Boar Hunting Blades

I also used a Laredo for years. Then I had a bowie made in Argentina to my specs. The Argentines have a history of knife artisans.

Getting a knife made is a lot like getting a suit made overseas. There is the fun of getting the specs right and then the fittings. In this case the fitting is going out and trying the knife. I going back this March and have the handle
made a bit longer.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a Laredo. I always use a pair of tactical leather palmed gloves.I think the handle is a tad slick. However I always try to wear gloves. With all my investment in "time" getting a knife made it is not any better than the Laredo. Please keep the top and bottom
edges very sharp.

For those who do not hunt hogs there is a whole sub culture out there. Incuding monthly magazines and even DVD's like "dogs on hogs" volumes
1,2, and recently three. Dan Moody in Nixon Texas is a wonderful guide for
USA hunters and made those movies.

In Argentina boar hunting it is a honored sport. In Texas it is a pest control problem. The real fun is watching the "Dogs". In the USA we use a group of dogs. Dogs that find and Bay the hog. That is stop the hog and make it fight. Then the Dogo Argentinos and pit bulls come and catch the hog by the head. The Bay
dogs are lightly armored, with a large protective collar. The catch dogs in
USA are heavily armored with big collars and chest and flank protectors
made out of kevlar and thick felt.

In Argentina there is rarely a protective collar and the dogo's do both the baying and catching.

Boar hunting is not for the faint of heart. It is a very bloody sport.

If you ever want a world class Dogo Argentino please go to www.dogoman.com.ar. His web site also has lots of hunting pictures. By the way Dogo's were developed by medical doctors. The dogoman web site
has 4 medical doctors as the owners continuing this great tradition. His dogs
are better than almost anybody in the world.

Hope this helps. If you are a PETA person or squimish please avoid the pictures on the web site. If you ever see the way these people treat their
Dogo's you know the love and affection they have for them. Hog hunting is
a dangerous sport.

My son has a Dogo and they are a very loving affectionate breed of dog. It
is amazing how fierce these dogs are and in minutes they revert to a please
touch me sit on your feet loyal companion. The difference between a Dogo and a pit is that a pit can fight but has no lungs to run. Thus the pit can do
duty to catch but not "bay". The Dogo was bred for boar hunting and jaquar hunting only. This dog can run for miles and then fight like a pit. I do not want to get into a discussion with pit
owners but a Dogo has more capablities than a pit without the interbreed
fighting problems. Dogo's hunt in packs so they were developed not to fight
between themselves. Pits usually have to be seperated. Dan Moody uses both and he probably can give you more information than I can do here. www.dogsonhogs.org and www.fourseasonshunting.com

Hope this helps ,

Regards,

Timber Man

Post script ---Mike Sastre makes a great sheath for a Laredo called his "southern Comfort"
 
Dedicated dog, great recovery. Darn we do not have wild boar in our part of the world.
 
This is one I made for my nephew.He hunts hogs for the county.The last hog taken with this knife was 250 lbs.Dave:)

hog1.jpg
 
Dedicated dog, great recovery. Darn we do not have wild boar in our part of the world.

You can breed some :D I was reading about wild pigs. Now admitedly, these are not boars, but, a domesticated pig can turn wild in less than a years time. Tusks will begin to grow in that timeframe. Their offspring will be raised wild and their tusks will begin to grow out almost immediately. I never knew this about pigs.

So, if a pig farmer in your neck of the woods let some pigs go, in a few short years you could be hunting wild boars. :D
 
I like double edged knives for boar hunting. Right now my favourite is a Muela "cuchillo de remate" with a broad double edged 9" blade. Beautiful knife and really great for pig sticking!
 
Good post, some comments and questions.

Question first: What knifemakers in Argentina do you recommend? Any links?

