EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

JUST CURIOUS HOW MANY OF YOU ARE CARRYING GUNS WITH YOU.  MOST OF THE LAND OWNERS I HUNT ON HAVE LET ME HUNT ON THEM ONLY BECUASE WE DONT CARRY GUNS BUT YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT NEED ONE!!!

Anyone that takes a gun is SKEERD!!!!  ;D


There was another thread on this awhile back and it got alittle heated... Lets see how this one turns out....  ;)


We usually dont take one... just depends...

I do.

 a gun is like a condom. its better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

I do unless I'm at someone elses place.

I only take a gun when i go solo. Only because i dont take catch dog when i go alone i usually just watch em bay. But take my 22mag just for emergencies

Ain't brave or quick enough to stab a big rattlesnake.

 We always take a gun just in case its needed. We have used it a hand full of times and were glad to have it.

 Example:

 A. We ran into a large group of hogs, the dogs scattered but two dogs stopped a big nasty boar in the middle of the road. We turned the cd loose in the direction of the bay but he saw a choat out of the corner of his eye and took off on a chase that lasted a while. One of the dogs on the big boar was a pup and he was getting tossed and cut. The older dog was getting cut also. James waited until the dogs were clear and shot the hog. No since in getting the dogs injured or worse while waiting on someone to retrieve the cd.

 B. Just the other day we were on a hunt and at 3am on a wed. night we came up on a large group of treaspassers all drunk and high. The gun was not needed but it was in plain sight to let them know that it wasn't a good idea to start any crap.

 C. Back during deer season, James's cousins have the lease next to the property that we hunt. A couple of young boys (cousins) were going to get in their pop up stand to do some bow hunting. Right as they approched the stand they heard a voice from inside the stand say " Hey, someone is in here"

 It startled both the boys, they went back to deer camp and called the law. It turned out to be a couple of crack heads camped out in thier deer stand. You never know what a crack head is going to do. VERY SCARY!  So just in case a crack head tries to mug us out in the woods, we will have our gun.

If you carry a gun everywhere else, even to chuRch, why wouldn't ya carry huntin ? Most of my leases border state land and I'm always havin to run people off. It amazes me how many dumb@sses will try to get smart with me while their trespassin, until they see the gun. They tend to cooperate much more once they see it !

It seems like I take a gun and finally I get tired of carrying it around then I'll leave it at the house and that's when I need it!  Luckily I had it on my last hunt or it coulda ended bad.

I'll say this, we will probably end up one day in a position where we need one, but haven't yet. I do not carry a gun, and have only ask for one to be brought out after putting down 12 miles (on foot no wheeler), and the dogs had already put down 21... at that point I called for reinforcements, and still didn't end up needing it as we got out ran. That was a long night...

I normally live by the, "i'd rather have it and not need it..." saying, but with this I find myself trusting my dogs. I'd like to think that my dogs would have the smarts enough to back up if they were getting hit hard, but thats not always the case. One of our spots we can't carry guns though, so knowing my luck, that will be where we need one some day; but for the most part I do not carry one. Added weight, and normally I have good guys with me in the woods that aren't scared to "play" catch dog themselves.  ;D Call it what you will, but the bare hands thing and no guns makes it that much more real to me. I may change my ways of thinking after getting caught in a bad situation, but for now it's just me, my dogs, and the woods!  ;)

Guess I'm SKEEEERD then,.....lol :o Seriously though, it absolutely escapes me why anyone in the round world would go hunting for hogs with dogs without carrying some sort of firearm. As Dinah stated in her reply about the big hog in the road tossing dogs around, you may just have to shoot that SOB in order to save some dogs. We don't hunt with a catch dog,...I have before and see nothing wrong with it at all, if that's how you like to hunt. I hate leading dogs and I'm just not going to lead a catch dog,....simple as that. On most of the GA property we hunt, it's a requirement to kill all hogs, that's how we got to hunt there in the first place most of the time. So,....without a CD things go a bit differently for us than for most of you 'catch 'em' folks. We have what I consider to be fairly rough dogs and they catch quite a few hogs that we knife to dispatch.

As for a firearm, I carry an M1 carbine, yea the little short military rifle from WWII, got 2 of them and in my opinion it's the best hog gun to carry while dogging hogs that there is. It will kill any hog that walks, no doubt about it. I have used it to save our dogs on more than one occasion. I know that some of y'all apparently hunt places that won't let you carry a gun, I'd just have to let someone else have that place I reckon.

