EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I’m sure everyone has dealt with something similar after they’ve hunted a spot for years and years. The hogs start changing and eventually the dogs will have to too. I was wondering all the different ways one could’ve went about it to keep their dogs on the game they’re pursuing. If there was a dog down the road that gotten bred in and that’s when things started changing or did you have to start fresh with a new line.
Here’s some pups off my slick and flash dog. A creation to help me with the pressured hogs. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20240521/122be07dc85db3fa435cc60ae60f898f.jpg)


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I for sure have dealt with it. Our hogs are pretty wild. Everybody is shooting in daylight, night time thermals, traps, trying to run over them, helicopters, snares, and dogs. I probably missed a couple of methods too. My dogs use to be pretty loose baying. Over the years I have concentrated on brains, smart dogs figure out ways to win. Another must is track driving speed, the less recovery time a hog gets and the harder he has to run the sooner it bays up or makes a mistake. Then there is the bite. I don’t want stupid rough but I do want the stock sense. I want them to know when to apply pressure and when to back off and how to size a hog up. Bay to the head and BITE to the rear not pinch.

In my opinion, I believe breeding a good consistent line of hog dogs is one of the hardest tasks out there. There aren’t many other disciplines that breed for as many traits as a hog dog.

My dogs evolved by selecting the dogs that were stronger where I thought I needed change. I also made an outcross to a really good line that was very similar to my dogs except that line was overly gritty but the tracking speed, brains, and build were very similar.


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Pressured hogs,,,   LOL>> Man,, i dont know where none is at that aint these days..  If anyone has em I will definitely pay the gas to get us there and dinner to eat while we hunt..
Of course Im saying all this sarcastically and I know what you mean when you have to deal with this problem ...  I hate it for me and my son because he wont never see again what I was raised and saw when it comes to hogs baying and not runnning for hells half acre...

Just this past weekend we caught one and it was 32 miles on the dog collars when we got back to the camp...  And we left from the camp to go across the road on our lease directly..  So now I know how many miles I can get to a tank of gas in my honda rancher cause it was almost empty when I got back to the camp..  LOL...

Fast track speed is a key factor,, BUT I will also say in bad cutovers with briars that will cut your clothes off ,, Unending bottom in a dog is needed also... Believe one thing ,, hogs know to run because the dogs that run em just 30 min they have got away from...

Arkansas 96 those some sharp pups ya the key is stick or grit and speed to stop them as soon as possible. Highway you exactly right lot of people out there got 30 min dogs ain’t nothing wrong with that if that’s what you want but every hog you don’t stop you just taught a lesson


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  Those are some pretty pups. I am like Highwater and a few others on here. I remember the days we used to bay up sounders and have way more bays then hogs that break. I think there are several reasons for that. back in the day, we mostly had open woods and feral hogs that were half tame. When they closed open range and started cutting the timber out creating cutovers it was a lot easier for the hog to escape. Also in the late 80's Baying contests evolved and everyone wanted to be a hoghunter. Also Russian boar were imported in to several areas and that put alot of the run in them. Like Highwatrer said the short distance dogs that could not hang with a runner taught hogs to run and they were the ones that got to breed so the hogs evolved. The hog hunters had to evolve with them breeding dogs with more stick. That being said there are still hogs out there that can run the air out of the dogs.
  All this got me thinking of the ways hoghunting has changed. When I started out, we either road horses or walked hunted. I remember when I got a Honda 185 Big Red 3 wheeler. Man I thought I was in high cotton. Then in the mid 80's We got telemetry tracking collars and we were fixed. Thought that was the best thing since peanut butter. Shocking collars came next and we sure had straighter dogs and didnt have to spend so much time looking for dogs. We used to put a telemetry collar, a shock collar and the dogs regular collar on. I thought we would have to start breeding longer necks on these dogs. Then came side x sides, Garmins, feeders and trail camers. Everything has gotten easier except catching running hogs. lol Also as times went on we have lost more and more land to hunt and almost everything is leased up. We have the Urbanites that move out to the country and they buy 5 acres and think they own the rest.

We have the Urbanites that move out to the country and they buy 5 acres and think they own the rest.


Man,, truer words have never been spoken,,,  Dont know what it will be like in yrs to come for this great sport we grew up doing...

