What is hunt in y’all’s opinion?

[t-dog]

So me and the boss lady were talking about a few recent hunts. She asked the question, because she Doesn’t Do Briars so she doesn’t hunt, but she asked what the difference was in my dogs and some other peoples dogs that I hunt or hunted with? My answer was that some of them use their dogs differently than we do. Some cast like we do and the dogs have to “hunt” for hog sign (tracks, rooting, scent off the air, etc.) and then once they find that go to the end of it where the hog is waiting for them. She said well isn’t that how all of them do it. So started explaining no, that some are put out on the scent (maybe a deer feeder where hogs have been, some are put on a specific track, some are road around on hunting rigs or boats until they smell hog scent off the air, some are sent to sight hogs, etc.). So do y’all consider a dog “hunting” if it’s used in a way where it doesn’t have do the leg work of finding the scent/sign on its own?

To me that is the only way a dog is hunting, be it before the first hog is ever located or on a relay. The other methods are scenting or working a track. They aren’t hunting for the scent, they already have that. They are now performing the art of locating what they smell.

Now don’t get it twisted, I’m 100% not knocking anyone’s style or dogs. 100% I’m not saying one way is better than the other.  Many dogs are used in multiple scenarios. I’m just curious about what your definition is or what the terminology means to you.


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[HIGHWATER KENNELS]

Like Ive said before ,,, I cant and dont hunt with alot of fellers,, there style might work for them but I dont care for it cause I have already tried it that way and it didnt work for me..   

I could on the other hand hunt with you ,, because IMO that is what I would consider "hunt" in a dog..   In other words ,, some dogs you have to find scent or sign for,,  others,, in what we call casting dogs will HUNT for that sign itself and you can stay back eating a twinkie and wait... LOL>..

Now,,, aint nuthin wrong with a track dog,, I own em,,, but that individual dog wont hit a cutover that you couldnt cuss a cat thru UNLESS he smells a hog ,, that CAST dog will punch thru the thicket without smelling the hog that might be 800 yards laid up on belly since 1:00AM... and only took a leak about 5 yards from his bed....

I have been  able to do alot of things in my life with dogs,,  but what I have never found the ability to do is MAKE A DOG HUNT .. he is either bred to do it or it aint... IMO

[Cajun]

I have been  able to do alot of things in my life with dogs,,  but what I have never found the ability to do is MAKE A DOG HUNT .. he is either bred to do it or it aint... IMO
[/quote]

Exactly. For example you can take a pup hunting and he will be out hunting something. It has to be in them. I have said it before. It is a lot easier to put brakes on a dog then to put a motor in them.

[BA-IV]

Not to hi-jack this thread, but do y’all ever cast dogs solo or as a pair? A good hunting dog will go regardless, but a lot of times their range is cut down considerably. Maybe it’s the competition in em to outdo one another or relying on the other dog to do the work.

[t-dog]

I agree with all of y’all. BA-IV  we cast dogs all kinds of ways. It’s really the only way to know what you have. The first couple of times it sure might cut their range down solo but then they realize nothing is different but the numbers. If my dogs are just hunting they will normally be a fanned out pretty good unless they all think there’s a reason to go to a certain area. I love it, I think it cuts down on the length of time from drop to locate and fewer hogs are missed so you bay the hogs closest to you.


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[NLAhunter]

I cast dogs by thereself sometimes most of the time I hunt mine in pairs they usually stay together little ways maybe just to get away from me then usually split up they are looking for there own hog and if they on a hog they won't go to another dog baying

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[NLAhunter]

And 100% for sure you can't make a dog hunt breed for all the motor you can get in one and then apply the brakes if need be

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[Reuben]

The early starters...its a pleasure to have one cast alone at 3 to 4 months of age…they don't know what they are hunting just yet, it's a natural calling because they are born to do it…those are going to be the good ones…
I’ve read it on here a few times where coyotes have killed a few pups and I think that was going to be a good hunting dog one day…just last week I was talking with someone who came by for a pup and he had lost one to a coyote just recently.

I do like a hunting dog that rolls out alone and I like it best when they all pack up once a dog strikes…but if   they hit a hot track on the way to pack up i’m ok if they take their own track…I don't care for it but that's what good dogs do…

[TheRednose]

To me that's an easy question. Hunt is a dogs natural inclination to find game, and how much hunt they have is how badly they want to find game, simple as that to me. It can be used in different ways.

Range and hunt get confused a lot, dog A may have less range then dog B, but dog A can still have more hunt then dog B. Hunt is in them genetically and that is why it is a natural inclination and not a trained behavior. One of my mentors would always say you're not training them to hunt, you are training them what you don't want them to hunt.

[TexasHogDogs]

I always loved dogs that you cast out and they go and find the track/scent themselves and then put a hog at the end of it.  To me that is hunt.  But not calling the kettle black.  A dog that you put on a track and he runs it half a day and puts a hog at the end of it that is also hunt.  Its hunt used in different human made methods and ways.  Its not that one dog are one way is better than the other.  It boils down to the owner and handler and what he needs and wants.  A dog that goes out and finds his on track and scent and runs it  a half a day and puts a hog on the end of it is hunt and the same goes for the dog that you put on a track and he runs a half a day and puts a hog at the end of it.  So hunt is hunt some may have more some may have less some use it this way and some use it that way. Its up to the hunter of what he wants and how much hunt he wants in his dog.  For me I can tell you either way if the dog quits the track premature to many times and I know this for sure he is gone.

[t-dog]

To me TexasHogDogs, one of your examples is hunt. If the dog is put on a track, then he is a track dog. True, both are a form of hunting as far as the handler goes. As for the dogs though, one has to actually search and look for the track or sign and the other doesn’t. The second one only has to know what to do with the track it’s put on. I agree, there is no right or wrong just different. A lot of dogs can be used either way. Like mentioned earlier, a lot of dogs that are used to track hunt will get to a point that they don’t get out or cast because they are use to being put on a track. They get spoiled in other words. Kinda like us when we get use to riding the buggy to the bay, we decide we don’t want to go to the bay if we gotta walk.


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[TexasHogDogs]

I agree they will get spoiled if you are always putting them on the track and pretty soon that is all they want.  I myself wanted dogs that would find their own and run it down.  I think a person needs to go one way are the other either use track dogs are the kind that find there on track and hunt it down.  With that said I know we use to would run across a good track and put the dogs on it but 90% of the time we would just turn them loose in what we thought was a good place and the hunt was on.

[WayOutWest]

Dang Jimmie, dig you finally come out of your cave?

[TexasHogDogs]

Yeah lol Hibernation is over .  Had to get some Sun light.  How you been man?

[WayOutWest]

Been good, just getting old!

[Judge peel]

I don’t drop on tracks or look for tracks don’t drop on feeders most places I hunt don’t have feeders I drop the dogs and it is 100 percent on them I will road them rig them and cast them don’t push them on anything I hardly ever even tell them to go mostly telling them to come back if they won’t do it on there own not much of a hunting dog I ain’t going to walk them to nothing but I will walk to them big difference they don’t have to be a million miles away but at least giving a honest try


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