[This is the second of two articles contributed by my friend Franklin David Van Ardoy Jr. - Russell]
The Method of the Hunt
The following is a synopsis of the hunt Clayton Cameron and his crew ran with Frank Maestri and me [Van Ardoy]. Every aspect of the hunt is systematic and orderly to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.
The hunt is run with great organization. Two handlers lead the Pit Bulls on leashes while the hounds move about freely and detect the hogs. The Pit Bulls, which are protected with a chest and rib pad that also serves as a harness, remain under human control until the handlers verify that a hog has been bayed. The hounds, which remain unprotected, howl to each other and the hunting party when a hog is located. The hounds descend on the location of the hog and all hounds encircle the hog to keep it at bay. When the hunting party arrives, the dog handlers confirm baying of the hog and they release the Pit Bulls. The Pit Bulls charge the hog with a fury only surpassed in an armor assault. Each Pit Bull rushes the hog with his eyes on the hog’s ears and each takes an ear. They then pin the hog to the ground and await the handlers.
The handlers must then assume separate roles. One holds the hog in an ankle lock while reaching for his pry bar. Clayton takes this role. He pins the hog and removes the Pit Bulls from the hog’s ears with his pry bar. The Pit Bulls will have their jaw clamped down so hard that only the pry bar will remove the dogs from the hog’s ears. A second handler approaches with the leashes to attach to the harness and pull back the Pit Bulls. With the hog in an ankle lock, someone from the hunting party approaches and stabs the hog in the neck and heart. The puncturing of the heart often results in blood spraying fifteen to twenty feet. At this time, the hunter cannot avoid getting hog blood on his knife, hand, arm and legs.
Not all hog hunts with the dogs result in meat for the freezer. Clayton will remind you that when his dogs locate a huge boar, he will keep it for sale to brokers in Southeast Asia. Clayton will be featured on the Men’s Channel sometime soon. Filming is supposed to take place this month, April 2006. Look for him to be featured on one of the channel’s outdoor programs between April and August.
Recommendations for New Hunters
1. Anyone interested in a hog hunt with dogs should wear some protective gear over the legs. Thorny thickets leave puncture wounds and long cuts even through heavy denim jeans. Find thick leather, canvas or metal mesh protective gear and wear it.
2. Bring self-illuminating devices such as Cyalum-Sticks to put on the hogs once they are gutted and dragged into a clearing. Everything looks the same in the thickets after dark and finding the clearing in which the hunting party left a hog can be problematic.
3. Wear light rubber boots. Even minor flooding creates fields of water in which hunters will encounter cold shin-deep water.
4. Attach your knife to you with a lanyard. Sharpen that knife immediately prior to the hunt. Sharpen it again during a lull in activities.
5. Wear a head lamp or any other hands-free light. Be sure that it cannot be pulled off as you run past or under thorn bushes.
6. Never allow yourself to be last in line during the ATV ride or the chase. They know the woods and navigate much faster.
7. Never run ahead of the hunting party. Allow at least one Pit Bull handler to take the lead.
8. Do not eat a heavy meal fewer than two hours before the hunt.
9. Do not pet the dogs.
10. Prepare for the hunt starting two weeks in advance. Do twenty sprints of 50 yards and a few of 100 yards. Work up to doing all 100 yard sprints.