Successful hunt or not?

[Big Game Joe]

I had a couple of things that had to be taken care of yesterday morning, but got them done about 10:00. Called some friends but everyone was busy. The radar looked like I had a 3 or 4 hour window before rain.  Soooo,  here we go again.  Checked a spot out that I've been putting some corn on and had a track come thru the night before. Looked like a 150 lb. or so boar, but did have a little rain in it.Turned out Deacon, Cadi and their son Bishop at 12:04. They could smell it, but were not real interested, so I knew it wasn't real fresh. With a little encouragement and walking the track out they took it, but it was slow going. I followed them just observing who was doing what. The hog was wandering around feeding, down by the creek he even wallowed in some red clay. The dogs started to get excited at the wallow but couldn't push it any farther, till Deacon got down at the waters edge. He stretched out as far as he could to smell a stick that was sticking out of the water. Must of had some scent on it cause he committed and bailed in to cross the creek with Cadi and Bishop right behind him. They trailed a little while on that side then crossed back across and I could tell that the track was heating up some but was still pretty cold. I watched them as they trail off into a bad pine thicket. My Plotts don't open on track till jumped so you have to watch the Garmin to know what's going on. At 1:43 it started raining and they jumped him out of his bed after trailing a wandering almost two miles, and the race was on. The hog left there like he had a fire on his tail. I think I ran this hog last year and my buddy RBzOffroad ran him once last year too,as he ran the same route the same way both times. By the time I got back to my bike they were almost out of Garmin range, so I rolled out to catch up. When I got to a hill I checked the Garmin. Cadi and Bishop had split off and were acting funny in one little area so I went to them first to see what was going on while Deacon was still running east. Apparently the boar had tried to throw them off on pigs again, just like the previous times but Deacon stayed on track.  Not that he won't give in when a pig runs into his mouth but I think he just wanted this one more than a pig. Cadi and Bishop left the area running when I saw an about forty pounder cross the road about 100 yards in front of them, so I toned them in. They were covered in blood that wasn't theirs, must have been having a pig killing. By now Deacon was over two miles and out of range, so we rolled out again. Making a real long story a little shorter I finally got to about 200 yards of Deacon still running. By now I'm soaked to the bone, wet and cold. Decision time, do I feed the others back into the race and hope for a quick shutdown or tone Deacon out and carry my dumb ass home. Well at 3:36 I chose the latter. I carried my dumb ass home. I know some folks have to catch a hog to have a successfull day, but to me this was a successfull day. I got too see my dogs work a very hard track, that I couldn't even begin to guess how old it was,  to a good race on a bad day. And I even got to go home when I wanted to. But I will be back to try him again. I don't like getting beat.    Mike Starling

[Reuben]

Great story their Mike...and excellent dog work...add to this story when you get that Hog...

[Shotgun66]

Sounds like a dam good day to me. I started having a lot more fun running dogs when I realized there is more to the hunt than the bay and catch. I appreciate a hog that is a worthy opponent with intelligence and a strong will to survive. I have gotten lucky and caught a couple like that hog. I thanked them for the challenge and turned em loose! There is a difference in being a sportsman who pleasure hunts and a competitive hunter who always wants to win. I catch myself drifting into competitor mode and pressing from time to time. I do my best to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the journey!
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Good hunt! Nice dog work man! 


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[DavidTBH]

Fine hunting there bud. Sounds like a good day

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[Big Game Joe]

Thanks Reuben. Hope that I do get to add to the story, but he will be a tough one. Probably will have to cheat LOL, relay fresh dogs on him at least a couple of times. I call that kind Educated. Its worked for him before and he will continue to run that route again. But he will  run it one too many times and we will be waiting for him one day. Dumping about three fresh dogs on him every time he crosses a road, will blow the air out of one. But it still won't be easy. Shotgun, I agree totally with every word you wrote. Most times it takes age on a man to get there, but some find their way to it earlier.   Mike Starling

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[RBz_OFFROAD]

Good stuff Big Game Joe. I sure wish I could've made that hunt but we will make one soon.

[l.h.cracker]

Sounds like a good handler and good dogs doing what yall love and success is what you consider it to be at the time Hell being able to call your dog off a running hog and go home when you want wth everything in one piece is a success in my book.

[NLAhunter]

Sounds like good dog work

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[Mike]

Sounds like a good handler and good dogs doing what yall love and success is what you consider it to be at the time Hell being able to call your dog off a running hog and go home when you want wth everything in one piece is a success in my book.

Yes sir...

[shadygrovehawgdawg]

I agree with the other guys. I like to get my hands on them but the older I get the more I appreciate good dog work. That's the successful part. I always ask my buddies how the dogs worked before I ask if they caught anything. It's all about the dogs.

[Slim9797]

I agree with everyone else. Me and my buddy always say you can't do what we do as hard and often as we do in the country we do it because you like catching hogs. You gotta do it for the dog work. We don't catch near enough hogs to make it worth the time lol. But we do get to see some good dog work and that is what we love and live for.  Sounds like you the same Joe


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[c dunn]

I'd say it was successful. Especially anytime your dogs get to work and do a good job.