Only the strong Survive

[catchdog7469]

Ok all this talk about shutin down runners has got me to thinkin. About 20 years ago it seem like a larger percentage of the hogs bayed prurdy quick N now days they seem to run alittle harder. So My Question is this is it possible that over the years cathin all the slow dumb Hogs. Which just leaves the Faster Smarter hogs left to produce that we have help to evolve the hog population into a more athletic defensive animal. Just a thought what are yalls thoughts on this!

[Txhoghunter]

My thoughts are that too many have been educated...not evolution, that takes thousands of years.

[Mike]

I agree 100%... I know whether to call it evolution or education. But I have noticed that these "smart" hogs produce "smart" offspring that have the same traits on properties i've hunted for several years.

I was talking to an old timer Sunday night and was saying that hogs were #5 and dogs were #10 on some list of smart animals??? I guess the more pressure we put on them, the better they will learn to survive.

Think about this, as many people hog hunting these days, by every method you can think of... we're not even putting a dent in them.

[BIG BEN]

JMO Here we go, look at how things were done in the frontier days, the hogs were hearded, corraled, marked, cut and cut loose til the fall not being messed with at all through summer. Then they were gathered up again and drove to market and slaughter to get through the winter and survive on meat. They used hearding dogs like the Blackmouth cur, collie etc, Im sure some of the dogs were tough as nails and rough as they come but they hearded and drove the hogs just like a good cow dog. Now today we have Catch dogs and rough as hell so called Bay dogs that do nothing but pressure the hogs into running and educating them. Hogs are not stupid animals, Bay a group send a catch dog and let a pig see what happens they are going to learn from that experience and try not to let it happen to them. My question is for these running hogs would they run as bad if you got on them with 1 and only 1 loose baying dog? I think that they wouldnt. Now send the same hog 3,4,5,6 rough dogs what is he going to do? If I was him Im gonna try everything I could to get the heck out of dodge. This is just my opinion it may not be right but its what I believe.

[Mike]

1 dog does work well a lot of times and I tell everyone to try it that complains about runners. But, it doesn't always work. There are places where you get one or two barks and the race is on. The hogs these days aren't the same as the old timers used to free range. I've noticed on several places over the years the hogs are getting more and more of the Russian influence in them.

Even on one loose baying dog, when you have a good bay, it's hell getting a bulldog to it.

[T-Bob Parker]

This type of "evolution" does not take thousands of years, look at the very dogs we use to work pigs, it didn't take thousands of years to go from dogs to miniature dogs, just several generations. Same with hogs except instead of humans contrling the breeding, we've left only the fastest to breed

[DangerZone]

NATURAL SELECTION !!!

[Txhoghunter]

Theres no way it's due to the "fast" hogs being left in the gene pool. First off, they are prolific breeders, which is why we cant put a dent in them. Second off, maybe it's that there are more POOR QUALITY dogs out there now than there was 10 years ago, making the "running" problem seem bigger than it is?

T-Bob-   From everything I've learned in my college career which just happens to have a lot to do with animals evolving and adapting, we wouldnt see a difference in just 5-10 years. 

[T-Bob Parker]

Theres no way it's due to the "fast" hogs being left in the gene pool. First off, they are prolific breeders, which is why we cant put a dent in them. Second off, maybe it's that there are more POOR QUALITY dogs out there now than there was 10 years ago, making the "running" problem seem bigger than it is?

T-Bob-   From everything I've learned in my college career which just happens to have a lot to do with animals evolving and adapting, we wouldnt see a difference in just 5-10 years. 

well from everything i learned in my college career girls with daddy issues will do silly things for beads and i didnt say 5-10 years

theres no way you can tell me you have knowledge of eugenics AND you guarentee faster pigs dont produce faster piglets

if we're running from a bear you aint gotta be faster than the bear, just faster than me.

[Tusk Hog]

  IMO, I think we are the ones who educated them. I have land where there are very few doggers and the hog bay easier. The land we hunt and others hunt close to we have alot more trouble stopping them. No substitute for good dogs.

[Mike]

Yes, there are a lot of piss poor dogs running around these days.

