EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I know we have had similar posts in the past but I feel like it has been long enough now to bring this subject back up....plus I'm bored.

1) what are you riding and do you like it?
2) what changes would you make to it?
3) what is the terrain like where you hunt?

I personally am running a 2008 Honda foreman I more or less stole back in December. It had 500 original miles put on it by an elderly couple, I gave him 2000$ for it and it's been money well spent. I added nothing but a new carb and the dog box I had built. All together I've got 2500$ in it. Been a tank so far.

I also have a 2016 can am defender 800 that has been the best utv I have personally owned. I added forward/lifted high clearance a arms and a 3" lift on top of them and I'm running 34" tractor tires with no issue.

We hunt in Southeast Texas in the pineywoods but our woods stay wet most of the year, I would bet over 1/3 of our lease keeps standing water on it year round. We aren't im the swamp but we aren't too terribly far from it.

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I'm riding a schwinn, an old one and high miles! Changes would be adding a motor or trading it for something with a motor. The terrain is asphalt and concrete, some dirt roads during the dry season as it is one wheel drive. It don't haul hogs well and it don't drag them well.

I have a JD gator too. It's ok. I atleast can get off the road and it has a dog box.

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I got 2012 Yamaha rhino I like it like the size of it but seems like last year and half I can't keep it together always something wrong with it I have always had honda four-wheelers and had real good luck with them around my house constantly in mud and water we hunt in hills in pines alot not as wet but still alot wet bottoms. I also have Honda Foreman that is real good I am probably going to end up buy new buggy this year I looking at pioneer 700 but I really don't want anything any wider than that rhino to hunt off of looked at 500 pioneer maybe take that back rack off build me flat bed and dog box on it not sure yet I know my buddy has 500 pioneer probably a 16 model that has no telling how many miles and had 28s on it since new and has never done anything to it

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I got 2012 Yamaha rhino I like it like the size of it but seems like last year and half I can't keep it together always something wrong with it I have always had honda four-wheelers and had real good luck with them around my house constantly in mud and water we hunt in hills in pines alot not as wet but still alot wet bottoms. I also have Honda Foreman that is real good I am probably going to end up buy new buggy this year I looking at pioneer 700 but I really don't want anything any wider than that rhino to hunt off of looked at 500 pioneer maybe take that back rack off build me flat bed and dog box on it not sure yet I know my buddy has 500 pioneer probably a 16 model that has no telling how many miles and had 28s on it since new and has never done anything to it

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2015 Polaris Ranger 900. It’s been ok. I like having the bed and cab but it’s no where near as reliable as my old Honda Foreman was. I have had electrical problems since 2 weeks after I bought it brand new. I constantly have to change bearings and bushings. Now I have to rebuild one side of the front differential because the cup that holds the cv axle is worn out and slips on the splines. It only has 2400 miles on it but just about all of them has been in the  South Alabama River Swamp.

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I have some buddies that had similar problems and they have swapped to the Honda Pioneer 1000 with good results.

2007 Kawasaki Mule. Tough as nails. Wish it were faster sometimes, but I’ll sacrifice that for the price and reliability. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200328/f1721a8708d2266c6474c3ba39200196.jpg)


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Mahindra Roxor , 4 cyl turbo diesel , quiet as a mouse and comfy , fixing to build the custom box for the bed

Right now a pair of 10.5 Rocky jungle boots. I have to say they’re pretty durable and dependable, but I would love to upgrade!

