The days of the dogs.

[cward]

Well I been thinking and was really trying to put this whole Barr thing behind me but it just still eats on me. I became a member of ethd a couple years ago now I had a surgery and was laid up with nothing to do and found this site. It has been a good site. When I first seen the pictures in dogs and hogs when people were killing big boars or lots of hogs I would not comment on there threads because I did not approve of them just killing and waisting good hog meat. In easttexas we always practiced barring so I did not know that other people hated hogs.We always loved them. I slowly started to adjust to the fact and would comment(good hog) on post that were killed hogs. Then made friends and started understanding why they kill them. But to tell you the truth from the history of the old cowboys they all worked and drove hogs from Texas to Florida.Then these boar slayers came alone wanting to hunt and kill boars. This to me is where they started crossing dogs and trying to breed the so called boar slaying dogs. Yes they would land on a decent dog every now and then but never produced a sure enough line of dogs. If they did those dogs went on the market not holding the genetics. Here in our area these guys have been breeding and striving for the best dogs for decades to work hogs. There is proven fact of this. When most of these boar slayers hunt behind these old Barr making dogs they have never seen anything like them and of coarse try and get there hands on one.  I hate to see these competition rule out Barr hunting when there is more history showing and fact of these Barr making dogs being around before we became boar slayers. Believe it or not we still work the hogs for food on the table.I like every dog man and have hunted with several of these slayers and love them to death. But some need to look at our history and the dogs history before they decide to change rules in the competition.

[MrsLouisianaHogDog]

Unless it's crazy extreme circumstances, we eat everything we kill.

[cward]

Yes mam. I have hunted behind a ton that get pictures and go.

[cward]

There was a time if my dogs killed baby pigs they got whipped for it. If a dog chewed the shoulder out of a hog more than three times we culled the dog. I dogs was not supposed to damage the hogs.

[cantexduck]

  I may be reading it wrong but your post comes across as my way is better then yours. Knowing you only via internet I am sure it isn't ment to come across like that.
  People around me don't Barr hogs. I leave a lot of hogs in the woods dead. Different strokes........ I am sure there are just as good dogs in other parts of the state.

[cward]

Cantexduck it was not supposed to come across that way. I was pointing out at first I thought it was when I first seen it.. I came to understand why y'all do the things ya'll do. My point is there is dog history from Texas to Florida barring hogs longer than hunting for removal. Did not mean it to come off mine is better there yours.

[levibarcus]

When I started out I looked at hogs as a curse, now I look at them as livestock. I would love to have enough country in one spot to manage them as such. If I was a corn farmer I'm sure I would think differently. Different strokes for different folks.

[cward]

Im not talking about my dogs in general. Im talking about any old breeder that worked hogs for years. Levi that is why I say I understand why ya'll do what ya'll do.  But the competition should understand why we do what we do.

[T-Bob Parker]

I know you are right.

You told me on several occasions that these types of dogs are able to clean a place completely out and time has shown that you weren't bragging, you were warning. I haven't fully changed my boar slayin ways   but I can definitely say I have learned that lesson and let alot of hogs walk off wherever I'm able.

Hopefully common sence will prevail with the tournament promoters and things will change to make it right again.

And cantexduck, I'm sure there's lots of good dogs here and there, but there sure does seem to be a surplus of great dogs all stemming from the same basic families throughout the big pine country. Not just yellow ones but reds, blacks, saddlebacks and even some leopards.

[DWEST]

but, why kill hogs and let them lay?  Is your freezer, your family's, your friends, your neighbors all full?  Heck, skin and quarter it, freeze and feed it to the dogs that found it for you...if you dont want it.  I'm sure people have their reasons, i just dont understand??

