Running catch dogs?

[gumswamp hog dogs]

Is everyone going to RCD now? What happen to Turning out the strike dogs baying up and walking the CD's in. I have a few buddies that hunt RCD and over the last couple of years I have noticed the hogs are running more on the property they hunt. I think this is from the dogs trying to catch from the get go and the hogs breaking and getting away. My hunting partner and I have been hunting on this piece of property for about 2 and a half years and the hogs bay up now like they did the first time we went because the hogs that got bayed got killed or hobbled. It is hard for even the best strike dog to bay a hog that has had teeth in his tail then gets away. I was just wondering what some fellow hog hunters thought about this. Good hunting either way you hunt.

[BarrNinja]

This topic has turned into a heated debate more than one occasion on this board. Still, it’s a good topic. Quite a few on here have had the same results as your buddies and stay away from RCD's now a days. My buddies included. They RCD's also seem to have a short life expectancy in general it seems.
Others continue to swear by them and say they are the best way to stop a running hog.
I personally think it takes time to see the effects RCD's have on a property. Maybe it’s just one of those things a hog hunter has to see for himself over a period of time like you have. 
I have two friends that are I really respect as hog hunters that used to swear by letting a bulldog cross (RCD) run with the bay dogs. The same guy will tell you it’s a big mistake in more ways than one today.
That’s just my take on it for what little its worth I don’t have much personal experience with them because its not a style or dog type I care for

[SC Hog Wild]

I do like listening to a good bay while walkin' in to catch the hog instead of runnin' in to a hog squealin' or gruntin'...

[buddylee]

I live in central Georgia. I have been hunting one area lightly for several years. In the beginning the hogs would usually bay up. This past year they were running like crazy with us using the same dogs. Found out that a local boy was sneaking onto the adjacent property and running some really rough dogs. He messed us all up. The set up we had was several loose baying dogs with several BIG RCDS. Now the hogs break before the RCD's can get there. Places that are heavily hunted have the worst runners. I have one place that has a small number of hogs that are hunted lightly. The hogs bay very well. RCD's are ok if your strike dogs don't take them 2 miles aways. Good chance they will get hurt bad. I use mine with strike dogs that hunt out several hundred yards and won't take a track if they hog breaks.

[BIG BEN]

 All of our strike dogs are going to catch if another dog is going to try and catch. Therefore a running catch dog is not a option for me because if its the right hog they are on every dog will be hurt or killed because of a RCD. I want my dogs to find, stop, and bay until I get there with the bulldog. I find there is 100 maybe a 1000 good CD's for every 1 good strike dog and with those odds I want to keep my strike dogs alive for as long as I can because everyone know a good strike dog is hard to come by these days. No RCD's here

[catch-n-tie]

just about everybody i know is going to RCDs. it is getting harder to get a hog to bay, i think mainly because with increasing numbers of hogs the sport is getting more popular. so there being alot more hunting pressure on them. when i was a kid i never even heard of a hog dog. now that hogs are every where so are people running them with dogs. so in in my opinion you'll definately catch more hogs with an RCD. but for me, without the bay you lose all the fun. i hunt hogs cause i like to see and hear dogs work. catching a pig is a bonus.

[SC Hog Wild]

I want my dogs to find, stop, and bay until I get there with the bulldog. I find there is 100 maybe a 1000 good CD's for every 1 good strike dog and with those odds I want to keep my strike dogs alive for as long as I can because everyone know a good strike dog is hard to come by these days. No RCD's here

Amen brother!

[M Bennet]

i hunt dogs that strike and bark 3,4 times and they catch, i use 4 bmc that will catch and hold until we get there. i use to hunt loose dogs but most time hogs break. so i went with a buddy that hunts very rough dogs we hunted 6 times caught 18 hogs with rough dogs, went 6 times with long range loose bay dogs and caught 4 hogs and they went 7 miles one day . so now i have one loose bay dg and i have 12 rough dgs. me my self i like to catch hogs i dont like to chase them , if i wanted a race i would move back to new mexico and hunt hounds on bear & mntlion. but every body is different and all hunting ways normaly work for every hunter, but its just my opinion it dont matter , all of us hog hunters catch alot of hogs. good luck guys& gals

[buddylee]

All of our strike dogs are going to catch if another dog is going to try and catch. Therefore a running catch dog is not a option for me because if its the right hog they are on every dog will be hurt or killed because of a RCD. I want my dogs to find, stop, and bay until I get there with the bulldog. I find there is 100 maybe a 1000 good CD's for every 1 good strike dog and with those odds I want to keep my strike dogs alive for as long as I can because everyone know a good strike dog is hard to come by these days. No RCD's here

With the right RCDs you won't get everything hurt or killed. I actually have less injuries when I have my RCDs in the mix. My two finished RCD's have a combined weight of 165 lbs.

[BIG BEN]

With the right RCDs you won't get everything hurt or killed. I actually have less injuries when I have my RCDs in the mix. My two finished RCD's have a combined weight of 165 lbs.
[/quote]
 That may be true, but with the right hog and enough time before you get there it wouldnt matter if you had 4 RCD's with a combined weight 400lb, There is gonna be some damage or maybe even dead dogs.

[buddylee]

We have caught plenty of 250-275 lb. hogs and VERY few injuries. My RCD's usually get cut up a little but nothing serious cause they are wearing good quality gear and I stay on top of things. The last big hog we caught I left the RCD's at home. We ended up with a dead catchdog. My catchdog was getting thrown around but luckily I was very close. I have seen my RCD's completely control hogs the same size without any cuts what so ever. Physically controlling the hogs prevents them from thrashing around and cutting dogs. Anything is possible yes but most peoples RCD's are the size of cur dogs. Thats where folks mess up. You will never see small men on the front line in a NFL game. Why ? Cause size matters.

