To shoot or to catch, that is the question

[t-dog]

What's your preference, shooting or catching and why? Mine is without a doubt catching.
1) if a bulldog is sent in and misses then you try again at the next bay. If it goes in and catches another dog like I have seen happen, then you get them apart. The other dog may or may not be a little worse for wear for a couple days but he's probably gonna be just fine. If you shoot too many chances of miss hap for my liking. The bullet could pass through and hit a dog. The bullet could hit anything in the brush, bounce off and hit a dog. We all know dogs never do anything they aren't supposed to, but that one time you think they are back about the time you squeeze the trigger and your best dog bounces right into the line of fire. Bam, it's dead or ruined. Seen it happen more than once. They don't get over that gun shot like they do a dog bite. And like I said, it probably won't be the dog that is on the chopping block that it happens to. It will probably be your go to, ole FeeFee or Cujo that you would feed before your kids.

2) I have places that I'm allowed to hunt and reason I was allowed to hunt there was because we don't carry guns. The land owner or person running cattle don't have to worry about them getting shot or deer being shot etc. They have peace at mind and I get to hunt.

3) on the places I can carry, a gun to me is just something else to hang up in brush. Kinda like the old beep beep trackers. We have some places where it is next to impossible to get close enough to make a clean safe shot. A catch dog can get there and seal the deal while I'm fighting through the thicket from just a few yards away. To send a catch dog from 50 yards out is a stretch for me but I have done it because of circumstances.

I know guns don't eat or need wormed and all that. I personally love bulldogs. I respect the gladiator mentality and my bulldogs are as much pets as they are anything. That's my reasoning. What is yours?

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[l.h.cracker]

I agree with everything you mentioned.Down here in the marshes and palmettos it would be damn near impossible to shoot at a bay most of the time we have to get within 2ft to even see the hog and alot of times bust through the bush only to find out your at the wrong end if I didn't have dogs I trust with my life on the head it could get ugly real fast.My other reason is it just seems like a pussycat way to go about it there's something primal about getting in there with your dogs and going toe to toe with the beast hell I feel like stabbing them is cheating when I have to do it but some have to be killed we as hunters don't always have the option to cut and release.To each their own but I'd never let someone shoot over my dogs like you said to many variables.Not knocking anyone that does just how I choose to do things.

[Goose87]

I catch for the exact same reasons the two of you above mentioned, just this past weekend we caught a good boar    (and there’s no way On earth you were going to walk in and shoot them, there’s not a man alive that could convince me other wise, you couldn’t see the hog until you literally put your hands on him and then it was only going off of feeling that you had the back leg, that’s not just one instance, that’s the majority of places we hunt, and beside if I wanted to make videos of my dogs baying something I’d go pen cows, it’s the part of getting in the sh!t with my dogs that I like and being part of the fight, between me and the few guys I hunt with we have deer dogs, beagles, and coon/squirrel dogs as well, they’re fun to hunt but no where near as fun as getting in there and getting sh!t on your hat when it hits the fan ...

[Goose87]

Nothing against anyone who likes to shoot over their dogs, it’s just not my style, we had to do it a few months back and I was so dang nervous, we didn’t take the shot until we knew for certain that every dog was out of harms way...

[chestonmcdowell]

For the same reasons you guys have stated I’ve obly brought a gun once while hunting and even then it was just a single shot slug gun. But lately Ibe been kicking myself for not having one. I’ve came across a few sounders moving out of the way of my bulldogs and they’re not afraid of people at all. I literally had to bark at them to make them see me as danger and to avoid me. One day I’m going to run across onevfhat barking at is just going to add some speed to.

[justincorbell]

The only time I bay and shoot is if I am planning on eating the hog OR I get in a bad situation (rarely ever happens)  but in the event it does I am not bashful to kill one. To be honest if I walk into a bay and its a barr hog or a sow im not interested in messing with I will let the dogs bay for a little while as long as they are respecting the hog then call em off and go find another one. Not too many years ago I was all about putting my hands on every hog I got bayed, now days unless I plan to eat it or cut and mark it I'm not near as worried about  catching them as I am in working my dogs.

[Slim9797]

No comment


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[t-dog]

Lol come on slim. This isn't to pick at anyone and there is no right or wrong answer. It's all preference. What works for one might not for another. I personally want to hear everyone's thoughts.

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[Reuben]

For me it is about rough cur dogs...so I prefer not using a bulldog but sometimes I wish I had one...most of the time someone will have one so we are covered in that area...