[reatj81]

I grew up making Barrs out of them.  Think it is the best way for everyone.   It's a win--win it stops them from breeding and makes great food.    To really put a dent in the hog population we need to be killing all these sows!    I don't cut anymore but wish I could.  Last year I caught 6 Barrs so someone is cutting them still.   )     I don't really see what it would hurt to cut one now and again if I kill the rest.   Say I kill 200 hogs in a year say 120-150 are sows and I were to cut 10  am I not doing my part to help stop the hog problem?    I will continue to kill and not cut any because of land owners wishes.   I am very fortunate to have good places to hunt around my house so I will do as they wish!    CWard I'm sure I don't have the caliber of dogs that many do but I grew up with stock dogs!   Catching the livestock by the dogs wasn't allowed.   But it was ok to tree a squirrel..  Many a cow penning also turned into roping a hog or two if the opportunity presented itself.   I guess all the places being cut up and being owned by weekenders has changed too much!    I am a slayer now.   But I also have another goal.   I don't no if I will ever get it done or not but I want to drive hogs!    If it can be done on these running hogs, that get chased by everything or shot at by everyone who sees them, it will take great stock dogs to do it!

[MrsLouisianaHogDog]

I can see the points that were made in the original post for sure. I personally hunt to harvest, and because it's just so darn fun and something productive to do with my dogs. I know we all have our own reasons and do what we do. My perspective is......I see ALOT of folks barr hogs, that hunt on leases. But any landowner that calls us up to roll out just plum wants 'em GONE, cause they're usually causing ALOT of damage, as we all know. Even then, we take the hogs with us. They either go in the freezer or sometimes in a pen. I dunno. My personal thoughts are that it's kind of disrespectful in a way to leave a carcass with good meat on it behind, but then again, somethin' out there in nature is sure to eat it and gain from it. Circle of life kinda deal. I do not look down on ANYONE for how or why they hunt, as I hunt along side folks that prefer all different methods. I just get out there with my dogs and have some fun, and stock the freezer while doing so. I think maybe the times have changed partially because I'm thinking there are WAY more feral hogs out there now than there was back then....(maybe?) and even more folks are out there huntin 'em now. As for the dogs, well, I can tell ya, I've met ALOT of good folks that run dogs, and I swear it seems that everyone expects different things from their pack, lol. We all have our personal preferences. I just thought it'd be fun to chime in and share my thoughts. It's always interesting reading others' point of views and such.

[Jared H.]

I dont have a problem with people that barr there hogs or people that harvest them for food to feed their family like I usually do.  But it seems wrong to kill a hog and leave it to waste without taking the meat, or to just kill a hog because you hate them.  It goes against the reason people ever started hunting to begin with.

[jsh]

I'm not doubting for a minute that there is a good amount of great dogs in east Texas. Should be - lots if hogs out that way, but some of the most successful hunters with great dogs that I've had the pleasure of meeting never touch a computer.

If some of you were ever a farmer and your paycheck was at stake, you would understand leaving a hog for the buzzards and yotes. Turning a hog loose to cause more damage???  What sense does that make?

If you're hunting forest land or land not detrimentally affected by the hog population, I don't see an issue cutting a hog to harvest some tasty sausage later. If you're hunting crops/hay fields it's a different story as there is a purpose behind the hunt. Eradicate.

I think as far as the tournaments go, it's about an even playing field. I've been hunting in this particular area for about 7 years now. Let's say I catch/kill/sell 100 hogs a year - that's 700 less hogs in my set of woods than someone who releases.  Now sometimes that's my choice and with some landowners it's not.  But am I willing to pay a healthy entry fee and $3.75 diesel prices when the odds ( hog numbers and "tournament spots") are stacked against me - no.

I also understand it's my choice to enter or not, so I'm not complaining here.

I don't feel I'm right or wrong on this. Just trying to maybe explain some people's thought process.

[jhy]

but, why kill hogs and let them lay?  Is your freezer, your family's, your friends, your neighbors all full?  Heck, skin and quarter it, freeze and feed it to the dogs that found it for you...if you dont want it.  I'm sure people have their reasons, i just dont understand??

Easier said than done. I wish I had help and or the freezer space. I usually fill up all of the locals freezers pretty fast so I have no choice but to leave a good bit for Coyotes. Besides by the time I get the dogs rounded up for the day it has gotten to hot to do anything with the meat and if I have tied them they will usually stress out and die or they go to the pen. However, we don't make too much of a habit of it because we actually have the perfect habitat for hogs to thrive. 10s of thousands of acres of crops, small pine thickets and CRP lands, and very consistent supply of water. Hogs reproduce faster than we can kill them and hurt the farmers so if we want to keep our place we better do our job right and killing them anyway possible is all the farmers care about.