[M Bennet]

im with buddylee on this one , if you have 2 to 4 dogs that catch and they string the hog out the hog cant thro his head around as much and cutt dogs, i run good cutt gear on my dogs to iv caught 300 to 468 hogs and dont get dogs hurt. saturday night caught 130 and he cutt my dogs ass all up . if u want come hunt with me and u can see if you like very rough dogs, ask smoke 42 he bought 2 hood dogs off of me them dogs struck a hog 274 yrds in coastal field and caught him at the fence, but i think alot more hunters are going to rcd cause the pigs run more its like a chest game hogs make a move then hunters make a move and check mate. its all opion on how you want to hunt. i hood hunt most grnd hunt but we all still catch hogs

[catch-n-tie]

point is we all hunt because we enjoy it. so we do it the way we like it. the way everyone else is doing it doesnt matter. there is no right or wrong. opinions and hunting style is just that. what works for one might not work for another. and all of our dogs are different too.

[buddylee]

Catch in tie. Your exactly right. The way these discussions get out of hand is folks always think their way is the best way. The most proficient hunter I know catches around 250 hogs a years with usually just 1 or 2 dogs on the ground. I know another fellow who runs around 10 at a time. Different area require different techniques. Here in Georgia where I live you have very few large tracts. Some places I hunt are less than a hundred acres. I can't always hunt a dog with lots of bottom. Sometimes I HAVE  to catch the hogs where they are or I risk getting in a LOT of trouble. I am always open to different techniques and styles and enjoy learning new ways of doing something. I talk to lots of folks about their styles and packs of dogs. The guys with the rougher dogs catch more. Plain and simple. In using RCD's I am simply trying to protect my strike dogs and prevent running hogs at the same time.

On a different note I am raising up some curs that will hopefully run a track till the hog stops cause I LOVE to hear a good bay !

[pltx ken]

I agree with ruff dogs. I like to stop one and dont like one to run on me. I want it where they find it. The ruffer the better. All ways are good though. Thats just what i like.

[slick]

if there are people who like rcd's etc check out some of the australian sites like www.ozziedoggers.org i run cats that bay up and then i shoot or if im with a mate his dogs will work like an rcd.
its real hot in the north of australia where im located so most blokes run a dog that can find and catch but they mostly hunt at night. the bay dogs allow me to work them in the day time and tolerate the heat alot more.
there is no better way i believe just what you prefer and what suits your area. if i turned up at the pub and said my dogs got blown off because everyone elses dogs were too rough id get laughed out of the joint. if my dogs hit a pig the buck stops right there.

[gumswamp hog dogs]

there is 100 maybe a 1000 good CD's for every 1 good strike dog and with those odds I want to keep my strike dogs alive for as long as I can because everyone know a good strike dog is hard to come by these days. No RCD's here

   X2

[hogdog05]

I agree with buckhunter1983, not only because i hunt with him, but the kinda dogs we hunt.  these dogs go to where the hogs are.  that may be 1-2 miles away or further.  alot of the times we track to them and cant hear them bayed.  it might take an 30 minutes to an hour to get to them.  if you had a Rcd that could keep up with them and their caught that long with a toothy boar, or in the water their could be lots of damage or worse dead dogs.  and last i am not there to hear a hog sqeaulin or gruntin (ps i do like catchin hogs), but i am there to HEAR and WATCH my curs WORK.  just my two cents

[jhy]

I have a group of dogs that I plan on running just by themselves (a death squad) that are 1/2 bulldog.  Be very little bark and mostly catch in theory.  I will also use them to turn in from long distance(350+ yds) then rush up on them in Buggy to reduce risk of hog breaking before I can get close enough.  It was never an option until we got GPS units combined with the accessibility of the terrain I hunt feel it will work out pretty good.  If I am in thick country or new country I will never use them more than likely.

I will say that no matter where you hunt and what kind of dog it is that is a RCD, one day he or she will run into the wrong hog at the wrong place and it will be a disaster.  Just a matter of time, but that will happen to you no matter what as long as you keep your dogs on hogs.

Joey

[Reuben]

I used to run cur dogs that could wind a hog almost a mile in the right conditions and they hunted hard in a circle around me. Probably 3 to 4 hundred yards or further if needed. If I quit moving they would roll out further. They were bred to take a track and find a hog at the other end even if it took 2 or more hours. If I didn't see a dog in about 10 to 15 minutes I checked their location and then checked again 5 minutes later. If they hadn't moved they had one caught or bayed. These were rough strike dogs.
I always worried about them getting runned over on a hiway or getting shot by a land owner.

I just bred a mtn cur gyp to a 85 lb. leggy bulldog and bred another one to a mtn cur that has 1/8 bull dog. I basicly want the same type of strike dogs I used to raise but with a little more grit and stronger jaw that will stop the hogs at the first oppurtunity. I still want a great line of dogs but the biggest difference is to stop one right away so I can go home and not stay out all night waiting or trying to get to my dogs. Some of my hunting places are a good distance from my house so getting it done quickly is very important to me.

I reckon these type of dogs will need to be cow broke before they hit the woods because these type will do some damage to a cow or calf...

I just ran into a friend last night that has hog hunted for many years and between him and 2 other friends have bred bmc's for years. They just bred 5 of their females to a 90 lb. leggy bull dog for the same reasons. Next year they will be running a few strike dogs and several RCD's. I believe they have the right Idea. Breed as many females to the bulldog and select wisely from a large selection of pups.

Another friend of mine uses mtn cur that he got from me and bred in about  1/4 or 1/8 pit and he catches more hogs than I ever did with my pure breds...

I am not saying this is the right way or the only way but we have formed this opinion over the years.