We have watched hogs avoid dogs from helicopters and also ran hogs with radio collars on them. In general, it is 50/50 if they line out and leave the county at first bark. I am amazed at how many move ahead of barking dogs, but just enough to hide here and there, playing cat and mouse. It does not seem to matter if the hog is dog wise or not, the strategy they use to evade dogs is not always "line out and leave." Wild hogs are the most successful survivor on the planet, except for maybe roosterroaches (note: the auto censor on this board will not let me use the 4-letter word ahead of "roach" for a common bug - puts in "rooster" instead --- interesting!
) and man. They did not earn that distinction by using only one strategy to avoid men with dogs.
I was a dyed-in-the-wool silent cur man for 20 years. As of the last ten years, I have seen some semi-open curs and pure hounds, as long as they are fast on the track and willing to bite a departing hog on the rump, do as good on packs of dog wise hogs as any silent dogs, maybe even better. But where I hunt, if your dog does not go over 1,000 yards, even a mile after a hog, you will never get one. Why? Because as of the last five years, they have removed over 200 hogs off this small place with 100% silent dogs. That is 100% silent full pitt bull RCDs and pitt x BMCs. Anything that does not run here does not breed its own kind. The runners that are left breed more of their kind. They hear a 4-wheeler, hear a horse snort, smell a dog , hear a dog, its a race from the start. No easy hogs left.