Highwater and Cajun, I understand completely. I feel like one of the cattle ranchers from the olden days when the sheep farmers started drifting in, can’t stand them, don’t agree with them, and don’t want them around.


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lol I’m training piglets from birth. I’m still trying to find that happy medium between to much nose and not enough in the right chassis And the grit too. I ain’t got enough of it but in three and they’re basically rcds I hardly use. Seems like we used to bay sounders more but I had older dogs then too. I kinda suspect one of my dogs braking bays for the chase


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Nose has never been an issue for us. One we have a large population but even in the droughts it can pretty hard to smell anything. I guess I’ve been lucky enough to breed to good noses all along and maybe those were the dogs I chose because they had the nose required to get it done the way I wanted. Now bite, to me that is a big challenge. Too much and too little is relative to each situation I think. It’s a really fine line.


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I agree…
Better nose makes a dog….if you like baying sounders you’ll need very little bite…
Like T-dog said, there’s a fine line between not enough bite or too much bite…not enough bite and many times busted bays…I like to error towards too much bite…it definitely shortens the race…

I won’t own a BMC but one of the best dogs I hunted behind was a cow dog cull on account he was too gritty for working cattle…he had the best chop mouth I ever heard…when striking on a good track he would bark three times in about the first 100 yards and he would be moving the track quickly…next time you heard him it was a bayed hog…the hog would be backed up to a tree or anything that would take the heat off his rear…the dog would be baying in his face…Nugget was a beautiful reddish gold dog with lots of black on his face and ears…he had plenty of ear for a BMC…I could of bought him for $325…that was many years ago…

So much of how much bite and when it’s needed comes from brains and stock sense. Lots of dogs are the same degree of rough (loose or catchy) on every hog. The dogs with stock sense know when to apply pressure and how much. I’m my opinion, this is the greatest contribution the cur type dogs bring to the table.


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T-dog…you are absolutely right on…

I agree with tdog they have to be able to know when to apply pressure and when to get back and read the hog and that is nothing but stock sense and that is the difference alot of times in baying hogs or just running hogs no difference in baying a set of cows you go put set rough dogs on group of cows most of times they going though fences and scattering all over country side

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Here’s my opinion and mine only. There’s a lot of states that have changed rules and a lot of places hogs have to be killed when caught. With that said the ones that stop and fight are the ones that get taken out of the gene pool. The ones that learn to tighten them Nikes and catch the passing gear live to see another day and are the gene pool. Hog are extremely intelligent animals. The biggest problem is most of the time we are catching them on there terms not the dogs terms. Where do hogs live the most. The thickest nastiest places they can get which isn’t ideal for a dog that’s in an unknown place to catch them and the last thing most people don’t think of is what’s the top speed of a hog ?? What’s the top speed of the dogs your running ?? There isn’t many breeds of dogs out there that are faster then a hog there for its hard for a dog to out run one to actually get the to front and stop him. In an ideal situation you want a dog with a faster speed then a hog and in an open field because once they hit a fence .. the bushes .. the trees don’t think for a second that hog doesn’t think that when that dog gets to me I’ll rake his ass off on the closest tree .. the biggest set of bushes .. the thickest set of vines or the closest fence line which again your catching that hog on his terms not the dogs.

Hi Birdslayer.  I agree with most of what you are saying but where we hunt, we are not in open fields where the top speed of a hog compares with the top speed of a dog. After that initial burst of speed when a hog breaks, he settles into that trot and unless the dogs can push him hard enough to break his wind, they can trot all day. Becomes a game of stamina and endurance. Since the hog is essentially running for his life, he wins a lot. Neither hog or dog can run at top speed for very long. We are blessed to have more cutover then hardwoods like most southern states and like you said, that is where they live or head to.

A hog also has the advantage of that thick, hard hide. They know where they are going and all they have to do is drop their head and blow through where dog has to pick and choose through it. Even a dog that has no regard for their body can’t get through the bad stuff like a hog. This is why it’s so important to me that my dogs push a track fast. Like Cajun said, break their wind.


