What determines true dog person/hunter

[t-dog]

So it’s that time of year when I don’t get to hunt much because of all the ignorance that accompanies deer season. I don’t know how y’all are, but outside of my family, hog dogs are my passion. I just can’t quit thinking about them. Anything from things I saw during a hunt (good or bad) to things I notice at home, to when and what I feed, to worming and doctoring, up and coming pups and breedings, hunting partners and associates, hunting equipment, etc etc. I have a local buddy and his passion is much the same as mine only his is cat dogs. I love to talk to him because of his passion for it but also his understanding of what he does and maybe most of all his eagerness to learn more. He’s always listening to the other people that do what he does especially the veterans. He’s smart enough to listen to their thought process and how they got to their current place as well as apply evolution to it and be able to make his dogs better. I know 100% he isn’t where he wants to be but most likely none of us are nor will we ever be, unless of course you don’t have very lofty goals or expectations. Even though his preferred game isn’t the same as mine, more things than not parallel each other. So my question first off is what in your mind, qualifies someone as a true dog person/ hunter? Is it that they have one good dog? Is that that they go often? Is that they catch hogs? I have my thoughts but I’ll share them later after I hear y’all’s opinions.


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[Shotgun66]

I’ll begin by saying It’s my opinion that there are levels of dog people in my mind.
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My definition of a “complete” dog person must breed, raise, train, & hunt the dogs they own. Mike Cauley, Mike Bolen, NLA, Britt Garcia, yourself are good examples. You guys have established lines of productive dogs you have invested years in developing. Other hunters are having success with them. A lot to be proud of.
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I’ll use myself as an example. I am a dog person but I’m not a complete dog person because I do not breed my own dogs. I do raise & train most of mine but I will buy or take in an outside started or finished dog if I need it OR the dog can improve my pack. I’m a hunter/handler first and foremost. I’m not a breeder and honestly not that interested in being one. Im obsessed with the performance aspect of the dogs. It’s my passion and my primary hobby. I hunt on average of twice a week roughly 40 weeks of the year. I take good care of my dogs and consider them my hunting partners. I’m also critical of them and brutally honest about their strengths & weaknesses.
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I respect anyone who consistently hunts the dogs they have, cares for their basic needs, and is honest in their assessment of their dogs’ strengths and weaknesses.


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[The Old Man]

The test of time and generations, is what proves a "true" dogman. I have had the pleasure of being well acquainted with a few in more than one breed. They all started with some good solid blood and in time more or less made it their own producing generations of good dogs. They didn't scrap what they had every year or two and have to start over but continued on with good success maintaining the base they had. Their stock was well sought after and respected by most others that knew what a good dog was.   My compliments to those men as that is no easy task and not everyone that comes down the pike can achieve it.

[NLAhunter]

I don't know if I should be included in there with them they have for sure done it I think the old man summed it up about how I feel I took dogs from real good blood and just kinda crossed it up little different to kinda suit me not going to suit everybody else but I have got more to what I kinda like I will probably never be satisfied with anything I have I fooled around and tried to breed 2 different cur dog gyps this year and neither worked out I got couple puppies from some good friends that has dogs off sure enough good dogs and has been good for long time that is what I be starting this year I am ready for sure to see how they turn out

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[t-dog]

You guys make good points and I agree. Shotgun I appreciate the compliment but I honestly don’t think I’m in the same league as the others you’ve mentioned. I also agree with you on there being different levels. I think there are people like you that are great hunters. They pay attention to the details of their dogs. They have an idea of what works for them and the eye to see it in dogs. They appreciate the dogs and take care of them. I have seen lots of people that think every part of a hunt is up to the dogs. To me it just isn’t so. You as a handler can do things to help dogs and you can do things to hurt them. Knowing how to help and when to help is the mark of a great hunter. Understanding dogs individually, that what makes one tick might not work for another. This is another mark of a great hunter to me. Another mark of great hunters is understanding what potential dogs have. Things like drifting tracks, winding, etc. I also think that the great hunters a smart enough to learn from their dogs and put their pride and ego aside.

Not everyone is interested in the breeding aspects like you mentioned. It’s a real tough thing to be good at. Some people are great hunters, some are great breeders, and some are great at both.  Some aren’t good at any of them.


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[Cajun]

Thank you for the kind words Shotgun. I’m sure I don’t belong in that class. I was just lucky enough to acquire some good plotts from good breeders and enjoy the benefits of their hard work. I think the old Man sums it up pretty good.


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[HIGHWATER KENNELS]

The test of time and generations, is what proves a "true" dogman. I have had the pleasure of being well acquainted with a few in more than one breed. They all started with some good solid blood and in time more or less made it their own producing generations of good dogs. They didn't scrap what they had every year or two and have to start over but continued on with good success maintaining the base they had. Their stock was well sought after and respected by most others that knew what a good dog was.   My compliments to those men as that is no easy task and not everyone that comes down the pike can achieve it.