Comments: What you said about Dogo's is mostly correct. I will add, that originally, dogo's were a straight out fighting dog and nothing else, just like the american pit. I remember seeing dogo's in the 70's in argentina and they were smaller and much more muscular, in fact you could not almost tell the difference between them and a pit, except they were white. Also, they were much more aggressive then. By that time they were already being bred for hunting I would guess as it would take at least 10 to 20 years of breeding to make the dogs get along and not fight with each other.. When I saw pics in the US of dogos in the late 80's and early 90's I was surprised at how tall and large they became, much different than the dogs I remember seeing. Not sure when they started breeding them for hunting and not fighting but it would have to have been close to the 70's. They are now very similar looking to Filas except white, which leads me to wonder if they did some crossing there.

I also used a Laredo for years. Then I had a bowie made in Argentina to my specs. The Argentines have a history of knife artisans.

Getting a knife made is a lot like getting a suit made overseas. There is the fun of getting the specs right and then the fittings. In this case the fitting is going out and trying the knife. I going back this March and have the handle
made a bit longer.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a Laredo. I always use a pair of tactical leather palmed gloves.I think the handle is a tad slick. However I always try to wear gloves. With all my investment in "time" getting a knife made it is not any better than the Laredo. Please keep the top and bottom
edges very sharp.

For those who do not hunt hogs there is a whole sub culture out there. Incuding monthly magazines and even DVD's like "dogs on hogs" volumes
1,2, and recently three. Dan Moody in Nixon Texas is a wonderful guide for
USA hunters and made those movies.

In Argentina boar hunting it is a honored sport. In Texas it is a pest control problem. The real fun is watching the "Dogs". In the USA we use a group of dogs. Dogs that find and Bay the hog. That is stop the hog and make it fight. Then the Dogo Argentinos and pit bulls come and catch the hog by the head. The Bay
dogs are lightly armored, with a large protective collar. The catch dogs in
USA are heavily armored with big collars and chest and flank protectors
made out of kevlar and thick felt.

In Argentina there is rarely a protective collar and the dogo's do both the baying and catching.

Boar hunting is not for the faint of heart. It is a very bloody sport.

If you ever want a world class Dogo Argentino please go to www.dogoman.com.ar. His web site also has lots of hunting pictures. By the way Dogo's were developed by medical doctors. The dogoman web site
has 4 medical doctors as the owners continuing this great tradition. His dogs
are better than almost anybody in the world.

Hope this helps. If you are a PETA person or squimish please avoid the pictures on the web site. If you ever see the way these people treat their
Dogo's you know the love and affection they have for them. Hog hunting is
a dangerous sport.

My son has a Dogo and they are a very loving affectionate breed of dog. It
is amazing how fierce these dogs are and in minutes they revert to a please
touch me sit on your feet loyal companion. The difference between a Dogo and a pit is that a pit can fight but has no lungs to run. Thus the pit can do
duty to catch but not "bay". The Dogo was bred for boar hunting and jaquar hunting only. This dog can run for miles and then fight like a pit. I do not want to get into a discussion with pit
owners but a Dogo has more capablities than a pit without the interbreed
fighting problems. Dogo's hunt in packs so they were developed not to fight
between themselves. Pits usually have to be seperated. Dan Moody uses both and he probably can give you more information than I can do here. www.dogsonhogs.org and www.fourseasonshunting.com

Hope this helps ,

Regards,

Timber Man

Post script ---Mike Sastre makes a great sheath for a Laredo called his "southern Comfort"
 
There have been discussions about this on www.accuratereloading .com by those who do it including some hunting guide companies. They recommend an 8-12" blade with substantial guard and strong point. The CS Trailmaster has been specifically mentioned. Of course you need about 6 good pig dogs too !!
 
The dogo is a mixture of dogs. Please read the history on the Dogoman website. I believe you are talking about the Dog Of Cordoba. That was repeat WAS a pure fighting dog. The dogo has about 10 different breeds in their development including the Fighting dog of Cordoba. The reason that the Dog of Cordoba does not exist today is because they rather fight than make love. The city of Cordoba is in Argentina.

