# My catahoula won a bay competition



## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

He won 3rd in 2 dog bay competition held in Missouri last weekend. He's the blue merle dog on the right. First time I've actually won something. Now he does need more woods work and I've got a catch dog pup so if you have feral hog problems and need help, let me know. I'm more than willing to help.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I had never heard of a competition like this , I knew people hunted boar with dogs.

could you tell us more about the competition , how it works , do they have boar they release , or do you have to go find one and bring judges along.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Mostly done in the South. It's somewhat similar to sheep dog herding contests or cutting horse contests except dogs have to keep a feral hog occupied for 2 minutes and points are given/taken depending on the actions of the dogs. Lots of Americans use bay pens to introduce their dogs to feral hogs prior to actual hunts to keep the dogs alive longer and the dogs gain knowledge on how to manage a feral hog. Australia and other countries don't do this (not legal to have bay pens) so their dogs have a higher death rate. Dogs that do best in bay pen competitions are cur dogs (catahoula, blackmouth cur, and mountain curs) but some hounds can win (plotts, blueticks, etc) The brown dog on the left is a plott cross. I will see if I can post another picture but of two catahoulas working a hog. Different categories from puppy bay, one dog, 2 dog, old/young. Naturally 2 dog and old/young tend to be more exciting because dogs revert into pack mentality and work the hog much closer than they would if it was just one dog vs one hog. Prize money comes with wins and if the bay pen allows calcuttas (betting format) then the win money can be quite high. Lots of people have bay pen champions that they won't put in the woods but honestly, the dogs love it....both woods and the pen work. A lot of woods only dogs will not bay a hog in a pen because they don't consider it a challenge enough. Feral hogs are truly aggressive to the point that they're called a poor man's grizzly and are one of the three wild animals that will actively stalk humans. Hogs are often trapped or caught during hunts and depending on the regulations in each state, they can be brought home alive but more states are starting to ban the practice because people can and will transport feral hogs and release them elsewhere which can be illegal in the state where they live. Bay pens are owned and run by the property owners. Some are good while some are so-so and some are truly excellent. Now, there are actual hog hunt contests where people go get hogs in the woods and win depending on how many hogs they have or the biggest hog or hog with the best teeth, etc. Some of those require hogs to come in live while some require hogs to come in dead and the meat can and often are donated to food banks. Now almost every state in the U.S. has feral hogs. Wisconsin has some but not too many yet. Kansas does have some. There are lots of them in Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, Florida and most southern states. I hear New Mexico is starting to have severe problems.


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

That's an awesome pic there!


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Thanks and next month, I'll have more money to pay the photographer for more pictures. Those pics will be scanned then uploaded here.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

great job !!


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