You're hunting a critter that is capable of doing some serious damage to your dogs if given just the right opportunity, catch dog or not, and it's not like you can just run right in and knife a hog like that, ain't nobody that quick... :P So do you just stand by and watch your dogs get crippled or killed....or do you go in and shoot him? Your dogs deserve for you to be ready to help them if need be,.....and if you live long enough and hunt enough,....you WILL come upon a hog like that.

guess everyone is diffrent  I do not carry a gun guess it is the way I was taught can only remember 1 time I wished I would have had one in the 16 yrs I have been hunting but then again I am getting older maybe I need to start??

FireMedic, the only thing I can say is that my dogs will die for me, and I'll do just about everything except dying for them... I've definitely been in a tight spot or two with putting a blade in a hog, but I got the job done. I'm now in the mind set of, if I have to jump on its back and ride that sucker while I'm cutting him up I will... figured he!!, I aint too big of a guy, but I sure know how and where to put a hurt on em...

But you are right... one day will change my mind, but until then I'm putting all my chips in the pot!  ;) Tell you what, when you make your trip down here to hunt you can carry that (if you insist), or I'll let you borrow one of mine, as I have 2 M1s as well. (from two of my grandparents may they RIP) It's just really thick in some of the places we hunt, and even a pistol would get in the way; so I can't imagine carrying a rifle.

To each his/her own i guess...

1 day all the tuff NOT SCEERED guys are gonna wish they had or someone had 1 when your dogs are takin a whippin and they aint a thing you can do besides cuss and throw rocks and stics at the 1 little ole hog doin all that damage or yourself gets in a bad bind .IMHO

couln't of said it any better...  :)

Ive never had to use mine yet on a hog but I dang sure will carry it in case I need it. I just didnt the one time that you had the local cops hunting with us. Lol

Ryan,....you strike me as being one of the most sensible 'younger' hunters on here,....I see that you're 27 years of age,.....if we live long enough and you get to hunt for 30 more years, and I sure hope that you do, .....THEN... I want to hear you tell me that you're going to jump a dog killing, mean as they come boar hog and kill him with your knife.  :o Course by then I'll be 90, but I'll remember this, trust me. I like you and you seem to be a good hunter that cares for his dogs, but I fear that your , shall we say....youthful exuberance, may cost you dearly young man. I know that you say that you've never found one that you and your dogs couldn't handle......if you hear anything I've said please hear this bud,......keep this style of hunting up long enough....you will.....no doubt in my mind whatsoever....you will.

I do carry a gun while hunting, like others I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I've used it a hand full of times and only a few of those where because of being in a tight spot. Half of the reason I carry it is for things not nessesarily related to hunting, you never know what you might run into. The other half is really laziness I'm starting to think. I've killed a decent number of pigs with a knife in all kinds of situations and sizes, but I'm over the days of swimming around in circles in a tank, and jumping off embankments into holes, or crawling into brush piles. Lol. It saves time, and keeps you from having to walk back to the truck soaking wet, covered in mud, or full of thorns. Been there done that, got the t-shirt. For me it's more about watching my dogs work and develop and enjoying the hunt, whether the hog is stuck or shot seems less important. But I don't fault anyone who doesn't carry, got several buddies that don't, it's all up to the individual.
Anthony

Im with you on that Neal...

There are some hogs that are hard to handle even with a catchdog on them..... I dont see anyone going all Rambo on one of them by them self...  Even you Ryan...  ;)

Without a gun, you cant do much but sit and watch, or at best yell and throw a stick at it..

I take one in my backpack , mainly for big big ranches a few of my hunting partners tend to get lost so they can hear the gun if they happen to get lost ,

Never had to use it for anything eles , but if I do need it I got it
I carry 22 mag revolver

I'm just being funny guys! And thanks FireMedic! I'd like to think I can handle whatever comes at me, but I know, from experiance, that is not the case... (My shattered wrist that I couldn't have helped for instance) Had there been a bay going on when that happened I would have dropped right in the middle of the chit and with no way to defend myself... or God forbid I was by myself when that happened. They killed a good boar hog that day, and with out me cause of the arm thing, and had I been by myself I would have had to wrap my arm up and walk to find my dog bayed up on that boar hog over a mile away... so in that instance, I would have NEEDED one. I mainly said that about jumping on a hog and riding it cause (in my mind and heart) I would want to be able to give my all as the dogs do to protect them as they do for me. One thing that I have learned from the hunting that I've done so far is that its really a "from the hip" type call every time. You never know where the dogs will be bayed up, what kind of hog it is, or how you're going to get your hands or your CD on it... So you play it by ear. I may one day wish I had a gun, but until then they shall or should fear the blade or the hobbles! LOL!

