Who's the best?

[t-dog]

I'll get right to the point. Who is the absolute best dog [strike/bay] you have ever hunted with, yours or not. My pick was an ol' bluetick/cat cross that was converted over to hogs from coons. He's as close to perfect for my taste as I have seen. He belonged to my buddies uncle and his name was "SPOOK". When this dude hit the ground, he left. The next time you saw him you were looking at pork. He didn't just hunt, he knew where and how to hunt. I never saw another dog strike ahead of him once or come in behind where he had already been and strike and I made more than a couple hunts with him. He could wind as good as any, or line out a cold track that most of the others would never acknowledge. If he found it he was gonna bay it until you got there. Running wasn't a real wise option for mister pig. No matter how rank or how big, it had better pay attention to this dog. He would usually bay about 6 foot off the hogs nose but sometimes more if it was real rank. He bayed with an intensity though that said turn if you want but I'm gonna tear your pride and joy out and I have seen more than a couple that were boars when he found them and barrs by the time we caught them. Several times we drove up to him in wide open where a big hog would be sitting on his head because he had them caught in the rear. We just watched a couple times to see what was gonna happen. He would eventually let go and the hog would either stay sitting or he would catch it again. Once we watched him suck one up in the open and catch it in the rear. When he let go and backed up, the hog wheeled around and charged him. He just side stepped it and caught it in the rear again. This happened twice before the hog decided to stay seated. Some awesome watching. The only thing I didn't like about him was that he wasn't the prettiest thing to look at and he was grouchy in the box. He didn't just fight but they crowded him he would sure check them. There were times that we killed hog after hog in a morning behind this dog. His owner would say let's go to the house. We would always say, aren't we gonna go to Spook? He'll be bayed again in a minute if he isn't already. He'd say "nah, I'm ready to go, he'll be home in a day or two". Sure enough he would find his way home. I could have never done that to my dog especially one like him. There were several more dogs that come to mind, but this one will always be my pick.

[oconee]

A dog that "special" and my buddy could've went home by himself!!!!  I'd went and got Ol' Spook myself, my dog or not!!

I raised a pup out to a Catahoula dog my buddy used on cattle and a bmc/walker I had and named him Duke.  Ol' Duke didn't fire much when he was young and to this day I'm not real sure how he made it around here until ten months.  Anyway some how he done just enough to get by, one night we were hunting and we stopped to listen and as far as we could hear (several years before garmin) we could he a dog bayed.  I looked around and we had everything except Duke, my buddy said that's Duke!  I couldn't hear good enough to tell but I had my doubts but when we got closer and the other dogs started to him I realized it was in fact him.   Duke was never beat from that day on!!!!   I could tell stories all day about that dog but one year a guy told me and my buddy that a man he knew had caught 250 hogs that past year, and it got us to wondering how many we usually catch in a year.  We'd never kept count but vowed that day to start counting and just see.  Four months later we were over a hundred and give up counting.  Back then we hunted ALL YEAR round so I knew 250 was nothing to us.  Now I told all that to help understand how many hogs Duke had bayed for us in those 4 short years of his life.  When he was about 5 yrs old I was breaking a colt and when I went out one evening to ride the colt Ol' Duke had knocked his water over(August 100 Degrees out side) I knew he was real hot but after I filled his bucket he drank good and layed back in the shade and seemed to be cooling off.  I ALMOST unsnapped him to follow along on the ride and had I done it that might have shown me just how hot he was, but I didn't and after returning from the ride his was dead.  I got terribly mad at myself and when the wife came out and seen me burring him she started crying, I told her to "shut it up he was just a dog"!!!   I had only been hunting about 6 years at that time and now nearly 20 years later I understand "THAT OL' DUKE WAS NOT JUST A DOG!!!!!!!" 

   Thanks for reading!!

[t-dog]

That's a good story. I think we all have made those "if only" mistakes. Sounds like he made more than just a dog.

[KevinN]

Toss up between "July" a Catahoula/Red Tick from years and years ago owned by Bud Harding and Blake's Tater dog, BMC/Catahoula/Walker.

Both dogs are serious pains in the ass at times (endless bottom) but both would put you on pork....over....and over....and over.

[Bowhunter1994]

I have only seen one dog that impressed me named lady.
She gets gone and finds pork , she will go and go until she find pork or is cut off.


Sonny

[Reuben]

seems like most of the dogs mentioned had hound in them...some of the best I have seen had hound as well...

I have had quite a few that I could turn loose with most any dog and they wouldn't look bad...

but I had one named Yeller that was born to be a star...at 8 weeks he led the pups around trailing drags and winding...I made some tuff drags and he made it look easy as a 3 month old pup...when I saw him figure out a back track and then trail it into a five gallon bucket and him standing up trying to stick his nose over into the bucket I knew it was time to move on to other types of training sessions...he wasn't five months and he struck and worked a track on some shoats...at 10 months he was striking neck and neck with a very good mt cur I had bought...I like dogs that can find a pig quick but this dog made it look easy...it was like he had a very hi IQ...once he got older when I dropped the tail gate he made a big loop and if he came back you could bet your bottom dollar there weren't any hogs in the area...back then we didn't have as many hogs and some places the hogs were there for a while and then they moved on to other greener places...so he knew to check and see if it was going to be a dry run...

but if he didn't come back he would be baying shortly...once he got old and crippled up he would hang back and let the other dogs hunt...but when he left out he was going to pass up them dogs and be bayed somewhere and always first to strike...to me it was unbelievable...

