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The Old Man
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« on: February 13, 2026, 09:47:25 pm » |
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Went Tuesday, parked about a mile away from the actual hunting spot and rode on in, only to find it had been burned in the last few days. Smoke was still hanging in the creek bottom, live creek lined with cane breaks, oak timber on both hillsides should have been a good spot-without the burn. Rode away from there in an effort to get away from the burn and did hit a spot that wasn't burned, dogs jumped a hog and he ran by us, 300 yds later he hit some more burn and the dogs immediately lost him. Rode a long way to get away from the burn and did get in some hog sign but just didn't have enough dog power to use it.
Went Thursday 2 young dogs got struck and left out, couldn't hear them but we were just going their way, another young dog came from behind us and as he went by I saw him start winding, he went out of sight in the brush and jumped a good brown boar that came by us with the dog in hot pursuit. The other 2 that had been 700 on over made a u-turn and were coming our way, they ran smack dab into one another all got together and down below us we saw the hog, the dogs were gathering it up and bayed just out of sight. It was the one the 2 young dogs had been running because it was a black sow, caught her and moved on. They struck again and went to running, we didn't know at the time but they were running a hog that had ran to the highway, Adam's dad had ran over it and called to see if we were in there, it happened to be a bar I'd recently worked over. We had hunted there alot and hadn't had them run to the highway.
We jumped out onto the right of way and rode .75 up there and went in the north side, got in a bunch of fresh sign, dogs struck and left the country, we elected to go to the truck and haul around towards where they went. There was another hog that had gotten ran over crossing out of there that wasn't there when we had arrived. When we got back in signal 2 young dogs were bayed near a road, they had a broken legged buck deer, they had not left running a deer must have ran into him and couldn't resist the sight. They soaked up some electricity. We drove around to another section and got a signal on the other dogs seemingly coming out, don't know what happened. There were some uncommon happenings going on that day, rather unusual hunt.
Went today to get 6 yearlings out of some unfenced farm ground that joined the Corp land on the Arkansas river, miles of country. Rode 3 hrs looking for them in the timber and sloughs next to the river. Finally found them, had taken 2 mild dogs. Got the yearlings in the farm ground and drove them 3 miles west to a netwire trap and a long lane that was the nearest thing to a pen for even more miles, those yearlings had traveled the entire way at a trot, but stayed together with the dogs in front leading ,got the calves loaded successfully. Had mixed feelings about my choice of dogs, didn't want a rough dog for fear of flushing and scattering the punchy yearlings but had never once driven cattle that far at a trot, basically under control except for the speed. Could turn them left or right, and did hit a small gate with them.
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t-dog
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« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2026, 08:13:24 am » |
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Those of days when things happen but aren’t the norm can frustrate a fella and sure kinda put you on edge. If I were in your situation, the next time I hunted there I’d be worried about dogs getting to the highway. Obviously nothing is guaranteed but when you know a place and game habits, it’s a some sort of comfort in that. Me you don’t know what to expect exactly.
As for the young dogs on the buck, that’s about a perfect way to trash break them. There’s no doubt in your mind or theirs about what they are doing and that it isn’t acceptable.
Joel and I made a hunt one morning where they had been clearing brush and burned the night before. The smoke from there all the way to town was thick. I told him there was no way we could’ve hunted down wind from that successfully and our dogs wouldn’t have even had to deal with the ash yours did. Luckily we were able to hunt east and south of it.
Sometimes it’s a fine line of too much or too little dog pressure on those cattle just Iike with the hogs. Sounds like it was a downhill ride that turned out good.
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WayOutWest
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« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2026, 08:38:12 am » |
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It sounds like you just made the best of some strange situations.
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Hollowpoint
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« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2026, 10:08:15 am » |
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The one main spot I use has just been burned off, not sure how but we still managed to pull one out of it. I honestly don’t know how it effects the hog movement or the dogs tracking ability. Once I made the trip down there, we were committed and just hunted. I guess the ash will make it hard for the dogs to trail through there.
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The Old Man
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« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2026, 12:55:11 pm » |
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I've ran through some burns before but not as fresh as this was, and it hampered them but did not shut them down. Riding through the burn I saw some fresh sign where it appeared the hogs had an urge for roasted nuts. I was surprised they would even attempt to feed in the fresh burn, some of the old rotten logs were still smoking a little.
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Cajun
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« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2026, 06:53:20 am » |
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Some good hunts. You need to Post dome pics. of your cur dogs. When your hog hunting on your mules is your catchdog able to keep up?
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Bayou Cajun Plotts
Happiness is a empty dogbox
Relentless pursuit
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The Old Man
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« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2026, 08:28:19 am » |
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Going to get some escaped cows today over between Ft. Gibson and Tahlequah. Took some Cur Dog pics while loading up. but they aren't very cooperative subjects and I'm a poor camera man. Will get Lisa to put them on that site so we can upload them and post later.
Yes, the bulldog keeps up real well, he has made a few 12-14 mile trips since I started using him. One day he got pretty hot and I really believe it was a hormone thing, like a woman having hot flashes, since he is recently neutered. Before nor since he hasn't done that and often mixed in those trips he has caught 1-3 hogs.
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t-dog
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« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2026, 09:11:29 pm » |
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Old man have you ever had your catch dog ride on the saddle. I saw a fella that had a spot built on the back of his saddle where his catch dog rode. His mule wasn’t that big so it wasn’t too hard for the dog to load, especially with a little help.
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The Old Man
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« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2026, 07:41:00 am » |
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No, the only dogs I carry are one that is hurt too bad to walk. If they can't follow me all day and still catch I don't want them, to me that would be embarrassing for the dog. IE yeah, he will really catch but I have to carry him so he doesn't get too tired.
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The Old Man
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« Reply #10 on: February 18, 2026, 08:03:04 am » |
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To add to that I frown on the Curs and Plotts that don't hold up as well as their counterparts, IE some time back I mentioned a Plott female with all the traits and abilities that was culled because of constantly running her feet off. Nature culls all weakness in the wild, in our performance animals it is up to us to play that role.
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