EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Seems like most people have a huge pack of bay dogs, and one short bulldog to catch. Wouldn't it be more logical to keep less bay and more RCD's. I think we would all catch more hogs this way and be able to train our strike/ bay dogs easier. Just a thought. :-\

you definately catch more hogs with RCD's. But i like to here a good bay. Couldn't afford the vet bills either.

I got a buddy that only runs two strike/bay dogs on the ground(sometimes 3) and 3-4 CDs. He doesn't seem to have any problems catching hogs. But I tend to run about 3-4 strike dogs on the ground and 1 or 2 CDs and don't seem to have much of a problem either. Guess it just depends on whatcha like.

I run 2 strike dogs and 3 or 4 cds. If I have puppies in training maybe 2 pups with the 2 older strike dogs. I see what you are talking about all the time. 3 or 4 people each bring 4 or 5 dogs on a hunt and they let them all out at the same time. I normally will put mine up until theirs are tired and then will let mine out or I will wait until another day. It seems to me that to many dogs gets dogs hurt, and there always seems to be fights. To each their own, and if it works for them that's great. I think that 2 good dogs is all you need to catch hogs at one time.

2 dog s that will bay if its a bad hog and catch on cammand hogs get less torn up that way and it dont look like a massacare. but to each there own

I'm fixing to only run 3 bay and 4 RCD's. I think hunts will be a lot more interesting to say the least.

1 bay dog and 1 lead in catch dog.

That way your not smashing shoats left and right, less vet trips and less cluster Fudge all around.

2 bay dogs and 1 lead in CD, maybe run a pup on the ground with them.

 We run 4 rough catahoulas and i just now got a "catch dog pup ab x dogo" just in case  but when your running 100 -70 pound
catahoulas  what else do you need and as for vet bills  the dumb ones get weeded out pretty fast 
 
 good dogs good gear = lots of bacon
     Dexter

most dogs i ever put on the ground is 4 includes cd never had any use for 7 or more dogs on the ground a hog is only so big and have less hogs run cause they don't feel pressured as much i don't actually know what the hog is thinkin but that's what i believe

i run nothing but a pack of bmc dont need a catch dog they all catch  gritty curs catch hogs  i dont have many vet bills when i ran a bay dogs i had to run half way across texas to get the hog stoped but not with the pack i got now if they go 200 yards thats a long way now

2-3 bay dogs and 2 bulldogs seems like any more bay dogs, and when you hit a wad your chasing dogs and not catching hogs

aint nothing like listinin to a good bay for a few, after all thats what its all about aint it.....just the good sound of some good workin dogs.......and then the squill

more hogs with RCDs is just an opinion, just like useing any other hutning style is better than any other

use what fits you and your area

RCDs in my area just means more dead dogs or more vet bills, trust me I have tried it

rough catahoulas work well here which i do use, but what i use now and what works best for me is 3 start dogs that use different hunting styles (that will honor each other)  with 2 lead in catch dogs

Honoring the bay is the key to a well tune pack (JMO) and a team of dogs that work as a
team  bark over here so it dont see the other coming from the otherside
 Dexter

X2... i'll take a pack of loose baying dogs anyday. ;) I started with a pack of pirrahnas, not my style anymore.

My ideal hunt is 2 to 4 bay dogs and a couple of lead-in catch dogs dogs. We usually have a few more than that sometimes, because there's several of us that hunt together. To me, there's nothing better than listening and watching a pack of loose baying dogs on a hog. ;)

but with bay dogs you got to travel on a bad hog and with rough dogs you dont most times IMO

Sometimes, but i've seen more rough dogs bust bays and push hogs further. Unless they flat out catch it, which goes back to cut up and/or dead dogs, a hog will usually find a place to bay... just my experiences.

I think the key to bad running hogs is bottom, bottom, bottom.

mine do catch  except for one

four words  TO EACH HIS OWN

i  hunt  one  find  dog at a time  most  of  the  time ....today  i  had  2  down .....i  usually  have  one  catchdog  sometimes  2  if  i  have  plenty  of  help ......in my  experince on  cold  sign  up  in the  day  one  dog  is  better  at  finding  off  cold  sign ....if  i  put  two  down  they  seem  to  push  through  cold  sign and  i'm  perty  sure  miss  hogs ....

