Hog Hunting with Dogs – Part III

The Gear

My basement is full of gear. Hunting gear, fishing gear, ATV gear, gear all the way to the ceiling. It could rival a Cabela’s showroom. I do a lot of outdoor activities and all those activities require specific types of gear. Some items are universal, but most everything serves a specific purpose. The right call, the right camouflage, the right decoy all serve a specific and the more outdoor actives you do, the more gear you tend to “need”. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. Right?

The equipment used for hog hunting was no different. Although I considered it minimal by other hunting standards. Here’s my list.

Dogs

To hog hunt with dogs, you need, well… dogs. And I don’t have them. But our guides did and they train their specific breeds that have an instinct for hog hunting. Pitbulls are used for as the catch dogs for both vision and bay hunters. However, the bay dog breeds are different. They are tailored to the specific type of hunting they’ll be doing. If you don’t know how the difference in vision hunters and bay hunters, you can get caught up here.

Dog Box

These heavy-duty metal boxes were mounted to the bed of a flatbed pickup. They made transporting the dogs way easier.  They get excited when it’s time to go in the box. It means hunting time when they come out. You can get one here.

Dog Leads

The dog leads used in hog hunting are way more heavy duty than the ones you would find at your local PetSmart. Made of 2” chain and a thick nylon handle, each of us was given one to wear across our body. This was some heavy duty hardware. I found It served two purposes. The first purpose was a share the load type thing. Each hunter took their turn walking the catch dog through the woods. The second purpose made sense as well. If everyone has a lead, anyone can grab hold of a dog. That makes it easier to pull dogs off an angry boar.

GPS collars

Keeping track of multiple dogs over a large plot of land required good a good GPS system. Our guides used the Garmin Astro 320. The bay dogs would be fitted with a transmitter collar, marked on the tracker screen, then released. The tracker marked how far and in which direction each dog went.

Thermals/Night Vision

This piece of equipment was only used by our vision hunters and was by far the most expensive piece of equipment we used. Hog hunting takes place at night and thermal imaging devices made it much easier to spot a pig. It is very cool to look through the scope and see 10-20 hogs scattered across a field.

A Knife

And I mean a KNIFE. Something strong, reliable, and sharp. I carry this. Just be honest with yourself. Do you really want to trust your life to a made in china POS you bought at your local Flea Market? I don’t really want to worry about my knife breaking in half once I stab an angry hog with it.

A Headlamp

A bright headlamp is a necessity. I’m walking around in fields and swamps in the pitch black of night. I’d like to at least see where I’m stepping. The headlamp does have one draw-back. While walking through the swamp, your headlamp becomes a fly and gnat magnet. I found myself Turing my headlamp on and off spastically because they got so bad. That can get irritating when you’re trying to catch your breath and choke on a gnat instead.

Snake Boots

These might be the single most valuable piece of equipment I had. You could not pay me enough money to go hog hunting without snake boots. If it was between my knife or my boots, I would give up the knife. I’m out in the middle of nowhere at night. You might as well be invisible. Getting bit by a poisonous snake or breaking an ankle from a misplaced step can become life-threatening real quick.

Clothing

My Carhartts reign supreme here. Some of the thorny brush I’ve run through has left me cut-up and bloodied. Carhartts stand up to the sharp thorns and briars that would shred other types of clothing. One of our guides hunting in a T-shirt, navy pants, and pair of tennis shoes. I prefer a tough work-wear style of clothing but to each their own.

Pistol

Although not the primary hunting weapon, I personally carried a pistol strapped to my hip while hunting. It was my own personal insurance and a fail-safe if someone else needed it. Standing on the edge of a cornfield, at night while the dogs rustle the stalks back and forth, waiting for a hog to charge out at any moment, will make you glad you have a gun. A charging hog is something I wasn’t going to chance with a knife. Sorry, I’m not Rambo. So I make sure my .45 is loaded, accessible, and I know how to use it.

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