Pack diversity

[l.h.cracker]

I'd like to hear the dynamics of everyone's packs and how each dog has a role.Do you only run one type of dog be it loose,rough,long or short?Or do you have specific types of dog's suited for a certain terrain,spot or property size?Do you tote several different types of dog's on a hunt and pull them out accordingly?I know that even within a tight line of dog's there's diversity in individuals hunting styles ,some are rougher than other's and some range further,some trail better and some wind.

I personally have ended up with a broad spectrum of dog's in my yard and really enjoy being able to pick and choose depending on the circumstances of each hunt.For example we were hunting a couple of weeks ago a huge thick tract we through a old hound rig dog extraordinaire on the box and soon as he'd rig real hot I'd dump a couple Curs on the track it worked out pretty good.Sometimes a certain terrain dictates the dog's as well or even a certain hog.

Just saw the discussions going a bit stale and thought I would ask about yalls yards.

[Shotgun66]

I hunt 4 dogs most of the time.
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1 medium to long range, sure enough find dog with too much bottom who will not put a tooth on a hog.
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1 smart short range dog that will bay big hogs and catch anything under 100lbs. He packs well with the lead dog and keeps us from chasin small hogs all the time.
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1 straight catch hound cur cross who we use primarily as a lead in catch dog. We use him like an rcd if we can't keep a hog bayed. The other short range dog will help catch.
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1 lead in bulldog. Only turn him loose on solid bays on big hogs at this point.
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We have a gyp at the house I can run with the other short range dog on small places. Also run the 2 catchy dogs together on small places. They don't have much bottom.
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I prefer to run 2 loose bay find dogs and listen to them sing a song to me while I walk into the bay. We all know that don't always work so we have the rough catchy line up minus the bottom to keep em close. I always have 2 dogs that will catch at all times to minimize damage. Nothin spectacular by any means but we have fun with them. Got 3 pups I'm gonna start this spring so it might change the whole pack dynamic!


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[Judge peel]

I hunt my dogs any way I can loose rough bottom rough don't matter to me. A good dog should do what ever. Some won't be as good at some things as others but a versatile dog will do the job. I prefer a short range dog cuz you can take them most any where. And if the will rig or wind decent you will be just fine if there are pigs around


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[Reuben]

Pack diversity can catch you lots of hogs...a friend I have hunted with many years hunts that way...and he catches lots of hogs...
I try to keep dogs of the same style...which can be more challenging...
I like plenty of nose...range, gritt and bottom...the gritt is not where i need it to be at this time...the bottom and range can be very worrisome at times...I am hoping the Garmin alpha with the tt15s collars will ease  my worries...I have a few plans for using it...the system is supposed to be here monday...

[CalebKirkland]

I pretty much have just one style of dogs on my yard. For the most part they are loose baying dogs except for on small pigs. They are all cast dogs and range from 500-1000 in no sign and silent on track. I would like to add a dog to my yard that will rig off the ranger but just havent came across the right dog and havent ever tried to train one to rig

[l.h.cracker]

Reuben when you were breeding your line of dog's in the past were dog's that hunted different than the original one's culls?I know a few men who have bred the same tight line of dog's for many years and they don't all hunt the same some are rougher ,some range further,some rig better,some trail better but most make dog's.I know you can have pack diversity in a single line of dog's as well.Just curious if you did as well?

[T-Bob Parker]

I keep 3 types of dogs.

First kind are intelligent, cold nosed dogs who hunt to around a mile but will go as far as needed to bay hogs.

Second kind have cold noses, will usually hunt to around a mile but will only go as far as needed to bay hogs and are intelligent.

Third kind is a catch dog.






 

Pretty much joking.

[Reuben]

Reuben when you were breeding your line of dog's in the past were dog's that hunted different than the original one's culls?I know a few men who have bred the same tight line of dog's for many years and they don't all hunt the same some are rougher ,some range further,some rig better,some trail better but most make dog's.I know you can have pack diversity in a single line of dog's as well.Just curious if you did as well?

I read your post several days ago but I have been very busy...I only worked 50 hours this week because I cooked 12 briskets for a fund raiser at an elementary school...then an all day hunt Sunday and had to go find dogs after work on Monday...

My old original line after many culls of other breeds...started out pretty good...have to give the credit where it is due...one old man from west of San Antonio and another a little further west...both men are dead now but theyhad some excellent dogs...the old man from San Antonio had dogs that opened more than I liked on track...the other old man had a line out of a famous dog named Texas Smoke...those were the bigger mt curs that hunted hard and fast with a lot of gritt...he had an old 3/4 Texas Smoke bred gyp that he sold to me and I got two litters out of her...

the open dogs were great hunters but were somewhat smaller...I added bmc one time to those that were smaller to give them size and a quieter mouth and then I bred back to 15/16 mt cur and trying to keep some of those traits of the bmc...also used a old line of kemmer curs of the bigger type that were known for cold noses and excellent winding ability...bred those dogs together and then never bred away from the main dogs...every single pup I kept performed...they all basically did what I expected and some did have more gritt than another at times...toward the end I was getting dogs that ranged too far or hunted themselves to death in the heat...I got a few dogs that were almost like bulldogs...lots of times it can be the easy going pup or the one further down in the pecking order that has that gameness..

at the beginning had more open dogs...the gritt was sometimes not there...size varied some but it got better over about 3 to 4 generations...

the variance was the biggest reason why I tested and kept so many pups because I wanted the very best...those with natural ability...even that is not 100 percent but any little bit helps...