catching running hogs...

I live on the mainland but learned some on my hunt with TRACKANDGRAB. He told me that the hogs on Oahu are bad about running. Where I hunt in Georgia, alot of hunting pressure is causing the hogs to run more. What kind of dogs would you recommend. A whippet cross seems like a good option since they are so quick and agile. The places I have access to hunt are very thick and if the hogs get 10 feet from the dogs, they are usually gone. Prefer a close range gritty dog that has a brain. We might get on a 50 pounder or a 400 pounder so striaght catch isn't the best option. I prefer something that is quick, agile, and smart about catching. Any suggestions ?

Howzit Buddylee! I've got a Whippet/Bull cross in my pack that I am very impressed with but one set back to the Whippet or greyhound cross is that they have smaller bone structure so if a bone meets with a pig it is more suseptible to breakage. Another set back you may wanna keep in mind is it doesn't matter how fast the dog is if it loses the scent and keeps going 240 in the wrong direction so I am not to sure about the terrain in georgia but here in the islands majority of the pigs are in the forest and it can get pretty thick pretty quick but if georgia is mostly flat plains or meadows then a little bit of whippet or greyhound could be exactly what your pack needs to be able to stop the hog but keep in mind you are sacrificing size for speed so once the pig is stopped the dog needs brains or reenforcements not far behind in order to sit the pig down. Also there are a few other good candidates which could offer you "speed" such as a borzoi or a saluki or a wolfhound. The last three being taller lankier breeds. Good luck!

I just reread your post and noticed you mentioned the terrain is kind of thick, Have you thought of a Rhodesian Ridgeback??

maybe u should try crossing with a heeler type. i know the days of the heeler are kind of over, but most of the heeler bulls that i've seen in action are very fast, smart, and they tend to have very good stamina, but that's just from what i've seen and heard from the old time hunters. thats the bloodline i'm beginning to play around with because i too want fast, smart, but rough dogs, so i bred my 1/2 staffordshire, airdale, greyhound, boxer, to my pure blue heeler. my pups are still only like three or four months old so i havent taken them in the mountain yet, but ok shoots take it easy.

My main dog is a Bull/Heeler cross and I've had her since I was 15!! She has been through it all with me and will be 11 this year and till this day there is no way I load up the rest of the pack and leave her home without having to hear complaints but as long as she still tracks I will let her run with my pack. I also have a Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog as part of my pack but I get sketched every time I run him where we could bump a cow cause the rest of the pack knows better so he could end up going in alone but his stamina is superb and he can go for days!!

budylee since you live in the mainland and dont have to worry about the quaranteen drama you should look into some thing like a VISZLA (hungarian hound) they are not as big as you typical hound and they are a scent dog not a sight dog as are the whippets and greyhounds, Since you live in a thick area this might be a good breed to cross with a bullairdale or a bullheeler.


Ive been trying to bring this dog in for years but cant seem to cordanate my money with the breedings , I had the pleasure to hunt with this breed on my trip to texas and was very impressed with their stamina and nose, Of cours here in the island i would most certain cross em with a breed from my own line.


If you look into them give me a holler, I would be interested in working something out


P.S....you cant go wrong with redbone hound bull mixes

I know of a fellow that has some some cattle/catahoula/bull mixes. He does pretty good. I have one of his pups. How catchy are most of ya'lls dogs ? The worst pigs to catch are the 50 pounders. I have one spot where they never bay, one bark and they are gone.
HYPA, on a side note, a buddy of mine has a redbone/blackmouth and he loves it, says it is one of the best dogs he has ever seen.

