All joking aside. I do believe you can catch more hogs with one silent dog out then you will with open dogs. (did I just say that
) I used to have this place to hunt & the hogs were good russian hogs & they were runners. I told a friend about this place & he told me if he got the hog jumped with his plots they would run the hog down so I said bring them on. Bottom line, we ran hogs all weekend & never caught a hog. In the same place, I caught 32 hogs that winter with just one silent dog out. That is not all I bayed but what I caught with that one dog out & a bulldog. I have caught plenty of hogs in that area with the Plotts but I caught way more in that area with that one cur.
That being said, I have had Plotts out by there selves & they have bayed plenty of hogs for me while opening, cold trailing to the hog.I really believe some dogs just have the knack for getting bayed & not busting the bay whether they are open or silent. There are so many factors that determine if a hog will stay bayed or run & I believe the biggest factor is how much the hogs are dogged.
Getting back to that cur dog, he was dead silent & the only way he would bark is if the hog was facing him bayed & I have seen him run 4-6 hours & the hog might stop & I would hear 3 or 4 barks & the hog would break & the race would be on again & that is with a silent dog.
Like said above if a hog breaks, speed & endurance is what you need & it does not matter if a dog is open or not, once the hog breaks.
It all boils down to personal preference & how much land you have to hunt. I want a dog to put a effort in to catching a hog & if we do not catch him,I love to hear the race but that is just me.
