Your call did not come as a surprise as I knew her end was near.  So sad to see her go.  I remember our first hunts with her.  Anytime she was in the woods, she was on a mission.  Very methodical, intense, and purposeful with every loop she made.  If there was a hog there or had been there, he was in great peril of being found and caught.  I remember hunting down thru the palmetto flat baying and catching one hog right after another.  She was a pleasure to hunt with and it was much fun to watch her work.  Too bad there are not more dogs like her, but those are very rare.

Monkey has left an impressive legacy also.  Time for some new/young blood to begin making their mark.

Dave

Chance, Eric, TShelly

Congratulations on the great hunt and whopper hog.  That is cool!  It is surely a thrill to cast a dog to a big track and then go in later and see something like that standing there.  Good catch and a very well detailed story of the hunt.

BTW, why all of the controversy about dogs and barred hogs?  Putting a hog at the end of the hunt is why we do this.  You and your crew did well.

Dave
Central Florida, USA

I remember a hog dog hunter named Bob Chapman from way back in the 1970's.  He hog hunted with Jack Martin Sr. alot on the same 39,000 acre tract I hunted back then (Seminole Ranch formerly Norris Cattle Co. back then).  Mann Bailey and Jack Walker ran the cows in there.

Hunted with Roy Partin back then also on their place South of St Cloud.  He had a red Fla Cur named "Rowdy".  Remember a hunt with Roy one day when Roy was up a tree hollering "catch'em Rowdy".  It was a big old spotted boar that wrecked some cow dogs and people over a year or two span.  Long story but I ended up with two broken hands trying to catch him the second time.  I had a Partin dog back then, an exact replica of Mark Chesser's Monkey dog and about as good.

Damm, that was a long time ago.  How'd I get this old?

Dave

Good hog, good hunt and story Noah.  Glad it turned out OK in the end.

Dave

Good catch Lynel!

Is that a blue speckled yard ornament in the picture with you?    I can hear it now.     

Be careful in PR.  Don't bring anything home with you.

Dave

The three day Florida - Texas showdown hog dog hunt was great!  Good folks, good dogs, and just a good old time was had by all.

There were probably 30+- people all total in the group, but all went in separate directions and groups to hunt.  Everyone bayed and/or caught hogs, then converged at the shady oak tree picnic table for a cook out lunch each day and tell the stories of the days hunt and catches.

Mark's Monkey and Spur dogs started out slow the first morning, but turned on quick once we put'em in the right place.  That "Mater" gyp of Chance's is one hog finding machine!  All of Chance's dogs have alot of aggressive hunt and desire and appear to be very heat tolerant as they never slowed down while their feet were on the ground.

Noah's and Lynel's dogs put up some numbers also which was a challenge in the warm mid-day Fla temps and dry conditions.

I did hear some trail barking hear and there, but think those were bluish colored (not yellow) dogs.    :-)

Knowing Noah and having had him on some hunts for bad hogs and then seeing him up a tree was a hoot.  One big old boar spinning around with Noah on his back one cold morning a few years ago comes to mind.

Hunting together with good friends is alot of fun and will always be remembered.  Hopefully there will be a next time.

Dave



     

Good catch there dude!  Always cool to catch one of your own and see what he looks like today.

Beware of those "old guys", if they mad they'll just kill you and leave you for the hogs and buzzards.  Some of those old guys were catching hogs when you were just a wet spot in your daddy's underwear.         And they have some good stories to tell.

Dave

It's about time you started hunting again.  The dogs and hogs were getting lazy from lack of activity.

A friend of mine came over to hunt with me early one morning this week.  He brought two catchy Curdogs.  It was a nice cool morning.  We hadn't gone far when all hell broke loose.  We were trying to get to the dogs as quick as we could but it was over quickly.  It didn't sound good.  As we approached, we saw the big boar standing defiantly then turn and slowly walk off.  One of the Cur dogs came staggering out dragging his guts behind him.  He was cut deep numerous times all over the body, abdominal cavity ripped open, guts hanging out.  It was a bad wreck.  Got everything put back in place to prevent tissue drying and any further damage, closed up, then off to the Vet.  They did a lengthy surgery and the report for survival and recovery looks good so far.  Just one of those bad days.

Dave
   

BTT

Hope she shows up and finds her way back home.

Dave

Noah, PM sent.

Dave

It's pretty cool when you see a young dog or even a new dog start putting hogs at the end of a hunt.

Keep putting the dogs in the woods where there are hogs and they will learn and keep getting better.

Congratulations!

Dave

Glad to hear Shiner healed up and is on the road back.  Good for her!

Dave

The coyotes coming to the bay is likely a territorial defense response.  Coyotes don't like any other canine in their territory.

Staging a bay might be a good way to whack some coyotes.

Dave

I am sorry to hear the sad news.  It is never easy to lose a good dog.  Good memories will live on.
Hopefully there is a young dog out there somewhere that is waiting on you and your son to take him/her hunting.

Dave

I remember a similar incident when I thought YOU were gonna get barred!  I thought you had everything under control (two dogs caught on a good boar, you had the hog legged, etc.) so I started snapping some photos, and the next thing I see thru the camera is ....... that hog having his way with you and then Mark saving your manhood!   

I still laugh when I see that photo.

Dave

That's an impressive hog, surely a trophy in anyone's book.  Good catch!

Congratulations.

Dave

I have had a couple of the hairy dogs over the years and they worked out well.  Airedale x Pitt, big strong athletic dogs, fast, and fearless.  They had some nose, hunted well alone or with others, lots of drive.  I don't see that cross very often.

Dave

Mark is in shape.  Round is a shape isn't it.    :-)

I told him to move his treadmill to "in front of the refrigerator".

Monkey did well as usual and it was a pretty good hog, good hunt, with some real excitement.  Always enjoy the hunts.

Noah hunted with us at the same place a while back.  That was the infamous Noah's Kung Fu Move Hunt.  That was loads of fun and lots of laughs.  As I remember it, the dogs had the big hog caught when Noah and I got to them, Noah legged the hog, and I thought he had the hog under control so I got my camera out for a few photos and about that time the hog, somehow, flipped Noah off his feet and he ended up on top of the hog.  I should have dropped the camera and helped, but Mark got there about that time to help so I kept taking pictures.  I still laugh when I think about that hunt.

Saturday Hog:


The Kung Fu Hog:








Dave

Will be 62 in June.  Had my first hog dog in 1970.  There were tons of hogs back then (in Florida).  It was not uncommon to see 300-400 hogs during an all day airboat ride.  Things have changed alot since then.  Now a days there are still hogs here, but in alot of the places we hunt it is thick and wet and it takes a pretty fair dog to find them.

Dave
Winter Springs, Fla

Good hunt and good times.  Wonder how old that cypress tree is???

Dave