The best bay dogs???

[Reuben]

But first, KevinN posted this on his thread..."I am Interested to Know"


I think most people would agree that putting pork at the end of a track is all that matters...but....if you would indulge me.

I would just like to do a little survey...I don't want this to be a discussion...just looking for hard straight answers. Here is the question....


Do you prefer a loose baying dog or a rough catchy dog?

Do not read into this...do not add anything...Your choices are simple.....

A. Loose baying.....dog bays hog till you get there with Catch Dog.

B. Rough Catchy Dog....dog will catch hog when/if he can.

Again...for this little survey...just answer A. Or B. that's all I'm looking for.

Thank You if you Respond!!!

I have wrestled with this one for many years and reading here on ETHD I have realized the answer as what I think is the perfect pack of bay dogs...but I can't give up them gritty bay busters... 

but the dogs must be awesome at striking before they can be considered as outstanding bay dogs...

most gritty and rough dogs will bay about right when alone which will make them about what I consider to be good bay dogs...stand back and bay and only put pressure if the hog tries to break...but 2 or more of these type of dogs will bust a bay, and, these dogs will do all they can to stop a hog but the problem here is that these hogs usually bay up in the thickest of thickets...the hog breaks bay and the dogs can't bust through the thick brush like the hogs can so the hog will outrun the dogs more often than not...open fields/meadows or open woods and these dogs will catch hogs...

So the perfect bay dog pack is a pack of dogs that have the mindset to not put any pressure on the hog if it is stopped and bayed...but if the hog tries to break the pack will do all they can to turn the hog back or to stop it and then back up and bay...

a friend of mine shoots lots of hogs over one mt. cur and this dog knows exactly what to do to keep the hogs bayed...but the same dog will get rough when hunting with a pack...

I know the ones that catch lots of hogs consistently are the best bay dogs...so if you are one of the lucky ones that do then what is it about the dogs that catch lots of hogs???

[bccollier]

B

[Abel-11]

B

[Reuben]

I should of put KevinN's words in a different color...sorry for the confusion...I just want to see what your thoughts are on what you believe is the perfect style of bay dog or a pack of bay dogs...A pack of dogs that will catch a lot of hogs...

[Kid7]

A

[sanantoniodogger]

B

[wine6978]

Here lately I have been just hunting 2 dogs thatll put teeth on the butt of a runner, but stand WAY back and bay a hog that will hold put. Then I walk my lil happy rear in there and put the lead to their head!!!

[Reuben]

Here lately I have been just hunting 2 dogs thatll put teeth on the butt of a runner, but stand WAY back and bay a hog that will hold put. Then I walk my lil happy rear in there and put the lead to their head!!!

x2...I used that system once in a while but I like 5 or 6 gritty dogs that will wear down a big boar hog...

[wine6978]

Yessir! Don't get me wrong I love catching hogs still with catch dogs or gritty dogs, but I hunt by myself a lot lately and just can't afford for me or my dogs to take on a bad wreck!!! I need everyone in top shape!!! Crazy though, I got 16 dogs and hunt 2... I'll never understand my mind!

[DWEST]

Growin up in florida, most people i was around had gritty/catchy dogs.  So, thats the dogs I've came accustomed to hunting.  And these type of dogs have put pleanty of pork on the table. 
That being said, I do love to watch a GOOD bay dog work...weather it be hogs or cows, either in its face spittin slober on the animals nose or having to keep it spinning to keep from breaking.  And, to tell the truth, i am far to out of shape to be running to a bay/caught hog anymore.  So, I am trying to move my pack more towards bay but with still having the grit.  But, that means another mouth or two to feed in a catch dog.

[Acwells0808]

A

[dblackwell]

I have always been a firm believer that a pack of 3 4 rough not so much gritty nip at a hog bay busters but ruff(catch without hesitation when its right or another dog shows) type dogs will produce more pork than any other style pack of dogs any day. Don't get me wrong if them loose dogs work for you great. This is just my opinion based on my experiences and what has worked best for me.

[KevinN]

Reuben....I was "brought up" with bay dogs. Sure...they would catch anything around the 100lb mark or less but for all intensive purposes...they were strictly bay dogs. The guys who let me tag along never ran vests and their gritty dogs either didn't live long or they just quit hunting them.

This was a good 12-13 years ago and we pretty much hunted the same property...week in and week out. It was about 1200 acres...mostly pasture but it had about 500 acres of creek bottoms. The hogs were dog smart and hunted regularly but we still caught hogs...almost every run. We ran nothing but Catahoulas except for 1 dog...he was 1/2 Cat 1/2 Red Tick.

 The hound cross would leave the county if we didn't strike in the first hour or so and that was annoying but all the other dogs were short ranged. I can't tell you a whole lot about their bottom because we never got on long races. It just seemed like...to the best of my recollection...If a hog broke bay...he was shut down within 150 yards.

