EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I was at a local market and I over heard three farmer/ranchers discussing hogs and how bad they where tearing up there land so I inquired about what they where doing about the hog problem all three said they had a few traps set and would shoot the ones they saw while talking with them a asked if they would like help controling the hogs and that I would be more than happy to help by running my dogs setting more traps ect. Also said I do all this for free  well then they all said they could handle the problem and if the hogs got to bad they would hire a helicopter to come take care of the problem I just don't get it

It's the hand full of hog hunters out there that give the rest a bad name. I've got my own land with hogs on it and to be honest, there's very few people on here I would trust to go to my place.

 It aint the dogs. Its the people who own them. More often than not, people are worried about having to deal with the individual more than their dogs. There is some degree of control if you are allowed to trap or even use calls/bait and guns. There is that uncertainty and lack of feeling in control of your activities while you are on thier property and next to neighbors property with dogs. A lot of people worry more about pissing off neighbors than your dog chasing a cow or a deer. Anybody that knows me on a personal level lets me do whatever I want. They dont even question the dogs. They know me enough to know that I dont create or have a tolerance for problems. They know if something were to happen I would make it right. There are people who dont know me personally that invite me to trap hogs and call predators, knowing I have hounds, and never invite me to turn them loose. Sounds like a contradiction but the point is, if the individual doesnt know YOU, he is going to have a problem with your dogs almost every time. And ultimately, it all stems from a lack of understanding or appreciation of a hunting dog.

Thats 1 thing i cant stand is hog hunters that just dont care they give all of the others a bad name i know a bunch of guys that belive that fences were put up to keep cattle in place not humans and dogs, deer season or not and cant figure out why i wont hunt with them.

I sold a pair of dogs a guy in north Texas 1 time, about 2 months later i get a call from a rancher that cussed me for everything i was worth when he finally stopped i asked what this was all about and he told me that i had been hunting on his land and left all of his gates open and mixed his herds i said how do you know it was me he told me he had my dogs he got my number off the collars. I told the man that i had sold those dogs 2 months prior and that i couldnt believe that they left my collars on the dogs.  well he calmed down and told me that he was sorry for his language and asked if i wanted to come get the dogs and i told him that he could keep them if he wanted and he said that he would like to keep them. he called me back 2 weeks later and said those were the 2 best dogs he had ever owned i told him they better be the guys that lost them paid me 900 a piece for them. 

 The farmers around here have a saying, it goes like this...... " The only thing that will tear up a farm worse than a hog is a hog hunter."
 
 Sad but true. We are always striving to prove that saying wrong.  :(

I even told them i would like them to come along so they could see how i do things and how the dogs worked

Yea I get that alot in my area! Its ok tho they will come around I still stop and talk to them every chance I get. Love to hear them cry about the crops being tore up. Its not my money being thrown away. I got to the point I don't even ask people anymore. I put up flyers hand out cards and post ads on craigslist it works believe it or not.

Lawsuits now stop allot of people from saying yes.  Insurance cost me 788 per year and it's well worth it.  I throw my insurance at most and the no changes to yes in most cases.  It really helps me on allot of my land.  Now would i have paid that for 1 or 2 places, NO.  But a certain contract i have i had to get it so now i use it to get on allot of other properties.  Hang in there man, just keep asking or keeping getting a kick out of them being torn up.  All it takes is a gooseneck full and the door open at night and they may have you come in! ;) j/k

Lol tried that with 50 pg sows it didn't work lol jk  ;D