EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Sure this has been beat to death but I'd be interested in some updated opinions.  With so much talk of runner stoppers lately I got to wondering what actually makes a "runner stopper"?  Ever dog I own will drill a hog as soon as the get to him but in the terrain I hunt dogs ususlly won"t even see a hog unless it decides to stop on its own or they run his guts out and run him down.  Now I've ran tons of hog a mile or two and went into a good solid bay-up with bulldogs and caught the hog and my hounds awlays pile on instantly but in VERY few instances do I truly beleive those hounds done anything to "stop" that hog.  Now we have all seen our dogs run up behind a hog and grab it in efforts to "shut it down" when it broke bay or crossed some open terrain so thats not what I'm referring to.  I'm talking about the hogs the get trailed and jumped and/or the ones that break their beds when found and really run.  I had a bear hunter thar had never hog hunted In his life ask me a very simple question once and I honestly could not answer it 100%.

When your dogs get after these "runners" do you dog "stop" them or do they just find a good place and take a stand?  My hounds have ran hogs less than a mile add bayed them right up and I have also seen them run them til daylight so I'm of the opinion thar it mostly just depends on the hog and there is truly nothing we as hog hunters can really do about the hogs that really have running on there minds.  No matter what our ego tells us!

I agree to a point I have stopped big boar hog within 100 yards of the strike and have run some ten miles till his lungs bout to implode. There really only two keys to stopping them run them till they bay or dog that will catch it right off I would rather catch it faster than after miles cuz we hunt rough terrain and on foot jmo I run a loose dog with good bottom and two rough dogs to make him pay and a cd

Speed for a dog to be able to push him fast enough he breaks down quick but it is hard to do in pine thickets

Not too intetested in mauling a hog with RCD's, I like to bay them up and see the dogs work.  I guess it could save some walking but the "catcing part" don't really mean that much to me, I enjoy the bay-ups.


Curcross I do believe your on to something with the speed ideal.  I don't think a running hog actually has to get bit to be forced into a bay-up.  Overwhelming track speed will force game to make mistakes and often times that will get them into areas they can't navigate (deep ditches, rock ledges, ponds, creeks, or etc) and force them to a bay-up.  JMO

Running on their mind or not....Oconee you said it yourself....in the open you've seen your dogs grab nuts/hams....whatever to stop one right?

I've heard other guys say it but I personally have never seen a hog want to keep running when dogs are stretching his sack.....or spinning him like a top. That hog is looking for brush to back up into. IMO when it comes right down to it....terrain is the number 1 factor that determines whether a hog can run or not.

Agree 100% Kevin!  Terrain has the biggest impact on the ability of the dogs to do their job.

I use to think if a dog would grab nuts it would stop but I seen a gyp I have catch by the nuts and the hog hit the brush the hog crossed a road about 1000 yards on the other side of a pine thicket I knew where the hog was going so I went to cut him off was sitting in the road watching the garmain when the hog came out it she was still locked on his nuts but he stoped when the bulldog hit him in the road I would not of believed it if I didn't see it

A dog that grabs nuts is good but don't always stop them a rank boar will spin back and cut a dogs throat right quick but I think this kind of dog makes them run harder. I like speed as well I put it over grit with out speed it don't help much and ya you can catch a runner with rcd but I don't classify mine as rcd cuz they ain't but they will lay some teeth. What takes more skill a line backer who stops him at the start point or the safety style who chases em down to me no differents just different methods

Y'all are lucky. I have yet to see how a hog stops.  Hada guy tell me that his dog grabbed nut to stop hogs. Asked him how many times he saw a running hog. Never. Just that his dog was always on the nuts when he got to the catch.
 Hell , my old dog must be a super star , she hits the leg after the bulldog gets there.  ;D
   Run the hog until he can't anymore or catch the hog drum the start. Only two solutions I see.

