i am one in a few on this site and around the hog dog world, but im all about the boxer!!  i raise boxers and i have started to keep some and train.   i have a 6 months old that i think will change some people minds about the boxer.  she is only 6 months old but she is flat out pig crazy.  i let her bite down and hold one time but pulled her off in effort not to ruin her teeth, but she thinks she is big enough to catch a 100 lbs sow we have in a pen.  hopefully one day she will make a great catch dog.  

The  boxer is quite a common x here for holding or as you guys say a "catch dog" ,I have one thats a cross between a boxer & a smithfield ,he a very powerfull dog ,that doesn't know of the word ...bark.

good story, was he 165 gutted? he looks big on your back.

He was 165lbs gutted & while  we never had far to carry him back to the bike , the carry was it was all up hill.

I had been trying to catch a good boar that had been traveling through several blocks at nite ripping up the odd log ,but we hadn't crossed paths ,apart from the bitches jumping & spending several hours looking in each gullie he had spent time in , over the last couple of weeks .It just wasn't working ,taking up heaps of time & getting me no where fast ,so I decided to start several roads over this trip .We hadn't been traveling along for very long when all the dogs jumped at a old crossing coming out of the gorse ,but a check showed heaps of marks but all dryed up & at least a week old .All the dogs were away to the left for ten mintues up a gorse covered fire break,when the two bitches returned & dropped over the right hand side into a deep gorge following the same pig run .The mad boxer x turned up five mintues later & also dropped over the side along with the young fellas young bailer .
They all looked like they weren't coming back as the GPS gear showed them climping up the other side, over the next road ,turning left & entering a large gullie system with no likely hood of them coming back anytime soon ,so I told the young fella ,to stay put ,in case his young dog returned ,while I took off back down the road & up the next ,where the Gps trackers told me the bitches were now 2.3 kms away & the boxer x just ahead of me on the road .As I already had the young 9 month old Monteria hound on board , I picked up the boxer x & roared down the next side road & as I got to where the gear told me the two bitches had crossed  both dogs on the back jumped and followed the path the bitches had already taken .I checked the astro which told me the pair of bitches had climped out of that huge gullie & were crossing another side  road another 1.2kms futher ahead ,so I turned around and drove back to the main drag where I met the young bailer ,with him on board I bolted  up the next side road ,just in time to pick up the boxer x & the monteria ,with them  again on board, I once again checked the astro which told me the bitches were 1.7 kms futher away & crossing another road .So away we went .This main road took me ahead of the dogs ,untill I came to the ist road off to my right,I went down that 3/4 of a km till we reached a short turn off track off to my left ,I took that & it ended at a log dump  ,where the GPS stated one bitch was only 133 mters away & traveling under me ,from my right to my left ,as soon as I stopped the 3 dogs on the back jumped & raced down the face slightly to my left.I could see the other bitch hasn't far behind the ist as I waited ,not sure how far the pig was head .A look on the screen told me the dogs were still traveling left ,down hill about 120 yards & had at 150 yards  passed under the turn off I was on ,so up back onto the main side road I went to be meet by a sight I will never forget ,there was old porky boar ,head nodding up & down panting heavyerly trotting up the middle of the road about 150 yards ahead with the boxer x closing fast ,I waited for a second for both bitches as they climped back up onto the road following the red hot trail ,I yell "get up " & floored the machine ,shot passed boxer ,just missing running him over  :lol: and was only 50 yards behind the boar as he rentered the gorse on a pig run off  the left hand side of the road .I hit the pick so hard the dogs shot over the side hitting the road well ahead of the machine ,both bitches lost their legs & slidded along the gravel on their sides ,& had just got them selves sorted as boxer arrived & along with the bailer they took off into the gorse, all as one unit, in hot pursuit.I  heard the young monteria arrive from behind me ,just before I heard the boar hit the road again,crossing back to the right hand side just ahead of the dogs.He was making his final burst ,over the side down the face ,hoping to make some room between him & the hounds,but it wasn't to be ,I heard the hit  & bust up shortly after .I dived over the side followed by the white beast (pup)& heard little in the time it took me to run down the 80 yards to the battle site .What a scene I witnessed when I arrived the old boar wasn't stopping ,his legs were still pumping ,walking down the gullie dragging the 3 hard head holders ,while the bailer hammer the backend .Every now again he would flick his head up & throw one of the dogs off & it was at one of those moments  that the white pup saw his chance to mix it with the big fellas & locked onto a ear & dropped back on his wheels .The boar kept walking ,smashing the dogs off when he could as he passed old logs .I managed to get  ahold of his tail & pulled back but even with 4 dogs hard on him , each weighting around 70lb & me  he was still making good head way ,he knew all too well ,to stop would mean death.I ended at one point half under the pig ,so thought damn this carry on, I would have to finish it before he got rid of us ALL & bolted  off ,so I chanced a shoulder stick ,which proved to be right on the money as the old boars front legs quickly folded up .At that stage the pup had gone up to where he usually holds on the end of the nose & was still there ,shaking the front half round while the rest of us flopped down in a state of heat exhaustion .Several mintues passed before I took stock of the pig , he was old,half bald but in good nick ,grey in colour with a few patches of black , one tusk was broken off ,while the other was quite long ,but had missed the grinder on the point so was blunt.
I left him where he lay ,loaded up the dogs & went back for the young fella ,who I found lieing back on a bank enjoying the sun ."did we get a pig " he asked ,yes "i'll tell you all about our pig but you tell me all about that young dollybird girl friend you have ist  :lol:  :lol: "
As we drove back the 5 kms to where our pig lay he at one point  asked "where the hell are we going & wheres our hog" .I just smilied and said it was the old battlers last race & he made sure it was a good long one .165lb

