that one hog

I have 3 stories that come to mind...

The first one is short and it was not a hog that had a story behind it...We went hunting in a place where there were lots of gators and we did not know this...I lost my best dog to one there and later found out it was a bad place to run dogs...another reason is that there is a light plant there and it makes all radio telemetry pick up in all directions so tracking dogs will not work...My buddy had lost a dog there also and we went hunting to see if the dogs would come to a bay if they were still around...We found out at about this time about the gators from other doggers that had hunted there that had quit on account of the gators eating their dogs and also the tracking issues to boot...

We got all our dogs back from hunting except for my buddies dog which was a walker and ridgeback cross...he was making a sure enough good hog dog...he never bayed much maybe 5 barks a minute when he was baying alone...We parked on the road side waiting on this dog. I Thought I heard him way on out to our left at about 10:30 from our location...it just so happened that this road would make a few left turns after we traveled straight for a little ways and it would hopefully put us close to the bayed dog...we already had taken off the vest on the 2 catch dogs on account we were leaving...

once we made our way around we slowed down and were stopping and listening. We heard a bark and we stopped to try and pin point his location when he pulls out in front of us...we agreed on a hasty decision to catch the hog...without vests would be ok so we thought...the bay was maybe 100 yards in and fairly open country and we didn't have permission on this place but it was about midnight or so...I tell my buddy to start running towards the bay and when he got close to wait on the catch dogs...The plan was to turn in the slowest dog first yet he was the best catch dog we had...then my American bulldog and cat cross and finally the Airedale I owned...the plan was to stagger the dogs in so that they would get there at the same time...

Well it seemed only a minute went by and my hunting partner was screaming for me to come help...I really didn't want to leave the truck because there was a plan B...So I could here it in his voice that I needed to get there quick...

When I got there my catch dog was no more and his red bull dog was as game as he could be...was off and laying on his side...he was crawling back for one more hold before he toppled over...I told my buddy that I was going to sic my Airedale on him and I was going to grab the rear legs and as soon as that was done for him to stick the hog...the Airedale was fairly good but not what you call a reliable catch dog...I sic'ed the Airedale and he grabbed the ear and threw his shoulder against the hogs shoulder and I reached for rear legs and they were big around and he was heavy to pick up...especially because they were slightly muddy...I grabbed him and my buddy dispatched him...he might of weighed 400 pounds and he was floppy eared like a barnyard hog...he didn't appear to have quickness or speed but he was a brute... He had about 3 or more inches hanging out from both sides...