But I wll say this, the more I hunt the more ballzy or confident I get... I honestly can't see myself just sitting back and "watching" as my dogs get tore down... I would try to do something! I'm at least gona try and widdle a spear or make a lasso or something! LOL! Go all indian on their A$$!!!! LOL!  >:D Little karata chop to the throat should do the trick!  ;)

Ryan, I know during that kind of situation everyone should be doing what they can for the dogs, but i sure would like to have some skeerdy cat their to video tape it when you get ballzy enough to do it....   ;D

Heck, i dont even like messing with the smaller ones without a dog or two on em... They can still bite...  ;D

Free tipping is where it's at...it's an adrenaline rush added to an already action filled sport.  I'm gonna get got one day and learn my lesson.

I won't ever forget one day that Jeffrey kneed a hog down... He hit it like a linebacker... pretty cool stuff, and I think it's actually in our video.

And Trent, if I have to jump on the back of a bad hog I doubt I will have anyone with me... cause if I do, I'm sending them in first! LOL!  ;) All BS aside, we'd all like to think that we can handle anything, but sometimes that just not the case. I will learn my lesson one day....  ;)

Hahaha,.....oh well,...as so many of us males are when we're young, there's no telling y'all anything you don't want to hear. I will give you this tidbit of advice .....get some notebooks and write all this down while you know it all,.....'cause someday you'll be 60....and you won't know s***. I just hate it for your dogs though, they don't understand how little people really know. Like Trent said......hope somebody gets some video. 8)

When I go to the woods back home in east Texas no I don't carry a gun but where I live now I mainly hunt marsh land well my dogs aren't quite used to those big lizards being every where so in the marsh yes I carry a 22

Im with ryan i think the more you go along without getting in a bind the bigger your balls get.  i have hunted with people that dont even carry a knife and heard them scream for one with the crap hit the fan!  wont mention any names. you know who you are:) like insurance i might start carrying one just in case!  thanks for all the replies.

I don't always use it, but my .45 is always with me hunting or not.

i carry one and its like 4wheel drive its there if you need it. and i dont use mine maybe 3 times in 10 yrs

I got a buddy that is completely fearless. He caught a 200lb sow out in the open late one evening it was right at dark and he grabs the hog by the ear and goes in circles with it until i come and jump on her back. All without a catch dog. We thought it was good boar hog but turned out to be a big sow. Thats the way some people are. I would have never done without a catch dog but i took both of us to catch in that situation. And we had no flashlight either

I agree to take one and not need one versus need one and not have one, but I take two :) my ar 15 and 45, I figure since my 9 year old is my hunting buddy its better to be safe, and plus when he gets whiney I give the ar to carry and he changes attitude and leads the pack.

x2 with the 44mag!

I carry a gun and have had to use it a few times to save lives in the heat of battle , theres no way I could sit back and watch a hunt gone bad and im not scared at all ,its full blast IM GAME , just a few experances have made want to carry it , maybee the hogs as a norm in some areas are small and they have never met MMA super hog or had good enought dogs to have multiple bays , dogs caught in 2 or three areas and a bay dog trashed with a big boar standing over it saying move agian  , at this point in time I guess if you wasnt scared you would run in and leg drop the hog and stick it on the way down LOL and wish you had a gun , we have taken lots of huge MMA hogs    ALWAYS A GUN

There will come a day where I'm sitting in the woods and think to myself, "D@mn, that Neal knew a thing or two... I sure could have used a gun in that situation."  ;D More than likely I will start carrying one, but knowing my luck I will be on the property that we can't have guns on when I need it. LOL!  ;)

I was there for part "B" Lol, could have been a bad deal for sure and i dont think i woulda pulled up to em with no gun accessible......ended up bein some young punks.

