Tom I don't want to steal this thread but please post a thread on your new pup when you get him.  Black and Tans are my favorite, so its nice to see and hear about them. 

TomTom I would love to hear about your Duncan pup when you get it, and see some pics.  I have been eyeing Ken's dogs for some time now.

I am from Mobile

Cutter I have seen a lot of your post on here and big game houndsmen and I have to say I would be proud to hunt with any of your blue dogs even though I wouldn't mind owning one of those Duncan black and tans, anyways I vote Beulah I like how she carries herself.  She looks confident and knows she did her job right.

I recommend Cormac McCarthy.  I have read the Border Trilogy which includes All The Pretty Horses the movie from probably 10 years back.  He also wrote Blood Meridian which is also a good one.

Bump thats exaclty the point i was trying to make.  I will never completely understand what goes on in tv land.  On Deadliest Catch you can watch Phil on his death bed dying and thats good tv supposedly.  But on the other hand you can't portray hog hunting with any type of integrity because that bothers people.  I would rather watch a well trained pack of dogs doing what they have been bred to do for 100s of years than watch a man die but thats just me. 

I think due to the hog population epidemic Discovery Channel tried to show hog hunting with dogs in the most peta friendly manner they could because when you have a show like this you can't deny the effectiveness of dogs.  The few hog hunts I have seen on Outdoor Channel they skipped the catch completely.  They went straight from bayed up hog to dead hog in the back of the truck.  I have watched 3 episodes and I cant watch anymore because the commentator repeates himself 20 times a show and the commentary is the exact same every show.  I believe Discovery set out to help the dog hunter but the show comes off goofy and to rehearsed and I personally don't find it the least bit entertaining. 

A fresh opinion from someone that has none of the experience of you hunters, so thats why its free.  A basset hound will never outrun a greyhound, but I do believe that you can train a basset hound to chase a rabbit in a circle to the best of his ability.  When comparing a scatter bred cur to a cur with proven genetics I belive in 3 -5 years like Noah said you could have comparable dogs.  I believe the scatter bred cur will take a lot more commitment to training and take a lot more experience to perform at the level of the cur with proven genetics.  But at the end of 5 years I believe both dogs could perform at the level that would be expected from a finished dog.  I believe the problem is even if the dog owner is a person who can train the scatter bred dog to the best of his abilities, that most hunters aren't going to make this type of commitment to one dog because even once he is a jam up dog his offspring will be a crap shoot.  I think with specefic attention most curs could be trained to do what is expected of them because of there willingness to please and all curs should have prey drive straight from the factory it just might need to be fine tuned.  But IMO the dog with proven genetics is going to give you what you want faster and provide a solid foundation for breeding.   

I appreciate all the responses I was just trying to figure out if this was something that was worth the effort. I am still on the fence but I do like see the techniques yall are using to persuade the dog to your kind of thinking. 

uglydog I did a search but most of the conversation was focused on plotts.
Timms I would like hear some of your tricks if they are shareable.  I was asking for hog hunting not coon hunting to clear that up.
I figured I would ask all my questions now then why I got the time and money for dogs I would have a plan of what I wanted.

I hate to be the new guy asking a hound question, but here it goes.  I realize that you could not train every hound to be silent, but if you had some jam up cur dogs to train a hound pup could you train silent hounds with some limited success, or would you be lucky to train one in a lifetime?  More specifically I'm asking about black and tans or blueticks.  I have always liked a houndy looking dog and love that sound.

Well I use to think I-10 was the Mason Dixon but I guess I will have to reconsider since everybody on here from Alabama is running hogs at the opposite end of the state.  Good huntin fellas I appreciate the welcome yall have given me.

I appreciate the welcome.  Boarninja where were yall in Coden I grew up on Bellingrath Rd.  Bo we deer hunt in Jackson.  You aren't related to BH by any chance just curious cause him and my grandpa were buddies.

Hey guys I am new to the forum, but I have enjoyed reading it for awhile now.  I have been interested in hog hunting for a lil bit so I try to get all the free info from the forum.  I am from Mobile, Al which is a little bit of a ride from east Texas, but if anybody is over this way that wants to teach somebody something get up with me.  Amokabs thanks for the welcome yesterday.

Hi I'm new to the forum.  I read it a lot but I am new to posting.  Bobby I don't hog hunt but I do waste a lot of time on the internet looking at dogs.  I am 99% positive the Murphy's dogs are Howard bred.  If you go to blackmouthcur.com under the breeders list for Alabama the Murphys and Steve Howard are listed with webpages and contact info.  I would think they would be able to tell you whatever wanted to know.  Hope this might point you in the right direction.