Catchdog Etiquette

[Reuben]

one thing for sure... "GOOD"catch dogs are not  a dime a dozen...I haven't had many because they take up my limited space but they are nice to have...If I had a large place I would keep 3 or 4 just to breed good reliable catch dogs for personal use.

for years I did not use a catch dog because my curs stopped and kept the bad hogs bayed and caught when I told them to catch and they learned to catch when I showed up. After a few times of getting my dogs cut down and seeing the hog walk off made me have to decide if I wanted another catch dog. I finally decided that carrying a pistol was easier to pack around and then I taught my dogs to back up if it was a bad hog and I would just shoot it. That was the best method for me and still my favorite. If the hog was not real bad it was caught before I got there but it kept crippling injuries to a minimum.

Right now I am forming a pack and was thinking catch dog style again but am leaning back to the gritty curs and will eliminate the catch dog from the equation once the pack is where it needs to be.

[hoghunterdfw]

A catchdog doesn't need to have total control over the hog! Its job is two fold, slow the hog down so a human can approach it in relative safety, and being the main focus of the hogs frustrations. The squeeky wheel gets greased and you hope the catchdog is making a louder squeek than you, know what I'm saying?

I have caught a few hogs with no catchdog and have seen and heard of other people doing it with with lil bitty ol terrier dogs

If all of you really believed the catchdog should control the whole situation wed all be mixing saint Bernard and great Dane and fila Brasileiro

Golly lee maybe I am in the minority here but I sure hope my catchdog does more than just distract a hog! IT DOES NEED TO CONTROL THE SITUATION!! Thats why nobody likes a catchdog that will re grip. The very possibility that he may while regriping "lose control of the situation" causes so much fear in people that they wouldnt own a regripping catchdog. So having control of the hog and the situation is very important. Like the post silverton boar shows. that hog is controlled and you would have no fear getting in close with that hog.  Just because someone can catch hogs with lil bitty ol terrier dogs doesnt mean its the most successful or efficient method, of course there are many ways to skin a cat but surely everyone can agree that some methods may just be more effective than others, and just cause it is possible to do it that way doesnt mean its the best method.

[T-Bob Parker]

That's fine, and your probably right, I'm just tired of big vs lil, so I figured id shake things up a bit. The CD's hob is vitally important, but the most important factor in this sport is the handler, does he or she have the brain, heart and balls to be catching live wild hogs. Its not calling anybody to the carpet, its more of a rhetorical question. If your dog is giving you all he's got, are you willing to back him.

Once again, not you particularly, just rhetorical

[TShelly]

Haha I'm inclined to agree with you T-bob.. Not calling anyone scared or anything like that but that's part of the fun of hog dogging to us! The pure adrenaline rush of you and your dogscatching a rank boar hog is where it's at!

 It all varies on style, terrain and your cur dogs that are hunting. We tie most every hog we catch and they are hard enough to flip with a lil cd and cur dogs caught. It sure be hard to flip and tie with 2 100# dogs hanging off both ears.

Is a big dog or 2 big dogs more efficient than one small cd at "holding and securing" a big hog.., absolutely!!

But how much more efficient is it raising, carrying and using the small dog vs always carrying 2 big cd's around, plus added feed, kennel space and other factors.

I think some people are a little hesitant to get in there an catch a big nasty boar hog with just one cd lol that's fine by me. We always need someone to take pictures, I surely don't mind grabbing hold of one

[t.wilbanks]

I think some people are a little hesitant to get in there an catch a big nasty boar hog with just one cd lol that's fine by me. We always need someone to take pictures,

So that explains why YOU are always posting those " action pics " of the hunts...

We all know you have the camera zoomed in trying to make it look like your getting " close to the action "       

[hoghunterdfw]

I dont think most folks on here are scared to go in and leg or stab a hog that is caught, but a bet a few would be scared to grab a hog that is not caught at all.  I for one have tried to sneak around back and grab the leg of a good sized hog that was only distracted by the bay dogs and not caught and I must say that it was done with much hesitation and yes even some fear.  I dont think it is something the average hog dogger wants to be doing on a regular basis, despite the added adrenaline rush.  I guess sometimes you got to weigh the fun aspect vs the safety aspect and see which side tips the scale.

