Mother Nature and Changing Hogs .

[TexasHogDogs]

LOL

Now I now this is gonna set off the fireworks but now lets all get it out our systems without all the dynamite going off .

To me over the past few years are more the hogs have changed .  They have changed from easy to bay and catech kinda hogs to running there butts off stop and fight then leave again and don't stop till the sun comes up again kinda hogs.  Now I know that the people have helped the hogs along with running hogs with anything from Pick A Poos to Pet Poodles with painted toe nails .  So yeah they have changed noting stays the same with Mother Nature involved she is culling the hogs and we the hunters are culling the hogs so these hogs are getting doubled culled .  That leaves only the best of the best for the most part to be bred and lets just say it .  The best runners are the ones left to breed .  So we are making theses hogs they way they are.  They have changed whether somebody wants to admit that are not we have changed them and Mother Nature has changed them are in the process of changing them into super hogs .

Were does that leave us ?  Well in my own opinion we have to now adapt our styles to counter their new styles and if that means ruffer,faster, smarter, bittem in the butt catch a ear kinda dogs thats just what it means .  I know in the older days you could take two bay dogs and go out and they would find and bay hogs and hold em but for the most part from what I have seen on the hogs we have here the bigger badder hogs and even some of the littler ones that ain't happening much you better have a dog that can catch a ear are a set of wavles and hang on at least in my part of the woods were I hunt you better.  Then have all the dogs helping on the bigger ones till you are the catch dog can get there.

Now I don't like to admit this either but the hogs are changing and the way I see it either we can change with them and find ways to counter their actions are we can be left to chasing hogs all day and half the nite leading to trouble trespassing tickets and pissed off land owners .

Anyway I myself am changing my ways and changing my dogs to adapt and counter the new generation of  hogs that are upon us .

Just me .  Might not be the right way but it is my way and it is proven to stop hogs and to me that is what this is all about .  Am sure there are other ways and I would like to hear each and every way there is cause when you think you know it all is when you are done in this game !

[TexasHogDogs]

O yeah and I didnt even mention the Choppers chasing and killing them .  Do ya think the ones that got away learned anything from that ? 

Whats left ?  The best of the best of running hogs !

[Lance]

Hogs use to bay all day long and I loved watching my dogs bay on a hog, especially a big sounder. I used to not want a bay dog to put a single tooth on a hog. I wanted them to stand back 8 to 10 feet and circle while baying so I could watch until I decided to cut a CD loose or pick which hog I wanted to shoot. I still want a dog to stand back if a hog will stand for a bay but if they try to run I want them to do what they have to to stop them. It's dang near impossible to get that perfect medium. It always seems that when you add some of one trait you loose some of the other. I deffinetly believe that we are creating the runners. They are adapting to their surroundings, dogs and hunting styles and we must adapt with them. I wish we could go back to the days before there were 10 hog hunters on every street corner. I don't mean this in a bad way towards the new or young hunters. I just wish yall could have seen how it was when a hog would bay for hours ! You did'nt worry about a dog with lots of bottom because you really did'nt need it very often. You wanted a dog with lots of stay and by that I mean a dog that would stay in one spot and bay a hog for hours until you could get to it. You did'nt have to worry about getting in a hurry to go to a bayed dog, the dog and the hog would be there when you got there.

[Reuben]

LOL


To me over the past few years are more the hogs have changed .  They have changed from easy to bay and catech kinda hogs to running there butts off stop and fight then leave again and don't stop till the sun comes up again kinda hogs.  Now I know that the people have helped the hogs along with running hogs with anything from Pick A Poos to Pet Poodles with painted toe nails .  So yeah they have changed noting stays the same with Mother Nature involved she is culling the hogs and we the hunters are culling the hogs so these hogs are getting doubled culled .  That leaves only the best of the best for the most part to be bred and lets just say it .  The best runners are the ones left to breed .  So we are making theses hogs they way they are.  They have changed whether somebody wants to admit that are not we have changed them and Mother Nature has changed them are in the process of changing them into super hogs .

Jimmy...I agree with what you said...and I will add that mother nature does not make mistakes when culling...there is no comprimising...and as the dogs get better the hogs get better at fighting and running...and again...no comprimising...

but on the other hand...we as hunters and hunting dog breeders make plenty of mistakes when breeding better hunting dogs...and why is that???because we are HUMAN... 

