How many of y'all?

[Kid7]

How many of y'all don't use catch dogs and tote a gun? I've done it about 10 times now and the lever gun is alot easier to handle than that bulldog

[jon]

when i first started in 96 thats how we did it, also rode mules/horses... now i use cd though and walk hunt

[SwampHunter]

I have before but I love to get my hands on a hog an hobble it

[rdjustham]

I dont own a catch dog, me and the guys i hunt with have real rough cur dogs, but i always tote a 22 pistol for the oh crap moments, well that and poachers/thieves 

[kerreydw]

i carry one for backup,hunt by myself some and a gun comes in handy i get a bad feeling if i dont have one on me.manly us catchers though

[dane]

I take one if alone sometimes.   Heck anyone can bay and ease in and shoot em.  Part of what I like is the rush bay catch and tie.  Then the work starts dragging out

[Shotgun wg]

I carry a 357 on every hunt. Have yet to shoot one with it. If I need it I got it. Rather not need and have than need and not have.

[Goatcher]

Both

I use a firearm when hunting  alone and at 58 with diabetes and leukemia my system is a bit faded. and anemic  I think I owe it to my dogs to back them up with all the resources at my disposal.  I have seen the "no firearms" guys in tears rush up to me on my horse begging me to shoot that hog that just gutted both their catch dog and a bay dog.  

But I hunt more with my handcuffs and hobbles and leave the firearm in the buggy for back up most of the time if I am hunting in a team.  I do not want others shooting over my dogs, so I foregoth the gun and hunt as I would like ohers to hunt around me..  Besides, with almost 50 yrs of runnimg dogs on hogs I have seen far more top dogs killed by guns in hunts than by boars.

I would rather shoot one than get my catch dog and baydogs beat up in a catch lately.  Like horses only have so many gallops in them, likewise I believe catchdogs only have so many bad boar catches in them.  Last few years I save my catchdogs for catch and tie for radio tracking collar applications on research work and leave them at home for fun hunts with the younger crews.    But I started hunting as a pre-teen with just a pair of pittbulls wearing sheep bells for tracking wearing homemade leather cut vests as the only dogs in the hunt and there is something missing these days with all the store bought stuff , GPS tracking and variety of dog breeds we use.  That was bare knuckle hunting and we were as much a part of or even more of the hunt than the dogs.  We had to sneak through the woods for hours, no talking, wind in our faces, reading the dogs body postures before we cut em loose.  Most would quietly sneak and do as we did, crawl on our bellies, so the dogs did too.  When the dogs backed up and put slack in the leash, looked up at us, we knew they could smell and or hear hogs and it was time to cut em loose.  Maybe need to get back to that, it was a fever like nothing since.

[ALittleGritty]

I carry a .22 mag pistol as a back up but we use cd then tie, hobble etc.

[sickum]

Never use a lead in catch dog at all.  I like my cur dogs just like they are when they find one there going stretch it apart I like my dogs real catchy just my style of huntin .

[hansonw]

Keep a 22 pistol near. I use CDs but I have killed a pile of hogs with that pistol

[MakeEmSqueal863]

Never really carried guns trying to catch hogs, but if you think about it, it really is a great idea for safety. I might consider taking one now just in case!