I totally agree with you Kevin...a dog or pack that pulls enough hair will have one stopped in open country...but once you get in that time of year where the weeds are thick and tall the game changes in the hogs favor...some places it doesn't matter whether the leaves are down and the weeds are dead during the winter months because it is thick year round...seems the first place a hog wants to run towards is always the thick briars/thickets...

Oconee..."stopping a running hog" probably has been the biggest issue I have ever dealt with since I have been hog hunting...that is why I love the late winter months when hunting in S.E. Texas...the cooler weather helps the dogs and in most areas the woods open up and that combination equals greater success...but I also have seen other factors come into play...turn the dogs out and they catch one just as soon as they are out of the box...then on another full moon hunt I see one of my dogs running along side a hog and the rest of the pack trying to catch up and I just can't figure out why that dog isn't pulling hair? because that dog is usually pretty gritty...just rambling...I reckon it is a fine line and depending on how the dogs feel they can be on their side on any given day...meaning to stop them quick or run them till they bay up...

I like caught hogs so I am breeding in a 1/4 to 1/8th catch dog in my pack to get them over that fine line...

I don't care much for the yellow dogs...kind of like me liking ford and someone else liking dodge...  ;)

but an acquaintance back around 1990 bought one from the South Texas area...that dog was a cull is why he was sold...because he was a bay buster, they had moved that dog and my friend had picked him up...that dog was very nice to look at...a dark yellow gold with a reddish tint to him and he had a black mask and black on his ears and down his back like a sable coloring...he was built right and about the perfect size and a good ear to him...his name was Nugget and he was pretty good at striking a hog...but that dog was the best shutdown dog I ever seen...he would have a big boar sitting on his jewelry because the heat was getting to him...one heck of a relay dog as well...he never bayed more than one hog because he was a bay buster but he always had one backed up to a bush or log...and he had a chop mouth that could be heard a mile...I still think about that dog...I could have bought him for 325 during off season...passed on a good deal...

that friend of mine didn't think nothing of it...no big deal...almost like he didn't appreciate greatness when he was looking at it...  ;D

I run thick pines just like curcross. In these pines it is difficult to actually run one down. In the delta I also hunt we have open fields in the winter. In that situation I have seen my RCD run one down and lock on an ear. I have also seen my main bay dog latch on a sack or jaw or ear. Saw a buddy's YBMC spin one 3x crossing one field 1/4 mile wide each time the hog took back off. Now here is what I think makes the difference in this situation. If ur dog can get close enough to put teeth on to spin or sit down the hog if it's not gonna catch it u need another dog to keep him spinning. In this thick stuff I think the hog runs till he decides to fight or atleast has a defendable spot. I don't think u can actually stop them other than push as hard as u can.


Shotgun
Arkansas

I Agee shotgun this is a hard sport not a breezy peezy one the hardest working dogs ether rough as nails or relentless in pursuit are the ones that get it done no matter the breed or color I like to run both at the same time only makes the best logical since

Terrain is definetley the most important factor for the hog to escape. I feel athletism is the most important factor when hunting nasty, thick, wet areas for the dog to stop that hog. I would rather my dog get to the front of the hog and try and catch and get the hogs attention on him and not running. Once the dog gets the hogs attention through force the hog tends to stop and defend/fight. I run real rough athletic dogs that are running to catch/kill the hog. That intensity in the dogs and their speed has really kept my strike and catch ratio high. Your not going to get them all, but you can catch most of them. Smaller packs hunting on the ground, and every dog in the pack be able to find and catch their own, and your success rate will be high!! IMOA........  >:D

