Too much dog pressure, this is a mistake that I have made many times in the past and have just been reminded of once again. I had taken all four of my pig dogs out on this hunt. I had stopped the four wheeler at a good vantage point where the dogs could go for a look around. It was Fog that put out the first bark way down in the gully. I heard both the second dog arrive and bail as well as the third dog but once the last dog arrived the boar would have tried to make a break for it so the dogs grabbed him. The quickest way to the action was to take the bike back down the track and come in on a side track so that I could get to within 300 meters of them. Once I got the bike as far as it could go I headed off down into the creek through some waist height fern when all of a sudden I ran straight into the end of a fallen down tree, it got me just above the knee and gave me a good dead leg.
I lost about 30 seconds of time before trying to walk it out. I staggered off down through the creek and 100 meters up the other side to try and avoid the worst of the thick scrub. It is almost impassable to try and go up the creek so I knew I had to get well up the other side then cross back down across a side creek then over the next knob to meet the dogs with the pig. This pig turned out to be a barrow which I stuck. I was very annoyed at the dogs and myself for having too much pressure on this pig, while he was never going to get away I personally do not like seeing a dog trying to harm a pig because it causes injuries on both sides, big pigs hurt dogs and small pigs get hurt from dogs. Now was the time to see how my leg was going to hold up as it was still bloody saw.
Last year the dogs caught a 129 pound boar in this same place and that took me over two hours to carry out so with this 142 pound barrow I was going to have my work cut out just to get him out. The first bit out of the creek was going to be the hardest bit because I had to climb up the banks. At one point I tried to lift the pig up onto the next level but just could not do it so I had to put it back on my back and climb again. Once I got back up into the taller native it did not take too long to get around to the point that I could drag the pig down to the creek through the crap. I had a good drink out of the creek to try and replace some of the fluid that was quickly draining out of my body through sweat. The last stretch I carried the pig past the tree that I had ran into earlier and then the last twenty meters straight up to the bike. It only took 75 minutes to get him out which was a good confidence booster for myself.
I was wandering if you would share what brand of muzzles you use and what are the pros and cons to using them. My dogs are very hard and I want them to stand back and bark.
Hi Mahoe The muzzles that I use I had a mate made them up for me. when I first tried using them I brought plastic muzzles from the vets. They are useless a dog can bite straight through them but my mate used the measurements off them the make the muzzles for me. He made them in three different sizes so they should fit most dogs. I went to the saddlery in Ashburton to get the straps made and they only cost $15 each. when putting the muzzles on a dog thread the strap though the dog collar just in case the dog slips the muzzle then you won’t lose it. I believe that they are the best tool that we have to help train a dog to bail. They are better than having to use an electric collar on the dog. If a dog tries to attack the pig they just get thrown back and they soon learn to bail. If a dog is really hard I find that after a few minutes they start running out of puff so I can get in close with a light stick and give the dog a tap to make it back off. At the same time use my voice and say AH do this a couple of times and I find the dog starts to listen. The comparison is like a person punching a punching bag, you can only do this for so long before you have to slow down and stop. From the start of punching to the finish we would be in two different mind sets because at the end our body just does no allow us to keep striking at the same pace which gives us time to think.