Whats your opinion on Knife hunting for Hogs?

I think this is a hot topic and I will put my 2 cents in... Lets keep it respectful everyone and an open mind....

It's not that I do not have the stomach for this kind of hunting, but I do not think its the most effective and respectful. I know Feral hogs cause tremendous damage, but does that mean we have to make the hogs suffer as they are killed? You say this is how our fore fathers hunted, well they also crapped in holes and had no electricity and had no means of modern hunting - we have modern ways of hunting for a reason to be more efficient and humane in our efforts to hunt.

What are your thoughts?

I think a knife of sufficient size with proper placement would be just as ethical as an arrow. A lot more ethical than a poor shot with a gun or a bow IMHO.

Have you ever killed a hog with a knife?

Use the proper knife,with proper placement and the hog is dead in less than a minute. What's disrespectful or ineffective?

I'm far from an expert but the few I have stuck died pretty quick.
I did have a very professional group of hogdoggers showing me where to stick them and immediately after the stick, the pig went limp.

I only hunt pigs and have had my fair share of great shots but at the same time, I have had some not so great shots and the stuck pig died much quicker than those.

Even with a perfect shot, some pigs just don't want to give up and may run a ways.

Agree
I have never knife hunted a hog, but I would love too, it has got to be a rush. I can see where some may be a bit squeamish toward this kind of hunting, but killing is killing.
I think the kill isn't peoples argument against this kind of hunting, it is the running them down and using dogs to capture them. I do not think it is any more inhumane than a bobcat or a coyote running down a deer, or the many other examples in the animal kingdom of such behavior. After all we too are hunting animals.
Merry Christmas to my fellow THFer, you guys are great, even the ones that are wrong, LOL.

Killing is killing. A knife in an experienced hand is a lethal weapon. I've never done it but I've been told by a hog dogger that it is easy and very fast.

"Effective and respectful"?

For hogs?

They cause tons of damage to farming and reproduce like rats. Hogs are the cockroach of deer hunting. As long as the method is legal, then go for it.

PC or "appropriate" hunting method discussion doesn't apply or help the issue.

The only problem with knife hunting for hogs is that so few people do it. They usually hunt for hogs with dogs, then kill with a knife. It is much less efficient but a lot more exciting to try to do it without the dogs, I am told.

I have seen several vids. Except for the people wrestling and hacking away, people documented killing with knives do so very well. It is quick due to exsanguination, often massive external blood loss. So it can be messy.



You mean cave men forefathers? Even they used spears. Plus we have had firearms for centuries. I am not sure where you got this purported argument, but it is lame and irrelevant as to whether they had electricity or where they went to the bathroom.

Modern methods do not necessarily make it better. Have you watched the number of Youtube videos where hogs and other game were shot with modern guns and did NOT go down and were NOT recovered? You have to be accurate and use a proper weapon whether it be a knife, spear, arrow, or bullet.

I am not sure of the notation of efficiency either. Depending on how you look at it, hunting with dogs (very old school method) IS very efficient in terms of the number of animals that can be gotten. So too are trap. Hunting with rifles can be fairly efficient, or horribly inefficient. It all just depends. The nice thing about dogs is that they go after hogs that you don't even know are around, which makes them much more efficient in many regards (but less efficient in upkeep and care).

They die from hemorrhaging just like they do when shot with an arrow. The part of this I don't get is how people use the line, hogs tear up land so they are scum of the earth. Do you think hogs cost more in land than deer do in car wrecks a year? Oh that doesn't concern you because its a deer, its ok for deer to kill people in car accidents as long as they don't turn over the dirt in the field.

Being new to the hunting community I can understand ur confusion
A knife quickly kills a hog ,and when u hunt awhile u will find a bow used by a person that knows how to
Shoot it kills just as good or better than firearm

never been on one good stuff theirs all kinds of hunting with dogs, & majority of knife hunters use dogs ta bay hogs first, have tried ta catch a few with out dogs back in the day, its tough. high-tech has made some great inprovements since I started hog humting in the dark-ages. T.V. shows like American Hoggers & Lady Hoggers have shown that. dogs have got protective gear, gps tracking system ta name a few. have shot few hogs with 30-30 spent hours trying ta recover, without finding hog. As far as I know hunting with knife is legal on privete land, an think ya have ta sign a waver. keep hearing about dammage ta property, knife hunts as far as killng numbers, would be behind black powder. puhlic land, not sure hut think its illegal

I say don't knock it until you try it.