my dogs have plenty of bottom. They are well fed and watered. We run a boar for 4 hrs the last hunt and he would only bay for 15 seconds here and there. The pig flat out would not stop. He swam 8 times in 4 hours. The dogs were getting to the point where they knew he wasn't gonna stop. My hard-headed butt kept thinkin he was gonna get to a place where he would be forced to take a good bay. He just never did. Couple of my dogs got clipped on the hind leg. So you know they were baying him good, he was charging them so they turned to run and he cut in the backside. They didn't won't to give up,  neither did I. There comes a time where a man's got to call his dogs out. They were flat beat. We caught 2 good boars in 1 hour before that runner took us for a journey. You should have seen my dogs the next day. They would not come out their houses. Their eyes and ears were raw from stick cane. Their feet were all tore up and raw. Bay dogs weren't too bad, but both my pitts were bad off. One just started feeling better today and the hunt was last Sunday. His feet were pussing up in a couple areas. The boar was about 275lbs, big black hog w/ big mane. One thing is for sure, he was a smart hog. He had a pattern going on where he ran, which is probably why he wouldn't bay. He never left his territory which stretched for about a mile in 2 patches of woods mixed with thick stick cane. Both were divided by a 10 yard ditch he kept swimming. He was old, wise, fast, and apparently was well conditioned. You know, I was tired of directing the chase in my head and planning his next move. I can't amagine how he felt. Talk about a poker game. I've never heard or seen a hog hit the water as hard has he did the last time he crossed that slu, I know he was tired. I know my dogs did their jobs. We were under-gunned. Good luck to em next year. I'm fixing to have 4 different catch dogs for him to figure out. He doesn't realize what he's fixing to be dealing with! Ha...

thats a hell of a pig! but i guess they dont get big from being stupid.

We run 1-2 proven dogs (I'm not going to say finished  ;D) and 1-2 young dogs on the ground at one time.  We also role with 3 catchdogs sometimes 4.  There have been several times where we actually have more catch power than curs on the ground and that seems to work out real good for us. 

2-3 bay dogs, and 2 catch dogs seem to always produce the best results and the shortest races.

i like rough bay dogs but not bulldog rough, ones that are smart and wont try to grab one that they know they cant handle.

if my bay dogs catch a 100 lb sow, thats fine with me, i dont have to cut the bulldogs loose.

i used to like rcds, but there is to many problems with that, including empty staple guns and trips to the vet, not to mention always worrying about them going after livestock.  plus watching a bay for awile is someting that cant be beat.

Now, what's gonna happen next year when those four catchdogs catch that hog a mile out in a cane thicket and you can't get there for a while? Might be a whole year of raising those dogs gone in an instant... something to think about.

some bulldogs if let loose can really hunt, and thats a bad thing with a dog that is all catch, ive tried it before, the results were great when you could get there pretty quick, but its not worth it, to many risks.

like this for instance they leave the property your on and end up getting into it with a jackass, thats not a good thing, lol, ive got a couple kinda funny and scarey stories from stuff just like that happening. and i dont care how much you work on livestock breaking a bulldog, when another animal attacks them, they will bite!

true that, cause I'm not walking my fat butt a mile out there, UNLESS.... It's HIM! I'll never forget the look in his eye. Haha... It was the last look I saw for 4 hours. ;D

naw, on a serious note, you got to be careful what you cut loose and when. Like mike said, you can end up in a real bad situation! I try and protect my dogs well, so when the situation does happen, we hope for the best.

It's like pig poker, you have to read your oponent well. I like to bluff with a couple loose dogs and then bring the surprise around back if you know what I mean!! >:D

in my opinion you should only need one catch dog , a surenuff catch dog should die on one and dont turn  loose .thats just my opinion  i couldnt imagine handling 3-4 catch dogs

it's how you play those dogs! You don't throw them all out at one time. Then you have no tricks left up your sleeve. It's who, when, where, and how you choose to send em is what's gonna end a runner.

I agree with gil. With the curdogs we seldom take the catchdog off the lead. They catch about everything 200 or less.

Do yall send 2 or more catchdogs to one hog or just have the other cd for backup or split bays?

just because you have the bulldogs there doesn't mean you have to use them. have learned the hard way about using one bulldog. I yet to hunt with atleaat 2 . have seen a big boar walk down a creek with 3 bulldogs caught on it.  even the best catchdog will meet a hog it can't handle on its own saying different is ......o   I like my dogs to back up and bay  have seen my gyp bay 20 ft from a bad boar

We typically send two bulldogs to each bay unless the cur dogs have it squawling already. We all say we like loose baying dogs, but we each still have a rougher dog in the pack (except circle c - he has sure enough bay dogs). We still hunt what we like, but we also know that anything can happen in the woods and you occasionally need that rougher dog.