We're these super dogs? I don't think so...but I know this...they came out of the same blood some DANG good competition bay dogs came out of. If they weren't gonna make it in the pen they got sent to the woods. I spent a lot of time around the bay pens in those days and 1 thing I can tell you certain....good pen dogs put teeth to nuts....EVERY TIME the hogs breaks. Maybe this had something to do with our success in the woods...maybe not...maybe it was just the hogs or the terrain.

I really enjoyed those hunts and the way those dogs worked a hog. I could be wrong...I know I've talked about this with a few other guys...guys I respect...and opinions vary...but I still believe that if you put four dogs on the ground that bay until its time to bite...and when that time comes they do the job so well the hog thinks about nothing else but protecting its butt....your runs are gonna be shorter than everyone else's.

[M Bennet]

b

[txsteve85]

B

[crackerc]

I hunt Fla curs and they are a different dog than the TX dogs I have hunted with. I don't know anyone that has 4 Fla dogs they can hunt together and have them bay. They are going to catch with that many dogs on the ground. I usually hunt one dog on the ground or two at the most. And they are still going to catch all but a big bad hog.

I just can't get over the pics posted with 5-9 dogs baying a 100 lb sow. It just isn't going to happen with these Fla dogs. I would be happy if I could get two dogs to bay together , without catching.

In the other survey I tried to explain that there are way more types of dogs than just the "A" or "B" he was looking for. I have seen dogs bay from 20' away. That's great if you have a hog that will stand and bay. These hogs around here are hunted 365 days a year and the ones that did stand and bay have mostly been eliminated from the gene pool. So you need a tighter baying dog, one that will put teeth on a hog to stop it, then back up a little and  bay when it stops to fight.

I really DON'T want my find dogs catching, but they do at times...most of the time........ unless its a big bad hog.

My old dogs were "catch them where you find them" type of dogs. You catch a lot of hogs that way, but you get a lot of wrecks and vet bills too! So I started hunting differently (and I think a little smarter) by hunting less dogs and a catch dog (if I needed it).  I still get wrecked and cut up, but not as often as I did.

Lost of different styles of bay dogs. Just depends on where you hunt, how pressured the hogs are, the terrain, etc. When you hunt thick palmettos, cypress swamps, gallberry thickets, etc a loose baying dog isn't going to keep a hog bayed from 15'-20' away.  The hog is going to slip out the back door and be gone in the thickest stuff he can find to run in.

Fine line between being too gritty and not gritty enough in thick cover.

[wranglercurs]

B

[TexasHogDogs]

Rueben

I know you want a A are B anwser but it is very hard for me to anwser with that.

My dogs are the kind of dogs that will stop and catch what they think they can handle if they cannot handle it they will try and keep it there till the catch dog gets there then catch with the catch dog are the bullit .  For instance the big boar I post last week that was on the ledge he was to much for them to handle so they had him stopped and bayed waiting on the Catch dog are the Hot Lead to hit . It was not my dogs fault we ended up looseing that hog it was mine because I didnt send my catch dog which would have ended up in a big Train Wreck for sure and I could not shoot because of the dogs in the way at the edge of that ledge  . 

I dont like A type of dogs because most aint got the grit to hold them there the big big bad running type boars .  If you have a couple of them dogs you got some thing speical , most do not .

So my anwser is B with the smarts to know what they can and cannot catch .

[Reuben]

Jimmy, I believe you and crackerC are talking about the same type of dogs...and like you all have said...there is a fine line between too much grit and not enough...I do remember your big boar story from last week and I agree with you 100 percent on not turning the bulldog loose because there would have been some dead dogs or severely crippled up dogs...my old pack of mt curs were close to what I would like in a hog dog and I think that the pups I have now will be of the same type for grit maybe better...just don't know how well they will hunt just yet...

but one dog with the right grit will hammer down on a big hog that wants to break but will back up and bay when the hog turns and faces him...sometimes 2 dogs of this type will work and 1 or 2 bulldogs or a gun will get the pork with this style...

The mt curs I hunted I would have them catch a big boar and then they just started catching when I got there...the downside to this style is that they throw caution to the wind and all it takes is one second and a dog is killed or crippled...I then taught my dogs to back up when I showed upn so I could shoot...but when it took me a while to get there the hog had been caught and released but the dogs were careful not to get hit by the hog...

but I also had a few like crackerC is talking about that caught at the drop of the hat and creek banks were always a bad spot for my dogs...or when they were fresh out of the box and they winded one they just wouldn't be a bay...a lot of times you can tell by the bark if they are catching no matter what when they catch up...

I really didn't want an A or B answer...I saw that KevinN wanted an A or B answer...and I wanted to know the reasoning and thought processes for the A or B choices all were making...