Thanks to Jeremy Perkins for taking Whistler and I out to a good spot this morning. Jeremy is a member of the board getting back into dogging. He has a couple of real young Curr/Ridgeback crosses and an 8 month old ABD gyp. Nothing ready for the woods just yet but he was kind enough to invite Drew and I out.
The spot was very nice. 800 acres, 200 of which are Prairie grass and the rest is briar thickets and bottoms. The place also has three stock tanks. The wind was not in our favor most of the day but we still managed a good hunt.
I brought my Jasper pup (BMC) 11 months and my two sisters Alice and Bella (Cat crosses) 1 year and my CD Zeuse (Pitt/Cat). Drew brought his pups Buzz and Jules (Both Leopard dogs) 1 year. Jeremy brought along his ABD gyp, 8 months, just for the socialization/experience.
We dropped the box at dawn and the pups went to work. Jasper and Buzz were ranging out fairly well as usual and Bella has started to get out with them as well. Alice and Jules tend to check in a little more frequently. Anyway, we walked them to a stock tank where there was sign but it looked like it was from yesterday so we continued on to one of the briar thickets. This was some thick stuff but I wanted to get the dogs in a ways and see if they could start a track. Well, after about 50 yards of thick nasty briars and trees that tried to eat you I decided it was enough. The dogs weren't acting hoggy anyway.
We backed out of the thicket and skirted it to one of the bottoms and started working it. The pups got interested in a few spots and were ranging out well but never struck so we kept moving until we hit an intersecting drainage that cut through the back side of the thicket we were in earlier. We hung a right and followed that drainage a little ways and stopped to decide whether we wanted to head to another stock tank about 200 yards away or continue up the drainage to the prairie grass field. Well, as often is the case, the dogs made up our mind for us.
Jasper and Bella opened up about 150 yards out and the pups that were with us hightailed it in their direction. We started walking in their way and after about 50 yards we stopped and listened. Another pup had joined in so we kept walking. After about another 20 to 30 yards it got quiet so we stopped. I think the addition of the third pup and two more busting brush near by was a little more heat than this sounder could stand and they broke.
We listened for a couple minutes but heard nothing so started moving again. We got to the spot where I think the bay took place and stopped. There was quite a bit of fresh sign. We could hear a couple of dogs working the thick stuff out in front of us about 50 yards but couldn't see anything. We waited a couple of minutes I guess and Jules showed back up. Right about that time we hear just two barks WAY off in the distance. The woods can make a bark sound further than it is but these barks were conservatively 350 to 400 yards.
We talk about it and decide to get out of the thick stuff and skirt it back around to the first stock tank. Well, as we're making this decision Jules gives a couple barks. She's only about 15 yards up the trail, we can see her. We weren't sure what to think at first, Jules doesn't mind barking at rabbits or even Rats every so often
They were kind of timid barks at first but then she really opened up, about that time my Alice dog showed up right next to Jules. We take a step or two closer and see some hair in the brush. The first thought was skunk and as my Alice dog moved in the hair moved and became visible as a 60lb pig. It broke across the trail as my Alice pup moved in and then it made a 180 and broke the opposite direction. I'm not sure why, I would like to think my Alice dog or Jules put their mouth on the little pig but I can't be certain. Anyway, as soon as I saw it was a pig my hand was on Zeuse's snap and about the time I let him go was when the pig reversed direction....right across Zeuse's nose. Two bounds and he was on the ear. We legged the little sow, pulled the dogs off and stuck her.
Buzz showed up right as the sow giving up the ghost and we collected Jasper and Bella about ten minutes later. They never got the group stopped again. We hunted another hour or so but it was uneventful.
All in all it was another good hunt for some very young pups. Getting it done on their own.