[TShelly]

Twillbanks: hahaha you'll see.. On this website and life in general pictures are worth a thousand words!!

 I get all the action pics because I'm usually there so long before everyone else shows up! That 6 minute mile has got to be good for something lol  Big e finally got an iPhone so this next spring I can gurantee some better video and pics I do catch alot of noise for the pictures I take but then as soon as I the hunt is over; everyone talking mess can't wait to see em all and the video. I dont mind being papparrazi at times

[TShelly]

Hoghunterdfw: yeah that's not the easiest or fun thing to do. I wasn't really talking about one outting them yourself, that's crazy.. But I've seen it done on very big hogs none the less. I was merely referring to early where people talk about not wanting to catch a nasty boar hog with just one small pit bull.

I agree with t-bob we just need the hog to be distracted and attention focused elsewhere fir us to catch it. None of our pits regrip! They are caught! We just need a moment to get behind them to grab a leg

[t.wilbanks]

 I get all the action pics because I'm usually there so long before everyone else shows up!

So if im reading this correctly ( which i am 100% sure i am   ) , you run in there before everybody else and
then just stand there behind a tree ( sometimes already in it ) taking pictures waiting on the " real " hog doggers
to get there and grab the hog because you are alil skeerd.... right???    

Rhetorical question Tony... i know im right!!        

[gary fuller]

good thread, as i see this has turned into a lot of styles and opinions on hog hunting heres my 2 pennies worth. i know this is a texas based board but you have allowed all us foriegners to join too.anymore in most states its illegal to transport hogs live from the wild and in some places they must be shot either with firearms or archery equiptment. as far as a bulldog( to me a catchdog is normally a bulldog as to me a catchdog never barks and never lets go, just grabs and holds) i agree that they need to control a hog and this is hard to do with the bulldogs feet off the ground. and as ive said as well as many others if you use a catchdog, the type that you need is  dependant upon the rest of your dogs. and i totally disagree with someones comment about good hog dogs dont need help. thats just a style /opinion. and one i completely disagree with. to me all dogs have their job on a hunt and if they do the job i want then they are a good dog. hunting with a pack that didnt help on a bad hog was never a problem as they kept the hogs busy untill we got a bulldog or bulldogs to them. their job was to find, stop and alert us they have a hog. the bulldogs job was to go to the bark and grab and hold the hog, no matter what. again just my opinion. but to say a hog dog that wont help catch a hog is no good is just a opinion, not fact by any means.

[gary fuller]

guess i should have said that for many years i didnt use a catchdog, just overall ruff dog . and yes some we had to shoot. but these dogs did the job we wanted them to do find and fight and hopefully catch hogs . if not catch to keep em busy till we got there to shoot em

[hoghunterdfw]

 I get all the action pics because I'm usually there so long before everyone else shows up!

So if im reading this correctly ( which i am 100% sure i am   ) , you run in there before everybody else and
then just stand there behind a tree ( sometimes already in it ) taking pictures waiting on the " real " hog doggers
to get there and grab the hog because you are alil skeerd.... right???    

Rhetorical question Tony... i know im right!!        

HAHAHAHA LOL thats funny stuff right there!  

[gary fuller]

heres a part of catchdog etiquette that maybe was discussed here but if it was i missed or forgot,lol. if you are hunting with  my hunting partner or myself  and our group has a bulldog or bulldogs and you hear the dogs bay up and you decide you are gonna go ahead and get to the fight or bay.... you best be takin the bulldogs with you as they do no good with us old slow guys while you are allready there and just holdin your pecker. and ahead of time  we always disscuss about turnin dogs in .

[make-em-squeel]

heres a part of catchdog etiquette that maybe was discussed here but if it was i missed or forgot,lol. if you are hunting with  my hunting partner or myself  and our group has a bulldog or bulldogs and you hear the dogs bay up and you decide you are gonna go ahead and get to the fight or bay.... you best be takin the bulldogs with you as they do no good with us old slow guys while you are allready there and just holdin your pecker. and ahead of time  we always disscuss about turnin dogs in .

