Hunting Bear AND Hogs

[RIFLEMAN]

A hunting buddy and I had an interesting discussion over beers last night that lasted well into the early morning hours.

I spend most of my time running hogs with Walkers in the coastal foothills and brush of Northern California, but catch a few bear every year that migrate down into the ranches of my hunting country in the fall and winter. He spends most of his time running bear in the woods of the Sierras, but occasionally he will run hogs with me.

The debate began when I drew a lot of similarities between hogs and bears and running them with hounds: their physiology, habits, and behavior; the abundance of scent and the opportunity to drift a track; both can be struck from the rig or by roading; the fact that some are caught after a short race while others will not stop running at all; some stay put while others may be hard to stop walking as they are bayed; some back themselves up into a defensive position while others will charge the dogs repeatedly, etc.

He scoffed at the idea, and indicated his position that any dog-whether it is a hound, cur, or pet-should be able to catch hogs, while it takes a special kind of dog to catch bear. In his opinion, a good bear dog will bay a hog easier than a good hog dog could bay a bear.

I think he is wrong, as is his contempt for a hog dog, but am curious as to whether or not I am in the minority. For those of you who run both hogs and bear with hounds (or even open-mouthed curs), do you find more similarities or more differences with hogs and bear? Do you find more similarities or more differences with a hog-hunting hound and a bear-hunting hound? Is it easy to have a dog that will do both equally well, or would this be rare? Which species do you think is more challenging to catch? Why? Or do you find them about the same?

[coldtrail]

a good hog dog,could be a dead bear dog.

[Pops]

GOOD hog dogs will stop more running bears, BUT you'll bury a lot of them along the way.

[fallriverwalker1]

I RUN BEARS MOST BEARS CLIMB TREES SOME DONT THOSE ARE THE FUN ONES MY BEST FRIEND RUNS HOGS WITH HIS DOGS I HAVE NEVER SEEN A HOG IN ATREE, HE TOOK HIS BEST HOG DOG WITH ME A FEW YEARS BACK , IT COST HIM ABOUT 2000 DOLLARS TO GET HIS DOG PUT BACK TOGETHER WALKING BEARS DONT THINK MUCH OF A HOG DOG TRYING TO EAR HIM DOWN HE DOESNT TAKE HIM BEAR HUNTING ANYMORE.