Honestly I haven't done much roading. I really don't have an opinion about it because of that. Since the day I started we have cast hunted and walk hunted with a little rigging. One thing I learned about walk hunting was to move and set a while then move a distance and set a while. I realized, because I was hunting young dogs, that their range was getting shorter and shorter. What I figured out was I was moving to fast and not giving them time to hunt an area out. So because I was constantly moving and they weren't exactly sure of themselves yet, they were always wondering where I was headed and what I wanted. In a sense, they were watching me hunt lol. When I started sitting and letting them do the hunting their rate of progression increased. I thought I was smarter too. Sometimes they would be trying to leave in a certain direction but I thought the hogs were another, so I would call them in to go my way. Then after not finding anything and a 100 mile march, we would circle back around and they would bay hogs where they originally wanted to go if I had just let them. It thought me to trust my dogs. That in turn helped me rig better. Rigging isn't bad during grain season. I think you can save your dogs a little heat trauma that way. Those crops are usually hundreds of acres and by the time a dog has got to the opposite side of it, they can be pretty warm in this Texas heat and humidity. Just my way of doing things.
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This could be part of my problem too. On a typical hunt, I have to walk the dogs a mile or more to get to where I expect to find the sign. The pigs move around this land like livestock. The man that started me has pretty well figured out the pattern. So I hit a block, and then he will tell me where I will probably hit them next. So I try to keep the dogs nearby and rush them to where I think the pigs are instead of letting them range out in areas I know there are no pigs
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Everything Tdog said is how I hunt my dogs...I will add some to what he said...pups and dogs are more worried about keeping up with me when hunting along too fast...
many dogs will roll out when fresh...so I take advantage of that and cast them first...and they hunt closer when they tire...especially when there isn’t much hog sign...so I will road them then if if feel it is right...
for me it is all about the dogs...when the dogs start winding I stop and let them work...sometimes I will get off my wheeler and walk into the wind...lots of times the dogs can wind from afar but once they get in the thick brush they lose the scent because the wind is skimming over the thick brush...as the overseer of the pack it is my job to see the problem and I walk in far enough to where the scent is stronger and the dogs can pick it up from that point...
Other times I might turn and ride directly into the wind for the same outcome...sometimes the wind is channeling so it is my job as the leader to work through that as needed...
If the dogs pick up on an old track I wait on them to line it out or give it up...either way I wait on them to strike or come back or I’ll head out after them when they strike...
Hunting this way the dogs will learn to take colder tracks and work weaker scent in the wind...
Moving quickly and not watching the dogs...and the dogs will learn to run hotter tracks and not pay much attention to the wind...they will not range far as well unless they come across a hot track or scent...
I cast my dogs first because they will be wanting to go...it makes sense to use their momentum to my advantage...If i only had one way to hunt my dogs it would be casting...rigging is my second choice because they can wind and smell a hot track from the platform...
if possible I like hunting crosswind just below where I think the hogs might be hanging out...
It’s the little things we do that can really make a dog or the pack as good as they can be...
We make the plan per wind and other weather conditions and hunt the dogs accordingly...
When it all comes together...well...it just doesn’t get any better than that...
TFree80...I didn’t answer your question directly but when reading my post you will see how and why I hunt my dogs as I do when I can...