Back in the older days when I hunted alone on a regular basis I carried a pistol and no bulldog...when my dogs had one stopped somewhere I would verify by checking collars and if the dogs were together in one spot for a few minutes I would head in that direction...the dogs would have the hog where he couldn’t run...if he tried they would catch him but were cautious about it...once I showed up they would catch...that was before nice running vests and I valued my dogs highly...so I started carrying a pistol and I would give the command to back up and then I would shoot with a Ruger semi auto 22 using long rifles for ammo...this scenario was for big boars all others were caught...l liked hog hunting this way the best...

I now use a AMT 22 mag semi auto with fmj’s when I carry a gun and I very seldom carry it...

I do love a great looking bulldog that gets it done no matter what obstacles...

Their has been a few times when I wished I had a gun...and those few times I saw a big hog trot away and that was hard to watch...that is when I purchased my first pistol...
A game changer is that nowadays there are good running vests for gritty cur dogs as well...

[Cajun]

Years ago and I am talking 30-40 years, I used to really get pissed off if anybody killed a hog and that was always with a knife. We never permitted anybody to shoot over our dogs and like said above, we got to hunt a lot of places because we did not carry guns. seems like the last 15 years or so, the only way we get t hunt certain areas is if we kill them so I had to change my attitude. lol Like Goose said, some of our cutovers are so thick, you just are not going to get a clear shot unless you are 5' or closer to the hog and then you will probably make him break.Since we have been hunting Management areas, we have to kill them there also but we use a knife after the bulldog has caught the hog.
   That being said I see certain advantages to shooting over bayed hogs. I have lost 3 good dogs over the years to hogs that when we sent the bulldog in, they caught also and got cut down and died. I have had a lot cut up at that point also. If you shoot the boar, thats it, he is dead and no dogs hurt.

[Black Streak]

Some hunting dog owners like to romantasize about the times of old when food was often put on the table of peasants and commoners by the dog they owned.   A meager existence for some, made easier by 1 or 2 dogs.    The dog was a valuable tool and had purpose and meaning and celebration and thanks was given to a successful hunt which fed a family or two and the dog for a day or two.              Today we are like the royalty of that period that owned many dogs and hunted them for sport and adventure but with no real life or death struggle made easier by a good hunting dog or more stressful do to the extra mouth or two to feed.          
        I feel very fortunate to live in this day and time but I fear this comfort we know now and have been raised in could one day only be a memory.       I don't romantisize about the peasants from days of old, but I do think they knew many things we as a people might wish we had retained one day.     Seems so many things are moving in a direction that will bring about a challenge to this way of life we have known.    Maybe you feel it maybe you don't but my spirit does.       This is a large reason I raise and hunt the type dogs I do.    It is why I don't want specialty dogs and why I hunt them all styles and all ways.   It is why I hunt them as much as I do.    For me it is a fine time to breed for dogs that would be an asset to a family rather than a hindrance of to many mouths to feed and to many dogs to do a job if such a way of life as we enjoy now is to play itself out.         For reasons such as this and for personal fun filled enjoyment, I choose to catch the pig and do my business efficiently, quickly, quietly, and with a knife or rope.     I see it as good practice for a time I hope is not needed.     My knowledge, confedence, and respect for such dogs is forged in the hunts and my relationship with them is obtained and grows on the yard.       I'm a catch dog man, it's only those that posses the courage, heart, and willingness to catch on their own that interest me.              
     Kinda like some gun maker said, only an accurate gun is an interesting gun.      For me, only a catch dog is an interesting dog.  

[Reuben]

