyone else is partying ..


 finding land I can run dogs and horses on and what bloodline I want on my yard next is something I think about daily .

I can't imagine quitting myself.I want to be an old man still getting it done with my dogs.

I still think it's more getting in than getting out.

Hillbilly your right I think a lot more get in but they just don't stay with it. I know of around 20 doggers in my area and there are probly more lol


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   lol  hell I've gotten out since I moved , but I darn sure ain't gonna give up my dogs . when the times right they'll still know what to do  .

I see folks sell out to save money according to them. I look at it like this. It cost me on average $1 per day per dog for food. At that price I could not replace what I have in a years time. Not even 2 years. Could I buy a dog sure. But that dog will be green and take time to line out. How many will it take to find the ones I like. Now say it takes u 3 years to get those dogs where u want them. Well those dogs u sold would have been there from the day u found a new place to run. I am the new guy in the area right now. Haven't turned a dog loose but 2 or 3 times since September of last year. I am about to get a place or 2 to run. When I do my dogs may be out of shape and trashy to start but in a month or 2 I can line that out.


Shotgun
Arkansas

Like Judge said, it's hard and constant working keeping and training dogs. It takes time and patience to get a dog where you want them to be, and it takes time and networking to get ahold of the better pastures. This sickness of buying a dog and taking them out of their kennel twice a month expecting a great dog is what kills a lot of it for people, I think.

In Texas, it hard hunting right now. With all the rain we have had everything is green, thick and the hogs don't have to move near as far or as much. Not all, but some don't have the patience for dry runs and would rather sell out when they don't see instant results in their dogs or their places.

As frustrating as it is killing nothing but time, I still wake up early and go out late....I just cant quit, on myself or on my dogs.

It's getting harder to find places too hunt. Deer hunters have caused us a lot of problems in our area. We are hunting off season but they still complain until they get their way. Not bashing deer hunters I'm just saying that's why it's getting hard to hunt and some are selling out.

Don't see the big deal in deer huntin I just catch em by hand(http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n432/itsacaseytime/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-06/KIMG0112.jpg) (http://s338.photobucket.com/user/itsacaseytime/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-06/KIMG0112.jpg.html)

i have been thinking lately about getting out, i havent hunted but only a couple times since turkey season went out, i use to put hunting first over everything else but i just had a little boy hes 7 months old now, i dont get to see him alot in the evenings cause i work over quiet a good bit and hes usually gone to bed when i get home and i really like waking up with him on my days off and playing with him in the floor or just walking around the yard , where as when i would go hunting id be gone pretty much all day and not get to see him but a little while in the evening time. my dads been real sick lately i been trying to spend some time with him as much as i can, and i have a good bit of chores built up for when i am home, as i get older its not enough hours in a day and days in a week to do all i need to do haha but im still feeding all my dogs and am going to do so all the way through deer season and see how things play out and then decide, it took me about 10 years to get some dogs bred just like i wanted and when i got them like i wanted im almost out of the game its hard to make the decision to complety get out , i wish i would of had them when i first started hunting i could of really enjoyed them but oh well its part of life some things have to be priortized, but your right alot of people come and go, most wont stay in long they dont realize how much more it is to it than just going catch a big boar hog, i tell people all the time if i didnt already have all these dogs im feeding now its no way id go get some dogs id just hunt with some one else when i wanted to go and let them do all the chores and id have a pile of money in the bank if i wouldnt ever went hog hunting

I would guess that limited opportunities and access to hunting grounds are the primary reasons that hunters decide to get out. It's probably easier for guys who hunt purely to catch hogs to get out. If you can't appreciate the fact that it is a privelage to simply be in the woods with your dogs, I could see you making the decision to spend what little extra time you have pursuing other interests. At times , it's tough to look at good dogs sittin in a kennel with no place to hunt. You begin to feel like the dog deserves to be hunted regularly. It's also tough to accept when your dogs don't perform to their full potential due to lack of opportunity and poor conditioning.
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Mr . Pugh makes a good point. Sometimes life dictates that other priorities are more important. number 2gun WG  has a great perspective as well. If it means enough to you, you will find a way to stay on the game. If u enjoy simply having dogs around , there aren't many cheaper hobbies.

