“Hogs like to eat anything. They eat baby sheep, baby goats.” – Jerry Campbell, The Hog Boss
We open on the funeral of Rooster, a “good old hound” that Krystal “Pistol” Campbell, hog wrangler as we’re told, found passed away out in the field.
“When I get to heaven, I’m gonna have one hell of a pack of dogs,” Jerry Campbell, The Hog Boss, tells Krystal to comfort her I suppose.
Robert Hunter Campbell, another hog wrangler, informs us that Jerry is old school in only having “one good dog” around so that the loss of Rooster puts them “up s—‘s creek without a paddle.”
Drama descends when Jerry finds out that Robert is meeting with Sean Cockrell, the owner of Pecan Peak Ranch, about finding a new dog. Apparently, Jerry feels that patience is best in these situations and you “can’t just go throwing money around.”
We learn that these are specialized dogs called Strike Dogs that can find hogs. “If you don’t have a good Strike Dog, you’re out of business,” Robert says. Robert eventually lays down over $1,000 in purchasing several dogs to help bolster their Strike Hog team.
I personally had no idea that dogs were involved in dealing with hogs, so that was net brand-new information for your humble recapper.
Later, the Campbells get a call that wild boars were seen near a salvage business, so the Jerry and Krystal get in the jeep to go investigate. When they arrive, they meet Bo Edwards and Chris Cooley of Hi-Way Auto.
“Wild hogs are extremely aggressive,” the Hog Boss tells us, and they need to be removed so that no one gets hurt. I’m inclined to 1,000% agree with him.
More drama erupts as Jerry does not agree with Robert, who has now arrived on scene, messing around with “$1,000 in untested dogs.”
It’s nearly out of a scene of a Walking Dead-style show as we see the American Hoggers drive these quasi-post-apocalyptic-looking carts through a salvage yard littered with busted out and rusting old cars.
Meanwhile, I have to say that the newly purchased dogs are rather adorable.
And then the action starts, and we see the dogs going at it fighting what looks like a relatively undersized boar (but honestly, I am no expert in this arena so could be mistaken). Jerry and team meanwhile shout things like “get ‘em!” and “hold ‘em!”
The new Strike Dogs do a good job, and the Hoggers quickly are able to tie up the hog and take it away safely.
Robert is not impressed, however. “Hell, I could sniff out that hog myself,” he says (sniffily).
Next up is a visit to Jenny Smith’s Smith & Griggs Ranch (“Animals For Sale At Private Treaty*”), where they’ve been having “hog trouble.”
* Smith & Briggs Ranch, according to a roadside billboard, also sell zebras, llamas, boer goats, registered Katahdin hair sheep, and longhorns. I wouldn’t imagine that all of those things would be legal to sell, but maybe it depends on the state?
Jenny soon tells Jerry that the hogs have already gotten to a few baby goats.
“I’m about on my last straw,” Jenny says.
A plan develops to “root ‘em out” the next day. Early the next morning, the Hoggers gear up and head out to find the hogs on the dawn of a hot Texas day (which eventually peaks in the 107-108 range). Lea Penick, a fellow Hog Wrangler, joins them, with saddled horses in tow.
As they get ready to hunt, Jerry advises that the brush ahead is “thicker than lawyers in hell down there.”
The challenge pops up quickly when Robert’s new Strike Dog, Craiger, wanders off and won’t obey the team’s command to hunt. Now I feel better about when my dog won’t listen when it’s time to come back into the house. Another new Strike Dog, Trigger, behaves like a good boy.
Eventually, the hunt is on, and the dogs’ inexperience slows the team down overall. Robert even grudgingly admits that Jerry might have been right.
The team catches a hog, and it’s pretty wild and a little unsettling watching multiple dogs and humans trying to wrestle a wild hog at the same time. More hogs get caught – four in total – in quick succession, and the hunt ends successfully.
Jerry is still not convinced about the acumen of the new dogs, but Robert is satisfied overall.
As far as the final destination of the captured hogs: the local food bank, where a future as sausage awaits.
More thoughts on American Hoggers, “Junkyard Dogs”:
- The following message appears at the start of the episode: “Warning: feral hogs are extremely dangerous and can cause serious injury., Never attempt to capture or approach these animals.” Good times.
- “I hate hot weather like the pope hates the devil.” – Jerry