Barking On The Chase

[Bryant]

When someone speaks of a dog that barks on trail, there are two different types that are lumped into this category.

First, the dog that opens on fresh scent without having actually seen a hog.  From what I understand some open on semi-hot scent, while others only bark when the track is super hot.  Although this is more predominant in the hound breeds, there are some curs that do this as well.  In certain areas, this is not as much a factor as in places where the hogs have been ran for years.  Coon hunters desire an open dog causing the pressured coon to tree and let the dog catch up.  Unfortunately, to a "dog-smart" hog the sound of barking in the distance only means one thing...RUN!

The second type are dogs that are silent while hunting but once a hog is struck never shut up even after the bay breaks. 

I personally have no desire to own a dog that will open on scent, but haven't ever given much thought to the second type of "open" dog.  I recently hunted with some guys whose dogs were like what I describe in the second scenario above.  For whatever reason (I just call it a stroke of bad luck) we struck four hogs and the long and short of it was, we got smoked by all four.  All four began with a solid strike and bay, then listening for other dogs to join in.  When others would arrive, the bay would break and I would get to listen for the next 10 minutes as dogs were running all through the woods in circles barking like crazy.  This wore me out!

Perhaps this is just another style that I'm not accustomed to, but I really appreciate the fact that the only time my dogs are making noise is when they are standing still, face to face with pork.  The sound they make when translated from dog-to-english is "Bring the Bulldogs!"

Has anyone else hunted around dogs like described, and does it seem to affect stopping broken bays?  Trying to work this out in my mind, it seems like a running hog would just keep moving out as long as barking was heard behind him.  With quiet dogs in the race, the hog might stop for a "breather" and give the dogs who had lost a visual a chance to work out the track and start him again.

Opinions?

[elliscountyhog]

Bryant i have hunted with some dogs like this and i have owned dogs like this, I found that the just of the barking like that was one of three things.
1. Was that there was in fact a lot of hogs a probally sows and shoats and the dogs run around barking when they seen them little buggers and just run in circles doin so,

2. They were in fact OPEN on a hot trail.

3. Barking behind the hog

I used to own a cat dog that she would find hogs all day long and wouldnt say a peep till barking solid at a hog, well i had a rough cur dog that would go in and bust bay a lot of times(didnt figure out y till after i got rid of him) but when the hog would break she would yip yip for about 30 seconds after it broke and i figured about the time the hog was outta her sight, alot of cur dogs do this as well.. And it tend to get worse as the more hogs that rough dog ran in ther and broke and the younger dogs would pick up on her bad habit and befor i knew it i had what sounded like a open pack of hounds after the hog broke. And i feel it all led back to that rough dog or two that would go to her baying and put tooo much pressure on the hog and it would break and run everytime, since that experience i have figured out what happend and solved the problem

[Noah]

A buddy of mine's got a pack of BMC's that are just like that.  Great dogs on dumb hogs, but like you said, a dog smart hog will run all the harder if he can hear a dog yipping behind him.  Silence is golden

[Circle C]

Bryant,

    Just sold what I considered to be my best dog because she was barking on the chase.  I never really felt like she was a wide-open dog, maybe what you would call a semi-open dog. She would bark once or twice on a real hot track, or bark while chasing the hog.   We also had a cat that would yip when he was chasing a hog.  It bothers me enough that I no longer own either dog.

   As a matter of fact I have either sold or given away every one of my bay/strike dogs over the past month or so, and we are starting over with new dogs/pups. We might not catch as many hogs for a while, but I feel like the best thing in our situation is to start with a clean slate.

   

 

[txboardog]

one of my main dogs will bark a little after a bay breaks but he only bark when he is right on the hogs rear end. It doesnt bother me any becuase i feel if they cant catch them just because somthing barks at the wrong time they probably couldnt of caught him anyway.
Alot of time during the mad scramble that dogs barking will help because the other dogs go to it and are there to help instead of trying to work out which way the hog went.

[jlingle]

One of my buddies has a kemmer female that's open on track.  It makes for some really long races.   >:(I could wring that dog's neck sometimes.  But, if you hear her sound off.... it's a hog.  She barks at nothing but a hog, and she's never wrong.  She has no quit in her, which is handy because it's gonna take a while to shut down an educated hog when she's behind it.

