SOME RECENT PUBLIC LAND HUNTS

[The Old Man]

 Me and Adam (I know I should say Adam and I, but it feels awkward to speak that correctly) have went hunting with a couple more guys recently in some public land that I was in a lot as a small child, gathering cattle with some old leopard dogs. I have enjoyed it. First trip we bayed a decent boar in a very picturesque spot, he was backed up against a sheer 20 ft tall rock bluff. Actually we tied the mules on top and walked looking for a place to get down. I would have liked to have gotten some pictures and video but one of the fellows we were hunting with was in a hurry to get there and get it caught so I didn't get the pics. From there his Cur/Airedale gyp rolled out and bayed again a mile on over. Adam and I (haha) sent our young dogs to her and went to the bay while the other two fellows got the boar out. This time it was a sow backed up to a big ledge and boy the dogs were singing a song, while we were still about 400 yds away we heard a 4th dog get there, a big stout Redtick dog he went to baying his fanny off for about 20 barks, then we heard them catch. While we were picking our way up through the ledges they ruined her so we stuck her.  The Cur/Airedale female was a really good hog dog and was not rough at all. The young Plotts we had aren't rough and will stay bayed well, but will catch with the catchdog everytime. It was a fun hunt with some good guys. This was a nighttime hunt.
 
  We went with them again yesterday morning, we were following them in the truck headed for the spot one of the guys had scouted the day before and got a seemingly good rig strike, Adam called them and we got stopped about 600 yds from the rig strike. Everybody got unloaded and while they were sorting dogs and collaring up, me and Adam were ready to go. We had a dog each and the other fellows had the Cur/Airedale gyp and a young pup out of her along with another Plott dog. They were awhile getting away from the truck and had left some more dogs in the box,  the crossbred gyp didn't come with us but cast on the south side of the road our dogs and the other Plott were working on the north side of the road. They were working a very cold track barely opening, they had struck east of the truck and were nw of that putting them perpendicular to the truck, the dogs that were in the truck went to barking and pulled Adam's dog and the other Plott to them. About that time my dog got a pick on the track and left. During this time the crossed gyp and her pup looked to be trailing on the south side of the road. Me and Adam took his dog towards mine to try to get to where he could hear him and the other Plott went with us, when we crossed Ol'Rough's track they took it and left but he was still a half mile ahead of them and we could only hear him now and then. They pulled up bayed on the exact track Rough had went through on so we started to them they caught just as we got close a big shoat, on the way to them we had jumped a decent boar. Adam stuck the shoat and we got those two on the boars track. They ran way west and eventually quit, don't know why. I lost comms with Rough at something over 3 miles, I suspect he was on a boar as sometimes he'll run through shoats if he's trailing a boar, if there is no boar involved he'll pull up on the first hog he comes to.
In the mean time the other guys had caught 2 sows. Me and Adam had came out to the road and went west to gather Adam's dog the other Plott had came back to us. We were going to drive around to another entry point to hopefully get closer to where I'd lost comms on Rough, On the way there I got a hit on him showing bayed halfway up a hill above a small lake, first comm I'd had in 2 hrs but it was close to where I'd lost comms. Didn't get another hit for an hour and a half he was still showing bayed but had moved down to the lake. We had parked 1.81 miles from the previous hit if we went over two big hillls bluffs and all or go around the hills  on an old road that we couldn't pull the trailer  on.  When we finally got to him 3.5 miles he had a big red and white "shoat". I was sure he'd have a good boar and the only thing I can guess though will never know is the boar ran in some more hogs up on the hill and that stinking shoat squirted  and Rough went with him. Just as we got back to the truck the other guys pulled up checking on us, they had stayed over at the first place to gather their dogs. They're good people.
    Not a bad hunt, but just couldn't get organized and lined out in a direction, still good people and everyone caught hogs definitely no bragging hogs haha.

[Cajun]

Just getting the young dogs out is a huge plus. We still have a couple of weeks to go before we can run.

[t-dog]

Sounds like a it if try and effort no matter what you caught. That was a good lesson
for ole Rough.


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[The Old Man]

 Rough is a mature dog but had been sick, nearly died. This was his first time out and was really a trial run to see if he held up, he did and even after we got home he was still acting and feeling good and ate all his feed. I guess he's over the hump, he wound up 4 miles straight line Garmin measurement from where he was turned out, so surely ran farther than that, through tough country, and was probably bayed a long time, but didn't show any signs of fatigue. I'm glad he made it over the illness.

[NLAhunter]

Sounds like some good hunts good dog work

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[shadygrovehawgdawg]

Glad you and Adam have been getting after them Clue. Glad to hear the bulk of the young dogs are making the cut. Been going quite a bit as well. Got back from South Arkansas and had a good hunt. We didn’t catch as many as usual, but had some good hunts.

[t-dog]

Old man do you know what was wrong with Rough? It’s good to hear that he overcame it. I remember a bloodhound gyp at the prison that heat stroked after tracking an abducted child down the highway during the summer. Obviously she tracked it on foot but I think it was 13 or 16 miles start to finish. She wouldn’t quit and found the child but the damage was done. She was put for a year after that and not allowed to do much of anything and definitely kept where she couldn’t get hot. They started her back very slowly but she was never the same. Her heat tolerance was never as good and they didn’t think that her nose was as keen as it once was.


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[The Old Man]

   The Bloodhound gyp was very typical of what I have seen numerous times of dogs that overheated and lived-before I learned to tip their ears. Grip is the only dog I have lost or ruined since I heard about that.

  I still don't know what Rough had, he hadn't overheated, I didn't take him to the vet, one of my many shortfalls. He just went off his feed seemed to have fever and very lethargic. lost a tremendous amount of weight quickly.    I threw the kitchen sink at him, cephalexin, la200, valbazen, and moxidectin, repetitively, it's a wonder I didn't kill him with treatment.  For awhile he'd seem to feel better one day and be real droopy the next and still wasn't eating enough when he did eat. Finally he got to eating pretty good if we mixed his feed with scraps, now he is back to normal.

Offered the dogs water this morning after feeding the sloppy wet soaked feed for the 4th time, I didn't have any takers and they are urinating and looking good.

[t-dog]

That’s odd with ole Rough. Evidently it was some viral infection. I’ve never tipped a dogs ears. I have wiped their ears with water and stood them in water and not let them lay down until they were use to it.

I only had one taker on the water. The wet feed was enough I guess.


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[The Old Man]

No wonder these dogs didn't want a drink, I did the math and they are getting 3.5 quarts total per day with no physical exercise and definitely no heat.

[NLAhunter]

We took Luke warm water to dogs this morning and this evening they all drink little both times we busted water troughs for horses this evening

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