Can we have a hog dog discussion with facts and not emotion?

[TX_Hoghunter]

In all seriousness can we have an intelligent fact based discussion on hog hunting with dogs? Granted I have been catching hogs with dogs since the 80's so in my opinion it can be done properly without issues. I am sure others have a different opinion and that is perfectly fine but I would like to discuss it. Hog hunting is just like everything else. It can be done right or it can be done wrong. My fear is some folks on here have experienced it done wrong and they apply that bad experience to all hog hunters. That type of logic is the same that the anti-gun crowd will use on us. One idiot does a mass killing with an "assault" weapon and the rest of us are now somehow connected to that. They feel we should all lose our guns based on the behavior of someone else. Here is what my experience has shown me. I have hog hunted with dogs nearly every place that I have leased for deer hunting. The exception was a place in the hill country that did not have any hogs on it. I have killed nice mature deer on every single one of those places. In fact the thinning out of the hog population has done nothing except improve the deer hunting. In some cases significantly. Hogs will kill baby fawns, they will compete for the limited food supply, and in some cases will run deer off of the food completely. How can any of that be good for the deer herd? The answer is it is not. Did some of y'all have "hog dogs" that chased deer or chased cows? If so that is a problem but it is correctable and it also does not run the deer out of the county. In some states the still run deer with dogs. I have never done it myself but from talking to those that do apparently the deer often run in circles and when done correctly it does not relocate or hurt the deer hunting at all. I assume if you did it 24/7/365 it would. The facts are that hogs do billions of dollars of damage to the environment. While they can be good to eat and fun to kill this country would currently be better off if none existed. Does anyone disagree with that? They are also highly intelligent and hard to eradicate. There is no one size fits all solution. I like to catch them with dogs but that does not mean I hate people who trap them, who use a thermal on them, who kill them from a helicopter. I am a little hesitate on the use of poison but that is because I do not trust people to do it correctly. So is the problem the fact that the dogs might get after a hog and cross a fence line? If it is that is fine but what is the best solution? In the areas that I hunt I try to ask all of the neighboring land owners what they want me to do if the dogs get on them and bay a hog. Do they want me to kill the hog? catch the hog? turn the hog loose again? give them the hog? I am willing to do whatever I can to make this work for all of us. I have never had an issue with a land owner or a game warden. I have never tried to hide from anyone. In fact I have gone to folks houses to apologize and inform them that we ended up on their places when they never knew we had been there. We do not cut fences or climb over fences. We do not rut up pastures. We do not carry firearms with us when we go. We do not throw down trash. We always try to leave the place in better condition then we have found it. Is it simple the fact that don't want anyone to ever get on their place? If so that is fine. I will ask you this question if you shot the biggest buck of your life and it managed to get on your neighbors place would you be perfectly fine with just leaving the deer? I mean the other land owner has the right to not let you retrieve it. Would you be fine with that or would you hate him the rest of his life? So once again I am not trying to stir up hate but would lie to discuss why some people hate hog hunters. I do not know that I can change your mind and you probably cannot change mind but you never know for sure until you try. Let me know the problems that some have experienced. There are no 100% right or 100% wrong answers to this. I am legitimately wanting to discuss it without hate. Any takers?

Thanks.

-john

[buck_wild]

I think trespassing and liability are the biggest issues with most landowners that don't allow.

[Walker]

I ran dogs for about 30 years. Mostly on farm land and the landowners loved me. Hogs can absolutely destroy a corn or milo field. My dogs were clean and sometimes went under fences. In those cases we just waited at the truck. Sometimes hours, for the dogs to come back. Had permission to hunt a couple of cattle ranches with never a problem. The biggest problems I encountered were the hog hunters. Leaving gates open. Tearing up fences....
most places I hunted had one rule, you can leave a hog lay as long as you left him dead. Didn't bother the deer either.

[doright]

You said it best in the first part of your post. One bad apple does leave a bad taste. I have run into more that are in the bad apple category than good. The last group that we came across on our lease was trying to cut the lock to get to his dogs. One of the older guys was nice and polite while the rest were arrogant and smart mouthed. They changed their tune once the game warden showed up. I have yet to encounter one that has called ahead to get permission. Most use the excuse of starting somewhere else and the dogs didn't know not to cross the fence.

[TX_Hoghunter]

I think trespassing and liability are the biggest issues with most landowners that don't allow.

I am guessing you are correct. If there was no liability issue would things change? If the hunter was just going to retrieve their dog without doing any damage would most people be ok with it? I know land owners right now that would let us hunt if they had no liability issues. Would signing some kind of a release of liability form help?

Walker my experience largely follow yours with the exception is we try to go get the dogs if possible.

[TX_Hoghunter]

You said it best in the first part of your post. One bad apple does leave a bad taste. I have run into more that are in the bad apple category than good. The last group that we came across on our lease was trying to cut the lock to get to his dogs. One of the older guys was nice and polite while the rest were arrogant and smart mouthed. They changed their tune once the game warden showed up. I have yet to encounter one that has called ahead to get permission. Most use the excuse of starting somewhere else and the dogs didn't know not to cross the fence.