I have been using 5 x  DC 30s for about a year hunting here in New Zealand .We don't only have huge hills here but mountains with snow on top near to where we hunt .The radio signal is by far the weak link with this gear ,but we replace the rubber aerial on the reciever with a cable aerial that doubles the range over the factory one ( not as good as the long range aerial but you don't have to carry that around when out in the field)and replace the aerials on the collars with cable aerials that gives another up 30% range .We also srink rap the collars for add protection.

This was the first time I had "drum" out ,hes the white fella and really surpised me at only 5-1/2 months old, he showed alot of hunt that day coming & going for up to ten mintues ,back tracking well . After watching the dogs on this 100lb boar for a few seconds he locked onto the hogs head . :oHis Dam is a pit x lab and his Sire was a great danex greyhound /bull cattle (type of collie).Hes going to make a good dog but  I don't plan on hunting him again till hes much older ,he just needs time to grown & be a pup .

People are over reacting to this. I thought the editor made a decent argument about the negatives of hogs and showed how the catch dog is suppose to be protected.

It would have been best if it did not talk about the dogs getting killed.

However, I would be willing to bet that most of the people here would have liked to brag about their kill and allowed a paper to write an article. That is what almost every post on this forum is about.

Austin is full of idiots and ignorance and he might get some hate mail, but I think it is better to stand up for what we do rather than hide and point fingers.

I can only fully agree,hiding away does nothing to get the general public viewing hunting as a exceptable sport .I saw nothing wrong with the reporters story ,who told it the story of the hunt the way it is ,ruff ,tuff ,down & dirty.The only thing I would question is the hunters choice of a .22 to kill large hogs is that a law thing in more populated areas over in the states? I'm sure the hunter feels bad about wounding the animal ,something that can happen no matter what  gun is used ,but once you do so ,that tends to make for one mad hog .

Nice!

I always find the kind of dogs Y'all run interesting. It sure looks like they get it done.

Steve

Years ogo hunters had one finder (strike dog) and a pair of holders (catch dogs),but now days most hunters run more the type of dog that can get the whole job done ,find (strike),bail (bay)& hold (catch).We don't use hounds ,but we do cross pits & AMBD over collies & labs here to give us the type of dog we want .Our strike dogs get very good at pulling up a running pig ,going flat out down hill in  tight & very thick cover.Bull ,cattle(type of collie) greyhound is one of the most popular cross breeds we like to use .While we may use different terms when talking about hunting ,hunt  in a different type of cover & country ,pighunting using dogs is just about the same where ever you live in the world and the one thing we all share is the love of chasing & trying to catch a wild hog .

Good pictures and nice looking country. Hope you not going far with those hogs....that doesnt seem fun....but then again....Im pretty lazy.

Oh the pain!!! ;Dsometimes we carry them for miles ,& that s up & down hills for miles .

You could not only see this happen but you could feel the bite if you lived here me ,once you have been bitten by a ferret ,thats plenty and you won't want to happen again .

We always weight our pigs dead weight gutted ,this black & white boar went 160lb -170lbs dead weight so guessing it would have weighted 220lbs alive .