I have a female that'll yip occasionally on a track, but she's not completely open.  I can whine about it all I want, but the fact of the matter is she's my best dog.  I'd rather have her completely silent, but that just ain't the way it is.  Maybe one of these days I'll have a completely silent pack.  I'd sure like to have the gumption to just be able to rid myself of dogs that're open on track, but I don't have the time, energy, or money to put together a new string.  Therefore I accept what faults my dogs have and they put up with me.

[Wmwendler]

well i had a rough cur dog that would go in and bust bay a lot of times(didnt figure out y till after i got rid of him)

U are a wise man.  I believe allot of people have this problem with thier dogs but wont admit it.

Bryant......As far as the first type in your post that is a no go for me.  The second type how ever depends on how mouthy the dog is.  Just some yips when the hog breaks I believe is a good thing....It lets me and the other dogs know what happened and and if a dog happens to be on the off side of where the hog breaks they can just run to the yips instead of running slower on the scent.  It helps them catch up to the hog faster.  However, if they dont happen to get the hog stopped again right away then its time to shut up for the most part.  But even on long races a yip every now an then is not a big deal.  But barking a dozen times every minute will end up doing more harm than good.  Just depends on how mouthy the dog is in my opinion.

Waylon

[Bryant]

I would have compared the type barking these dogs were doing to that of a good, solid bay except for the fact they were running 90mph all over the place doing it.

[Wmwendler]

  Thats too mouthy for me.

[elliscountyhog]

  Thanks, never have been told i was wise but now that i have it feels good .. Yea i am a STRONG beliver in that fact.. If u have a rough dog or a dog that bays REAL tight like bay pen dogs then they WILL make hogs break faster than anything in my opinion.. I have had tooo many experiences where like bryant stated where the dog would find the hog and be baying it and the other dogs would show up and hear a couple more barks then SILENCE or yip yip and then silence.. However, ruff dogs are good to have if u have a pack of them but if it is just 1 then it usually doesnt work out too good...

[clint]

I would have compared the type barking these dogs were doing to that of a good, solid bay except for the fact they were running 90mph all over the place doing it.

that aint good

i think rough dogs tend to brake a bay up to,, and i dont like a dog that will bark on track or if the hog breaks,, i like a dog to not bark till he is bayed and lookin eye to eye with the hog

[Wmwendler]

Dont get me wrong I dont mind a dog that will eat a hog up when he is running off.  But they have to have brains enough to back up and bay when the hog stops running.  And they got to respect a bay and dont run in and screw a bay up buy getting rough on a hog that was allready standing at bay.  My dads got a gyp like that and I figgured it out a few years ago when she was put up with pups and not on any hunts for a few months.  We bayed tons of hogs in those few months and seemed like it was too easy, we bayed so many hogs.  Then the pups got weaned and she started hunting again the the first hunt out she ran a deer and meanwhile the other dogs found a piggy sow and went to town baying and I was sitting there watching a pretty bay when, this gyp I am talking about, finally quits the deer and comes to the bay, runs in and gets rough, and bust the bay wide open.  And the next few hunts we had her allong and we could not get a good bay going for the life of us and by then it was pretty clear who the culprit was.

Ur right u can get a pack of dogs like that and get some hogs bayed? but I dont really consider that kind  of thing a bay as much as it is a fight that last a long time and tends to get dogs cut to shreds on bad hogs.  It does work if thats what you are going for and only thing that matters is caught hogs.  But Iits not for me, I like to see a proper bay.

Waylon

[Mr. HG]

I think that yipping on  track has no effect on the hogs going further, I think number of dogs and if the dog is trying to stop the hog is the difference. If you think about it after the first bay you should not catch a hog all that noise with 2 or 3 dogs barking pig squealing and such no hogs should be caught after the first one. I think people need to get real about the junk they are putting down to find run and bay hogs.More than every hogs are runnning harder  going further won't stay bayed and just breaking and it has nothing to do with open dogs it has more so to do  with dogs showing up late after the bay gets started or it winds you walking in or making to much noise. Some hogs just know running will stop the chase because the dog chasing is going to quit in 10 or 15 minutes not picking just my opinion. I have both kinds of dogs I catch as many if not more with my yipping soft baying dog as I do with my silent soft bay dog one or two strike dogs if I'm not training and it doesn't matter I just put my stop dog in there if I'm training. I got one dog that heads or runs beside the hog and nips at the shoulder I have one that will grab a ham both are effective. Des Just my 2 cents