I hear ya and we have our dogs start on the right place and then get on the wrong place. I do own some land but have had the dogs get off of it. We only walk. We have never cut a lock or a fence and would find serious fault with those that do. Thanks for your input.

-john

[Buff]

I grew up with coon dogs, so I have always been pro dog BUT my one experience with hog dogs was.............

I get a phone call from a fellow
Him.... Can I run my dogs on your place
Me... No I like to bow hunt for them
Him ... I can pretty much hunt any where I want and just tell the game warden that I was just retrieving my dogs
Me ... If you want your dogs, keep them off my place. If I catch them I will haul them to the pound
Him... It is awful dry, I would hate to see your place burn off

Me... WOW Just how big of a fellow are you anyway
Him... I will hunt your place and good luck catching me. And hung up

I can only go off my own experience but I have had other hog dog guys tell me they can hunt anywhere they want as long as they don't take a gun.

So put me down as having a low opinion of hog dog guys

[GalvestonWader]

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but I have no problem with hog hunters. I probably enjoy hog hunting just as much as deer hunting, but we hunt them with thermal. Now if a hog dogger asked me permission to run dogs on my land I would tell them no. It is our family property and I dont want some stranger chasing wildlife around my place. If someone was running dogs and they came under my fence then I would want them to hang back and wait for the dogs to return, not trespass on my property.

[M16]

In fact I have gone to folks houses to apologize and inform them that we ended up on their places when they never knew we had been there.

Thanks.

-john

This is the problem. You just admitted you have trespassed on people's property. Hog doggers hunt small properties when they know there is a good chance of their dogs winding up on property where they don't have permission. You aren't doing me a favor by removing hogs on my property. I like to hunt them. It's very simple. Enjoy your sport but stay the **** off my property. If you can't do that then don't release the hounds.

I wouldn't mind a trespass by dog law. Not just hog dogs but any dog. It is the owners responsibility to contain their animals. If you can't contain your dog on your property don't release the hound.

[stinkbelly]

This is the problem. You just admitted you have trespassed on people's property. Hog doggers hunt small properties when they know there is a good chance of their dogs winding up on property where they don't have permission. You aren't doing me a favor by removing hogs on my property. I like to hunt them. It's very simple. Enjoy your sport but stay the **** off my property. If you can't do that then don't release the hounds.

I wouldn't mind a trespass by dog law. Not just hog dogs but any dog. It is the owners responsibility to contain their animals. If you can't contain your dog on your property don't release the hound.

I agree. We have a small lease that as soon as hog show up on camera, the hog doggers show up on camera. We have all hunting rights to the land, but these guys think it is ok to hunt our land.

Fact: I pay for all hunting rights to my lease and the hog doggers poach my lease.

[McClain]

Another negative effect of hunting hogs with dogs is that it certainly makes it harder to traps hogs in the area for those that want or need to, as they become extremely wary. It also makes it harder to kill hogs with guns/bows as they become strictly nocturnal and stick to thickets only.

[TX_Hoghunter]

I grew up with coon dogs, so I have always been pro dog BUT my one experience with hog dogs was.............

I get a phone call from a fellow
Him.... Can I run my dogs on your place
Me... No I like to bow hunt for them
Him ... I can pretty much hunt any where I want and just tell the game warden that I was just retrieving my dogs
Me ... If you want your dogs, keep them off my place. If I catch them I will haul them to the pound
Him... It is awful dry, I would hate to see your place burn off

Me... WOW Just how big of a fellow are you anyway
Him... I will hunt your place and good luck catching me. And hung up

I can only go off my own experience but I have had other hog dog guys tell me they can hunt anywhere they want as long as they don't take a gun.

So put me down as having a low opinion of hog dog guys

Yep whoever you were talking to sure needs an attitude adjustment. No doubt about that. Folks like that sure to a lot of damage to the rest of us.

-john

[TX_Hoghunter]

Another negative effect of hunting hogs with dogs is that it certainly makes it harder to traps hogs in the area for those that want or need to, as they become extremely wary. It also makes it harder to kill hogs with guns/bows as they become strictly nocturnal and stick to thickets only.

That is one I have never seen or even heard of. I do know the longer you trap a place the hard they are to trap. They become trap wise in a hurry. Thanks for your response.

[Aetheling]

I've only run into two hog doggers in my life. Both times they were trespassing on my property and one time they let themselves through a gate with a no trespassing sign to drive in a vehicle and tear up my hay pasture. 35 acres with a house on top of the hill so they were shooting guns very close to my house. The other time they crossed barbed wire. No excuse.

[AntlerCollector]

In your almost 40 years of hog hunting with dogs have your dogs ever trespassed on someone else’s property?

If they have, then your weren’t “doing it right.”

Trespassing is the biggest issue I have. Without landowners consent your dogs have no business running animals across someone else’s land.

Almost every hog dogger I know blows off the trespassing issue because y’all think you’re doing God’s work by getting rid of pigs.