Anyway, we generally have 3 or more catchdogs per hunt. There are too many times we get on split bays and groups. I can't think of a single catchdog in our group that is a pain to lead anywhere (God bless old Meat Head's soul). In my opinion, you can never have too many cd's on a hunt because there is no law saying you have to unclip everything at each bay. Just my opinion and what works for us. Everyone is different.
Cheers
M

I would have to disagree. I have never seen anyone in Fl that I have hunted with turn out more than 1 to any bay. The way we hunt the catchdog holds him 20-30 seconds and when the cd catches the curs will catch like a bulldog.
I have caught and seen caught hogs over 300+ caught with one a 40 pound catchdog.

If I was sending them over 300 yards out I could see the need for more than one. Or hunting with a big group of people and the chance for split bays. There has been times I did not have a cd and wish I did. But never a time I had MY catchdog and needed more. Will it ever happen........Maybe........until then I was carry around my box ornament.

But I've never seen the hogs in Tx., But our main catchdog came from East Texas. Maybe that is why we only need one. ;D

cajunl,

My curs are fairly rough and will also hammer down with the bulldog.  I used to think the same way as you, and only hunted one catchdog because all I really needed was a dog to make the first move.

Then one day we bayed a group.  Sent the bulldog, he caught and the curs left to stop and bay the group again.  That turned into a major wreck and now I hunt with two.

I love this sport because there are NO rules.  Which means that we can try some crazy sh#t or whatever. So we mix it up. Some times we run up to 5 bay dogs on the ground at one time (especially when hunting with friends) and sometimes we run 2 bay dogs. We usually bring two cd's unless one is at home recovering from a hunt and then we just bring one.
    Some days we catch hog and some days we chase hog, either way its a blast. I don't take it too seriously because its what we do for fun, it's not like its our job or something. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D So I say, have fun with it. Go out on a limb and try something new once in a while.

I like multiple catch dogs for a couple of reasons. #1 reason is that I want my bay dog to leave once the catch dogs catch. Got a couple dogs that you might not see at the catch at all. By the time you get there to leg the hog, and have it tied or stuck, the bay dogs are already a couple hundred yards out hunting again.  #2, I have had the hog break after the catch dog was released, only to have it bay up and be caught a a couple hundred yards away in some thick stuff. It took a while to get there, and it was a stout 250# boar, both catch dogs were getting hot, and I was glad we had two catch dogs that day. It's just my preference though.

Like what DJ said,  mix it up and have fun.  If there is one rule in hog dogging, it's that there are no absolutes!

Seems just the opposite to me. From What I have seen its usually 2 -3 bay dogs on the ground and 2 -3 catch dogs (depending on who brings one that day ;D).
It all depends on what kind of dogs you have and how you hunt them for me.
Logic shouldn't be about numbers of dogs. It should be about the kind of dogs you have. That is the logic I use to dictate how I use them and the number I will put on the ground in given hunting situation.
 
The most repeated phrase on this board is "to each his own". That is probably short for - "to each his own because of the kind of dogs he uses."

Two on ground w/one puppie and one catch dog. Just my line of BMC's are pretty rough. They will bay and hold a big hog for a long time till I get there and then even when they see or hear me coming, they will catch. If they keep baying then I turn my 1/2pit & 1/2 BMC loose and he does the job. IMO, 2 to 3 dogs can work a hog and move out of the way than more dogs. If you get to many then they cant move and thats when you start getting dogs cut up.

we do alot of cuttin &markin dont realy like the hog torn up when we release it sometimes it looks like a massacare with 6 dogs on a 150lb hog  ktchemwcurs sound like hes got the right idea ,our dogs will keep them there until they see us or tell them to catch thats how we do it down here in fl

Its all about preference, style, hunting terrain/conditions and the person. I kill everything I catch and leave them for the buzzards.....

What works best for me may not be suitable for the next person. I prefer my bay dogs to bay and my catch dogs to catch. I do not see any benefit in having more than 3 or 4 bay dogs and typically 2 catch dogs.

Rough bay dogs in the Hill Country will get wrecked in a hurry. As Bryant stated...95% of the time one catch dog can get the job done. It is the other 5% that a person has to worry about.....I like to be as safe as possible and send two catch dogs in to every bay.