Cant put it no better than that...

[Austesus]

I agree with all of the above posts, definitely agree with what Shotgun said about different levels of hunters as well. The more time I spend in this sport the pickier I am with the people I want to hunt with. I lost my private land earlier this year after having a personal conflict with an old friend that I had the land through. That 6k acres was the only spot I had exclusive permission for other than a couple of very small tracts that I won’t take a rangy dog to. Since then I went from hunting 4-5x a week to only going on invites with other people every weekend or other weekend and it’s made it hard for me to have much interest right now, coupled with losing my best dog this year and basically being stuck waiting on my pups to get old enough to start.

I have some great friends that always invite me to hunt but a lot of times I just really don’t enjoy going with them anymore. Their style isn’t conducive to what I’m wanting. Going by myself I could go in my buggy and spend all the time I want letting one single dog try a track, or cast, or hunt out in front of the buggy. I felt I had a lot more ability to fine tune dogs. Now I’m stuck walking again at a lot of these places, which limits what dogs I’m even going to take. I have two Parker gyps that will be ready to start towards the end of winter and I’ve already told my friends that they’re not coming on those hunts. I don’t want those dogs walked at all and for some of my friends that don’t have dogs that will cast that pretty much means we won’t hunt together when I have those dogs.

I know several guys that I enjoy hunting with but they are completely content with walk hunting a pack of close range dogs until they find sign and that’s no longer how I want my dogs hunted. I want to hunt strictly from a boat or from a buggy and have dogs that cast and hunt hard like my last lead dog would. Starting over from scratch without Ranger to show the pups, I’m choosing to be very selective about what dogs my pups hunt behind. And several of those friends think that their dogs are on a level they’re not. I’ve tried to politely tell them that they could have better dogs or that they could do certain things to improve their dogs but they think they have it all figured out and honestly they’ve just be never really hunted behind a good dog and don’t know any better. Not trying to make it a knock on those guys at all, but they will look at the one thing they think their dog did right and are happy to talk about it all day while I’m looking at the 37 other things that the dog did wrong. What they think are great dogs, I wouldn’t want to own and would call mediocre. Just finding a hog isn’t nearly enough for me to be interested in a dog.

It’s frustrating for sure and it’s taken a lot of the fun out of the hunts for me. I purchased 130 acres this year that is about 10 minutes from some land I hunted years ago. Hogs are periodically coming on my property and I’m working on getting permission from surrounding property to hunt the area. One of the neighbors has 2,200 acres and I believe he will let me hunt them there too. Once I can get some more land acquired it will be easier to hunt my way. As far as levels of dog men, I don’t give any real credit towards someone that just has a good dog. Not as far as being a dog man. To me a dog man is someone that has good to great dogs and that can consistently produce them over and over again. Guys like Clue Anderson, Chance Ward, Bob Owens, Larry Parker, etc.. I haven’t met any of those guys in person except for Mr. Larry, but their words and their reputation speaks for them. There’s a lot more that are on that list as well, but those are just a few of the guys that I consider to be top notch dog men. Those guys also don’t brag and call themselves dog men, that title was given to them by others. That speaks volumes. Most of the time when someone brags about being a dog man they’re just a dog peddler IMO.


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[t-dog]

Austesus I agree with you and I have a style that I like as well. Most of us have a particular style that suits us or works best for us. The ones that don’t are usually short timers or not in the game long because they just don’t ever figure it out for whatever reason. You gotta remember though, there are two kinds of good dogs. One is the kind that impresses and makes you yourself happy and the other kind is the  kind that makes the person feeding it happy. I like that you’ve grown as a hunter enough to see the difference in quality and styles to know what you want and what you will put your dogs on the ground with. Keep on doing what you’ve been doing and don’t ever be too proud to cull. I’ve always appreciated the care you take of your dogs too. Things will get better for you but I understand your frustrations. I think we all go through it and usually more than once. Heck, Cracker is still at it and he’s been through the ringer this last year and a half or so.


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[Austesus]

Thanks for the words Thomas, I’ve been thinning the yard down. Outside of two of my older dogs, I’m culling down to nothing but pups. Hoping for some better luck in 2023. I’m not going to quit, so hopefully my luck will shake out better at some point or another. My real goal is to get the dogs that suit me, and then just be able to consistently reproduce them for myself as needed so that I’m never in this position or in a bind again. It sounds so simple, but good lord it’s a feat to accomplish. Im just hoping that this year these 4 pups will make the cut and I can keep some dogs alive long enough to move forward.


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[t-dog]

Good luck! It is a feat for sure.


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