Message #73547

[WAARHEID]

Personally, I prefer bay-and-shoot.

But I also enjoy catch-and-stick/catch-and-tie. And while I've been on numerous hogs in Florida where shooting has worked just fine, SFboarbuster makes a really good point. I've also been in groups in Florida where the dogs put us on hogs in crazy thick palmetto brush where there was no way you could ever get a safe shot. In those situations you better have good CD or you're coming home empty handed.

Since there never seems to be any shortage of CD's, frankly, I'd rather someone else bring the CD. I don't like seeing dogs cut down in general, but I like it even less when it's one of my dogs, so I don't want my dogs catching, I want them to stop them, and then back up and bay.

I didn't start hunting until I was in my twenties, and I started with a bow. Picking up a bow -before- you ever pick up a firearm will teach you patience, and about learning to wait until the shot is right.  I didn't start doing dog work until several years later, and I stated bird hunting. Surrounded by people and dogs that you care about, and low flying quail, it will make you very cautious about when you pull the trigger, and when you just let it fly away.

A few years after that, I took a job doing outdoor and firearms education with the conservation dept. I got instructor level certifications for Hunter Ed, Bowhunter Ed, National Archery in the Schools Program, and NRA Range Safety Officer and began facilitating public/private/CCW/local/state/federal LE quals and tac scenarios at our dept owned ranges. In those years that I spent living and breathing Outdoor Ed and the civilian/LE shooting sports what did I learn? If someone likes to call themselves a gun or firearms "expert"... get low and run the other way, as fast as you can. The real experts are humble, are aware of how much they have yet to learn every day, and are painfully aware of just how "easy" it is to hurt yourself or hurt someone else. Needless to say, I won't let just anyone bird hunt over my dogs, and I won't let just anyone pig hunt over my dogs. I have to know that the shooter will approach the bay with skill and sobriety.

Beyond the mindset of the shooter, I want ammunition that does maximum damage internally, but stays in the head/body cavity more often than not. For this, my preference is Federal's Law-Enforcement-restricted 12ga Hydra-Shok Slugs.