I agree it bugs me when new doggers sprint to a bay! These curs spend most of there life kennelled, let the sob's work! If they cant keep it bayed get better curs. (FYI I used to be a sprinter)

[TShelly]

Haha you got it right Trenton! Thanks

We try to catch as many hogs we can, I guess that's where the being quick about it comes from and always have competition between alot of us on catching the most hogs. So y'all have fun sitting in the buggy. Our dogs are out there to work, it takes more to stop multiple hogs. I don't see too many other people having and 20+ hog days.. So I guess it works for us.

Anyways it's off subject from the cstchdogs, so enjoy hunting your own way and get back on subject or start another thread

[make-em-squeel]

The point of this post is etiquette so this is my opinion: 95% of the hogs all of us (besides lion&boarhunter/Jesse) catch dont need the perfect unicorn cd. A pack of curs that jump on with a small pit is all thats really needed generally. Thats a good way to hunt IMO. 5% of the time when the cd catches a bad one and the curs role off or its in a bad spot a solid anchor or two is great to have.

BUT....

I personally like to feed the best of the best so thats what I strive for, Cds included. We can all agree that if a short pit was the best all around cd they would be used in more ways. Even though a good clean holding anchor that keeps on its feet isnt needed on most hogs, or one with enough lung to stay lugged up w/o a heat stroke if the bay breaks is only needed once every month or two, it is simply worth it to me. My curs typically role off as well & I like that making the need for my cd to controll a hog more frequently, even if it is just a 200lb sow I dont want to get bit. The small difference in food etc it takes to raise something more diverse and used more effeciantly doesnt matter at all to me. This is my hobby not part of my budget!! If I couldnt afford to hunt or feed what I like I would quit....

[dabutcher]

back to the original Topic.... it took one time of turning my catchdog out from about 80yards to learn to get as close as i could. Dogs were bayed solid in a little thicket (pretty thick yaupon).  they were bayed up real good, so i turned him loose and me and my brother in law take off towards at a fast walk. Next thing you know all hell breaks loose. Two boar hogs bayed up in that thicket and as soon as my dog caught he got his butt handed to him by the other boar.  Worst day ever, dog made it ok had a couple small cuts nothing major thank god. BUT, it was one hell of a learning experience i'll tell you that. we did get one of the 2 hogs though, so it wasn't a total loss.

[jhy]

Garmin has changed the catch dog game for me.  Also, it depends on terrain(accessibility) and hogs. Where we hunt the hogs have only gotten smarter and faster so unless you want to spend all day chasing a hog you better have a couple of big long legged catch dogs that can be turned loose from 400-500 yds and be able to close the gap fast. But we hunt open river bottom land with few man made or natural barriers that would get in the way of us getting to our dogs fast.  The function/ physical ability is almost if not just as important to the curs where we hunt. In fact some of us are using a catchdog on the ground at all times now.

Joey

[Millman]

It would be nice to get in close to watch a bay and turn the bulldog loose. Unfortunately away from the river bottoms in this part of the country that opportunity arises very seldom. Some hogs will bay up around here; the majorities are just stopping to lace up their running shoes. For the most part run a pretty rough pack of dogs that will try anything if they think they got some help. A majority of the hogs we catch are caught by the bay dogs, either run down or we the hog stops to take a breather. I’ve turned my bulldog loose several time 250yds +, but I’m never very far behind in those situations. Terrain can be a major contributing factor to the distance the catch dog is turned loose. In decent terrain and better than average accessibility, anything within a 100yds is sought after.  Unfortunately some hogs around here are prone to break bay, they know what’s going on, they hear dogs coming or four wheelers or smell you downwind or whatever the case. They know the game. Whatever increases the chances of catching a hog, I’m open to: turning them loose near or far. I will say this; I am much braver with Garmin in hand.  On the size, I prefer one, well mannered 80lbs or so that is capable of running a mile or more if need be, in case of a broke bay. I don’t want it getting there and getting cut down because it’s tired.