I really think it depends on how hard they are hunted. I think there are several variables involved. 35 years or so ago, I could count on one hand the number of hoghunters in two states by me. La. and Ms. We had open woods and the hogs(mostly feral) bayed up pretty quick. When the russians were brought in, they seemed to run a lot more. In the last 20 years or so, hoghunters have exploded. Hogs both feral and Russians get a lot more pressure put on them. Add cutovers to the mix and they are a lot harder to run down. Pigs learn early about running and if they are not caught when young, they continue to run. I also think it is about the dogs. Some dogs put to much pressure at a bay and the hogs break and run. Two schools of thought here, you have to be tough enough to catch and hold him or just back up and bay. If I was serious about catching hogs I would only put one dog out and send two bulldogs. jmo Since I am not that serious about it we will usually put a few dogs out at a time. That usually leads to a broken bay and a race. None of this is written in stone and every place is different. Then you just have some dogs that have the touch. These kind of dogs just seem to get bayed no matter what.
I will say that hogs in the marsh are the easiest hogs we have. They tend to bay pretty quick. If you get one that wants to run aways it will almost always be a good boar.
I agree with all you said...the only thing I will add is the evolution aspect of hog dogging...the hogs that wanted to stop and fight got caught and this eliminated them from breeding...survival of the fittest...as the dogs got better the fittest hogs survive to breed another day...it doesn’t take many generations for the cream to rise to the top...