We normally run 5-7 cur dogs on the ground and usually just one CD, sometimes 2 if we hunt more cur dogs! We normally catch most hogs with just our cur dogs. And our main reason For the 2nd CD is if we split up and go to seperate bays.. I can count on one hand the times we've purposely sent 2 cd's dogs in, I agree in the sense that one 50# cd is enough.. Our cur dogs are rough but not pshycho they'll sit back and bay a bad hog even if they're all there .. It does lead to more staples and cut dogs but IMO more hogs.. To each his own!

We run 2-3 bay dogs on the ground at a time. and maybe a pup or two we turn loose to the bay. only one lead in bulldog.....

caught lots of big barrs and bad boars with my one catchdog. yet to see him get whooped off. but he is about 100lbs

and the curs will catch with him. the curs will catch most everything under 180 lbs by themselves.

i think the key to only using one bulldog is gettting close as possible before turning it loose. i never turn a catchdog loose if i cant see the hog. that way you can be right behind it when it hits the hog. so you can catch the hog before it has any time to do much damage

clint although i dont agree wth turning hogs loose, i sure enough agree with gettin close as you can before turning a bulldog loose. i domt like mine bein caught no longer than they have to. i hate it when a bulldog is on the run . i believe in getting in there and helping your dogs

this has shure been interesting reading..

im shure most of my hunts are like everyone elses, if 3 or 4 guys go we end up with to many dogs on the ground.
i have a freind, his rule is one man one dog, i really like that deal but it makes some guys mad..    guys that want to take every dog they own dont get invited to go with me if they arent willing to just bring 1 or 2 dogs..     

im probably too picky about what i hunt my dogs with but in this country rough dogs dont last long, all my dogs are loose bay dogs, and you put a rough dog in the pack and it changes the whole deal, i can no longer relax if my dogs get 2miles away with this rough dog in the mix. ( im talking about a catchy rough dog ) cause my dogs are going to tighten up on the hog with a dog like that.  thats when time is your worst enemy, if it takes 1 to 2 hrs to get to them dogs  , that gives a big hog alot of opurtunity to cut those dogs if they arent giving him a little respect.

  i want my bay dogs to turn a hog and back up and bay, i always take 2 catch dogs, i have been in to many situiations were one was not enough, split bay, cur dogs rolled out, ect.

my ideal pack is 3 loose bay dogs with 2 lead in catch dogs.

the thing to remenber is not all of the hogs across the country are the same nor are the dogs so everyone has to put together a set of dog that works for them in there country.

 

I agree 100%, even if we have 4 to 7 curs on the ground the mature dogs will role out as soon as the hog is handled- be it the cd or me. plus there are just times where two bulldogs makes everything safer, ie. split bays , heat , cut up bull dog, etc etc

This is why I am running more CD's now.

1. I don't like to lose hogs or run em more than an hour maybe two. I like to catch hogs. If my bay dogs work their butts of, the CD needs to handle up on his end to. Anything short of that is a waste of time for all of us, including the bay dogs.

2. I've seen some CD's get clipped hard in the front legs. Enough to take out any dog.

3. CD too slow

4. CD made it, but a day late and dollar short.

5. CD lost

6. Hog broke... cd kept up, but not enough bottom in the end.

7. Real bad hog, cut CD real bad even w/ vest and cut collar, he needed help.

8. I've been able to get ahead of a few hogs, and having another CD to dump in front of the hog is nice. He's fresh and ready to go. Plus, if he catches and needs help, send another in to him. So right there, makes 3 CD. Then I still have a fresh spare for a split bay.

I can really go on all night about why I personally need more. It's just what I've personally found to be better for me. I don't like the feeling of a good solid bay and no CD to complete the job.

Still, that doesn't mean you dump 4 CD'S on the ground at one time. Use em when you need em or when the situation calls for it.

The more catch dogs the merryer. Just dont turn them loose till you need um.  8)

I love the sound of the hound and I have hunted most everything there was to hunt with a hound before I hunted the hog many guys brought up the point of grab dogs getting hit  or the grab dogs can not make the race with the more pure lines I believe this to be true I run full throttle grab dogs they are bread for hogs I have a little bark and they will hunt all day just my opinion the grab dogs are under estimated and under trained   RUNNING BULLS ONLY

that's my idea, don't use em unless you need em. If I could get one to do the job, I wouldn't own anymore. It's just impossible for one dog to do everything I need in all the different places we hunt.
 

most people in my neck of the woods don't know about performance type bulldogs. They are built different than your average short, fat, bulldog, which is what most people own. They are a lot faster and lankyer. Still.... They will not out run a hound x bully cross.

