When do you release your CD?

[uglydog]

been reading about alot of good hunts lately, but most mention turning their catch dogs loose from 75-150 yards away.

So when do you release your catch dog and why?

[hogdoggintexas]

about 50-75 yards away but we are hunting thick stuff   

[uglydog]

Okay lets emphasize WHY? and how long is your dog staying caught before to pull your dog off?

[shawn]

depends on who i hunt with, some guys just run straight RCDs, some when they hear a bark, some when they are bayed really solid

I don't want to cut one loose anymore myself untill I see what the dogs have, I've had it happen to many times, when we have cut catch dogs loose to early, or using RCDs and seeing a pig run within 10 feet of me and I'm setting there lookin like an idiot with no catch dog.

I guess everyone learns from mistakes.

[smoke42]

i lead my cd in close probly about 50-75 yards out.  i only have one catch dog and i like too get him off the hog asap.  This saves his energy to catch more hogs and the less time he is on the hog the less chance he has of gettinig cut up.  If i had more cd's i would turn them loose farther out.  my dog wears out  after a few pigs exspecialy if it is hot.  JUSt my opion. I have hunted with other people who cut their dogs farther out and they have good sucess also.

[elliscountyhog]

It depends on the bay, if we have a hog that is ruinning on us and we have bayed the hog numerous times then we will turn the cd loose as soon as we determin its a hog and we are tired of breaking bays, so we will turn loose on the next SOLID bay.
Solid- there is 2 or more dogs baying the hog for at least 5-10 seconds .

Generally on the first origanal bay we make sure that it is a hog with a solid bay and try and get to at least 50 yards and at least one guy sneak in and watch and as soon as the cd hits the pig we r on top of it, Because we want to get the dogs off asap if it is a good hog because the curs tend to try and jump in as soon as the cd hits the hog and that seems to be when we get the nicks and cuts. So we try and get them off and rolled out asap. This also helps them in them  to get out of a caught hog and find the next one.

[Bump]

Depends on the situation. On an ideal bay with favorable conditions maybe 50 yards.
There are so many factors than determine the time or distance I release my catch dog.....like if the bay has broke several times, if the dogs are fighting with the hog or the density of the cover.

I dont want a single catch dog holding for any more time than needed.

[jhy]

I will not release my catchdogs until I know that I can get to them quickly, at least within a minute or less.  This reduces the risk of injury to the dogs and hogs.

Joey

[pig snatcher]

Just as close as I can get.

Sent them today from about 15 yards.  Stood there and watched the bay dogs work for a minute and sent in the bulldogs.

Last week the bulldog was sent from the road but we were standing within 10 yards of the hog when he was released.

Reason being that we end up with old catch dogs that way.  Many of which have never worn a vest or collar.

[Mike]

I like to turn mine loose as close as possible also... too many bad things can happen the longer they are caught.

[yellowdog]

Like to see if the hog is in a bad spot ( backed up in a tree top, steep bank etc. ) If it is I think its better to get it out before trying to catch. The catch and curs are gonna attempt to catch at the same time and its a potential train wreck if the CD misses or is hit before he catches. I think this is when most people lose multiple dogs at one time.

[TT]

i turn em loose as soon as i hear solid bay any were from 150-to when i can still hear and bull dogs are pulling, its the way ive always used and taught , there gonna drag us if we dont, wen we cut em loose we right behind em in a dead run they dont stay caught for no more than a couple min, but have had some long ones, luckly nothin extremely bad yet, we also always run atleast 2 pits,

[challacombe]

Only if my know my bay dogs can't catch the hog by themselves. Most of the dogs I hunt and hunt with are pretty catchy anyway. If they have the hog hemmed up already. We leave the straight catcher in the box. If not I try to get with 75 yards or so.

[younghogdogger.]

we try to make it to the bay so we can see the hog before we turn them out. the reason is because we dont wear vest or cut collars and if its a small hog we only let one cd go and a pit usually dont have a lot of energy to run a long way to the bay and then catch and hold for a long time while you get there. to many times before have we let both cd dogs out about 150 yards away and the hog break. but here lately we have been hunting a lot of thick stuff so about 50 yards out.

[Scott]

a pit usually dont have a lot of energy to run a long way to the bay and then catch and hold for a long time while you get there.

I always hear folks say that, but I've never seen it myself. Those dogs were bred for over 100 years for animal combat that sometimes lasted for more than an hour....



Back to the original question...for me it's situational. One place we hunt, you purty near have to turn them loose at the first bark...those are some running swine on that one. Most of the time we turn them loose when there's a solid bay, and follow them in. As far as how long they stay caught; usually no more than a minute or two...again, it's situational depending on where the bay is, brush, etc.

[Silverton Boar Dogs]

I hunt some very open country and some very thick up and down country. When I am out in the open flat country I will send my catch dogs ( 2 )from as far away as 1/2 mile if ...
1. I have a solid bay
2. that I know it is a hog
3. My catchdog can hear the bay
4. if I can drive to the caught hog within a few min

The closer I try to get in the open country the bigger the chance of breaking the bay.

When I am in the thick stuff I will get as close as I can, I would like to see the hog before I send the catch dog, usually one dog, in this case of having to walk in close.

I always hunt my catch dogs in vest and collars. My female Dogo can cover the 1/2 mile to a bay in about 1 minute. I am in the panhandle so I do not have the heat and humidity that ya'll have down south. That will let me send dogs from farther out, I am not recomending it for ya'll that hunt in the heat.

[justincorbell]

i dont release my dog until i see the pig.............with his age and experience it isnt going to hurt him not to catch every hog we get on.......if the dogs have the hog shut down i usually end up being the catch dog hahaha.............we've had bad experiences that usually end up in staples or vet bills due to release our cd's to early so this is just my personal preference.

[tnichol]

From what I'm reading here it sounds like I release mine from farther away than most. I like for the catch dogs to be athletic enough to run and strong enough catch and hold until I get there.  So, at the first good bark I'll often let my first dog go (he's more like an RCD), or if its already a solid bay I let them both go (usually have 2 catch dogs - one more like an RCD and the second more typical lead-in catch dog).  I think I get more stopped/caught that way then trying to walk in real close and running the risk of pushing them or breaking the bay.  Of course it depends on the situation too - the place I'm hunting, which dogs are on it etc.  If I'm hunting with dogs I don't know/trust as much of course I will hold the catch dogs back longer.

Tim

[cowcountryhogdogger]

As long as i can see the dogs bayed on a pig I'll cut one CD loose.  He has no problems coverin country to get to a bay in a hurry.  When I get there and see the pig I have another CD that I can send if the first one can't handle it by himself.  Both have collars and vests on.  So far this has worked for me.