I do not carry if im hunting with someone else on their property but I and only I carry 99% of the time when on my places........rookies/noobies absolutely do not carry while hunting with my dogs....too many things can happen too fast, i've actually had people that I invited hunting get mad and go home when I told em they weren't carrying if they were hunting with my dogs.......anyway like said above, its better to have and not need then the other way around. Also i have used it to help buddies out of the woods when turned around......unfortunentaly i've had to use it a couple times and it wasn't on a hog.......i under no circumstances will leave a dog mortally wounded in the woods after it has served me and done its job.


"the sun is shining somewhere in texas" -Jason Boland

i always have a gun in the truck.... but i walk hunt mostly and there has been a few occassions that a gun would have come in handy. i have been hunting by myself only twice. the first time i stuck the hog. and the other time i took a gun and was sure glad i did cus the hog was more than i wanted to mess with. he wasnt that big but big enough i didnt wanna tango by myself

I always carry my old Colt. I think like some others here. Better to have it and not be on here telling a mournful story of dogs or people being cut down that could have been prevented. Have only used it a couple of times on hogs mostly on snakes. Load first 2 cylinders with snake shot last 3 are 255gr lead. Good day to all.    John

I guess some on here will call me young and dumb. Sayin that, i have never nor will i ever ( as of now) take a gun while hog hunting. I am 21 yrs old but ive been doggin since i was 10 i also go a lot more than most  and most "seasoned hunters" wont agree with what i say. But i beleive a gun can do as mich harm as help. My main point is retrieving dogs from across fences or whatever may happen. Usually if u r goin to retroeve dogs on others land ( and i am talkin about honest to god mistake  where dogs end up half a mile on someones property) its much better to only be carrying a knife rather than a gun. Usually people are more understanding. And even if tjey arent it would be much better lookin to ame warden ect if your unarmed. Now that being said i have killed tons of snakes with no gun thats the least of my worrys. And for the people that say u need a gun, yes it may help with some situations but most could be handled the old fashion way without guns, but with a gun and lookin in hindsight perspective it seems mcuh easier with a gun lol. I am in no way bashing people that csrry guns when doggin most of my friends do. I just believe most situations can be handle with out.

Always have a gun... Even if it's CC. It's not the hogs or the rattle snakes... It's the other people in the brush with you. ;)

i take a gun in areas where i know there might be an easy bit of vennison or im just running one or two dogs

if you wont carry a gun to protect yourself and dogs ,only purpose, and wont fill out you profile for the forum,guess you ARE huntin too clost e to or on places you shouldnt be

Lol ...or Maybe a lot of times your hunting your place and have permission to go onto land to get dogs amd they go across and you just dont have a need for a gun to walk through the woods and hog hunt. I go hunting to catch big hogs, just like most people. So i just dont see the need to carry a gun to kill "big mean  hogs" And i knpw for dang sure  if i was hog huntin and brought another person and they shot a snake with a gun instead of avioding it or jist killin it with the 1000 other ways you can they wouldnt be hunting with me long doin that.

I have actually had one legged one time down in the creek where it was real muddy and slippery and the hog got unlegged and before i even thought about I just jumped on the hogs back and started choking him trying to slow him down screaming turn that damn bulldog loose...needless to say that day got interesting

So I agree with the more u hunt the more you ballzy you get. I also carry my glock .40 sometimes when we go.

I've got nothing to prove - I always carry a gun.

If a landowner doesn't trust me enough with one then I don't need to hunt his place.

Hunt long enough, and you'll find yourself needing one.  Just hope that a life (dog or human) is not sacrificed learning the lesson.

Well the place we can't carry one is a children's home so I feel that we still should hunt it to help them out because we can still get the job done without it. Seems we have done a decent job out there too because the population out there has either moved or dwindled... I'd like to think that we've had an impact on that. It's good to be able I help out and do you job, but not having as much pigs around anymore sucks. All part of the game i guess... Lol

Not really trying to start anything hear but I imagine more often than not people don't fill out thier profile completely because they feel like its nobody else buisness where they live, me personally I have all info on my because I enjoy meeting and hunting with new people, but my grandfather and numerous other people don't put where they are because they feel that is on a need to know basis.
If I am off base for the point you were trying to make please inform me, it's just the past three or four times I've read over the thread your comment stuck out

What does fillin out allll my profile have to do with carrying a gun to hog dog? Great real guy. I am on the to see ans learn and help other learn as i did. I like seein the pics and read the threads. If your that "worried" about where i live and every other aspect then sed me a pm..... Lol