 I have been dealing with this problem for years building a bull that has the stamina brains and nohow after 16 years of breeding I have a line of pure athletes running bulls they will hunt all day and hang with any hound here Im not saying they are better just better for my style

Where do you live and what terrain do you hunt? Do your pits bay until you get there and then catch when you get close, similiar to our rough curs? Will your pits bay a bad hog or will they catch until you leg it? Do you leg hogs or shoot them?

they will pin him to the ground try to keep him com ther is always one or two dogs that will bark enough to find them I hunt in very cliffy terrain thick brush

i agree u domt need all those dogs 2 catch  good hogs.more dogs seems to say something about how much confidence the person has in his dogs and  the persons abilities

Well I have had both great ruff dogs that caught hogs 300 lbs and  under with out catch dogs and I sew dogs up all the time and had two three get killed with vest on and highly rated vest no junk.  Then I said well let me try the not so ruff dogs and I ended up chasing hogs half way across the country .

Then I said well it must have to do with the quality of bay dogs a man runs not the number of bay dogs he runs been knowing that for a long time just hard headed and love ruff dogs but man it gets old sewing up dogs everytime and digging holes.  So I picked me out three that I thought would work the best together not all out catchy but would sure nuff stop one if he tried to run and three that were smart nuff to know what they can and cannot catch and back off hold and bay.

After much work finally got my first look at the real thing in action with the biggest boar hog I have seen in years if not the biggest period I have seen with my own eyes here the other week.  Went with a friend of mine he has some pretty ruff kind of dogs his went one way mine went the other mine ended up down at the river baying like hell his was looking elsewere so I told him they got one at the river and took off while he was still trying to find his .  Got to the river snuck in didnt have a catch dog just my gun finally get in there 15 yards away and the three dogs I thought would work was working perfect they was spinning this big ole boar like a top and he could do noting else sat back watched for a min as it was pretty as could be then raised my gun had my sights on the big boar and all the sudden I heard something come crashin in from the side and behind me it was my buddys dogs they ran in and put the pressure on got there asses  handed to them the big boar broke and I walked four miles down the river were they had him bayed again on a point out at the rivers edge , bayed solid again my three spinning like a top again pretty pretty pretty problem was I had a hard time getting close nuff for a sure shot as it was so thick could hardly get threw when I finally did get close nuff and was about to put the old boar in his place here comes my buddys ruff ass dogs again and guess what busted the bay the boar hit the river crossed  and that was the end of the story!

What did I learn from this first hand ?  Some dogs think they are bad till the hog whips there asses and hands it to them on a platter !  These dogs bust bays left and right the hog runs for miles and the good dogs pay the price usally with getting bad hurt are their lives!  I dont know and dont claim to know if this is most of the peoples problems out there but I sure do suspect it is a big part of running hogs !

When I ran my ruff ruff dogs they were sure nuff some bad boys and girls we caught hogs regular close to 300 with out a bulldog are catch dog but after many many big vet bills and great dead dogs and some not so great it kinda leaves a man with a different attuide towards what a good ruff bay stop dog is and a dog that is a bay busting peice of chit !

3 sure nuff good find bay stop type of dogs and two catch dogs is what I will use from now on .  If other folks wants to run theirs I will leave mine at  home it just dont work mixing dogs somebody is gonna come home with less dogs at some time are another and speakin from long time experince it is usally yours and your best one that  you cannot replace for years and years! 

Great post TexasHogDogs, I agree 100%

i run 3 rough curr dogs and 3 rcd two of them are pit/curr the other is dogo/bulldog and everything works great. 

