Why do we run so many bay dogs?

[parker]

i  hunt  one  find  dog at a time  most  of  the  time ....today  i  had  2  down .....i  usually  have  one  catchdog  sometimes  2  if  i  have  plenty  of  help ......in my  experince on  cold  sign  up  in the  day  one  dog  is  better  at  finding  off  cold  sign ....if  i  put  two  down  they  seem  to  push  through  cold  sign and  i'm  perty  sure  miss  hogs ....

[Piglywigly]

but with bay dogs you got to travel on a bad hog and with rough dogs you dont most times IMO

Sometimes, but i've seen more rough dogs bust bays and push hogs further. Unless they flat out catch it, which goes back to cut up and/or dead dogs, a hog will usually find a place to bay... just my experiences.

I think the key to bad running hogs is bottom, bottom, bottom.

my dogs have plenty of bottom. They are well fed and watered. We run a boar for 4 hrs the last hunt and he would only bay for 15 seconds here and there. The pig flat out would not stop. He swam 8 times in 4 hours. The dogs were getting to the point where they knew he wasn't gonna stop. My hard-headed butt kept thinkin he was gonna get to a place where he would be forced to take a good bay. He just never did. Couple of my dogs got clipped on the hind leg. So you know they were baying him good, he was charging them so they turned to run and he cut in the backside. They didn't won't to give up,  neither did I. There comes a time where a man's got to call his dogs out. They were flat beat. We caught 2 good boars in 1 hour before that runner took us for a journey. You should have seen my dogs the next day. They would not come out their houses. Their eyes and ears were raw from stick cane. Their feet were all tore up and raw. Bay dogs weren't too bad, but both my pitts were bad off. One just started feeling better today and the hunt was last Sunday. His feet were pussing up in a couple areas. The boar was about 275lbs, big black hog w/ big mane. One thing is for sure, he was a smart hog. He had a pattern going on where he ran, which is probably why he wouldn't bay. He never left his territory which stretched for about a mile in 2 patches of woods mixed with thick stick cane. Both were divided by a 10 yard ditch he kept swimming. He was old, wise, fast, and apparently was well conditioned. You know, I was tired of directing the chase in my head and planning his next move. I can't amagine how he felt. Talk about a poker game. I've never heard or seen a hog hit the water as hard has he did the last time he crossed that slu, I know he was tired. I know my dogs did their jobs. We were under-gunned. Good luck to em next year. I'm fixing to have 4 different catch dogs for him to figure out. He doesn't realize what he's fixing to be dealing with! Ha...

[slick]

thats a hell of a pig! but i guess they dont get big from being stupid.

[Cull Buck]

We run 1-2 proven dogs (I'm not going to say finished  ) and 1-2 young dogs on the ground at one time.  We also role with 3 catchdogs sometimes 4.  There have been several times where we actually have more catch power than curs on the ground and that seems to work out real good for us. 

[shawn]

2-3 bay dogs, and 2 catch dogs seem to always produce the best results and the shortest races.

i like rough bay dogs but not bulldog rough, ones that are smart and wont try to grab one that they know they cant handle.

if my bay dogs catch a 100 lb sow, thats fine with me, i dont have to cut the bulldogs loose.

i used to like rcds, but there is to many problems with that, including empty staple guns and trips to the vet, not to mention always worrying about them going after livestock.  plus watching a bay for awile is someting that cant be beat.

[Mike]

Good luck to em next year. I'm fixing to have 4 different catch dogs for him to figure out. He doesn't realize what he's fixing to be dealing with! Ha...

Now, what's gonna happen next year when those four catchdogs catch that hog a mile out in a cane thicket and you can't get there for a while? Might be a whole year of raising those dogs gone in an instant... something to think about.

[shawn]

some bulldogs if let loose can really hunt, and thats a bad thing with a dog that is all catch, ive tried it before, the results were great when you could get there pretty quick, but its not worth it, to many risks.

like this for instance they leave the property your on and end up getting into it with a jackass, thats not a good thing, lol, ive got a couple kinda funny and scarey stories from stuff just like that happening. and i dont care how much you work on livestock breaking a bulldog, when another animal attacks them, they will bite!

[Piglywigly]

Good luck to em next year. I'm fixing to have 4 different catch dogs for him to figure out. He doesn't realize what he's fixing to be dealing with! Ha...

Now, what's gonna happen next year when those four catchdogs catch that hog a mile out in a cane thicket and you can't get there for a while? Might be a whole year of raising those dogs gone in an instant... something to think about.

true that, cause I'm not walking my fat butt a mile out there, UNLESS.... It's HIM! I'll never forget the look in his eye. Haha... It was the last look I saw for 4 hours.

naw, on a serious note, you got to be careful what you cut loose and when. Like mike said, you can end up in a real bad situation! I try and protect my dogs well, so when the situation does happen, we hope for the best.

It's like pig poker, you have to read your oponent well. I like to bluff with a couple loose dogs and then bring the surprise around back if you know what I mean!!

[tompkinsgil]

in my opinion you should only need one catch dog , a surenuff catch dog should die on one and dont turn  loose .thats just my opinion  i couldnt imagine handling 3-4 catch dogs

[Piglywigly]

in my opinion you should only need one catch dog , a surenuff catch dog should die on one and dont turn  loose .thats just my opinion  i couldnt imagine handling 3-4 catch dogs

it's how you play those dogs! You don't throw them all out at one time. Then you have no tricks left up your sleeve. It's who, when, where, and how you choose to send em is what's gonna end a runner.

