The HDTT - HOG DOG TOURNAMENT TRAIL - 2013

[TShelly]

Good points from all sides. No-one will ever agree totally. Competition has definitely gotten more intense this year

[TShelly]

To me it's like saying.. This year for the College World Series, all teams can only pitch fastballs. At the end of the tournament, whoever wins. Do you still call them the BEST college baseball team in the nation?? 

Where do you draw the line on making it fair

[TexasJ]

To me it's like saying.. This year for the College World Series, all teams can only pitch fastballs. At the end of the tournament, whoever wins. Do you still call them the BEST college baseball team in the nation?? 

Where do you draw the line on making it fair

The way I see it is like this...

Unaltered or influenced Hog for tournaments = The Olympics

Barr hog tournaments = http://www.hulu.com/watch/124975

[cward]

The way I see it.They have always been allowed until someone starting complaining( sorry losers) lol now they want to change the rules.

[Miller Lite]

The way I see it.They have always been allowed until someone starting complaining( sorry losers) lol now they want to change the rules.

lol sounds like they might need to cull a little bit haha its not everyone else fault they cant catch enough pork to even try to be any competion in a hunt its there own fault not the people with dogs that are straight up hog dogs ... i was always told from a young boy that you gotta be smarter then the dog your working with if your gunna own it maybe some should think about that ... or invest in beagles lol

[TexasJ]

From an organizer's stand point Chance, from someone who is trying to bring hunters in and get them to participate in any tournament, I put myself in their shoes.  On average, 50% of the teams in 5 hog stringer tournaments don't even catch good enough hogs to deem it worthy enough to come to weigh-in.

If there were 20 teams weighing over 1,000 pounds stringers in each tournament and 75% of the teams that entered showed up to weigh-in their catch we'll fantastic, boars or barrs wouldn't matter.  But that's not what's happened.  What's happened is that there's a few guys (most of whom have been opinionated on this thread) who have weighed in huge stringers with barrs.  And these few guys are way fewer in number that have a barring tradition in place that supports a higher potential to consistently weigh in huge stringers for tournaments.  

As an organizer, I ask myself basic "business development" questions.  Such as " How do I create a field of contestants?".  "How do I entice enough hunters to join my trail and ACTUALLY participate in multiple tournaments stretching across hundreds of miles of Texas?"  There's not a large field of guys.  And if I put myself into the shoes of the hunter who I think is typical to the majority of contestants, my guess at what he's thinking is this "I can't even do well in my local tournament, what makes me think I can compete on a multi-tournament State level".  And the fact is... He can't.

There use to only be a few tournaments around.  Last year, our hunting community has seen a sprouting of new satellite tournaments in areas that hadn't had one.  Serious logistics and resources play HUGE determinations as to whether a hunter even considers entering multiple tournaments.  The Randy Bumpurs tournament created a new challenge for hog doggers.  It created a live 10 hog stringer which hadn't been done.  And a lot of other tournaments followed suit by switching to live weight and increasing their stringer.  And while this increased the difficulty, these factors also played into overall number of team entry, overall number of teams who come to weigh-in percentage.  And most importantly, it deters a hunter from even entering when there are huge weights posted and he knows it would be impossible to honestly compete.

The change in direction of tournament formats now includes a completely different set of challenges.  Lower tournament requirements will entice more teams to enter, especially on a multi-tournament level.  Tournaments and their weigh-ins will prosper with a higher weigh-in percentage and more people at the events.  The challenge of actually winning will still remain but by narrower margins of victory.  

All of these aspects have been considered and discussed by many of the tournament directors.  These decisions were not intended to penalize a group of hunters because they did so well.  It's to try and bring more entry's into the tournys and give hope back to each team that they can win.

So please quit taking it so personal and try and see the big picture.  Dang, it's like you guys already had the prize money spent and I'm pulling dollar bills out of your pocket!

[cward]

Im not taking it personal. So please don't take as I am. I said yesterday I like you I don't like the rule. I stand up for my rights as a dog Hunter and guess what my dogs hunt barrs so you placing that rule in your competition is taking my Barr hunting rights away. Look at the big picture. I was never ask what I thought about it and looks as several people on here were never ask ya'll just did it. It follows suit with today's politics and I think lance pointed that out. To many winning a hog hunting conest without barrs in it is like winning a gay rodeo.lol
There again just standing for are rights to compete in a competition that a rule( law) got changed without even ask by the ones who enter them.

[TexasJ]

There's still plenty of tournaments that allow barrs in the stringer.  Alan's tournament in Splendora and Los Cazadores are 2.  You can weigh in all the barrs you want.  You can still hunt your dogs and play in tournaments and there isn't any kind of law forcing you to do or not do a thing.

[cward]

I understand that I have the right not to enter. I had planned on entering your trail of tears this year. As I did not last year.  It just takes me out of yours. I hope the tdha sees this and does not separate US as dog men. That would not be good as we all support both dog association. Tdha and lonestar. When you take barrs out of the competition you take alot of us out and our rights. Thats my point.

[TexasJ]

I understand that I have the right not to enter. I had planned on entering your trail of tears this year. As I did not last year.  It just takes me out of yours. I hope the tdha sees this and does not separate US as dog men. That would not be good as we all support both dog association. Tdha and lonestar. When you take barrs out of the competition you take alot of us out and our rights. Thats my point.

I'm very sorry to hear that.  I would have really liked to of had you in the trail.  You not entering will be a significant loss. 

Thank you for your concern about maintaining our rights.  I also maintain a focused approaching to championing the rights of dog hunters and will continue to do so.