[JRyanS]

I'm a younger guy (30) so I haven't been in this game as long as a lot of you have been but I've always been told by the old timers that a "Barr" hog doesn't travel as much as a regular old boar do to them not chasing the females and more or less get kicked out of the pack and they get fatter due to lack of testosterone much like a steer. With that said, I've never been in a tournament but I would think they wouldn't allow them because if "barr" a bunch of hogs in an area they might figure you could go back there and BY CHANCE (nothing is a sure thing) and catch the same hogs that will be heavier and POSSIBLY slower now. That's not my opinion, I'm just trying to brainstorm some ideas.

We never "barr" them, either take them to the sale or eat them unless there is no way we can get them out.

[t.wilbanks]

I'm a younger guy (30) so I haven't been in this game as long as a lot of you have been but I've always been told by the old timers that a "Barr" hog doesn't travel as much as a regular old boar do to them not chasing the females and more or less get kicked out of the pack and they get fatter due to lack of testosterone much like a steer. With that said, I've never been in a tournament but I would think they wouldn't allow them because if "barr" a bunch of hogs in an area they might figure you could go back there and BY CHANCE (nothing is a sure thing) and catch the same hogs that will be heavier and POSSIBLY slower now. That's not my opinion, I'm just trying to brainstorm some ideas.

We never "barr" them, either take them to the sale or eat them unless there is no way we can get them out.

We don't have near as big places as many do , but we have cut several boars and released them on decent size places and haven't caught or seen ANY of them...

[jhy]

I don't Barr them so I can't say one way or the other but my buddies caught 4 Barrs in the same 40 acre cut over last year that averaged over 300lbs. They didn't cut them either but the fella who did lived less than a mile from there. I think other factors such as pressure, food and water determine their range. Who knows they could return to where they originally came from that could be a couple of miles away and set up there. I have been doing studies on the range of boars and so far they seem to stay in a 1-2 mile radius and traveling 7-10 miles a week in that radius, a d sometimes do it in one night. They also never use the same trail everyday, but use the same corridors. Same goes for the sows we have studied, but we still have a lot more studying to do.

[reatj81]

I don't Barr them so I can't say one way or the other but my buddies caught 4 Barrs in the same 40 acre cut over last year that averaged over 300lbs. They didn't cut them either but the fella who did lived less than a mile from there. I think other factors such as pressure, food and water determine their range. Who knows they could return to where they originally came from that could be a couple of miles away and set up there. I have been doing studies on the range of boars and so far they seem to stay in a 1-2 mile radius and traveling 7-10 miles a week in that radius, a d sometimes do it in one night. They also never use the same trail everyday, but use the same corridors. Same goes for the sows we have studied, but we still have a lot more studying to do.

Sure would like some more info on your studies,

[KevinN]

I can see the points that were made in the original post for sure. I personally hunt to harvest, and because it's just so darn fun and something productive to do with my dogs. I know we all have our own reasons and do what we do. My perspective is......I see ALOT of folks barr hogs, that hunt on leases. But any landowner that calls us up to roll out just plum wants 'em GONE, cause they're usually causing ALOT of damage, as we all know. Even then, we take the hogs with us. They either go in the freezer or sometimes in a pen. I dunno. My personal thoughts are that it's kind of disrespectful in a way to leave a carcass with good meat on it behind, but then again, somethin' out there in nature is sure to eat it and gain from it. Circle of life kinda deal. I do not look down on ANYONE for how or why they hunt, as I hunt along side folks that prefer all different methods. I just get out there with my dogs and have some fun, and stock the freezer while doing so. I think maybe the times have changed partially because I'm thinking there are WAY more feral hogs out there now than there was back then....(maybe?) and even more folks are out there huntin 'em now. As for the dogs, well, I can tell ya, I've met ALOT of good folks that run dogs, and I swear it seems that everyone expects different things from their pack, lol. We all have our personal preferences. I just thought it'd be fun to chime in and share my thoughts. It's always interesting reading others' point of views and such.

Very nice! Your thoughts are very well put together and communicated nicely! And I agree with all of it