[cajunl]

i couldnt imagine handling 3-4 catch dogs

I agree with gil. With the curdogs we seldom take the catchdog off the lead. They catch about everything 200 or less.

Do yall send 2 or more catchdogs to one hog or just have the other cd for backup or split bays?

[cantexduck]

just because you have the bulldogs there doesn't mean you have to use them. have learned the hard way about using one bulldog. I yet to hunt with atleaat 2 . have seen a big boar walk down a creek with 3 bulldogs caught on it.  even the best catchdog will meet a hog it can't handle on its own saying different is ......o   I like my dogs to back up and bay  have seen my gyp bay 20 ft from a bad boar

[aladatrot]

We typically send two bulldogs to each bay unless the cur dogs have it squawling already. We all say we like loose baying dogs, but we each still have a rougher dog in the pack (except circle c - he has sure enough bay dogs). We still hunt what we like, but we also know that anything can happen in the woods and you occasionally need that rougher dog.

Anyway, we generally have 3 or more catchdogs per hunt. There are too many times we get on split bays and groups. I can't think of a single catchdog in our group that is a pain to lead anywhere (God bless old Meat Head's soul). In my opinion, you can never have too many cd's on a hunt because there is no law saying you have to unclip everything at each bay. Just my opinion and what works for us. Everyone is different.
Cheers
M

[cajunl]

even the best catchdog will meet a hog it can't handle on its own saying different is ......o

I would have to disagree. I have never seen anyone in Fl that I have hunted with turn out more than 1 to any bay. The way we hunt the catchdog holds him 20-30 seconds and when the cd catches the curs will catch like a bulldog.
I have caught and seen caught hogs over 300+ caught with one a 40 pound catchdog.

If I was sending them over 300 yards out I could see the need for more than one. Or hunting with a big group of people and the chance for split bays. There has been times I did not have a cd and wish I did. But never a time I had MY catchdog and needed more. Will it ever happen........Maybe........until then I was carry around my box ornament.

But I've never seen the hogs in Tx., But our main catchdog came from East Texas. Maybe that is why we only need one.

[Bryant]

cajunl,

My curs are fairly rough and will also hammer down with the bulldog.  I used to think the same way as you, and only hunted one catchdog because all I really needed was a dog to make the first move.

Then one day we bayed a group.  Sent the bulldog, he caught and the curs left to stop and bay the group again.  That turned into a major wreck and now I hunt with two.

[djhogdogger]

I love this sport because there are NO rules.  Which means that we can try some crazy sh#t or whatever. So we mix it up. Some times we run up to 5 bay dogs on the ground at one time (especially when hunting with friends) and sometimes we run 2 bay dogs. We usually bring two cd's unless one is at home recovering from a hunt and then we just bring one.
    Some days we catch hog and some days we chase hog, either way its a blast. I don't take it too seriously because its what we do for fun, it's not like its our job or something. So I say, have fun with it. Go out on a limb and try something new once in a while.

[Circle C]

I like multiple catch dogs for a couple of reasons. #1 reason is that I want my bay dog to leave once the catch dogs catch. Got a couple dogs that you might not see at the catch at all. By the time you get there to leg the hog, and have it tied or stuck, the bay dogs are already a couple hundred yards out hunting again.  #2, I have had the hog break after the catch dog was released, only to have it bay up and be caught a a couple hundred yards away in some thick stuff. It took a while to get there, and it was a stout 250# boar, both catch dogs were getting hot, and I was glad we had two catch dogs that day. It's just my preference though.

Like what DJ said,  mix it up and have fun.  If there is one rule in hog dogging, it's that there are no absolutes!

[BarrNinja]

Seems like most people have a huge pack of bay dogs, and one short bulldog to catch. Wouldn't it be more logical to keep less bay and more RCD's. I think we would all catch more hogs this way and be able to train our strike/ bay dogs easier. Just a thought.

Seems just the opposite to me. From What I have seen its usually 2 -3 bay dogs on the ground and 2 -3 catch dogs (depending on who brings one that day ).
It all depends on what kind of dogs you have and how you hunt them for me.
Logic shouldn't be about numbers of dogs. It should be about the kind of dogs you have. That is the logic I use to dictate how I use them and the number I will put on the ground in given hunting situation.
 
The most repeated phrase on this board is "to each his own". That is probably short for - "to each his own because of the kind of dogs he uses."

[ktchemwcurs]

Two on ground w/one puppie and one catch dog. Just my line of BMC's are pretty rough. They will bay and hold a big hog for a long time till I get there and then even when they see or hear me coming, they will catch. If they keep baying then I turn my 1/2pit & 1/2 BMC loose and he does the job. IMO, 2 to 3 dogs can work a hog and move out of the way than more dogs. If you get to many then they cant move and thats when you start getting dogs cut up.

[tompkinsgil]

we do alot of cuttin &markin dont realy like the hog torn up when we release it sometimes it looks like a massacare with 6 dogs on a 150lb hog  ktchemwcurs sound like hes got the right idea ,our dogs will keep them there until they see us or tell them to catch thats how we do it down here in fl