Well am gonna tell yall what I think....I been chasing hogs for a long time now and this Cracker dog I got taught me something are I guess you could say I already knew it but he sure bought it out in the open .   I tell you there is want a be ruff type of dogs and there is really the true kind that its me are you am gonna die are you gonna get caught one are the two no other two ways about it.  This kind of dog has his mind made up all the time like this .  He does not have a second thought of anything .  Then there are dogs that just think they are bad till they get hammered and hammered hard by a big boar hog and then back off and the hog breaks and goes younder.  I am a firm believer that as soon as the hog is found if you gonna run ruff dogs your dogs need to mount his ass right there on the spot and stop the running before it gets started .  Because one the hog breaks its all on his turf.  He knows the country he is gonna run your dogs threw number 2 they cannot hardly get threw he is gonna wind them out and then he is gonna sit up for a min and bay and kick there asses .  Why because by now they are tired and wore out and they just do not posses the energy to stop him are for sure now not be able to catch him no matter how many is there .  He whips their asses again and again and then finally trots off into the wild blu yonder .  Handing both your dogs asses to them and yours to yours.   Now yes sir I have had this done a many many a times my self my own ass and my dogs asses handed to me and its not a good feeling.  Sure there is good points about having these kinds of dogs and there are bad points about having these kinds of dogs like being to far off to get to are taking you along time to get to them by then you are running a Emergency  Room Clinic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is the only way you are going to stop the sure nuff bad boys out there sure you might get lucky a time are two and run the lungs out of one are two are even a few.    I believe like I said if you gonna have dogs like this they need to be the real deal if not well you gonna be chasin hogs for a long long time.  That being there as soon as the hog is stuck and nailing his ass is the key to me.  You do not let the running get started if you do then they big bad hog has just won the first round and on his way to winning the game.   Once a big bad boar hog 250 / 300 gets going most the time all the nut pulling in the world aint gonna stop him I have seen my dogs drug threw the fields hanging on to nuts and the bad boars never slow down .   Mount that ass as soon as the strike is in and your chances go sky high, let him get started and your odds are very low .

True enough jimmy but if they run they only going to be tired and caught lol

^^^haha! Ok!!

Jimmy how old is that cracker dog of urs and how many real bad hogs has he been on.

Good to know ! We have Ben getting on some running a#s pigs in the cornfields lately !

A friend of mine is a farmer and his dad and uncles and grand paw are to they have some corn fields that are getting hammered. They have seen few big boars out there his other buddy runs dogs to they have missed a few bigger boars so I am going to try to put a stop to em let y'all know what happens 

I agree with texas hog dogger you got to have the right dog that's willing to get hammered on over and over and not quit. your dogs can hold and fight a big hog from the start because they have the energy and the strenghth but if you run that hog until his lungs are about to explode don't you think your dogs lung are in the same shape that's why I hunt rough dogs that everybody  says are suicidle  that's why i don't hane many runners when i do ive already had my but handed to me.

Well didn't get on one so until next time

No I don't think my dogs lungs are same way as the hogs ...... Seen it to many times get on a runner run him forever bay him
Up catch him an my dog rolls out an jumps on another , so if he was just plum wore out then he dang sure wouldn't of been able to run another hog right ??

  x2 ..I seen dogs run 12+ hours an still have some want! 

I have also seen a hog cover about 42 miles in 12 hours and still have some go I feel it was the same hog the whole race he never bayed I shot him when he crossed the road . But I am not positive that a few hogs did not pull a relay on the dogs seeing as I had younger dogs that night. The reason I feel it was the same hog is it was a red boar and about 10 min after they struck a red hog crossed the road with dogs In tow and this place doesn't have many red hogs

When dogs average track speed hits less then 4 mph cold cut another dog, keep doing this until your back with your first dog that might be ready to go again a later!    If you keep the pressure on his butt then he will not have the time to sit up and wait on dogs or take a dip in the water to cool off unless he's bayed.  But every body hunts different, This is just a way I fill if he doesn't want to bay then run his butt into the dirt!   I like culling my pigs that run sometime don't have a choice either.. But finished dogs should be challenged.  I know there's days you can kill them fast and in a hurry but i don't want them to think its always have help or to be easy running his butt either!