kia ora im looking at getting some dogs I'm leaning towards bailing dogs as im wanting to use my gun and I've heard its less money on the vet bill. What breeds should I be looking at? is it god to have a holder and a bailer? any tips that you think could help? thanks in advance!!!
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Maddoghunter
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Re: new to pig hunting Reply #1 - May 8th, 2020 at 10:38pm
Everyone has their own preference. I’ll give you my example.
I personally like a dog to be at least half working dog. They have a natural tendency to be able to work anything with a hoof. The two I use, ones half Kelpie half collie, the others half huntaway half pitbull. Basically how they work is that the Kelpie doesn’t hold at all, just stands off and barks, and it’s the bully that grabs the pig. The Kelpie is more the sort of dog you’d use if you were gonna be in the bush for a period of time and wanted a good mate. He’s easy to feed, never really gets lost, doesn’t go too far, he’s got a thick coat so can handle sleeping on the ground for a night or two in winter. But, he can be a handful around home if he gets bored, and if the pig decides to run he has zero ability to stop it.
The Bully X on the other hand, is an absolute cruiser around home, he loves just laying in the sun all day. He’s what I call a day hunt dog. That is, you can only really hunt him for 1 day, because if he gets a boar he’s gonna be out of action for at least a week afterwards. Not so much vet bills (I’ve never actually had to take him to the vet for a hunting related injury) but more the fact that physically he puts so much into it that he can barely walk out afterwards. He always gets at least a few small rips and pokes but it’s nothing that a bit of lick and a few days lying in the sun doesn’t fix. When I do fly in trips I can pretty much only hunt him on the last day or two, in case he needs a vet.
When I’ve hunted them separately I’ve found that the Kelpie is quite shy about finding a pig, probably ecause be hasn’t got his mate to back him up, and the bully tends to stay on my heels when he doesn’t have another dog to compete with.
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Re: new to pig hunting Reply #3 - May 9th, 2020 at 10:04am
A good way to get around the lack of arse end bite with cattle dogs is to cross them with a greyhound or whippet. Those dogs naturally want to grab the back end. I’d go for whippet myself. Greyhounds tend to be lard arses and are only interested in catching something they’ve seen, not going off and sniff it out.
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Re: new to pig hunting Reply #4 - May 9th, 2020 at 7:49pm
if you go back and look in this section a couple or 5 years back...we had a VERY sucessful pig hunter who got a lot of good pigs his team of dogs was..... somewhat diferent to the norm his main dog,that found his pigs and bailed most of them single handedly for him to creep in and shoot is a foxy...yes thats right a fox terrier.......see my wee story about guy in pub..... if he gets a problem pig and needs more dog power,he brings in the big guns to help.....that really has the pigs stuffed...2nd dog is another foxy!!!!!! with three legs I shit you not....that is his team. two piss arsed yappy wee foxies they would be hard pressed to stop one of maddogs pine forest runners...BUT guys have been running whippets n whippet crosses to do that for 40 years,same thing,small fast and big tough boarthinks he can handle it untill its too late and hes dead. nothing is as clear cut as it seems and sure as God made little green apples there is more ways to kill a cat that skin it. my old huntaway was scared of pigs,even weaners could back him off with a mock charge...cant blame him really,he got ripped twice,both times it nearly took tip off his wedding tackle...but he wouldnt give up on a find and kept hounding pig till it stopped then let out that beautiful loud bail till I arrived to shoot pig. my current dogs arent pig dogs as such...but my bitch led me into pigs sleeping in the fern and I got 2 with 2 shots at spitting range. she also tracked down and tackled a 80ish lb boar Id shot too far back.....went a couple of hundy yards across and up hill.no way would I have found it without her.she also told me pigs were up hill behind me right on dawn one morning resulting in east shot and heavy carry before most folks are out of bed.
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Re: new to pig hunting Reply #6 - May 9th, 2020 at 10:43pm
so the type of dog depends on the country, where i hunt is native and i live in a small town area so pigs not gettin chased much at all, i hunt 1 dog shes a short rang finder, basically if ya standing on fresh sign and shes not by ya side load the gun n get ready, i like hunting pigs not looking for dogs so the short range suits, shes a headingxwhippetxsomethinorather, got plenty of brains
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Re: new to pig hunting Reply #8 - May 10th, 2020 at 8:01am
It's a bit easier to concentrate on one dog at a time try and restrain yourself from getting too many dogs to start with,especially pups if you can run a dog with a mate's dogs that already catch pigs it can save a lot of time.
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Re: new to pig hunting Reply #9 - May 10th, 2020 at 9:29am
What's your intentions with your dog when your not hunting? Something to think about also. I personally prefer smaller breeds as they are easier and cheaper to have around the house, throw them in the back of the car/wagon to shoot down the road for a run.. less mess etc around home.. It's each to their own really. So long as you start with a breed that is genetically bred to use its nose and work with stock etc.. As mentioned above I've always liked the idea of a little dog like a foxy being your mate, but also being able o pull up a pig, that would be so satisfying to see. I have a little whippet X with a heading dog and a bit of Staffy, she's super quiet at home, just loves the daughter fussing over her but when she's in the bush a switch is flicked.. unfortunately we hasn't seen too many pigs through fault of mine but she would be a little weapon if she had more time on the hill
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Re: new to pig hunting Reply #10 - May 10th, 2020 at 3:23pm
I'm definitely more of a deer hunter than a pig hunter but I've had a dog and started from scratch before.
I was living in Northland for a bit and picked up pig hunting and got a dog, unfortunate circumstance I had to put him down. I ended up getting a new pup from good lines and was going to use her for pig hunting up there but then ended up moving down to central otago/southland for pest control, She's a heading/cattle x and was VERY timid and was shit scared of possums and I thought she was going to be good for f**k all hunting wise. She's a possum dog by trade but now recently she's decided to be a savage on pigs, very good nose and naturally bails them, she finds way better than my last dog(100+ pigs) straight away.
When I first got her I thought she wouldn't have a chance, no confidence at all. Now at 18 months she's very confident and shows a lot of potential, fast and smart but no stupid enough to chase them for miles(seem to come back within 1km). She's also good on deer too, She'll creep in very slowly behind me 20-30m if I'm stalking in.
I have a couple of dedicated pig hunting mates who have both told me to keep my bitch bailing by herself and she'll end up better.
Heaps of good breeds/lines out there but I reckon a good working/cattle x would be the way to go for bailing. Heading dogs(like mine) can be sensitive and take a bit of time but well worth it I reckon, They can be a weapon on the hill, complete sook at home and a demon hunting
Hope that helps. Be careful, once you pick up the knife you won't be able to put it back down, I tried to but here I am keen as again!