Been trying to get my jet ski sold so that i can buy a boat. That would be used for hunting the river and and all the little creeks/channels off of it. I’m also trying get rid of my K5 to get a Honda foreman. Having a four wheeler or a buggy would really open the doors to some better spots to hunt. Now I just looked at Litetrax Muddtrax and buddy they’re badass. I would want the larger commercial version (10ft long vs 8ft for the recreational version) and they’re joystick operated like a skid steer. Tons of attachments and options but unfortunately the commercial model with a 57hp kubota is out of my price range at $59k starting price. Recreational model comes with a 38hp Kohler and starts at $39k. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200328/bc8675d734fdad485fbf9c8b02a0dc60.jpg)


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My friend had a honda 4 seater that is probably the closest thing to the foreman I've been in the woods with. I had a Foreman and when I say I took it into some really stupid places, that's an understatement. Mud, hills, brush, etc. it was a beast. Power and dependability because of shaft driven and plenty enough speed for a fool like me to really hurt themselves. Kudos to Honda on some damn fine machines.

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I agree with you all regarding the foreman. These machines are tough as nails. Like y'all I have put mine in places it had no business going and made it back out with no issue. I've had this bike in stuff so thick I couldn't see the ground below me and it has never failed. And if anyone was wondering the box that is on it has been the best setup I've personally used. Ive had tons of interest in it from other hunters and I'm working on possibly have a dozen or so made that I will rig out and resell. Anyhow I decided with this whole quarantine thing going on to go ahead and service both of em. Changed fluids and an axle on the foreman yesterday and started on my buggy last night changing oil and bearings and brakes.....damn brakes are giving me hell now though lol.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200328/38d67b2e08c1aade8fee68dc0847ae76.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200328/a64af75b8b6e5438c356a0211a858754.jpg)

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I’m gone 2nd or third the foreman
But if I hunted big open areas I would use the Yamaha Viking
I currently own both and love em

I’ve had two foreman’s that were bought new and only used to haul hogs with and they are tuff as y’all know

I’ve hunted off the Viking some and it is to me the tuffest buggy but I have a 6 seater and need half acre to turn it round - I will be gettin me another buggy to hunt off of but it will be a Yamaha

Pretty much Honda four-wheeler with racks  and Yamaha boat motors and buggies round here lol
Here ya some proof pics lol


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Nice rigs yall.
I have a 2016 Honda Pioneer 500 It's a tough little machine it goes everywhere a 4wheeler will but with 2 grown men and 6 dogs.I put mine through hell treat it like hell and it always does the job.

I also have a airboat it's 13'6" x 7'6" JB Hull powered by a Lycoming S.V.0540 With 10:1 pistons and a nice cam.It really does go everywhere with 3 grown men and 4 dogs.
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I started out with a little Honda Rancher... put over 5,000 hog hunting miles on it. Added a shock under the rear rack to support the weight of the dogs. That little machine went anywhere.

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Then I bought a 2007 Yamaha Rhino 660 from an old man that was in mint condition... hunted off it for several years. It was a tank and would go anywhere I put it, it just couldn’t support the weight in the bed.

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I have a 2014 Honda Pioneer 700 now and love it.  10 dogs in the back doesn’t even budge it. I’m in the southeast Texas mud and swamps half the time and cattle country and farmland the rest of the time. The only thing I do is change the brake pads about once a year.

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Kawasaki mule pro. Have had it 2 yrs trouble free I love it, it’s been a really good machine. The only downfall is the smaller bed when you’re using both seats.


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If anyone is thinking about a Kawasaki mule, they are great. I had one in Afghanistan that me and one of the guys under me took out of a junk yard and put back together. The steering linkage and the gear shifter was broken. We went and “found” some parts which was pretty easy since we were on night shift and in a few weeks we had it running. It was a 4 seater, I think a 4110 model, maybe 2012? We beat the absolute piss out of it and it never quit on us.


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(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200329/5f6faa6752f0cdd21b042db8ce06911d.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200329/1ea52390e32ec2f21931c7345dc1622c.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200329/e3b61f8cc93c2e498ed8eda35668a3e3.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200329/7bff1095246533f7395dc88ede931785.jpg)

Tricked it out with some tires, paint, custom deluxe roof, some wooden half doors we made with scrap we could find. Ran it wide open 90% of the time and used it to tow trailers and other gators that broke down. Only issue was a fuse kept popping because of wiring too much lighting on it at one point. Then tried to Jerry Rig the fuse and had a small fire lol.