Many effective ways to dispatch an animal. All about placement. And don't know if I would start out as a newbie with that post

This is why i said keep an open mind. I Have not done this before, and yes I agree if the placement is correct. I would not mind trying it with the right person and right guidance to with it. The problem I have seen is those who think they know how and end up tormenting the pig to death. I would never go for my first time and just use the knowledge that I see on you tube then i would be just a hypocrite haha

It is interesting to see others thoughts on this matter.

If ya decide ta try it, go on a guided hunt, thats they way i'd go. a wounded annimal is a dangerous annimal.

Agreed,

I am not ok with just wounding animals. And it's nothing about being squeamish either.

I plan on doing this, perhaps in the next year or so.

I think that if you went with a guide and used dogs, you would change your mind. The pig expires very quickly, quicker than with an arrow shot in most cases.

After all of the responses this definitely something that I want to do int he future with the right person.

Watching the dogs work is the best part, all the knife is for is to finish the pig off.

safety first, took trip ta hospital, I had knife, hog had cutters

I have nothing against using knives, but using dogs Is not for me.

Never did it. I am not against it. I probably would too squeamish. Would love to go and see the dogs work though. I will stick with gun and bow.

Some of the fastest pace and exciting hunting I've ever done.

Yep, when it happens, it happens fast.
When the chase dogs bay up, you hear it and the pace speeds up rapidly.
The catch dogs get excited, the handlers are moving fast to cut them lose and everybody else is running thru the brush like they are mad!!!
The catch dogs explode by you - after all, this is what THEY live for!
They are on the pig and so are the handlers!
Stick him right there>
Stick, boom, pig goes limp, game over.
The pace stays intense for a few more seconds and everybody relaxes and smiles - even the dogs!

And all that usually happens in less than a minute!

Its a rush for sure and does the job quick... I like to bring them out alive though if running with dogs...

like someone said, killing is killing. doing it with a knife is every bit at lethal as with a gun or arrow. the only thing more drawn out about it is chasing them down with the dogs. I see no issue with it. for me its just a lot of extra hassle....keepin up with all those dogs and such, not something I'd want to do. my rifle is a lot lower maintenance.

I've hunted with dogs before though, its definitely an exciting hunt.

the dogs do what they do, after seeing them work, I think its safe to say they love what they do and live for the hunt.

a friend of mine that keeps hog dogs calls it "an occupational hazard" they get hurt and or killed sometimes. but they love what they do.

the same friend, when he's hunting by himself, will just take some bay dogs out, like 2 or 3 tops. let them run and bay a hog, and then just slip in and shoot him with a pistol or something. it requires less dogs and less manpower since he's not actually taking hold of the hog, and he ends up with a lot less injury to the dogs since again they are not actually catching the pig so much as they are just cornering him up for a shot.

am thinking the reason producers of shows like American Hoggers & Lady Hoggers show em hog tieing instead of using knife, is reaction of people. on t.v. they can use edditing, for the ones that flop around, action is fast, an even whin i've taken my time, with rifle, less than 50yrds very few deer or hogs have dropped & not flinched. call it unethical, the hunt then turns to recovering animal.

Gut shoot them so they run off and don't die under your feeder.

that thar deer corn cost to much money, use a knife & chill, can't complain, keep's me off food stamp's

I don't know about "disrespectful" or "ineffective" about the knife part. From what I've seen it's a quick death after a couple of sticks. The part that's the not so effective and efficient is the running them down with dogs, letting them get chewed on then held and then the effective part starts. Either way it's fine with me but I'm a little fat and old for it myself. Need to take my two sons on one though.

Saves lead.

I don't care... hunt them with a knife if you want to.

Hogs don't need or deserve any respect and once they're dead, they're dead.