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I’m in southwest Florida so I absolutely understand and why I said in a perfect setting which 90% of hogs caught are not caught in. A hog is far superior to a dog in his environment and why I say the majority are caught on the hogs terms not the dogs terms. To me it’s thinking outside the box it’s breaking it down to levels most never dream to even think about. By nature we are hard core truest to what we believe and don’t want to think outside the box. I’m guilty myself. I’m threw and threw a cur dog guy and I’m a proud Florida boy to a fault so I want a Florida cur dog. I hate a catahoula but I own a few or I should say my 10 year old daughter does for bay pen events. We all catch hogs and we all catch hogs several different ways and with sever different methods and with several different breeds of dogs. I won’t argue what Cajun or Tdog said it’s absolutely true. To consistently catch you need a dog with wind and a damn good track running speed. I was more or less bringing up a different point of thinking. I would absolutely feed some hounds too just something about them I love and I’ve seen hogs caught with open dogs that most say can’t be done. The biggest problem I see now is the internet made hog hunting cool and now everyone wants that pic of a dog box in the truck with a hog on top and they don’t even know why they are hog hunting or why they hunt the dogs they do and for what reason. They just want to be cool the pressure is unreal these days and there are far more of us in the woods and not true dogmen like most on here are. Hog are better educated and evolved then when we started. 

I agree wholeheartedly Birdslayer!


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Birdslayer You hit the nail on the head.

Here’s something else I’ll throw out there which I think a lot of hog hunters over look or just don’t think about. Those fox pen dogs are something I wouldn’t over look if your wanting to add wind.. stamina.. tough feet.. superior track driving speed and the ability to multi day with very little recovery time. There isn’t another dog breed that will hang with them and that includes in the heat and humidity. I’m not talking about speed and drive dogs I’m talking about them 3 day dogs and no I’m not giving blood lines. Something else to educate yourselves on. It doesn’t take a full blood. 1/4 .. 1/8 just enough to add the abilities other breeds are lacking but these have been bred for and for many many years and generations. The last thing I’ll leave yall with on some of the hounds. Yes most assume they are open and why most don’t want to own one. Get them as pups and only run one with your silent dogs never run them with an open or semi open dog.

Thanks for all the replies and sorry guys for the late response. I wanted to take my time with replying. And it ended up taking months lol. I don’t want to seem as if I’m making excuses for them. I’ve caught hogs on somewhat a regular basis with these same young dogs. I myself am still learning. Finally starting to learn how to read dirt and understanding scenting conditions. Learning how to get my hand off the tone button when they’re running and it atarts looking deerish. Or just learning to give them time to work it. I guess I was just venting. Realistically other than a couple of hard local doggers no one probably Gives a number 2 about them  core land hogs more than I do haha. I’m gonna keep hunting them and hope for the better. It may be bad advice but I think I want to bay pen my 3 year olds. Just because I know ive shocked them off hogs before for various reasons. Never real hard but they got to be thinking I’m an idiot. I feel like they took the extra gear out their bag and tossed it. Deer coyotes hogs used to have to grab their tail when they ran so I’mit wouldn’t get jerked. Right now my 3 yo are a 3/4 cur 1/4 pit and several brother and sister cur Julys. The July crosses I can always get another cast out of and the want to run something is bred deep deep in there.

Gotta become a better handler


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Finally broke our little dry streak last night and got some year olds started. Idk if the sow would’ve made it through winter she was pretty poor. I roaded them to a dead end around the lake with my brother. Who had broke his leg last Friday. He stayed in the truck while I walked them to the water. Bobby my 3 yo cur July and brownie 2.0 a year old cut some circles and went a couple hundred yards. It went for the water and they caught it. Brownies 2.0 brother peanut went out with the cd willow (they’re great great grandma) and caught with them. She was better than nothing, hate she is going to waste


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Glad you broke the dry spell. It’s a dust bowl here. I don’t know how a dog can smell anything in it.


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I agree. When’s the last time it rained where your at? It’s been well over a month here


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At least that here Arkansas! I honestly don’t remember our last beneficial rain. I can tell you it hasn’t gendered getting crops in or early hay baling. I think I’ve mowed my lawn about 4 times all summer. I don’t water extra so the grass isn’t growing and no rain to create growth either. Cedar trees have been hammered in our area. There dead cedars any and every direction you look.


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