100% agree that allot of ppl blame the hog well i kinda have to disagree maybe its the dogs i don't like rcd not sayin they don't work just not my way i do have some... i think smart dogs catch dogs their are ppl here who run 20 dogs on the ground no lie they still have hogs run on them so you tell me rough dogs work the best id disagree i also know a guy he been huntin 30 plus yrs and runs to dogs on the ground and to lead in catch dogs and catchs more hogs than anyone i know so what im sayin i guess is smart dogs catch hogs however you hunt rough or bay dogs 1 dog or 20 they got to be smart

Hate to pull of the real topic here, but I had to


Hog428 wroye: they will hunt all day and hang with any hound   :D :D :D :D


You have never ran them with July or Running Walker hounds  then my friend. There ain't a bulldog alive on this planet that can run AS LONG or AS FAST as a one of them in the jungle,Tropic Islands, mountains, desert, artic slope on the moon or any where else.You have mentioned 16 years of breeding, most running hounds have been breed to run and not stop no matter the cost by great men before this country was even formed. I have seen coyotes run 8 hours from a pack of running hounds full speed and a bull dog of any type would have had a lung collaspe by then.I have seen july hounds run there pads off there feet in the lime stone fields around here and have to be caught and carried back to the truck or they would have bleed to death before quitting. Your dogs may have some lung but you will have to breed more bull dog out of them than they posses to honestly say they can hang with ANY HOUND. The hound is often tore down and over looked in internet circles where any one can be a dog expert but the truth is a tougher, bigger hearted, harder headed, full of bottom, stick with the game no matter where it goes or how long it runs dog has yet to be bred in this world in my opnion than a Good hound and I doubt there ever will be in the future either.  

couple bay dogs and lead in a bull dog all you need...teach one pup at a time and then when it is going good take one veteran dog and a pup see what happens if you call em a (BAY DOG) then let em bay they should be able to hold that hog there until the bull dog gets it caught...i found that more bay dogs the more chance it breaks and then you runn the hog a while..which in the long run takes chances away from catching more hogs or flushing them hogs to other land owners which you might not be able to hunt...something to think about.. but if what you do works then do it "dont fix something that aint broke "

I hope nobody takes this the wrong way as it is only my opinion noting else.

I think what a lot of the problem is .  Is that a really , really good smart , sure nuff ruff type of bite them in the butt, shut down,  back off-hold & bay, not catch but hold and bay types of dogs all this in one dog are a lot harder to come by than most people think.  Most of the time it takes a great breeding program to consistently produce these types of dogs  and because of this most people have not seen these types of really, really good dogs very often.  Then the hunter has to be able to put the right dogs with the right dogs and pack them up accordingly often hard to do therefore everybody's opinions vary greatly because of all of this and some are most are under the misconception that loose baying dogs are just that loose baying dogs noting else and cannot be loose baying  bit'em in the butt,  shut down-hold, bay dogs all in one with out catching.

I can tell you the types of dogs talked about above can and will shut down a big bad bronky boar hog just as fast as any ruff pack can.




Again just my opinion.

texashog i could not agree with you more i run one bay dog and one walk in catch dog....they may not be ruff and as gritty as most rcds or some cur dogs but they do what it takes to stop a hog and bay it...i may not catch as many hogs as guys that run a pack of rcds but i find hogs that most dogs couldnt...i will take a good dog that hunts a block of woods out and when you put his nose in a couple hour old track he will go find the hog that made it and bay it over a pack of rcds that hardly get out of your sight and everytime they bay or catch a hog its within hearing

I do not run any more bay dogs i run three catch dogs and two running catch dogs that will also honor a bay to. i have gotten some big hogs with only one catch dog so the more catchy dogs i have the better off i am.

guys the thicker it is the more my heart starts racing i think the thicker the brush the better off i am.

We usually run only two or three finished find/baydogs an a couple pups an we have two catch dogs but our set of dogs are so rough we really don't even need our catch dogs unless we get on a 300 pound plus hog

i hunt alone alot and only use 2 dogs some times only 1,if i bring 2 its a baydog and a rcd.i used to use a cd on a leash but its too much work getting through the thick stuff...if i bring one dog it is a pit/bulldog with hunt...i have caught many big hogs this way,i cant see any need for a pile dogs on the ground at all...when we hunt together with friends 4-5 dogs max is the rule...

if my buddys have 4-5 dogs loaded up i will just leave mine at home,its fun to go with other people and there dogs...it will give you an idea where you are with you dogs performance/handle vs theres ;)

i havent seen anyone mention tracking systems-if you run a garmin and are not lazy you can run rcd's/xtra ruff curs and catch alot of hogs but you have to hump it and be there for them....

it is nice if some one would bring 1 extra cd for the times when things go wrong but keep it leashed up untill its needed 4 sure

we run two or three and two catch dogs when its just me and chapa69

I look at it like a fight.
If it was 1 on 1 or 2 on 1 i'd stand my ground and fight.
Any more than that i'll try and get a few licks in but im not staying long!!!

That said I run one or two bay dogs and one gritty cur as a walk in cd.