I had been hunting with friends for a few years before I bought my first pig dog ‘Demon’ in June of 2012, I acquired a few more mongrels to back him up over the following winter months and had reasonable luck catching pork. My main problems to solve were vet bills and chewed meat. I had two pups that I wanted to get going and searched up muzzling dogs to try and save meat getting chewed and to allow the younger dogs a chance to get to some action before they got the raw treatment from my harder dogs. Told I was dreaming by hunting mates and a lot of laughs and comments like ‘you’ll never stop a pig around here with a barking mutt’. I took 2 one year old Greyhound x Cattle dogs Bear and Mahi to Bill for some training. In training they bailed all weekend and even with Muzzles on, they stopped boars and turned them, even on there own on a few occasions. Returning to the top the south island, and a lot more words like -‘you’re wasting your time chasing pigs with bailers here boy’ – I was determined to shoot a bailed up pig. My .44 had become an ornament collecting dust while running the holding dogs.
3 weeks after training, the young pups bailed up a 144lb boar, the next weekend a 100 lb sow then another 119 lb boar. Last weekend Bear bailed up a 70 lb sow for 40 minutes on her own while I tried to decide whether to let it go, or how good it would be on the spit.
A few weeks ago I sold my last hard holder reluctantly, he had caught me 20 odd pigs over a 100lb in my first year of dog hunting and chewed on many more under sized, some I never got to find.
I’m sure there will be pigs that get away, but since training bailers, I’ve had no vet bills, no ruined meat, and a hell of a chase every time.
Get down there and try it for yourself, one vet bill will pay for it.
Happy hunting.
Dan Smith- Nelson