Some hunting dog owners like to romantasize about the times of old when food was often put on the table of peasants and commoners by the dog they owned.   A meager existence for some, made easier by 1 or 2 dogs.    The dog was a valuable tool and had purpose and meaning and celebration and thanks was given to a successful hunt which fed a family or two and the dog for a day or two.              Today we are like the royalty of that period that owned many dogs and hunted them for sport and adventure but with no real life or death struggle made easier by a good hunting dog or more stressful do to the extra mouth or two to feed.          
        I feel very fortunate to live in this day and time but I fear this comfort we know now and have been raised in could one day only be a memory.       I don't romantisize about the peasants from days of old, but I do think they knew many things we as a people might wish we had retained one day.     Seems so many things are moving in a direction that will bring about a challenge to this way of life we have known.    Maybe you feel it maybe you don't but my spirit does.       This is a large reason I raise and hunt the type dogs I do.    It is why I don't want specialty dogs and why I hunt them all styles and all ways.   It is why I hunt them as much as I do.    For me it is a fine time to breed for dogs that would be an asset to a family rather than a hindrance of to many mouths to feed and to many dogs to do a job if such a way of life as we enjoy now is to play itself out.         For reasons such as this and for personal fun filled enjoyment, I choose to catch the pig and do my business efficiently, quickly, quietly, and with a knife or rope.     I see it as good practice for a time I hope is not needed.     My knowledge, confedence, and respect for such dogs is forged in the hunts and my relationship with them is obtained and grows on the yard.       I'm a catch dog man, it's only those that posses the courage, heart, and willingness to catch on their own that interest me.              
     Kinda like some gun maker said, only an accurate gun is an interesting gun.      For me, only a catch dog is an interesting dog.  

excellent post...

I like a certain cur dog...and it is the only kind that interests me as well...

I am one who feels as much as I see...that is one reason why I didn't take my sons hog hunting as much because this way of life is fading...as a young kid I hunted dogs most days and sometimes twice a day in the summer months...a quick round in the morning before hitting the fields and right after lunch between 12 and 2:30 pm before hitting the fields again...I didn't want my sons to grow up missing the hunts so I figured if they didn't hunt much they couldn't miss what they didn't know...

[Slim9797]

Lol come on slim. This isn't to pick at anyone and there is no right or wrong answer. It's all preference. What works for one might not for another. I personally want to hear everyone's thoughts.

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I ain’t never hunted out of a boat, I’d like to think it’d be harder to do on the brazos river than it would be in some of the swamps a lot of the guys that do it normally hunt. Simply due to high banks, moving water and general access to land. But knowing I’ve never done it, I surely wouldn’t tell anybody that cut their teeth hunting off a boat they just flat couldn’t do it because I say the banks are too high and the water is too fast. That’s what they know, that’s what their dogs know, id figure anybody worth half their salt could manage it.
Some of these boys on here don’t have that mindset, they’ve never hunted with anybody who has dogs that all they know is bay and shoot owned by somebody that cuts their teeth shooting bayed hogs. They ain’t got a clue how it works, or how we go about certain things, but they’re the first ones to tell you, not a chance in hell you could do it where they’re from.  If you’re scared go to church



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[t-dog]

I have done the bay and shoot way and I have done the bay, shoot, catch way and now I do the catch way. When I was mad at the hogs we put up numbers. Some will call BS but the truth is, my buddy and I hunted or trained young dogs every day providing it wasn't Christmas or mother nature didn't keep us in. This was almost 30 years ago. People would ask how many hogs we were catching or killing. We got curious ourselves so we started recording it. At one point we were killing and catching 350 to 400 hogs a year with dogs. We were young and when we went to bed at night were in a hurry for the sun to come up so we could do it all again. My mentors that basically molded me were old enough to be a father or grandfather to me. They all shot what they bayed so naturally that was our first style. Then we decided that we were tough enough that we needed the challenge of catching them alive. Before too long it got to be that we were doing both on the same hunt. Our mentors got to where they wanted us bring watch dogs because they let us do all that dirty work and they would do the shooting. If it was where they couldn't get a shot then again, send your catch dog. We put up some consistent big numbers back then. It was a common hunt to shoot and catch 15 to 25 a hunt. I remember one hunt that one mentor and myself killed 15 just he and I. He was old and broke down pretty good, but if he pointed that fire stick at something, it was likely drawing it's last breath. We bayed the hogs in the brush on the river bank. After that first shot they broke. He was out in the plowed ground waiting. He started shooting and I started sticking. I killed 6 and shot the first one. He killed the other 8 quick enough to come back watch me stick the last couple. I cleaned all 15 of those hogs that day by myself, not one under a 125 pounds. That's the biggest reason I remember it so well. Eventually all those buddies were gone or couldn't hunt anymore because of health. Guns eventually became an only if necessary option. Now it's pretty much only if we are at or around the river. I want to mention one other thing I saw happen a hand full of times. Because nobody is a 100% marksman and EVERY situation is different, every shot isn't a kill shot. I have seen hogs get shot and it knock them in the dirt. As soon as they bottomed out the dogs would run up and start grabbing and pulling because they thought bang, dead hog. All of a sudden what they thought was dead was up and handing them their butts. I saw that happen once and the guys best dog payed the ultimate price. His words were I should've let you send that catch dog, I knew I couldn't get a clean shot! He was sick and totally blamed himself. That dog was with him all day everyday hunting or just going to town.  Felt bad for him and it had a whole lot to do with why I catch instead of shoot. That being said the reason I like the style of catch dog I use was also molded by circumstances that happened using a different style or type. Like mentioned earlier by cajun I think it was, I had a really good dog that would catch when the catch dog caught. I was using a smaller catch dog at the time. He didn't have enough weight to get any dead weight leverage and therefore like so many smaller catch dogs I've hunted with, could only slow the hog down and not control it. My cur dog got caught by a caught hog. A couple more small catch dog issues and I decided that I was going to have to do something different and evolved from there to where I am now. There's no doubt that there are styles that work better as a whole in different terrains, but whatever floats your boat is what you should be doing. Same with dogs, if this style or breed is what you like then that's what you should use. You pay the feed bill and take care of them. There isn't a right or wrong, just my way and your way so to speak.