This is my new bitch engish staff bull x boxer ,a good med find & straight hard catch ,shes not a big dog but has the heart of a lion .

We strap them up and then carry them out of the hills like a pack.

We caught this 140lb boar (dead weight ) hiding in some  very thick prickly cover we have here called Gorse .


This is another one of dogs boxer x smithfield (a type of collie)hes also a very hard med find & straight hard catch .

Des, one to two years old is what I go by. Any dog under a year old is just an immature puppy.

Yes, there are dogs that start early. I've seen way too many dogs culled, ruined and even killed on hogs because their owners pushed to hard and expected to much from them.

I don't even start a young dog in the woods anymore until they are a year old. Let them be a puppy the first year. Get a handle on them, socialize them, show them what a hog is... then haul them to the woods with the older dogs.

I couldn't agree more mike ,I don't like starting a dog before its at least 10 -12 months old ,but once started I never leave them at home & get as many pigs into them as I can while they are still young.

Sorry to hear about your dog ,we all lose dogs from time to time and no matter how many we lose  over the years it NEVER gets any easyer .R.I.P Judy

is there ferral ferretts in new zealand?? my mates dad killed one while he was over there tahr huntin??

Yes ferrets are found out living in the wild,you find good numbers of them where there are enough rabbits for them to eat .They eat alot ,something like every 3 hours and up to 8 times per 24 hours as they have very small stomachs and eat alittle offen.They are very good hunters & have a  good tracking nose for finding the rabbit deep under ground ."ferreting" or using ferrets to hunt with is a very old ,almost lost form of hunting ,which was at one time a very common passed time ,practiced most sunday afternoons to keep  the whole family in fresh meat for the week .

Staffy as in Staffordshire??    So you've got a Staff and Mastiff cross?  HOW is that gonna run a fast hog down?
Obviously you're getting it done on a few hogs, just giving you chit   BTW, I had an Aussie run me over in Colorado(long story) and I still tend to get a little "testy" with Assies.... I mean Aussies

The Kiwi's I've met are all, a nice bunch.   Much more pleasant than any "Aussie"  I've been around. 

Truthfully, I believe "Aussies" are more like "Americans" than  Americans are even willing to realize.  The same, arrogant, ignorance that alienates those that are not "like" us.

Sorry for the rant Pilli, I've had a few bad experiences with a few Aussies and I realize it doesn't represent you all.

Us kiwi don't like the buggers either ,after they "whip" the all blacks &   get "Dingo deans" to show they all our tricks.

ferrets are illegal to own where i live

Don't let that stop you!!

We all as hunters know all too well the feeling of losing a dog ,but its doublely worst when you can 't find its body to give your buddy a desent send off .Hopefully he will turn up alive in the next few days .Good luck .

The weather here in New Zealand is generally never too hot during the summer or too cold during the winter BUT if, as people do ,get "lost" while ,tramping or hunting in heavy bush and the weather turns ruff that can & does cost people their lives .The hunt above was on a sheep & cattle station out in the big open country ,but the pigs can be found in all manner & types of country ,from the open scrub land to heavy bush and the large pine forests we have in here .The bigger pigs know how to survive when they are "found " by a dog .They are usually found high on the side of a hill and take off,racing for the bottom,if you think a pig can run quite fast on the flat ,try a steep thickly wooded hill where they easyly out strip the dogs on the down hill run.That makes for tuff but enjoyable hunting .

I use a gundog or some type of terrier to tell me if there is in fact a rabbit in the hole ,then you can either pop a catch net over the hole or just use the shotgun as the rabbit bolts out at top speed.The ferret after it has been entered into the hole gos down deep using its nose to "find" the rabbit and will attack either killing it or moving to on to bolt out .We sometimes run them down with a running dog ,usually a greyhound or whippet after they bolt .

Yes ,its late winter here and still cold & wet .

 we have to pack our pigs up and down some very steep hills ,sometimes for miles .

while I havn't owned this bitch for very long I have found that shes not only a very nice natured bitch ,clean around all manner of "other " animals ,but can find a hog up to med range and catches them hard!!


This 100lb boar bolted down to the river to make its last stand .

This boar took some time to get it out and back to the truck as this type of country with its rock bluffs is very dangerous ground to hunt in .

The next day my 3 year old pit bull x lab and a 14 month old hunterway (type of collie) x staffie counted for this 140lb boar ,they caught after a long down hill race .The pig had one good tusk the other was broken off .