Which way will he break?

[b.b.b kennels]

This is a very open-ended question but when a hog is struck and jumped and then bayed for the first time, what factors do you think makes them decide where he's going next as far as direction? Obviously they have a map in their head of favorite places to run to in order to lose dogs but many times a hog is jumped in a place completely unfavorable to them and it seems their first thought is to just GO. Do you think the wind has a factor? As poor as their eyesight is wouldn't make sense to run into the wind for them? for those who run the hill country, does it seem like they run up and down hills or try to find level ground? Just from experience what do some of yall notice about a hog when they break for the first time in a race?

[KevinN]

My experience....your right...it's variable.

Dropping dogs on my landowners haypen....Im pretty sure there are a couple different groups of hogs that frequent it. Sometimes they break north and hit the mesquite scrub, follow it north to a fence line then head to river. Sometimes they just go straight N.E. To River, sometimes they cut the County road and go straight south. In these scenarios the wind was always out of the S,SE, or SW.

On the river itself sometimes they go north...sometimes south...sometimes they make big loops then head out. Again...most times the wind is out of the Southern direction.

I do think that some hogs have definite safe zones they will beeline to though. Steve...at his lease, they have that mountain. It sounds like most of the time those hogs head up the mountain and hit that hole in that high fence.

[hoghunter71409]

Interesting questions - lots of variable, but a lot of experience on here that can provide an educated guess.

My educated guess is that a hog will head for the following areas:

bedding or living areas of other hogs
terrain features (river, creek, draws, hills, ect).

I believe they generally stay away from highly human poulated areas and roads.

One thing I beleive is a good running hog will almost always run back to the point or close to the point that he was jumped.  This may sound confusing, but I try to stay inside the track so that I dont get thrown out.  For example, If dogs jump a hog and he heads north and then starts to head east- I will stay on the indie of his loop.  He may head back north or west, but I will not move to far north of him becuase I am going to count on him making a turn and going back south.  Of course this all depnds on the road network. 

I do firmly beleive that once a hog is ran, they have a route and they will generally run the same route each time. 

Good question.

[txsteve85]

The pigs I hunt in eastland county run straight for the mountains.
Sometimes they a take the same route sometimes they make up new ones. The big boars dont run for the mountains they bay up on the spot.
its always the 100 pounders that book it. But I think if a pig has never seen a dog ever they will bay up pretty quick. I dont think they factor in wind when they book it.

[Judge peel]

If you ever picked up something off the ground and saw rats run out that's what I think pigs do no set route just get gone then after they been run few times I think they have a spot they want to go and I think the spot determines the rout and I think more so if they have whooped dogs before

[aussie black mouth curs]

Around here...downhill and or for water

[brad s]

Some places I hunt I can almost promise where they are gona go when dogs get on them. Certain spots the hogs run to same thickets each time an will make circles in it and run to another thicket and do the same until dogs quit them. And the big hogs seem to run thru a group of hogs to throw the dogs off that happens a lot where I hunt

[mod93dirt]

In places I don't hunt much its anyones guess to where they will break. But I have one small property that I hunt that I can guarantee I know where the hogs will go. Its a small woodlot broken up by pasture land for a ways all around  until it hits more woods. Every time hogs broke here they followed a creek bed to the northeast and more wood lots. I've got out run several times here but we finally put another guy with fresh dogs along that creek and we have managed to shut several hogs down this way using this strategy.

[Shotgun wg]

I like to overlay tracks from hunts on the computer. U would be suprised how often they take the same track or very close to the same track. It's pretty neat when u look at it. I have also seen them if the dogs stayed on them end up circling back to start. On occasion they have flat lined out and hammered.

So depends on where I'm hunting as to how close I guess the track , just about the time u got it figured out u will jump one that climbs a tree and turns into a monkey bird and flies away,

Dang flying monkeys .


Shotgun
Arkansas

[AnotherRunner]

We hunt the river bottom and 9 times out of ten they head straight for the river and cross

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