NT_Wombat

Hi all, lost my password for my old account and had to start a new one

Possibly the greatest post in Ozziedoggers history.

People are way to hung up on breeds. Just about any breed will have a crack, but if you're after top grade dogs, look for top grade dog people. I've given up on specific breeds, and look for dogs from specific dogmen. Find someone who's been committed to breeding a line for some time, hunts how you want to and has higher standards than you do. The people behind the dogs making the decisions hold more sway with how a dog will turn out than what breed it comes from - by a long, long way.

Bloody hell they'll let anyone in here - how have you been mate?

Yep - it never hurts to ask for pointers from day 1and if he's got Thorneswine around to get him pointed in the right direction i'm sure he'll do fine

And we still don't know if he started or not

Before you start hunting there's a few things you need to realise. Hunting with dogs is a big commitment if you are gunna take it seriously. Having somewhere to hunt is the hardest part of hunting. I wouldn't even consider getting a hunting dog without having legal access to somewhere to hunt. You wont make a decent dog hunting every six months, you need to get out regularly. If you're not willing to commit most of your spare time to hunting don't hunt with dogs, buy a gun or a bow - they won't be any better or worse if you don't take them out for six months If your mates hunt with dogs: tag along as often as you can realise it's not their job to put you onto pigs, if you get your own dogs you'll need your own spots - remember not to forget the blokes who got you started. If you haven't been there when a dog has been ripped up bad and you need to drop your plans, do what you can to look after the dog and get to the vets asap, keep tagging along till that happens and see if you've still got an appetite for it. Dog hunting is awesome when it all goes good but the occasions it goes bad and you need to forget yourself and back your dog up are hard and not everyone is cut out for it. If you can't afford food bills, trackers, breastplates, worming and the occasional large, unplanned vet bill forget owning a hunting dog. I've seen lots of people get into hunting and then neglect their dogs because they couldn't afford the upkeep. If you tick all the boxes and still want to get started avoid buying a going dog from randoms on the internet. No one sells their good dogs to just random blokes. Get a pup from someone who catches good pigs regularly, hunt it regularly, keep it in the best condition possible and run it with as many good dogs as possible and you have a good chance of making a good dog from scratch.

X 2 For Sambarman on here

Welcome to the site, fine looking dogs you have there.

Sorry to Hijack your thread but my thoughts are we shouldn't back away from the fact we enjoy hunting, it's a part of who we are and is a valid part of our culture as much as any other activity people choose to undertake. I'd never call it a "sport". A sport implies that there is a winner and loser and that we do it to win. I'd call it a cultural activity with significant environmental benefits if I was pressed on it, but for the most part i'll tell people i'm going hunting and not worry about if they accept that or not.

Don't look for a dog, look for a person hunting the way you hunt, in the country you hunt and consistently catching good pigs and try and get a pup out of them.

Funny you say that, a station about 50-60km away got sold and when they did they opened the gate on the pig pen and let maybe 100 large white and landrace pigs out. That was maybe 15 years before I started hunting out there but you'd still catch plenty of saddle backs, white pigs, and pigs with big floppy ears and pushed up faces. I have no doubt there is a big chunk of domestic DNA in just about every big boar I got out that way. This one i did weigh, was 126kg live, floppy ears, pushed up face, short little legs. No doubt theres a big wedge of domestic in him, probably 40km as the crow flies from the place where the pigs were set loose 15 years before.

No idea, didn't have scales, If I had to guess id say somewhere a little over 140kg+ live. Got heaps I did weigh off this place that went 110-115 live and this guy was a fair bit bigger than them. It was a weird place the pigs were either 40-50kg or 100+, never caught anything in the middle. Was a 30 meter find when we stopped to open a gate next to the trough, he never even tried to run. Probably the easiest pig i ever caught. This one, caught later the same night, was a 3km find off a deady through thick, horrible channels and made the dogs work real hard to keep him pulled up, he was about typical size for boars off that block, only two pigs we got that night

Shitty photo but this would be probably my best, bailed and shot off a trough near katherine.

G'day