Spent three weeks in hospital after my last attempt !

Ron,

We do it here pretty regularly, although 300 lb. hogs are the exception, not the rule. EXPRESS' comments are right on. You have to get there quickly once a hog bays up. They usually run for the heaviest cover they can find. There will be a lot of chaos as you approach and you may remember your mother telling you not to run with scissors as you ask yourself why you're doing this.

Usually, the dog man will charge right in, yelling to his dogs. He'll grab the hog by a hind leg and you will poke him right behind the point of the shoulder, in the armpit. If no one has a hold on the hog, it can get a little wild. In either case, you have to be decisive and quick to get the job done.

Yes, it is dangerous, but that's part of the fun!

The "catch dog", usually a pit bull, will get ahold of the hog from the front while the smaller dogs are worring him from all sides. You go in and grab his tail and offside foreleg, put your knee into him and flank him like a calf roper does a calf. Then, while holding the foreleg and with your knee on him and some of the dogs on the him, you stick him through the heart and twist the blade. The Buck "General" with its 7" blade is a good choice of knife.

Keith
www.williams-ranch.com

I've killed several with knives and a spear. There are several good replies on this forum. Main thing is to get the hog immobilized. You count on the dogs to hold on to the front end and SOMEONE has to get at least one of the back legs - otherwise the hog can gain leverage and move around. This hunting is not for the faint of heart, but to my mind is the ONLY way to hunt hogs. Use at least a 6-7" knife and remember that boars have a thick gristle shield up to 2" thick over their shouder area. Remember that hunters can get injured (I've got the scars to prove it - 43 stitches last count), and dogs are routinely injured and killed in this sport. The excitment is visceral and savage. A storm of screaming hogs, shouting men, and snarling dogs in a scene that has been played for literally thousands of years - even Ulysses, the hero of the Homerian greek epic poem "The Odessy" carried the scars of a boar encounter. Have fun, and try to get the hunt on video.

Although a good knife is very efficient against any reasonably sized pig (prefer a thick, heavy, 8 inches blade, and sharpen it razor style), the master white weapon to do the job is the spear : when you stab with a knife you pierce a hole in the animal. When you hit with a spear, you put all your weight on the blade, so you add a huge amount of kinetic energy. The pig, if stabbed correctly, drops to his knees as if he were gunshot. If the impact misses the heart you can still cling to your weapon an keep the distance between you and the fearsome tusks, till the pig collapses (less than a minute). In addition, a spear blade stuck in a boiler room with a firm grip at the other end is a fixed point, so the more the animal moves around the blade, the more it will cause MASSIVE damage to the lungs and heart. Spear is just DEVASTATING!

Agree with KB regarding the spear.
Make sure that the handle is sufficiently robust that you can use it as a lever to put the hog off balance or keep his pointy end away from your tender pink shins.
Likewise make sure it has a decent "stop" behind the blade so that you don't either have the blade going right through the boar and injuring a dog... or the pig coming right up the handle at you.

At least with a spear you have that 4' of handle with which to keep it off you.

Agree with the cxomments of mayhem and adrenaline.

Go ask the boys at www.boardogs.com

Cooch