My bull/Heeler will grab along with my whippet/bull and my Cattle dog mostly nips and barks and I also run a Shepherd/Lab cross who just tracks then steady bark once the pig is stopped. My Shepherd will never grab unless I push her on the pig and even then it is more of an attack then it is a grab so I try to avoid that situation unless things aren't looking good for me. I really wish I could get my shepherd to track and grab but so far she is just straight track and then call for help. I also hunt with a .357 so I like less earrings and dogs hanging off other parts of the pig when I get there, I am still working on getting my Bull/whippet to understand the "OUT" command but she is coming along.

yea buddy you wont be let down on those reds man just mix em and the bark will dissapear heres a pict of the Viszla almost like the redbone but a little more streamlined

Back in the day when I used to hunt with dogs plenty, I had some theories: We were hunting areas where the pigs were runners. At first I though you needed bulls to grab the pig and slow it down but later came to learn that even our bulls would often bay a pig. What it boiled down to in the end was you just had to have one real good lead dog along with several good dogs to answer bark. Lost cries and whining would mess up their confidence. They had to trust each other; that was key. The dogs needed to be in tip top shape, not too heavy, and have endurance breeds bred into them. Too much muscle can slow a dog down and the same for having not enough. Barking gives away the dogs position to the pigs, so you only want what is needed to call for backup. Ours barked at the sight or while in direct chase.

Also try positioning hunters at major trails to shoot fleeing pigs.

I have a dog that was my best tracker at one time, she was a pure rednose. The problem was that everytime she would find a pig, she would run it down and start grabbing by herself. She wouldnt make any noise at all, not a bark, a yelp, or growl. If the pig didn't start screaming, I wouldn't know whats going on...she would sometime get dirty licking by herself and was taking a beating. Shes getting old now 9 yrs, but she still hunts. I finally got some whippet crosses, if the pig is under 70 lbs. they grab by themselves, if its bigger, they just bark the pig, nip the balls, and keep the pig there till the rest of the dogs show up. Thats the way i like it...!

On another note, I hunted with a guy who had these small jaged terriers, real small dogs...he had like 5 of them, and they stopped some big pigs. I saw the pig sitting on his butt, spinning around in circles. These dogs ran circles around the pig, and when he would stand up, they would nip its balls. The dogs just irratated the crap out of the pigs. My friend would come up and shoot the pig. They also would grab small pigs.

I have a catahoula/bull that barks on the chase. I'm thinking that's not a great thing because it lets the pig know where they are and that they're on the way. Like knockout said, his rednose would just grab and not make a sound. I kinda like the fact that she makes noise and it is helpful once they stopped um so i can tell where they're at. But i'm afraid it's cutting down the amount of catches i'm having. She's a little over a year and a half. I really want her to turn out. Is it even that bad? It was suggested that i age her a little more, then she might grow out of that phase/habit. Anyone have input/suggestions or similar experience?

i would age her for a little while. it's in the breed that's why, the catahoulas like to bark on the chase from what i've been told and my friend had a 1/2 catahoula, 1/4 ridgeback, 1/4 bull, and the dog used to do the same thing bark on the chase and never did grow out of it. that's why i'm not really a fan of the catahoula bloodline, but i guess it works for a lot of people. but yeah i would just try ageing the dog for a little while and see what happens. and for those running pigs all you need is one or two good dogs that work together, doesn't matter what breed of dogs, because that's how we was banging the hogs last year in places like waianae valley, makaha, and kuaokala (peacock flats) home of the pigs with N.O.S. in their ass, we had two good dogs that worked good together one male 1/2 greyhound, coon hound, airdale, bull, and one labrador bull bitch. those two were at the stage to where if they would bark the pig was caught, so all you need is two good dogs that work together or one hammah dog and i no care how fast the pig run if they hittem they going sittem . trust me

Eh right on cuz! Mahalo! I go try rest um den. I just got one boxer/bull mix with ada stuff too that track and grab. Just gotta see which of da ada dogs gon be her good workin patna. You guys run tracking collars?

No matter how fast the pigs, the dogs going stop em, they going nip and bark em...I really don't like my trackers grabbing to much unless its a smaller pig, they usually wait for the rest of the dogs, then they jump in. Just like if you was going fight one big dude, and you know you was going get lickins, wait for all your friends show up, and mob em together...less chance of someone getting hurt...thats my theory. LOL
I don't run tracking collars...my dogs are real short range!