BigGameHoundsmen.com

I've been asked a million times what do I prefer open vs silent bay vs running catch dog my answer is always the same I like dogs that produce hogs and I don't care how they do it. I know of too many people looking for certain bloodlines, papers, or culling dogs because they're open or silent. I believe the way to evaluate dogs is how they produce hogs and how often, a dog can be papered up perfect look perfect silent and handle perfect but may never have the knack for getting then job done. Be open minded and you might be surprised. As far as papers goes they're good for starting a fire with if it's cold out. Too many people evaluate dogs based on what's in the papers and not what the dog can do and that's a good way to end up with a kennel full of culls. You also will not be open to the idea of crossbreeding. The Australians have had this figured out for awhile. Catch or bay again I say how good are they at finding and shutting down hogs, period. As far as people saying hogs run too far in front of open mouth dogs, again to me it's a mute point evaluate each individual dog for its ability period don't cull half the dogs out there.

I believe it all depends on your terrain and what part of the country you hunt in. There is no right or wrong answer. Here in south ms we run a mix of both open and silent. Now when I say open I'm not talking about wide open barking every breath kinda open they give some mouth but not a lot. As far as the roughness goes, yea I like a dog with a little grit but not to much.