When people think of a gun dog, they think of a retriever, a pointer or a hound. A wide variety of dog breeds are incorporated into hunting practices, but only sportsmen in certain areas of the South would ever know about “hog dogs.”
Texas certainly falls within that jurisdiction, as there exists a community of hunters here who are infatuated with the tradition of pursuing feral pigs with a well-trained dog. For many of them, however, the obsession runs much deeper than the harvest itself.
Like any other sector of hunting, hog doggers all seem to have their own tricks and strategies when it comes to the types of dogs they use and how they like to hunt them.
Veteran hog dogger Cayson George fell in love with the sport when he was just a kid living on a ranch in West Texas. He was in the first grade when a family friend started chasing hogs with dogs on his family’s property, and he bought his first two hunting dogs a week after he got his driver’s license.
Today, when he’s not working as a real estate agent, he’s guiding hunts for pigs on ranches between Lubbock and Amarillo with dogs he raised and trained himself. He prefers to run just two bay dogs at a time during a hunt, rather than using a larger group of dogs.
“In my opinion, a pig feels less pressured when there are only a couple of dogs chasing it,” George said. “This tends to result in the pig stopping in its tracks, rather than running for miles on end, which allows me to bring in a catch dog fairly quickly. I’ve used larger groups of bay dogs in the past, and that has seemed to just prolong the chase, at least in my experience.”
The bond George has with his dogs is as unique as it is strong, which is why most hog doggers do what they do.
“I can almost tell you exactly what my bay dogs have encountered just by how their barks sound when they corner a pig or a group of pigs,” George said. “The tone and cadence of their barks reveal whether they have just bayed a single, large boar, a sounder, or just an average-sized hog.”
Kendalia-area hog dogger Byrun Mabry has been chasing hogs with dogs for about a decade. He grew up on a ranch where he raised herding dogs for sheep and cattle, and the idea of hunting with dogs always appealed to him. Once he started hunting with dogs, he was hooked.
The tight, niche community has had a significant influence on Mabry’s ability to become a better hog hunter, as he was fortunate enough to have some experienced hunters show him the ropes when he first got into the sport. He now hunts with a line of dogs he has bred, raised and trained himself.
“It’s amazing how much young dogs can learn from other dogs with more experience,” Mabry said. “I’m just grateful that other hunters were kind enough to help me learn how to pursue hogs with dogs.”
Matt Klentzman got into running dogs many years ago as a way to give back to the veteran community. He and some friends co-founded an organization called Veterans Xtreme Adventures, which helps veterans develop a community of support by giving them opportunities to participate in outdoor activities like hunting.
“Hunting with dogs allowed us to host hunts in a controlled, organized environment that reduced certain risks that would have been present had there been firearms involved,” Klentzman said. “It turns out pursuing hogs with dogs was something a lot of the vets we were taking hunting could relate to. The strategy, planning and organization that goes hand in hand with that style of hunting, combined with the adrenaline rush of the chase, was something that they had all experienced throughout their military careers. Hog dogging gave us the opportunity to help make a difference in their lives.”
One of the things Klentzman loves most about hunting hogs with dogs, is seeing the dogs’ mannerisms change as their instincts kick in. He said the dogs can go from being a docile pet to a fired-up hunting animal, and then back to calm, loving pet once again.
“The dogs truly make each hunt special,” Klentzman said.
