Barr hogs!?!

[TShelly]

Just a couple questions for the people out there routinely catchIng or that have caught barr's!
1.) what % of barr hogs that you catch are actually hogs you cut yourself?
2.) how are they usually laying... By themselves, with sows, with boar hogs, other barr's???
3.) do you usually have longer races bc they've been caught before or short ones cuz they're fat and outta shape??
4.) what's everyone ear mark??
5.) (ole timers) does anyone know why people bob their tails?? Is it strictly for identifying it as a barr(kinda frustrating to catch a 300lb hog w/ 3" stub for a tail)
6.)what % of boar hogs that you cut survive to become barrs??
7.) post any interesting pictures or stories of  your past barr hogs....     

[BarrNinja]

Just a couple questions for the people out there routinely catchIng or that have caught barr's!
1.) what % of barr hogs that you catch are actually hogs you cut yourself?
2.) how are they usually laying... By themselves, with sows, with boar hogs, other barr's???
3.) do you usually have longer races bc they've been caught before or short ones cuz they're fat and outta shape??
4.) what's everyone ear mark??
5.) (ole timers) does anyone know why people bob their tails?? Is it strictly for identifying it as a barr(kinda frustrating to catch a 300lb hog w/ 3" stub for a tail)
6.)what % of boar hogs that you cut survive to become barrs??
7.) post any interesting pictures or stories of  your past barr hogs....     

1.) very low %. The places I have been hunting regularly here lately dont have many barrs and I have only recently changed out a few boars myself
2.) I find them with groups of sows and smaller boars but have found 2 together on a few occasions.
3.) depends on the barr. No pattern noticed.
4.) dont have a mark myself
5.) I cut tails for deer feeder identification. Helps the deer hunters identify the barrs as the better eatn ones.
6.) All that I know of. You gotta do it right and fast or their survival % drops dramatically. No different than show hogs. Get it done and let em go ASAP.
7.) No dramatic stories other than releasing them after changing em out. They usually aint real happy about it. lol I will say that they seem to get smarter or maybe think their way out of a situation a little better than the average hog. Maybe its because the lack of a pair of nuts they tend to think entirely with their big head.

[Cutter Bay Kennels]

One of the guys in my hunting club places an ear tag for livestock on all the hogs he turns back loose after a catch.  He carries a book in his truck.  I have been with him when we caught boars, cut them, marked them, took weights and markings, and turned them back loose.  He said he has received word on several occations that barrs he cut himself were caught 12 miles in a straight line through the woods in other clubs.  I was with him this year when we caught a nice big barr that went around 235#.  He said that it was one of only a handful of hogs that he has ever recaught himself.  He never did tell me what he found in his book as far as what he weighed when he was originally caught.  I can assure you the meanest rankest hogs that I have had the pleasure of catching with my dogs, were barrs.   None of them were barred by me.  People who think barrs are wimps, have not caught a bunch.  That I am sure of.  I've barred plenty myself, and I will continue to do so.  

As for the tail cutting, generally a lot of hunters around here will do it so that their club members will notice that it is a barr from the treestand.  They like to shoot them with bow and arrows.  That way you don't have dead boar hogs that no one wants to eat.  They would rather shoot a barr, than a sow feeding pigs (future barrs   )  If you keep killing the sows, you will have nothing to hunt.  

[Cutter Bay Kennels]

Here's one that is a barr now.

http://www.easttexashogdoggers.com/forum/index.php?topic=9739.msg87537#msg87537

Here is a big barr we caught several years back as a mount

http://www.easttexashogdoggers.com/forum/index.php?topic=9738.msg87288#msg87288

Here is a bad barr we got on.

http://www.easttexashogdoggers.com/forum/index.php?topic=9048.msg80709#msg80709

[TexasJ]

"Clint" on this board in the Texas Barr god!  He should know all there is to know...

[clint]

TexasJ thats funny lol

1) Not very good percent... usally when you cut them they leave country.
2) Have caught them laying with barrs,boars,sows and by themselves. mostly they lay with other barrs or alone.
3) They usally bay right where they get on them, occasionally they run but not far.
4) dont have a ear mark just cut the switch off their tails. so you can still use it as a handle.
5) lots of people bob tails for identification for stand hunters.
6) Not really a way of knowing.. unless you catch alot that you've cut
7) Know a guy that told me a few years ago that they cut a boar and they caught him again the next day on another lease and they GPS'd it at 8 miles as the crow flies.
i will post some pics later,, bout to go huntin

[bolo]

1. I probably catch back 10% of what I mark. If cut & marked as shoats, they seem to stay in the area. Old boars go to the 4 winds. 2.They may be alone, with other bars, or with sows & shoats.3. As a general rule they don't run as bad ,probably because they are usualy fat & just stand &fight.4. I mark with a crop & hole in left ear & crop in right & bob tail.5. I consider the bob tail as part of the mark.6. If the hog is handled right(not eat up by ruff dogs & released as soon as you mark & castrate) almost all survive if done in cool weather.

[Florida Curdog]

We cut, mark and release about 95% of the hogs we catch. Here is one that we cut about 2 months before catching him again in the same area.  We released him again to let him grow.                             Here is a picture from the night we caught and cut him and one of his buds.           

[BigAinaBuilt]

Since I was a kid I've cut and released (My uncles did 99% of the cutting) well over 100 boars and have caught 5 in all that time. Here in hawaii the mark is just a notch in their ear so there really is no telling which is yours. Majority of the pigs we catch are loners unless it's a momma and her babies. I've noticed the barrs like to sit and fight more but have had a few smart ones take off. I've heard a few reasons why guys cut off tails and ears from marking um after being cut to making it harder for the next guy to catch which in turn lets the pig get even bigger. I don't do it. I've wondered what % of them make it on a few occasions. I've recently started using numbered ear tags that also have my name printed on them and then I write in the date caught but have yet to recatch one yet or hear of someone else talking about the tag.

[parker]

it seems  to be  if  you cut a  mature  boar we call a  stagg after  cutt ....they will bed  with another  boar or barr ........if  you cutt a  small  boar while  he  is  still  bunched with  his litter  he'll stay  with  em  till they die  out .... or  he  gets  killed .....in traps  and  dogs  i  probably  cut  50 a  year  and kill about 7  or  so a  winter ...... no  telling how  many times  you  bay  and  it  busts  and a  good barr  is  still standing there ....i  used  to  hold  my  old  black  dog  and  if  the  bay  busted  on  what  i  figured  was  barr  sign ....i'd  wait  and  send  him  about  20   minutes and  some times  he'd  bay  where  the  bay  broke  and  there  woul d be  the  barr still in the  bed ....