Shotgun WG  - not #2 WG. Auto correct and IPhones don't go well together! My apologies.

Sometimes I think people overwhelm themselves as well.  We've seen a lot of people start out buying every dog they can get there hands on and it becomes to much for them.  This is not just a weekend sport.... Dogs are a lot of work.  Its not like a feeder you can just let run out of corn or a kayak you just hang in the garage when you aren't using it, dogs are an everyday thing.  Plus it's summertime, people start cutting back and you see that every year.

For most it is just a passing "fad" or sport. For those of us who were born into it, it is and will always continue to be, a way of life ;) I will continue to feed a decent pair of rough, stock bred cur dogs as long as the good Lord allows me to either walk or ride behind them. No need to have to feed 27 dogs to catch hogs.

X2!!

Most folks go hunting with someone and get that "rush" everybody talks about, then next thing you know they got 20 dogs and haven't even got a place to hunt yet, nothing chaps me up more than someone calling wanting to go hunting bc "they need to let their dogs run with experienced dogs" yea I always have a young prospect to hunt and so does my partner and being working men with families it's hard to find the time to train our own. Or the other category is they want to go then next thing you know they've rounded up every bodies culls around and expect for you to call them every time you go. I guess because i was born into a dog hunting family it's just second nature to me, never once in my 27 yrs have I ever not had a hound to feed whether it was mine or my dads.

A lot of my old friends I don't see anymore bc of this sick addiction I have to this. Any spare time I have away from work and family is spent either thinking about a dog or training a dog if I'm not hunting. Like Chris H said 98% of my friends are dog or cow folks and I've supposedly missed out on the good times chasing a dog.

like a -fly by night lawn service,here today gone tomarow.most are copy cats,story tellers,ask too many questions,scared of the dark get lost 100 yards into the woods.try to buy there way in,cry like a baby.haha good-bye 8)

I've owned dogs since I was in junior high, and still own dogs from the same blood. I've been hunting since I was a kid and will always own dogs. If you do it for money, you need to find another hobby unless you're damn good and your dogs are damn good. I do it because I have a passion for dogs and enjoy hunting. I think more ppl need to come to that realization. Until then, kick back and listen to everyone "sellout" cuz they "don't have time" lol


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I was hunting with dogs in grade school...started on my own and hunted alone in those days...caught lots of game with my dogs...and somehow or another I became dog crazy in those years...moved to the city and only kept one or 2 dogs either Doberman or Airedales and or welsch terriers...bred a few litters along the way and then started hog hunting when the hogs moved in in about 1980 or so...tried a few breeds and decided that if I wanted good dogs I had to breed them myself and did that for a long while...then in 2007 I got out and way in a year I had regrets...in 2009 I started back in and just now I am feeling like I might be headed in the right direction with my dogs...I love this website because I get most of my dog addiction somewhat satisfied...I consider myself a dog man through and through...

but I believe lots of guys get in because they get that adrenaline rush the first time out and then have to get in...but like already mentioned it is expensive to maintain dogs...I know all the shortcuts on what a dog needs but it is still expensive and they have to be fed everyday and slabs washed down and poop cleaned up...that is daily...and here in South East Texas if a hurricane come in I have to figure a way to get my dogs out...

if you want to take a vacation with the family I must try and find someone who will feed the dogs and clean up...I have to pay someone to do that...and I get back and the kennels are full of poop but they are fed and luckily they have automatic water when needed...

then it is a challenge to find and keep a good place to run dogs...usually have to rely on invites and then sometimes their style of hunting is not my style and I see it as a setback for a hunting dog...

I like dogs that don't quit and that will usually get the dogs in the wrong place...then we have to deal with Hiways and neighborhoods...

these fly by nighters that get in usually won't last long because of all of what has already been mentioned...

Then when a female comes in heat the dogs will be raising cane for three weeks...