Usually one dog by itself will bay a big hog but will catch most anything less than 100-125 lbs. by themselves. It usually depends on how thick it is where the hog is stopped and how much fight the hog has. I have had them catch 150 lb hogs by themselves and bay 80 lb hogs in a briar thicket. But usually when I turn another dog to them, they are going to catch, so we get close before we do turn a second dog loose. My idea is to get the hog off his feet as quick as we can, once the second dog gets there. I don't want two or three dogs on the ground at one time and have them catch a bad boar half a mile or so away as they are going to get wrecked..... so I usually hunt one dog at a time and "hope" they bay!
Here is a 210 lb hog we caught at 1:30 AM in 10' high palmettos. My Monkey dog and my young Spur dog tried the hog but couldn't hold it. We thought it must be a big hog as we heard the impact as they tried to catch then both went to baying. We turned another Fla cur to them and it was a caught hog.
I had some bad luck last summer though, my Monkey dog caught a 80-90 lb sow, we legged it and he relayed on another hog. We tied the sow and listened for Monkey but couldn't hear him. We tracked him and he was bayed in a cypress swamp a ways from us. We loaded the sow and drove closer to him. We could drive within about 100 yards of where he was bayed, so I sent my hunting buddy to him. About the time he should have gotten to Monkey, I let a female cur out of the box to go to him. I should have led her, but I figured he was close to the hog...hindsight....anyway, she got there and I heard them catch, or try to. The hog broke and they stopped it within 50 yards in a thick swamp and tried to catch again. The hog broke again and then I heard BOTH dogs baying. I got there and it was a 200+ lb hog with no ears and it had broken my females bottom jaw, and it was hanging down...thats why she couldn't catch. That was a $450 vet bill to get her jaw put back together...........and the vet says don't hunt her as he can't fix it again as it was broken in several places.
The very next week I got my Monkey dog cut down and bled out by a different hog ... and he was the only dog on the hunt...but thats a different story!!