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Anything honda makes....i have a 2017 700 pioneer we with 3000 miles in it....never one minute of problem...HONDA

L.h cracker how big of a tire are you running and how does it effect it? Also are you running a lift

I run 28x10x14 front and 28x12x14 rear with no lift and the buggy does just fine with them I'm on my third set.

I sure wish I had talked to the right guys before I bought my Polaris Ranger 500 back in 2017...  I had always been a Honda guy my whole life and still have 3 more fourwheelers to bail me out when I gotta tear down the Polaris every other weekend with a breakdown of some sort..    Its been one thing after another with that thing...  its pitiful in my opinion how that company aint out of business...   That company will not eat a potted meat sandwich off the money I will give em in the future..   

Buddy I hate it for you but I know exactly what you are talking about and that's exactly why I have never owned one. I've pulled my buddies out of the woods more times than I can count. They just can't handle it like the others.

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Honda Pioneer- 700. Only one on the market with no belts. Just like there wheelers. Tuff

Honda pioneer 1000s is what we hunt off of zero complaints lots of power and can haul 10 dogs and cooler on the  box and 3 people comfortably in the cab! Never been in the shop besides operator inflicted stuff lol

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       LISA TOOK SOME PICTURES WE ARE GOING TO TRY TO POST THEM                                                                                               

                                                                                   MY ATV

                                  (https://i.postimg.cc/nhyFnrJD/DSC-1519.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

                                  (https://i.postimg.cc/zB96gbxC/RIMG0890.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

                                              SHE WAS A LITTLE FRESH AT FIRST BUT SETTLED RIGHT DOWN - A CUR PUP WAS REAL INTERESTED
                                   (https://i.postimg.cc/BZPGnsm5/DSC-1529.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

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                                                           HUNTING TRUCK WITH THE RIGGING LID ON
                                    (https://i.postimg.cc/GmkNsmDY/DSC-1523.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

                                                                                  WITH THE LID OFF

                                     (https://i.postimg.cc/Hstvph14/RIMG0897.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

                                                                                    FROM THE BACK

                                     (https://i.postimg.cc/MGHF3b40/RIMG0896.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

                                                                    GANTTE, ONE OF THE PLOTTS HERE
                                     (https://i.postimg.cc/zGrNQMSC/DSC-1528.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)

Real nice set ups bud. I hope to be rich and have set ups like that one day. That Gannte dog is an extremely nice looking dog. I'll bet that your ATV will be fun to hunt off of. It looks like she settled in pretty quick.

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Fine Rigs and Hound there Sir.I guarantee she'll go place nothing else can.

Really like that dog old man
How tht atv on gas? Lol


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The hound I mean
Real nice looking


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Thanks for the compliments fellas, that mule has been lots of miles leading dogs and dragging hogs and really is a great step saver. Cost wise that truck was used and had a salvage title, the flatbed and dog box is homemade, and that was a 200 dollar mule, all real functional but probably  totals less than a nice side by side haha. I get along with that dog pretty good too he was raised here. If you ever get up around Keefeton Oklahoma you can stop in and we'll show you how poor folks live. 
   

Poor folks don’t only live in Oklahoma !
I was only making a small joke on the gas comment nothing at all negative - four wheeler and side by side have made us soft
I’ve been ther and hunted ther very close to you.
I really like y’all’s  country it beautiful to me and way of living .

Would it be ok if I asked you to tell me bout your hound please sir ?
I got and hunt plott dogs and really like em
And like the darker ones or buckskin but that’s a whole different story


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Every rich man I've ever talked to used that poor man line old man, lol. Of course I'm just picking too. I do things a lot similar to you, all my stuff is homemade and used. Poor old WOW has to help with some sort of project every year when he comes down.

