EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

 I think it would be cool to hear bout everones first dog hunt..

     My first hunt was made by a member of Texas Bowhunter looking to take someone on a hog hunt. I was th first to post. The hunt started outside of Burnet on a ranch known for big hogs. I was not sure what to expect showing up to meet two guys off the internet. It sounds alot like a story on 20/20.hahah. Anyways, we ended up catching a sow and two little ones. I was hooked. I have always liked hunting behind dogs. I owe alot to Mike and Steve.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/mikesavoy/mehog.jpg)

First hunt was late 2001 between McCoy, TX and Poth, Tx. We hunted a milo field, and bayed a group. As we were headed to the bay, it broke and hogs were going everywhere. We ended up with one hog caught, and dogs scattered all over the countryside. Sometime early the next day we finally had all the dogs gathered up. It was fun, and I went back and hunted with the same guys several times after that.

It was a number of years after that first hunt before I actually bought my own dogs.

First hunt was spring 2004.  I went with some guys near Crosby at night.  I received minimal direction from them because I was evidently taking part in some rookie hazing.  We had a bay, sent in the catch dogs, and next thing I know one of the guys hollers at me to go in and stick it.  All along I thought I was there as an observer and about crapped myself.  I jumped in there without much second thought and sealed the deal. I must have held my breath the whole time because it took me about 5 minutes to catch my breath after it was over. I'll never forget how loud everthing seemed at night on my first hunt.  The barks, the grunting, the squealing, and under growth getting trashed all seemed like it was 10' in front of me.  I was hooked instantly.  After going on a bunch more trips and 2.5 yrs later, the passion for the hunt and seeing the dogs work never diminished so I set out on starting my own pack. 

Little over ten yrs ago, I finally got talked into trying this "hog dogging" thing ::)(I think I'd had a couple beers ;))  First of all, the dogs impressed the hell out of me.  Big, athletic, functional dogs... I dug it.  When they finally bayed one up, I couldn't help but to run in there like an idiot to help(I had no idea what I was doing)... Standing right in the middle of the bay(like jumping in the middle of a bar brawl that isn't your fight ;D... yep, done that too...)...head high palmettos, pitch black with dogs fighting with a good boar.   I beat the other guys to the bay by at least a minute and all I could do was sit there and soak in the intensity of the moment. I was real lucky that my eagerness didn't get me hurt.  That's when I got the bug.

I was fresh out of high school and got invited to go one weekend.  I wasn't really too thrilled with the idea...at the age of 19 if I got out of bed on a weekend before noon I considered myself to have gotten up early.  I honestly didn't think there was any fun to be had at 5:00 in the morning.

I'll never forget the morning.  We had one dog, probably five guys and about the same amount of rifles amongst us.  On the way into the property, the dog bails out of the back of the truck and runs off into the woods.  Everyone gets excited and after just a little bit he starts barking.  Everyone takes off running like a gang of banshees, so I just fell in!  Got there and shot the hog.  We drug the hog out, loaded everything back up and was back to the guys house in less than an hour.  Like most sports I've become involved in, the first time was just way too easy and I though to myself right then and there, "Heck, even *I* can do that!"  That was 16 years ago....the rest is history.

my first hunt was back around 2000. i was 8 years old.. we were hunting some bottom land. we didnt catch anything but we had a good time. but the next weekend we went with the same guy and caught 7.. hooked from there on out.. and thats about all i can remember ;D

Well Ill show my age for sure...............my first hunt was 35 yrs ago with my dad and a man from this area named Richard Grona. He showed up with a full truck bed size dog box with 2 levels full of running walker hounds, no curs and no catch dogs. The first hog we caught that day was a sow that was bayed against a net wire fence and my dad leged her through the fence. Later that day he shot 2 with the same shoot with his ole 270 while they were bayed.

35 yrs later things are done a LOT different than those days, no one used curs, no catch dogs, no night hunting and a run on a boar back then with those hounds might be 12 hrs long.

Man I sure am glad things change.

My first hunt was during high school about 5-6 yrs ago.  I'd been around the dogs some before just never got everything right to get to go when my buddies hunted.  It was one I definately will never forget.  There were 3 of us in the same class and one younger brother.  We kicked dogs out about an hour before dark and started walking into the woods.  The dogs opened up after we had went through 2 pasture fences on this big ranch and just stepped into the third pasture.  They bayed a boar under a deer feeder on the back side of a tank and ran the hog right through the middle of us.  We turned the catch dog loose and scattered.  That boar swam across the tank with all 5 dogs including the CD right behind him back toward the fence we had just crossed.  They caught him about 50 yds inside that fence  and we legged and tied that pig.  It was about 1 1/2 miles of carrying that pig back to the closest road.  We finally got to the truck about 5 hrs after we turned out.  I'll never forget that hunt because about 2 months later my buddy's brother died in a boating accident.  That was the best and first hunt ever to date.

About six years ago at the ripe ol age of 34. I got started by deer hunting and noticing rooting in a area at the lake. Decided to hunt them with dogs later on. Had got some dogs and was running around in the woods clueless looking for hogs and ran across another hogdogger with some good dogs that took me hunting. All he would carry would be a small rope to tie them with. Not even a knife. He got me on a 100lb boar which I leged and stuck when he held it, for my first one. Then we had to break the catch dogs off. They weren't leting go so he told me to blow in it's ear and it would let go. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not but he seemed to be so I bent over and blew in that pits ear and it let go. lol