open or silent??????????????????

[Pops]

Fl isn't much different than coastal NC (cept for more gators in FL) big long stretches of swampy forest w/ undergrowth so thick it'll stop a bulldozer.
i just moved out here from Cherry Point NC. ill take the coastal swamp over the hills it is easier than running up & down the skree covered slopes. neither is especially pleasant, just the hills are more physically demanding.

[doghunter]

deano - I like both silent and open dogs but if you dont want to loose a hog the open dogs (walkers, blue ticks, Redbone and some plotts) will not loose very many after they are jumped.

they may not make them bay but once the curs run him off and lose him you can take a good hound back and start the track over and get the hog going again the curs just lost.

if i was guiding i would have at least one good track dog.

[coadycurbow]

I don't care, as long as they can find a hog.

[dogemdownsouth]

i have always hunted silent dogs witch usually means cur dogs in most cases, but i am in the process of changing to plotts. i believe speed, endurance and staying power is most important because the hog isnt going to stop until it is ready and most cur dogs dont have the staying power needed. you also stand a better chance getting the kind of nose needed in a hound. i have 5 young bear hollow bred plotts that i am getting ready to start.

[heeler3]

I think in my opinion its alright for a dog to be a little open. I hood hunt in Oklahoma and we have a lot of flat ground with creeks runnin through the fields and its hard to keep up with a dog thats running a pig if they dont track bark at all. I get tired of pullin out the tracker every two minutes to see where their going and in this country they can cover a lot of ground in a hurry so i have no problem with them being a little open if they can see the hog or are pretty close to him but i dont want a fully open dog because i dont wana wake people up and get permission taken away ya know.