**Cajun** HoundsmenXP

[T-Bob Parker]

Hey y'all!  Im just up here at work listening to one of my favorite podcasts and caught Cajuns latest episode.

Cajun, I listened very closely when you began explaining to Steve why you decided to go with plotts on hogs vs the curs you used to have and while I know these topics have historically spurred VERY lively discussion in our little hog dog world, I wanted to reach out and personally tell you thank you for the way handled that explanation.

I'd encourage everyone who reads this to give this episode a listen.  It struck me that if I were to read that explanation in text a few years ago, I could be tempted to jump in with a knee jerk opinion and make an ass of myself, but to hear it from your own voice on a audio media, I better understood your mindset. I'd like to thank you for recording that show and thanks for the respectful way you presented cur dogs to a world of houndsmen.

Hats off to you sir.

[T-Bob Parker]

Correction— Chris, not Steve. Sorry

[Cajun]

  Thanks T Bob. I havnt got to listen to it yet but everytime I listen to a recorded tape of my voice, I think who is that dorky sounding guy. I dont sound like that. lol Most true houndsmen have a hard time understanding the true value of a good cur. When Taylor Crockett and Archie Boone came and made a hunt with me. I asked them if they wanted to catch hogs or run them. Taylor asked me what I meant and I told him if we wanted to catch them, we would turn out one little silent cur I had and she would go bay them and we would send the bulldog. Taylor said he brought dogs to run and we ran hogs all weekend without catching one. I will say I brought them to a spot where the hogs were bad to run but that same area I could bring one or two curs and put them out one at a time and catch 75% of the hogs they bayed.
  I have had curs all my life and have had some good ones. The bottom line is there are good ones in all breeds and a lot of sorry ones too.

[T-Bob Parker]

And right there, you raise another excellent point. I’ve had online conversations over the years with dog hunters from all over the spectrum and I’ve suspected most of them believe that hogs couldn’t possibly put on any sort of a real race and that hog hunters obviously don’t know what a real race is if they’re struggling so badly to catch a fat farm animal! 

[cajunl]

A single silent, stock minded cur dog and a seasoned bulldog are deadly on hogs....especially big hogs.

A hound does excel where there are not many hogs. They just have to tell the whole world how good they are!

[BA-IV]

A single silent, stock minded cur dog and a seasoned bulldog are deadly on hogs....especially big hogs.

A hound does excel where there are not many hogs. They just have to tell the whole world how good they are!

This right here. It’s all about the country you hunt in, and what you need out of a dog. Good ones in either breed train themselves regardless, but finding them is hard, BUT finding one that’s good and can reproduce itself is the needle in the haystack.

[Lefty LaRue]

Does anyone have a link to the Podcast?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[l.h.cracker]

Yes Sir Cajun could you please post a link I'd love to listen to it.

[BA-IV]

Easiest way is use your Podcast app on your smartphone and look up the Houndsman XP podcast.

[BA-IV]

https://sportsmensnation.com/podcasts/hound-legends-chapter-2-with-mike-cauley

[NLAhunter]

I listened to it yesterday I enjoyed it Cajun

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[joshg223]

People don’t believe me when I tell them that they could solve a lot of running by using one bay dog. They can’t seem to wrap their heads around it. Silent or not. My dogs are wide open and I still can bay the running hogs as long as there is just one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cajun]

People don’t believe me when I tell them that they could solve a lot of running by using one bay dog. They can’t seem to wrap their heads around it. Silent or not. My dogs are wide open and I still can bay the running hogs as long as there is just one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  That's right Josh but what kind of fun is that. lol I want a race and I want those hogs to know what is coming. haha You are right, I can put out one Plott and most of the time have a bay, even when it is opening coldtrailing to the hog. I am glad y'all are enjoying the Podcast. Chris works hard at it and there is a lot of info on his interviews with other houndsman. I espechily like  his interviews with the bird hunters. Out of all the dog hunting groups, as a whole bird dog trainers have a lot better handle on their dogs. There are some hog hunters out there that do also and I would place the cat hunters in the group with the bird dog hunters. The older I get the more I appreciate a good handle on a dog. Thanks for all the kind words.

[Austesus]

There’s definitely a time and a place for different dogs. I just wrapped up a 3 day hunt with a buddy of mine, and he has some flat out jam up dogs. Some of the best I’ve hunted behind but they often get in some long races. His dogs are all crossed with bird dog and some hound, and they are open on track, but they are fast. We ran some of the pigs over 2 miles and caught them, where as I know that those same pigs would have been caught in under 1000 yards if we were only running my silent dogs. We also had a huge pack of dogs since there were probably 5-6 people with full packs of dogs in our group. This is a big annual hunt that has a huge turn out on state WMA land, pretty much an extermination hunt with half of the hogs getting killed by the dogs before we even got there.

A lot of bear hunters come down and they run their bear dogs and with all those hounds bawling there definitely is a difference in catching the pigs. With curs I catch plenty of hogs, usually pretty close, and I’m walk hunting. Those guys were mainly rigging and they would run a hog for 3-4 hours before catching it. I’m used to not having races, dogs roll out on a track and normally they’ve caught it within 15-20 minutes. My buddies dogs are rough like mine, so when his catch up to it they’re stopping it come hell or high water. Some of those bear dogs wouldn’t put teeth on one so they just kept pushing them for hours. Some guys like to hear the race and have the land for it. I personally like to hear nothing but the hog grunting or screaming once it’s caught. I also don’t have miles and miles of land with nice roads to drive around and keep up with those long range hounds.

About to give the podcast a listen!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BA-IV]

Why do you think your dogs are baying those hogs so much faster then the open dogs?

I’ve hunted both on hard running hogs, and if all else is equal in speed, grit, and bottom I’ve not seen much difference on hogs being bayed that much faster between open or silent dogs, and I hunt some heavily deer dogged clubs where if it’s got hair it gets ran 12 months out the year.

[Coady Curbow]

Thanks so much for sharing this.  I enjoyed every minute of the podcast.  I loved the thoughtfulness and kindness in your answers about breeding and hunting different types and styles of dogs.  Thank you Mr. Cauley.

[make-em-squeel]

My good buddy runs plotts on hogs, I have BMCs. I like them other than there open, not my style but you can defiantly catch hogs with them. My curs run good with them although it confuses them some when they open at first. They have plenty of endurance and his are loose for the most part.

[Austesus]

BA-IV,

Mine don’t bay, neither do his. Both of us run dogs that are almost straight catch and a pack of them will catch anything. Running mine they will typically catch a hog while he’s rooting or bedded down. With my buddies dogs (keep in mind there was a ton of dogs on this hunt too, probably 20-25 dogs whereas my typical hunting is done with either 2-3 dogs or if I’m with a buddy, 5-6 dogs) they start opening up pretty good as soon as their on a track and they will all pack together and start chopping pretty good and gets the pig jumped up and running before they get close to him. I think the number of dogs is a huge factor with that. One or two dogs that are opening a little still seem to do well. With 10 dogs chopping behind him they don’t want to stop. They do end up catching probably 90-95% of what they run, just further away than I’m used to. Usually the only time his dogs won’t catch one is if he calls them off. His dogs are all extremely fast and they relay better than most dogs I’ve seen, so it’s not uncommon for them to kill smaller hogs and immediately relay once it’s dead. We’ve came behind this just picking up shoats before.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[williamsld]

Really enjoyed your podcast Cajun lots of free wisdom in there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jsh]

Enjoyed it Cajun.