[jassenswisher1974]

Where I hunt.... Our hogs run, always have, and always will. We started noticing on the garmin that they would run similar escape routes. We changed our tactics. We use plotts and we also bear hunt and bobcat hunt the same plotts we use for hogs. We bear hunt in WV and the houndsmen there will cut dogs in on a bear because the 100-150lb bear dont tree much and they have to be bayed or fought on the ground. Bears are runners....so are the hogs where I hunt. We take 3 groups when we hunt and keep a guy in the truck to watch the garmin and when a hound strikes we hope to anticipate where the hog will run. We are really doing a lot better. We have a low hog population and where  we are its a challenge but we adapted and we are baying a lot more. It makes hog hunting more inclusive and the whole group can share in the hunt even if their dog just lined out the track and another groups dog stopped it and bayed it.
BTW...The hogs that bayed up easy are dead and nature culled the weak out in a hurry.

jmo
swish

[Wmwendler]

O yeah and I didnt even mention the Choppers chasing and killing them .  Do ya think the ones that got away learned anything from that ? 

Whats left ?  The best of the best of running hogs !

From my experience, the hogs that beat the choppers are the ones that squat and hide. The runners are the ones that get caught out in the open and killed.  I don't know about you but hogs that tend to squat and hide have always been the best to bay for me.  I think the ones that survive the choppers are selected in our favor.

A man could change his tactics and dogs, and it might make a tiny bit of difference.  I could go on about what sort of tactics and dogs make hogs run but most people don't want to hear it.  A lot of them believe it is the way to stop running hogs.  If you really wanted to change the hogs,  the only way to make these hogs better is to breed it out of them.  Pour good blooded hog genetics to them and see how fast they change.  If a man had a good chunk of country and time he could effectively change the hogs from wild and spoilt..... to free ranging livestock that could be gathered and penned.

waylon 

[T-Bob Parker]

My opinion don't mean a hill o beans, but I say whatever your gonna have, you'd better have the best ones you can get your hands on.

If your secret weapon will be grit, then have some good smart grit

If it's working ability, then they'd better be some graceful hog charmers

If it's speed, then everytime a hog bays you'd better see him sucking wind and stroking out

If it's bottom, then you Oughta have the confidence to pack lunch and dinner and maybe breakfast too!

All of those qualities are good here or there. All I'm saying us whatever your prejudice is, be commented to it and always be striving to have the best at it.

[TexasHogDogs]

Yup you are right Waylon.

But I got to tell you guys something.  As much as we all grip and raise cane about these running hard to catch stand and fight a while take off again kinda hogs.

I got to tell you guys ,  I myself am about as competitive as a person can get and if the hogs were all easy just run 25 yds and bay up then fight like a girl scout I do not think I would be in this game long.  It would just not be any competition and I would loose my interest very very quick and go pick up a ole lady sewing class to bide my time.

Yeah I grip about the running bad hogs but that is what makes it a great great sport to me the big bad Joe Frazier/Mike Tyson hogs that are special fighters and survives and the triathlon athletes running hogs these are what push me to make better and better dogs .  Without this it just would not be a challenge to me and I would soon fade on off the grid .  Sure I like a good solid bay and watch my dogs ,  sure I like to go out at times and have a short race end in a great hog are bunch of  hogs but if it were this easy the challenge would be go the challenge to get it done the challenge to breed better dogs , the challenge and pushing of even myself to be in better shape .

I don't know folks we all grip and raise cane about these runners but do we really want them gone are do we love the challenge and a really griping because we don't have the best dogs yet to get the job done and that people is what keeps me on the edge of my seat and pushes me every year to improve my dogs .    Without this it would just be another game of no competition .  If I knew I was gonna win every time I went out I would soon be a dead sport to me .

Just saying lots of times we are blessed in many different ways and we never even realize it .

[jassenswisher1974]

@TexasHogDogs... well put. If it was that easy we wouldnt even stick in this. well put

[Reuben]

I am going to throw in a monkey wrench...

I need a 100-125 pound pig to train some pups a couple of times...so...we are going tomorrow morning to this place that is too thick to ride 4 wheelers in and it is hard walking in it...I am talking about the whole place is that way except for a few trails...We know that gritty dogs won't work very well because a dog is at a big disadvantage when a hog breaks and runs in this place...so all the gritty dogs are staying home and one old mt. cur dog is running alone...he is a great old strike dog and alone he bays loose and when the hogs break he sticks with it and usually after about an hour or so the hog/hogs settle down with only him running...the plan is to have 2 other dogs on leash and these are rough dogs and both are 1/2 pit 1/2 mt cur...this set up works pretty good as long as it doesn't get used too much in one place...

this strike dog gets rough with help so alone he will be casted...

[MrsLouisianaHogDog]

I think that hogs haven't been around so long due to bein stupid. I think that like everything else they evolve, and adapt to their conditions to survive. I THINK that maybe since there's more folks hog doggin now.....that they are learning that they need to run for their lives to get away, and that's exactley what they're doing. We seem to get less runners when we run less dogs for some reason......