my sam houston NF hunt today....

[duece24]

well got mix emotions about the hunt today....put the dogs on some sign..actually tons of sign. most of it was old, to start off with. my youngin, kristen, doesn't range out real far without coming back to me(left her first time in the woods, cause i couldn't find her, so i think now she wants to make sure i don't leave her again:-/) . well we went the other direction and seen WWWAAAYYYY more sign and it was a little more fresh. well my sye dog cut out. he hunted hard today.

he never showed me a hog. i was tracking him and while i was tracking him i stumbled on some hogs. well kristen winded them and ran to them. didn't bark just ran to about 3yds from them and looked. the hogs ran about 20yds and he ran to them again and just looked(the whole time was telling her to 'get a hog' 'good girl, go get em'. didn't bark didn't do nothing just looked. just as i seen the hogs i get a call, game warden has my dog at the boat ramp. so none the less I seen hogs but sye(the one who needed to see a hog) didn't.

as i was walking to the boat ramp(about 2miles away) all i saw was freshly rooted up ground, some with some MONSTER tracks. so i wasn't too mad a my boy cause at least he was on hog tracks and didn't bump a deer not even once....so +'s he hunted hard, he was tracking hogs, ranged out and was trying to follow the tracks.......-'s he didn't get a hog...well see what happens next week. gonna go again next week to the same place and see if i can have any more luck.

[Mike]

Glad you got 'em out there.

There's some big hogs out in that forest.

[duece24]

Glad you got 'em out there.

There's some big hogs out in that forest.

i charge the offer to lack of experience. sye was hunting something serious. i mean gone for 20+min, circling back this way and that(i now cause i was tracking every 50yds are so). hoping to put him on fresh sign earlier and hope he gets him one. he is a pretty quick learner, so maybe 3 - 4 straight weekends in the woods and seeing hogs might solidify what i want from him, and maybe start up that gyp i got...again man i'm really sorry to hear about blue...i was really hoping to run sye with him some more, so he could pick up the tricks of the trade from a good 'un

[madshark]

Duece,
How long does the dog season run in the SHNF.

Mark

[duece24]

honestly don't know...been looking in the booklet and can't seem to find an answer..

edit....found the answer...Dogs may be used to hunt feral hogs during the Feb. 1-Mar. 30 period..well guess i'm grounded once again...i'll figure something out...

re-edit....i figured something out....i can run the dogs and catch hogs i just don't have to kill the hogs. kinda like catch and release..basically take the dogs out and take them on training hunts, getting them on as many hogs as possible.

[jml]

Josh, you might want to check in to that, I'm not sure thats gonna work.

[HIPOCKETS]

Josh, you might want to check in to that, I'm not sure thats gonna work.

YEP THAT DOG AINT GONNA HUNT..LOL

[Mike]

Yeah you might want to double check on that one.

Huntin' is huntin' just like fishin' is fishin'.

[duece24]

hunting is defined as To capture, trap, take, or kill, and includes any attempt to capture, trap, take, or kill...i'm not going to capture, trap, take or kill the hogs, just let the dogs run them and bay them....but i do see where i would get in trouble...i'm grounded once again...i'll figure something out

[aladatrot]

Deuce,
 
Your Kristen dog hasn't ever bayed on a hog without another dog to get her started (at least not while we had her). I always used my aussie to get her started, then called the aussie to stop baying, allowing Kristen to continue. Then I'd let the aussie chime in again. This gave the pup a chance to keep baying alone, but end the session with her buddy again. She's always had a buddy there for backup. It's likely that without her "buddy", she wasn't sure about barking those hogs. I have a feeling she will bay like a champ again as soon as she gets on hogs with a friend.

These dogs with hound in them are a little slower to mature and turn on than your average cur dog, so I am told. We had a catahoula that I swear came out of the womb baying hogs. Not that she ended up any better than our hound, she just started sooner.  Have patience, and maybe get Kristen in the woods with a dog that won't range out too far and too fast. Perhaps you need a "puppy trainer" dog - an older dog that is outdated in someone else's pack. It may not burn up the woods anymore, but it is tried and true for finding hogs. Once that pup builds her confidence, she should turn out great.
Good Luck!
M

[duece24]

oh yeah...i ain't giving up on her just yet...it'll take her a while to get going. i still think she has all the tools to be an avg to above avg hog dog. it really is amazing to see how athletic she is. i mean she will be running full out and in a hiccup turn on a dime to the left or right without loosing any speed, then in 5-6 steps she'll jump 2-3ft in the air to clear something. her ability is through the roof. she winded the hogs and ran to them so technically she "found" her first hog, she just didn't bay it. like you said she doesn't quite know what i want her to do just yet.

the thing i'm most happy about is that she hasn't trashed yet. deer have jumped in front of her and she didn't take it, rabbits jumped in front of her she didn't take, but when she smelled hog she ran to them. there are tons of positives i can take from this weekend. the negatives can easily be made positives with some more exposure. i just need to figure out a solution to my current problem(please see above...lol).

[aladatrot]

The finding the hogs but not baying the first time is familiar. Her brother from this same litter did the same thing his first time out. He struck the hogs but didn't quite know what to do about it. He went through all the "baying" motions and didn't start barking until the real strike dog got there. That dude has been striking hogs ever since. He was the big yellow male in the litter.

M

[duece24]

The finding the hogs but not baying the first time is familiar. Her brother from this same litter did the same thing his first time out. He struck the hogs but didn't quite know what to do about it. He went through all the "baying" motions and didn't start barking until the real strike dog got there. That dude has been striking hogs ever since. He was the big yellow male in the litter.

M

sounds good...i mean she's what, 8-9months...i felt she did pretty good...she isn't really a nose to the ground dog, nose is always up, every so often will she put it to the ground....sye is more nose down type(he is a true hound, so not too suprising). sye has a colder nose so they might be each other's ying and yang...sye can start it, she is right with him, then when she catches wind she's gone like the wind....we'll see how it all plays out...just got to keep put them both in the woods together so they learn to use each other...