I thought so much and so highly of that dog that I had to write a story on him and posted it in the full cry magazine because after he died I kept thinking for several years I should tell the story about him...he was 1/2 mt cur and 1/2 taylor brindle bmc...I only bred him once to a kemmer mt cur and used one of his sons to line breed and inbreed off of...

Yeller was more of a colder nosed dog than that of the average mt cur...when he came to a large feeding area and the dogs were trying to line the track out and they would eventually figure it out in 5 minutes or so...but yeller just made a big loop pretty quick and found the exit track out and would be looking at the bacon pretty quick...yeller was a joy to me because I sure did like analyzing everything he did...me being more of the analytical type every hunt was exciting with that dog...

[KevinN]

^^^^like it

[t-dog]

Reuben those dogs are the biggest reason I hunt dogs. Like you said it's incredible to watch them work and figure stuff out. I find a lot of pride in knowing that that is my animal and I got experience it's progress from start to finish.

[oconee]

seems like most of the dogs mentioned had hound in them...some of the best I have seen had hound as well.     




Nice to see you figuring it out!!!!!   That's precisely why I own all hounds and will from here on out, I got over the "silent on track crap" and it was the best move I ever made.

[reatj81]

Why can't a hound cross be silent on track?


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[KevinN]

Why can't a hound cross be silent on track?


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Some can...and are

[Reuben]

seems like most of the dogs mentioned had hound in them...some of the best I have seen had hound as well.     




Nice to see you figuring it out!!!!!   That's precisely why I own all hounds and will from here on out, I got over the "silent on track crap" and it was the best move I ever made.

yep...I have seen too many dogs not get their trigger tripped on fresh sign...so I like hound crosses and mt curs because the right ones will naturally find game and have the want to to stick even if they can't see the game...

[hoghunter71409]

Best I've ever seen was a maltese plott gyp named Gypsy.  Cold, cold, almost silent plott.  This was a dog that you could literally drop anywhere (in no sign) and go about hunting, track her hours later (using the old quick track) and most of the time she would be bayed and if it was a bad hog, she usually had a cut or two.  Absolutely no quit, all the bottom you would ever want and hardly barked on trail.

This dog was so good, that the "old cur dog" men even said "that's a dog".  Gypsy traded hands several times, everybody wanted her.  10 years ago when gypsy was in her day, I didn't realize how good of a dog she actually was.  See her sold for $1,500 was a lot to me and at that time I could not see paying $1,500 for a dog.

Knowing what I know now, if I had gypsy, Id put her in the $10,000.00 range.  She could flat put a hog at the end of the track and she did it all by herself.    Now that I think of it, I think she preferred to hunt by herself.

Last I heard, she was sold to somebody in East TX for breeding stock.

[jon]

Mt. curr called Dixie i gotten from Jameson (Jmesonp1) on here, she was the best dog i have ever walked behind.. With a pack or by herself didn't make a difference to her she was hunting. I caught many hogs with just her and my cd... And she started a few pups too, but I have yet been able to see or hunt with another dog like her. RIP Dixie Ann, hunting hasn't been the same......

[Reuben]

I had one about as good as they get...he was tellers uncle...he was black with reddish bridle trim...resembled your Dixie...I gave that dog to my brother cause I wanted him to have a good dog too...

[sethmcalex]

Best I've ever seen was a maltese plott gyp named Gypsy.  Cold, cold, almost silent plott.  This was a dog that you could literally drop anywhere (in no sign) and go about hunting, track her hours later (using the old quick track) and most of the time she would be bayed and if it was a bad hog, she usually had a cut or two.  Absolutely no quit, all the bottom you would ever want and hardly barked on trail.

This dog was so good, that the "old cur dog" men even said "that's a dog".  Gypsy traded hands several times, everybody wanted her.  10 years ago when gypsy was in her day, I didn't realize how good of a dog she actually was.  See her sold for $1,500 was a lot to me and at that time I could not see paying $1,500 for a dog.

Knowing what I know now, if I had gypsy, Id put her in the $10,000.00 range.  She could flat put a hog at the end of the track and she did it all by herself.    Now that I think of it, I think she preferred to hunt by herself.

Last I heard, she was sold to somebody in East TX for breeding stock.

Out of curiosity........ do you know what line she was out of?

[hoghunter71409]

Seth, She was a Maltese Weems bred dog that Dan Gardner raised.  He let her go because she was too independent.  She went from Dan Gardner to a guy named Gary.  Gary lived here in West/Central LA.  She opened cur dog men's eyes and has a big part of bringing plots this part of the state.  I recently asked Dan if he knew the ped and he said he would look.  I don't know her exact ped.

[sethmcalex]

Seth, She was a Maltese Weems bred dog that Dan Gardner raised.  He let her go because she was too independent.  She went from Dan Gardner to a guy named Gary.  Gary lived here in West/Central LA.  She opened cur dog men's eyes and has a big part of bringing plots this part of the state.  I recently asked Dan if he knew the ped and he said he would look.  I don't know her exact ped.

Coming from Dan, I have a pretty good idea.  Thanks for the info.