Catchdogs

catch dog where are you located? How many people you usually go with ? good set of dogs?

 

dog team can run only 2 guys, normally 3, on a given hunt, youll catch me runnin 3 hood dogs, one good good strike dog and 1 or 2 help (bay dogs), and 2 catchdogs in the box, I can tell what my strike dog is lookin at by how he bays, hell his gritty ass will catch a sow or small boar, so if he is bayin proud, i know to send 2 bulldogs because if it is too much for him to take on, its a good boar., I got another team that is lead by just one reverse color BMC, he can put it in any other dog around heres ass, simply outclass em, he goes out far, but will literally push the hog back towards us, damn thing will bay a mile out sometimes, he doesnt normally need help. I have hunted 2 hood dogs 1 catchdog, which works, but I like 3 and 2

 

So I have a hog issue now never have had one before, We have a ranch in Napa Valley and our neighbor a famous vineyard owns 22,000 acres and has started guiding pig hunts between the both of us we have 5900 acres of landlocked blm land so the hogs have always stayed in the no man's land. Now they have started plowing my fields I would like to work my dogs and get them familiar with hogs I see videos on youtube of pups in a pen with a hog my question is where do you get those hogs are they trapped or bought and raised hogs ? I am an avid archery hunter but never had an opportunity to hunt with dogs .

 

it's illegal to catch a hog in a pen .

 

i hunt a bit different to you fellas here in oz.... i would definatly not use a bay pen as it puts a young dog in a position where if it is not ready it can do alot of damage to a young dog confidence. setting you back months. i start my pups at 6 months earliest but i would expect them to be finding and holding their own pigs no later then 16 months. pups are only trained with my best dogs. never more then one pup at a time!!!! the more pups the less brain power in your team.

this is how i train my pups......
all my hunting is done off the ute with no more then 2 dogs free to work the ute. my pup is in the crate or cliped up. when my 2 main dogs leave the ute on a scent, i walk in my pup on a lead. when i get to the pig if there are 2 dogs on it i will take one off and have someone hold it. i then let the pup off and see what happens. some go strait on for the ear. if it does go on the ear prase the shit out of it, if it gabs a leg take it off and move it towards the front of the pig. if it keeps doing it lift the pigs back legs up and have someone walk the pup to the front of the pig. the key is not to have more then 2 dogs on a pig as the pig only has 2 ears. young dogs learn much faster from other dogs so if you have another leg chewer in your team then it will learn to do the same. run it with a dog that lugs clean on the ear then it will do the same when it is ready. but if it persisted grabbing legs after it has seen 20-30 pigs i would shoot it and move on. some dogs are just born leg chewers that will cost you money..... cos pigs with chewed legs over here cannot be sold to the chillers.