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There was absolutely no offense taken about any comments I did not mean to  make it sound that way if I did.     That dog is straight Charles Gantte's blood he is 3 yrs old, he is actually from a half brother/sister cross lined up on a dog that was called Rolex that "by reports" was a bear dog of rare caliber.   This dog rigs good, has a good nose, good speed, lots of stick, good bay and or tree dog.      We bred my brother-in-laws William's White Hollow Rocky female to him and the puppies are less than a week old, we'll see if he can produce in the brood pen when they get big enough to go. About 2.5 yrs ago we bred the same female to a Gantte/Bayou Cajun male that I had, with good results.  Except for a pup from my friend Joe Walker all the Plott dogs here are Gantte, Weem's Butch/Jill or a cross of the two.  Oh and that mule actually makes gas haha.

They tell me that I have more straight Gantte dogs here than anyone left in the country whether that is good or bad is subjective I suppose but Charles bred those dogs with the intent of raising bear dogs, and did not ever make an outcross in 50 some odd "I think 57 yrs".   He actually started with dogs from 5 crosses of dogs several of which were somewhat closely related. I have had pretty good luck with them pure and they seem to make an excellent cross, probably due to having line bred for so many generations. I sort of got in on the tail end of his dogs and it appeared to me their consistency was falling off from the time Charles himself became unable to hunt and select them for breeding. I figured I could acquire some and try them hard and make "what I would call proper selections" and maybe salvage a long time good solid strain of dogs.  I had lots of experience with the Weem's dogs and felt like that since the two strains had lots of common lineage way way back they may compliment one another and so far it seems to be working pretty good.

I have a question for you or anyone else that may know. Hunted with a guy may years ago that rode jumping mules. Why do they wear the britching, I believe it’s called? Is it because of the shape of their body and it holds the saddle in place? Also, he had his saddles rigged so that the D ring was in the middle not underneath the mules armpits because it rubbed him wrong. Again, just because of the build maybe on that particular mule?

Very nice setups by the way.

A mule does not have much for withers so the breeching holds the saddle in place and will keep the saddle from riding down the mules neck if you are going downhill.

Funny story pertaining to that withers remark, my mule being sort of thorough bred type has exceptional withers and back for a mule, here around home it is pretty much flat so I took to just riding a crupper on her "had never ridden a crupper before" well several years ago one night I loaded her up and went over 3 or 4 miles to a several section chunk of Dirty creek, it is a large creek that drains no telling how many miles of country, when it floods it will be 3/4 mile wide at some points,  and with there not being much rock right here in this country it is muddy bottomed and the banks are 15 feet high and undercut in most places, Well I had gotten struck, had a pretty good race and they were bayed way on up and across the creek and there wasn't a good crossing in there close to where I needed to cross so I elected to just ride off the bank, it was summertime, the creek was low and there was a little ripple there so I didn't figure it was going to be boggy, my mule will go wherever pointed and even though the bank was high and undercut, I asked her to go off, she just sort of squatted and of course reaching down and out with her front legs, "we were nearly vertical" my head was just about laying on her tailbone and my feet were up to the top of her neck, well that damn crupper slipped off her tail and I hadn't tightened my cinch after riding awhile, the saddle slid way up over her withers on top and the cinch was below her elbows on her front legs, then of course the top lip of the bank caved off and the combination of all that scared her and she jumped, we were still way high on the bank making it a long way to the bottom when she hit the bottom her and my noses hit the ground like a yard dart, I figured she was gonna flip over on me so was scratching and clawing in an attempt to get out of the way, it would have made a hilarious video and I learned I didn't want a damn crupper anymore, threw it away and built the britching she still wears pictured above.

You painted quite the picture with that story, I got a chuckle out of that!

Lmbo that was funny.

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Clue, I used to have a lil 14 hand high mule I used to coonhunt off of. I was opening the gate in my pasture and he backed into the hot wire. I rode him for 3 jumps when the saddle came up over his neck. I landed spread eagled and tore something inside. Took me 15 minutes to get up. I then had to go unsaddle the mule. It could not go anywhere as the saddle had his head penned down from slipping over the withers. I hobbled over to the house. I passed a good bit of blood when I used the bathroom the next morning. Went to the Dr. the next morning and they could not find anything wrong, just monitor it. Put me out of business for a month.