I think we have a few hippie tree huggers around here.

Have been on quite a few hog hunts and I am very fortunate to have a large area of country to hunt hogs on and have never trespassed but when you turn dogs loose you never know where you might end up and in the event you cross the wrong fence trying to retrieve a dog or go to a dog that's bayed you most certainly do not want a firearm with you. Some landowners will file trespass charges in a heartbeat, having a firearm can make it criminal trespass if it is pushed. Knife only is the way.

c,an claim self defence

I have...as a child/teenager, we normally butchered a half dozen hogs a year (for processing), but we also killed the neighbors hogs as well, so probably a dozen or two annually...It was my job to "Knife the hog" since I was too small to catch/hold the hog...these were normally pen raised animals, although we would occasionally buy razorback sows, birth their litter, then sell their weaned shoats, prior to sale or slaughter of the sow. On the really mean ones, we usually just shot them in the head w/a .22lr.

Knifing is not that hard, get a large knife...we always used a large butcher knife, but I have seen some knives that would do a really neat and quick kill, lately (e.g.., a double edged dagger/arkansas toothpick with a 12 in. blade would be my personal choice, because i was taught to cut a cross pattern after you make the insertion jab into the jugular vein...I always had to turn the knife around in my hand a couple of times to get it done...very inefficient...compared to a double edged dagger. Usually, a "knifed" hog will only live for 30 seconds, maybe a minute...so it is a very humane way to kill a hog. The key to knifing a hog is to have a mental picture in your mind, then when you get your chance DO NOT hesitate...If you do, you can get everyone hurt and dogs killed, especially if it is a big tusker.

UNFORTUNATELY, I am getting a little too slow and out of shape to go chasing hogs behind the dogs anymore. But the real thrill (danger) is CATCHING and HOLDING the hog, until the knife work is done...some one that knows how to knife a hog, is a good person to have around when you are being charged, because they know how to react...and they usually have a large knife handy....and a pistol too...Hope this information helps...

You mean... hippie hoggie huggers! lol

If I hadn't done it myself I would probably look at it the same way. While the actual catching and killing of the pig is certainly traumatic (I don't think there is any question that having baiting dogs clamped onto a pig's head until it gets wrestled to the ground and stabbed in the chest or neck by a human is more traumatic for the pig), this is among the most purely "fair chase" hunts possible. It is actually very effective. If you have a large enough property or a large enough hunting area, you may be able to take more animals out of a single sounder in a day than you would in a year with a rifle and a feeder and can stay ahead of their learning curve. You also have the option of taking them alive so they can be sold or penned.

Honestly, I don't find it any more disrespectful than hunting quail over pointers or setters. Killing an animal with a handheld edged weapon is a psychologically significant event for sure and there's no doubt that baying them is a step or two beyond the violence tolerance of most modern Americans, but I would recommend that you participate in a hunt over dogs with an open mind if you have the opportunity; I think you'll find that your perspective changes and you may find yourself a little more in touch with (i) humanity and (ii) why humans and dogs have been best friends for so long.

To each is there own.we all love to hunt and kill.u hunt your style and ill always hunt behind my dogs.ill catch and ty them.then my hunters come shoot them .land owner hunters happy happy.we all go from point a to b.just some us different means.

Any of u hunters that want to do this call me and I can make it happen940 577 5289

I just don't get the "reverence and respect" thing. Plants, bugs, animals and people die everyday. Some pass peacefully in their sleep, some die horrible, unimaginable deaths. Death is a part of life! The only one who knows what was in my heart when I have taken another creatures life is the one who will judge me after my own death. Frankly I fear more of what I've done that hasn't involved the taking of a life.
Now everyone can start in with all "what if" and "but that", trying to apply a double standard or put a hypocritical spin on things but the fact is it's what in your heart not your hand.

If the hunt is too easy, everyone cries fair chase. If the hunt is too challenging, everyone cries animal cruelty.

It's all hunting, people. Get over it.

I LOVE it....Been on 2 hunts now and it is my favorite way to hunt them. no meat lost, and the hg dies quickly and effectively!!