[cward]

Texasj I know you are proud of what you put together and the site looks good with some nice prizes.  I just wanted to say I liked the whole concept until the Barr rule. There again I have meet you and like you just not the rule. I wish the best for your competition.

[TexasJ]

I've always said that Barr hogs have a place in tournaments.  Just not in the stringer, but in side pots. 

Every hog hunter out there has a chance of catching unaltered hogs. But for whatever reason, not every hunter has a chance at Barr hogs.  And there's a simple way to level that for everyone. No barrs.  And that becomes important when you've got a couple teams weighing multiple huge Barr hogs and running away with the competition.

That, by no means, has any infringement when it comes to "rights".  We're talking about tournament application.  And as far as I'm concerned, letting y'all enter these "pre-caught altered" hogs into a wild hog competition does far more damage to true honest straight up completion than anything else. 

And if these hunters didn't feel like they could win without "Pre-catching and altering the physical characteristics" then they wouldn't be doing it and saving them for these tournaments.

[sdillard]

Do you really think the only reason we cut a boar is so we can come back and catch it to use in a tournament? As said on ESPN "COME ON MAN"

[cantexduck]

  The rule will not effect me in any way.

This is the way I see it. This is Josh's deal. He gets to make up the rules as he sees fit. He wants more hunters entered. This is how he feels is the way to do it. If you don't like the rules then dont enter into it.

Chance, You have the right to catch barrs,no one said you didnt. You just can not enter them into the stringer. 

 Again, I really dont care it they allow it or not. I see points on both sides. I do not hunt tournments anymore. I did a few times just to have fun with friends. Only time we won anything was the largest barr and longest tusks, go figure.

[Silverton Boar Dogs]

Barring hogs is a regional practice. Its not done everywhere in the state some folks think its a great idea and others not so much.

With that in mind, I would think that a contest, that will draw teams from areas that contain barred hogs, should allow barrs in the stringer.

The team really can't help it if they catch a barr. One team may barr hogs on a consistent basis and another team might never do it, but they both could catch one. That is what levels the playing field along with a polygraph to ensure that ANY hog, barr, boar, or sow was not: moved, kept, or held in less than a free range condition for the contest.

Each contest has a set of rules. Each set of rules is different based on the location and how the contest is run. I don't see a problem with one contest allowing barrs and another contest not allowing them. Its the same as some of the other rules being different.

I am a big supporter of the HDTT, Josh has come up with a great idea and has really done a great job setting it up. I hope maybe that he will consider allowing each contest to make the decision on the barrs. Some will have them some will not. The three hog stringer can be the constant through out the separate contests.

We, as hunters and dog-men need to work well together and support each other. We need to support the contests and support the groups that are putting them on.

I will support Josh and the HDTT what ever he descides to do, I am just offering my thoughts.

Thanks,
Paul T

[Jasonmac]

If you take out feedlots I will take out barrs. Josh all you have to do is cutt a few boars and you will have some barrs.

[crj4926]

I wish it was that easy to just cut them and we would have them but I know my uncle started hunting in 1978 and I can't even begin to count how many we have cut and let loose and we have hardly caught any Barrs around here I have no clue where they go or why we don't catch any. I personally don't have a preference in the rules I will say if I caught one during a tourney I would want to be able to weigh him but I believe rules are rules and everyone should just go with them and support the cause of what the tournaments are for.

[cward]

The trail of tears had a great concept the whole competition for the best of best. Texasj worked hard to put it together spent alot of money to do this with a good cause. I think the whole thing would still be a great concept with the Barr hogs being allowed. It is his competition and it is his rule. Maybe next year he can regroup and fix it if this year don't work. I will say even if I was to enter the trail of tears I don't feel as I would be hunting against the best. I really hate to see his deal not work i would love to see all the tournaments work. But I feel all this negativity will pull it down.

[TexasJ]

Thanks Chance.  Neary all the hunters last year were guys that were on my team, or guys I talked into signing their name.  I only had 3 entries from guys completely unassociated from my contact.  If I get 4 entries this year I will be completely satisfied.  Roam wasn't built in a day.

  I don't care if the best hunters join or not.  If I can get a contestant field to hunt multiple contests, and finish their tournaments at the TDHA hunt, then I want to reward them for their tournament effort.  I don't care who they are.

One of the main statements that my trail stands for is TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL WINNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUNTERS WHO HUNT MULTIPLE TOURNAMENTS.  I'm not looking at pleasing a large crowd, because its a small field of hunters who hunt multiple tournaments as it is.

All these guys who have thrown their 2 cent opinion on my trail and these guys neither hunt one or multiple multiple tournaments need to understand that my Trail is not designed to cater to them.  But if a hunter already had plans to hunt multiple tournaments this year, then here is a reward system for everything your going to put out this year. 

This is my Trail and while my name isn't in the hat, the other guys on my team will have theirs.  These are my rules.  We're going to hunt Caldwell, Lexington, Gator Country and the TDHA.  We also would hunt Cazadores if the weekends didn't conflict.  I don't know of any other team or single man with that kind of plans.  But if you do, lets talk, because we'd love to have you.

[khoghunter27]

Im going to have to put my 2 cents in i love the sport of hunting with the dog but i also hunt mainly farm land and to my farmers a hog is a hog they dont want hog eating there crop barred or not but on other hand to completely rule them out isn't  what i would like to see a seperate class would be a better idea the odds that everyone can catch one is slim i have been hunting with dogs for 13 yrs and i have only caught 3 barred hogs