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[l.h.cracker]

Slim have yall ever shot a dog by accident?

[Slim9797]

Slim have yall ever shot a dog by accident?

Only dog that’s ever been shot was by a guy who didn’t even have dogs. He was carrying a .44 mag revolver my uncle didn’t know about. Dogs run a hog out of the high fence. Them boys beat my uncle and them there, dogs were caught. 120 lb sow and for whatever reason the boy drew that pistol. Had a back leg In his hand, Tried to holler them dogs back and went to shoot the hog. Right as he did boss caught and he shot boss straight through the muzzle. Boss lived, I hunted him for a little while a few years later. Had a hole the size of a grape in the roof of his mouth and half a tongue so his nose didn’t work much anymore. If he struck a hog you could bet it was going to be a pretty good boar hog. Between me, and the guys that brought me around who have been doing it since the 70s. That’s the only dog ever got a bullet on accident.


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[Rough curs]

I've done both mainly with 1 dog when using a gun. My lead dog just died and she was the only dog I could holler off a pig and get a shot, everything else I have there would be no way to shoot over them . I have had 1 situation in the past where a hog had to be shot with about 6dogs on it. And I'm pretty sure I had my buddy at gunpoint telling him if he shot my dogs he was getting the next bullet lol Haha.  With that being said I wouldn't shoot a hog again with my dogs around ,that was the most stressful hunt ever.  I should say it was very exciting to be able to shoot over my best gyp, wouldn't mind it if I could keep a couple hand full of dogs ide have both catch and bay, but I can't so I have 5 dogs I breed to catch hogs not catch dogs not bay dogs ,just hog dogs that catch hogs.

[Rough curs]

And this goes with 2 other post , 1no guns smaller than 357and #2 no rocks in the dog yard . That boar that got shot didn't die by a 40 cal.i caught him a month later with 2 holes in his face. My best dog died from eating an egg size rock.

[HIGHWATER KENNELS]

That being said I see certain advantages to shooting over bayed hogs. I have lost 3 good dogs over the years to hogs that when we sent the bulldog in, they caught also and got cut down and died. I have had a lot cut up at that point also. If you shoot the boar, thats it, he is dead and no dogs hurt.


Wouldn't have said it no different,,, My pride is not as important to me anymore like it use to be when I was younger.... A 5000 dollar find dog is not worth loosing over a 200 pd boar hog in certain situations...If it aint ideal for one of my cd to be sent it,,, I have no problem shooting that boar hog without putting my hands on him..

[chestonmcdowell]

My favorite cd is a little 40 pound gyp ton of heart but the one time I seen her getting it handed to her I went and got another one just for back up. What seemed like minutes was only like 4 seconds before my strike dog spun him and she grabbed an ear. I don’t think I could ever shoot over my dogs but my main ones are pretty lose. Just seems like guns bring another worry. But at the same time a comfort. There’s been quite a few people I won’t take hunting because they will not go without their ar15. And if they bring a pistol I tell them every dog has a high price tag on it so if number 2 hits the fan they better be a dead eye. All of the hogs I’ve killed has been with my kabar that I ended up dropping this weekend on the sand bar. But after the incident with my dogs floating down the river after a hog I definitely am sighting in my rifle this week. I live in Arkansas but hunt mostly in Texas whet it’s legal to transport them I believe and killing them on the spot is easier than dragging a live hog back to the truck. But whenever I get my tab trailer set up and my bike done I could see me bringing them in Alice