[pig snatcher]

I think that yipping on  track has no effect on the hogs going further, I think number of dogs and if the dog is trying to stop the hog is the difference. If you think about it after the first bay you should not catch a hog all that noise with 2 or 3 dogs barking pig squealing and such no hogs should be caught after the first one. I think people need to get real about the junk they are putting down to find run and bay hogs.More than every hogs are runnning harder  going further won't stay bayed and just breaking and it has nothing to do with open dogs it has more so to do  with dogs showing up late after the bay gets started or it winds you walking in or making to much noise. Some hogs just know running will stop the chase because the dog chasing is going to quit in 10 or 15 minutes not picking just my opinion. I have both kinds of dogs I catch as many if not more with my yipping soft baying dog as I do with my silent soft bay dog one or two strike dogs if I'm not training and it doesn't matter I just put my stop dog in there if I'm training. I got one dog that heads or runs beside the hog and nips at the shoulder I have one that will grab a ham both are effective. Des Just my 2 cents

There is wisdom in those words and I agree 100%.

I run open hounds, silent currs and all imbetween.  When you look for a dog, look for one that has hunt, bottom and uses his head.  A little nose dont hurt either.  If you can find a dog that has those things, you can catch hogs everywhere you go wheather he barks or not.

[Mr. HG]

I had a eye opening experince the other day the average age of the people I hunt with is around  60yrs old. Have stock dogs their entire life beside Realdogs and me thats in the loop now .The other day one of the old guys said des lets go hunting in the morning I said ok we will put out early and catch one and start gathering dogs he said if I only was
 going to catch one or thought I was going to catch one I wouldn't even go and he didn't crack a smile he was serious we caught six it was 1:00 pm when we got done with semi open dogs I think people follow and really don't know why they do or understand its kinda like that sounds popular so I will go with it or haven't hunted with dogs they will shatter that theory.To each his own and even given day all our dogs will quit it just if you catch more or less more if the hog never leaves the ground I expect my dogs to run him if he runs out of his sight use his nose to get back in it.Drive and a good nose is the key to hog numbers thats why I enjoy puppys because when you hunt thats the proof part that the work and breeding worked to me anybody can open a dog box or unsnap a chain but to train one open or silent and watch  him develop is priceless to me. Des

[Wmwendler]

HG, Real Dogs.......I agree that open dogs catch hogs all the time, and also that speed, desire, ect. are just as important if not more so. But are you saying you beleive that open-mouth v.s silent dogs makes no difference at all?

Waylon 

[Mr. HG]

I think it will drive and can drive game further but most hogs hear dogs barking because we the people have moved on top of them I have seen hogs get chased by yard dogs and then  hogs turn around chase them off and go root in the golf couse on video. Hogs hear dogs barking and noise all the time over here they set off radios those noise cannons and all kinds of stuff hogs still come and root thats my point I have seen a pack of hogs run a young dog off and make him booger bark and I have seen old dogs walk and bay a big pack.I think hogs hear more dogs barking than you think these boys that hunt city hogs just because the city dogs aren't hunting dogs that doesn't mean they don't bark they can smell them and its different they are going to bark the hogs stay there and root. Think about it.

[Wmwendler]

Those are good points and I agree totally 100%

Waylon

[Mr. HG]

Waylon I guess what I'm really saying is if I have a dog and he is showing me hogs and consistent and no problem at home or in my box and overall a good dog that opens or semi open that dog will have a home at my house. Me personally I don't not have or had enough good dogs that I can cull one for that  but thats me though.Like I have said before who you hunt withand how you hunt is what determines what you hunt in most cases. I had a friend sale a dog I bred that was rough as they come but you know how he got cut because he was going to be standing in font of a hog. The main thing is people feed what they want and make excuses about the rest I have heard people say things like my dog want hunt with another male but if he was out hunting he wouldn't know and the dog was a barr dog I was hunting so go figure. When I pick puppys mouth doesn't matter build and attitude I want my dogs to be able to roll and pull some hair but thats me. Thanks Des

[WestTexasCurs]

Amen amigo.