Wondering?

[elliscountyhog]

I have came to the conclusion that after hunting for about 6 years now that even the decent dogs are rare. I have had one great dog and when i lost her my pack has deminished. I am down to one dog. I thought i had a replacement with her backup well he recently started to open trail a lot so he had to go. Hope he has a good hunting home now. It seems that there are some leads to good dogs but only to dead end so i was wondering what do you do if your best dog gets killed and your other dogs have just never picked up the slack. I do not keep more than 2-4 dogs at a time. I do not hunt enough to have more than that. (2-3 times a month) I now have 1 cur and two catch dogs. Do you just get some younger dogs and start hunting with other people or keep after them and hope that a good one will come along. Thanks guys i am really leaning toward starting over which could be fun too

[Monteria]

My personal opinion is this......... Unless you get lucky or have a good friend with to many good dogs, buying started or strike or what ever dogs at a reasonable price leaves you with nothing more than someone else's seconds. To get a good one under normal circumstances is going to cost big. Many of us, myself included will not sell their really "good" dogs.

That being said, I think that the only way to have really good dogs is to start with puppies, breed for hunting, who have potential, work them up on your own and be willing to go through them until you have found what you want.

Like I said, that is just my personal opinion. Maybe you are lucky or have a good friend.........

Steve

[pig snatcher]

I second what Monteria said.

[Wmwendler]

It is tough to get and maintain a pack of good dogs.  Its harder for those of yall who like to catch the hogs.  Catching hogs means you need to have catch dogs in your yard.  Each catch dog means one less open spot for up and coming potential good find/bay dogs.  Also, If you are catching hogs you loose dogs more often.  But regardless of how you hunt disasters happen bad boars weather you catch them or not, trigger happys' who shoot dogs, dogs get run over, bad snake bites, gators, ect.  It takes dedication and a good network of freinds.  I takes decades of making and maintaining quality freindships to put your self in a place where you can constantly maintain a top notch pack and keep good blood going in the right direction.  If you get in a bind and loose a bunch of dogs for what ever reason, your freinds and hunting partners bail you out because they know you will do the same for them if they were in the same situation. 

Waylon

[BRUTE]

That is the problem with keeping so few dogs. Try to build up a network of buddies is your best bet.

[elliscountyhog]

Wmwendler i think you hit it right on the nose with that response. It is hard for the weekend hog hunter to breed and train and keep 15 + dog in the yard with feed bills and shots and vacc. and etc. at least it is for me. I have a few good friends that would help me if they could as a matter of fact that was how i got my dog that was killed. Kevin A gave her to me and pointed me in the right direction of a couple other good dogs. But for one reason or another they are all gone. I could not breed and if i did breed parvo would hit me it seemed liked everytime. Pups require a lot of time. And i cant keep 3 or 4 back up dogs in my yard i dont hunt that much. I come across good catch dogs all the time and some other dogs but now that i need one i cant find nothing. I have a lot of good hunting friends but the problem is they are like me usually have 2-3 good dogs and need them. But i think for know my best bet is to just start over. Which isnt anything wrong with that it is fun to watch a dog blossom.

Monteria- I have the same opinion as you do. No one will sell there really good dogs unless they are getting out of hunting or other bad circumstances unless you want to pay with gold for them. Which i would be the same way. So i would probaly be  better off with just buying a good 1.5 year old dog that know what a hog is and just try to jell them into what i want?
Thanks guys for the input

[Monteria]

Ellis,

I just sent you an e-mail..... I know of a 1.5 year old BMC jip that needs a home. She is well bread, knows what a hog is and she is closed mouthed and gritty. The only problem is that she is attached to her owner which limits her range. He thinks that she would make a dog in someone elses hands and the price is right......... FREE!

Might be worth a try.

Steve

[jlingle]

Waylon, you nailed it.  Good post.

[Gunner Dog]

Ellis, If this 1.5 year old BMC jip is not what your looking for I will give her a great home. I too am tring to build up my dogs to hunt with

[GitDatHawg]

I know a guy that had a cur dog wonder up on his place.  the way he found it was by the dog hammerin away on his hogs in his bay pen.  The man is a hunter with dogs so he thought he may want it but when put in the pen it just went in and latched on to the ear.  he said its to gritty for him.  As far as being open or closed mouth I dont know but it seems to be somebody's huntin dog they lost.  He really wants to get rid of it.  If nobody wants it, I think he is goin to get rid of it himself, if you know what i mean.  Let me know if your interested.  I can go pick it up.  In fact, if n e body wants it let me know.

[Rowdy]

gitdathawg where is this dog located if he is not interested i might be if he is pretty close

[Mike]

Richard, just keep trying out dogs until you find one you like. Don't pass on free ones and get a trial on any you buy.

Don't judge them on the first few hunts. It takes time for a dog to get used to you and the dogs you hunt with.

If you spend a good deal of money on one... get a long enough trial so you can hunt that dog several times.

[GitDatHawg]

gitdathawg where is this dog located if he is not interested i might be if he is pretty close

hockley.  Northwest side of houston.

[elliscountyhog]

Gitdat thanks for the offer sounds like a good dog but may be too rough for me. If rowdy can get to it he may have better use than me.

Hey mike thanks for the advice. I wish i had that dog that moron bought off you when we went down there. I tried to get it from him but i think he ended up in oklahoma.