Those stories sound funny and are looking back but they aren't when they happen. I use the term the old man used pretty regular to describe myself "yard dart". A you g horse I was riding for a buddy planted me like a yard dart. I was mad but I knew as soon as I tried to get back on him it wasn't gonna happen. The doctors found what was hurting on me and then some. Blood blister from the middle of my forehead back past my ear, broke neck, right shoulder had to be sewn all back together, all the ribs on my right side bruised, and my left arm was broke. I loved that little horse.

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Other than being a little skinned up I wasn't hurt from that wreck, but it can happen in a blink. Just revamped a little and went on and caught a hog.

You hunt on your mule by yourself? Been looking at hunting off my horse some. But I hunt a bunch just me and the dogs. A rodeo in the woods solo don't seem like a good time.

Lynel

Yes I hunt alone on the mule here and down in the mountains (big country) in the SE corner of the state, don't think much about it other than snake bite or a broken leg if afoot. I did buy some snake boots a year ago, felt a little embarrassed about it since I'd never had any, but there are Timber Rattlers and Copperheads down there and sometimes I can't see the ground and or am in big chunk rock or ledges, I figured I might get to sick to go before I could get out of there if I got bit way off in there. Snakes are not a worry when I ride.  I suppose a fellow ought to get one of those Garmin in reach deals, it would take days to find me in some places I wind up when hunting in the mountains and there is almost zero cell phone reception, I just have one of those 10 dollar ones I carry in the truck anyway.
I work an odd schedule and hunt "almost" explicitly by myself when in the mountains, in the winter time my brother-in -law Adam and I hunt hogs a lot together here around home.
The worst bind I have been in down there on the mule "same mule in the pictures" was a long time ago, I was hunting by myself at night and had ran off Kiamichi Mountain, across Lynn Mountain , crossed Cucumber Creek and was on Blue Bouncer Mountain, well when I finished up I was just gonna ride off to Cucumber and keep going north to the truck but it was "real" steep and  before I could get off the mountain I got in a bunch of big chunk rock rip rap size and bigger, (steep enough I couldn't go back up) I was afraid I was gonna break my mules leg so I got off and would get by a tree to keep her from falling into or over me and jerk her to me, when I finally got off there without crippling my mule I determined to forever more study the elevation lines on the map before coming off a mountain in the dark. I hadn't had a Garmin long when this happened and wasn't real familiar with a topographical map but that caused me to learn haha.

That is a dang good looking hound old man

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Thank you, we like him pretty good when turned loose as well.

jsh, you can buy saddles that are made with the rigging the way you are talking about, my saddle is just an old trophy saddle with a full double rigging I had won and used till it was pretty torn up so I patched it up and made a saddle for my mule out of it, I ride 4 nylon latigos on all my saddles rather than using billets and to keep the cinch from rubbing the mule I take the back latigos and pull the cinch ring back with it and it keeps the back of the saddle down good as well, works pretty good for a colt you are breaking too once you figure out how to position it. I don't ride a back cinch nor breast collar on my mules, the back cinch can catch a wire when jumping if the mule misjudges  by a fraction and "I think a breast collar restricts their reach a little" plus the fact I have never had my saddle try to come off the rear in real steep country or when dragging a hog, the front cinch being forwards of the rib spring and belly curve. Some folks ride a wide mohair girth for a back cinch on a mule and put it way back toward the flank behind the curve of the belly rather than a britching or a crupper.  You can also buy a saddle with "mule bars" in it since a mule and a horse are made somewhat different but I have not had any trouble with the quarter horse bars when a mule is padded right. Lots of ways to rig a saddle for a mule whatever works for you in your circumstance is what is best.

My latest rig... love it(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200906/d7fe426a0d2da93541a84f72f3545ac7.jpg)

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