But, people with DOGS are having the same problems more and more. When I say dogs, I mean dogs that will make most of us load ours up and go home.

Let's face it, hogs are smart and will learn to adapt and survive.

[ETHHunters]

Yes, there are a lot of piss poor dogs running around these days.

But, people with DOGS are having the same problems more and more. When I say dogs, I mean dogs that will make most of us load ours up and go home.

Let's face it, hogs are smart and will learn to adapt and survive.

I would think they learn to adapt more than inheriting traits from hogs that run.

[Purebreedcolt]

I know they are evolving can say that for a fact hogs are getting leggier and leggier around here now yes they are smarter also but think that has to do some with momma teaching baby.  If she is nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof 9 times out of 10 the pigglets will be too and we catch the tenth easy lol.

[Triggs]

HOGs CAN EVOLVE IN A VERY SHORT TIME. IN 15 YRS OF INTENSIVE BREEDING & GOOD SELECTIONS WE HAVE DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED THE Trigg & Walker coyote hounds. look at how the  pitbull was developed in less than 100 yrs. You can go on and on with horses & cattle. the thing to remember is that hogs are prolific breeders , probably the smartest animals on a farm and are full grown in about 6 months. if the slow dumb ones are eliminated the gene pool with evolve very fast.

[de_moon]

Olympic track star #1 knocks up olympic track star #2 after winning gold medals in our last olympics

Aggie offensive lineman knocks up aggie softball team 1st basewoman

Give the offspring time to grow up and tell me which one is faster.

If we are killing a few more slow hogs than fast hogs, there is a slight chance that the faster hogs are breeding the faster hogs.  I'm no genetics professor, but surely that has something to do with macroevolution.  I 100% agree that there are sorrier dogs hunting today than there were even a few years ago.  I also agree that we educate hogs to run with sorry dogs.  I just think that evolution might have a small something to do with it too.

[Txhoghunter]

I guess its a coincidence that when I go with my young dogs, getting smoked happens from time to time. When taking my older dogs, I can count on one hand how many times Ive been outrun in the past few years, no bs, I wouldnt post that it sounds to cocky, unless it were true.  What that tells me is if I didnt have my older, better, smarter dogs, id be getting outrun, and then i might believe the hogs are getting faster and smarter.  

And lets say that is the case...the hogs are getting faster and dog smart.  We should be breeding better dogs instead of complaining about getting outrun, right? If hogs and adapt and change that much then dogs can do the same...  

[Txhoghunter]

Another thing to think about. The sheer amount of hogs in Texas....we havent caught all the slow ones, not by a long shot.  The chances of two hogs even in the top 25% of the fastest hogs getting together and breeding would be slim I would think due to population size, by no means enough to account for this widespread phenomenon of super runners. Sorry guys, I just dont buy into this idea of faster hogs.

[ETHHunters]

I guess its a coincidence that when I go with my young dogs, getting smoked happens from time to time. When taking my older dogs, I can count on one hand how many times Ive been outrun in the past few years, no bs, I wouldnt post that it sounds to roostery, unless it were true.  What that tells me is if I didnt have my older, better, smarter dogs, id be getting outrun, and then i might believe the hogs are getting faster and smarter. 

And lets say that is the case...the hogs are getting faster and dog smart.  We should be breeding better dogs instead of complaining about getting outrun, right? If hogs and adapt and change that much then dogs can do the same...   

Im with you we just dont get outran that often. We have actually seen the number of hogs with alot of domestic in them on the rise. That could have some to do with hogs around here still baying pretty good. Not only that but we get bigger groups bayed these days and I can see how the hogs you dont get caught out of that group could want to run when they hear or smell a dog. I also think overhunting has some to do with it. We try to not over hunt our places and that could help with hogs baying better.

[Mike]

Michael, Michael, Michael... I heard about the places you hunt.

Make a road trip down here when you get a chance and show some of the worst runners i've ever encountered since I started.

[Txhoghunter]

Hey, i just thought of something. i couldnt track the offspring, but I could bay my tagged sows over and over again, to see if they get dog smart and run....it would be hard to deny that if i could get the data together...