The Dogo Argentino was bred especially to not fight others in the pack. The Dogo looks like a pure white large pit bull, if you did not know the breed.
Male Dogo's will not pick a fight but certainly will not run away from one.

I have a Fila who is asleep on my foot as I type this. This Fila came from Argentina. Her parents were both grand Fila champs in South America. Filas are much different than Dogo's.

The Fila is not a good boar dog and was never bred to catch/hunt boars. Jaquars on the other hand is a different story. The Dogo's and the fila are estate dogs. They are very big and strong. Males filas are much bigger than the females. I have a female puppy who will be 2 years old in june 2007. She is now about 120 plus pounds. Hopefully she will not get much bigger. The Fila is a popular dog in south America because of their faithfulness to their family. The fila is the MOST unfriendly dog in dogdom to strangers. As a lab loves water the fila distrusts stangers.The fila were bred to distrust strangers. This is completely foreign to most people. People feel that they can eventually becomes friends with a Fila. On the other hand she will not allow me out of her sight, A fila craves the affection of her family. A dogo will hunt in the woods and get out of sight
of their owners. A fila will not usually ever leave your side to play with other dogs. Faithful as a Fila is a brazilian saying for a reason. The fila is considered the Klingon dog or the glue dog. This dog never leaves your side.

There is a nice web site www.moloss.com which describes the breeds of the mastiffs. There is a brief description of the history of both the Dogo and the Fila Brazila. Both of these dogs are classified as hunting dogs. Both dogs have awesome strength with little puppy palace problems found in the USA. Dogoman will not breed his dogs unless they are great hunters. He had a super Dogo pup a few years ago. He was terrified he get killed before successful breeding. This pup crushed a boars head before he was a year old. Never has he ever had such a dogo before with jaw strength. But it would not be macho to kennel such a dog just to make money.

Back to knives. I been going to Argentina for years. And months at a time per trip. So finding an artisan when you are there is easy.

There is a group of Artisans who are in San Isido on Sunday and behind the

Church near the Pink House on thursdays. I just looked at whose work I liked and inquired about steel, heat treating and handle materials. A agreement of the knife and sheath. Cost payments.

I will try to find his business card.

Regards,

Timber Man

PS. I do NOT recommend a dogo or Fila to anybody. They are unique dogs.

PPS. The male fila is a lot bigger than the females. 175 pounds or larger is not unusal. However dogs bigger than the standards are given deductions in judging.
 
I like double edged knives for boar hunting. Right now my favourite is a Muela "cuchillo de remate" with a broad double edged 9" blade. Beautiful knife and really great for pig sticking!

I've been looking at the Muela knives, how are they?
 
Cool thread. I have never hunted hogs but I do own bird dogs and can appreciate watching a dog work. One of my favorite Boardog sites is www.Boardogs.com . He has some real cool crosses and its neat to see his take on breeding for a good boar dog. I love to look through his dog photos and see the progression. Seems like all his good dogs are a mix of power and agility, ie. 80lbs ish.

Any way cool sites. Maybe oneday I will get out on a hunt and get to stick a hog.
 
Cool thread. I have never hunted hogs but I do own bird dogs and can appreciate watching a dog work. One of my favorite Boardog sites is www.Boardogs.com . He has some real cool crosses and its neat to see his take on breeding for a good boar dog. I love to look through his dog photos and see the progression. Seems like all his good dogs are a mix of power and agility, ie. 80lbs ish.

Any way cool sites. Maybe oneday I will get out on a hunt and get to stick a hog.

Go when you get a chance man, It will be a great experience like none other.
 
Hate to be the wet blanket here fellas, but the last guy I saw sticking a wild boar used a Rapala fillet knife. Looked to be about 8" in the blade and the pig barely noticed he'd been speared for the first few seconds and then down he went. I suppose the reason he didn't really notice the blade was because he was pretty well anchored by the dogs. One had his left ear and the others had legs in their jaws.
I believe this is online somewhere on one of the boar-hunting sites. Wish I knew where. I'd love to post the link here.
 
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