7.62NATO

...but maybe you have a different perspective.

First I want to state that this thread has nothing to do with the legitimacy or illegitimacy of running dogs for deer. Please don't make this thread about that. I personally wouldn't do it, but if someone else wants to do it where legal and on private land, I won't say a thing about it.

But when it comes to doing it on public land, I find it distracting, disruptive and borderline disrespectful. It's almost like you are forcing that style of hunting on everyone in the vicinity. You are forcing the rest of the hunters to listen to the dogs' howling, YOUR howling, and are clouding the sonic atmosphere. You're also likely to cross into someone else's "hunting territory", because there are so many of you walking around trying to stir up the deer. I may have spent many, many hours scouting out the perfect spot for a certain wind direction, only to be intruded upon by five hunters and their dogs whooping it up. It just doesn't sit well with me.

SWThomas

I totally agree but thats the bad part about hunting public land. You're generally at the mercy of other peoples courtesy and more often than not, they don't have any. If it's legal for someone to hunt with dogs on a specific WMA at a specific time, I usually go somewhere else or hunt another time.

kevin1

It's called "public" for a reason, and dog runners need somewhere to do their thing, not all of them have their own land or access to that of others. Personally, I feel blessed that they can't run dogs to hunt deer here, the only critters they can run them on are nocturnal.

Lanse couche couche

It is disrespectful to legally hunt with dogs on public access ground where you have the exact same right to be there as any other hunters? Uh, okay.....

iSnipe

Like it or not, it's legal.

And I don't like it either, but it's public land available to all.

I'm not fond of dog owners who use their dogs to chase game. Think of Michigan. Michigan trappers lost many of their trapping and snaring rights due to DOG OWNERS!... sportsman who run their dogs.

The #1 enemy of the Michigan trappers is not PETA, ALF, HSUS or the ASPCA. It's the Michigan sportsman dog owners! Just because less than a hand full of dogs were trapped or snared from dogs being run, Michigan trappers faced some of the strongest opposition towards trapping than they've faced before.... ALL from another hunting group! Some of these ***** dogs were caught on PRIVATE land!

Now I've mostly always been a supporter of sportsman's rights. Even when some of their hunting methods and tactics are something I would never do or even believe in. But when it comes to dogs being run on public land, it's one of the most intrusive activities that really affects the deer's patterns and behavior. This is a fact.

Would I ever belong to a protest or movement that would try and remove the rights of these hunters using dogs? Heck no, not likely. It's their right and although I strongly disagree, I strongly disagree even more when one sportsman's group tries to remove the rights of another sportsman's group.

iSnipe

7.62NATO

Yep, that's exactly the point of this discussion. You see, I'm against big government. I'm even against the gov't telling people that they can't hunt with dogs. Why? Because I expect the average citizen to see when their rights trample upon the rights of others. So, in this case, when there are FAR MORE hunters planted in tree stands and blinds than there are dog hunters, I would expect the dog hunters to exhibit some COURTESY TO THE MAJORITY of people in the woods and take their practices elsewhere. As iSnipe stated, there is nothing more intrusive to a deer's patterns and behaviors. IT'S OBVIOUS.

What I wonder is, do dog hunters even CONSIDER this? And if they do, I guess they decide they don't give a rat's ass.

deerchump

Do you feel the same way about hunters driving deer on public land but without using dogs? Driving deer would also disrupt the deer in a stand hunter's area.

Hunters who run dogs or drive deer need to be aware of other hunters, but how are they supposed to know where you are? If they pull into the parking lot of a forest preserve and see one truck, should they go somewhere else since there is another hunter SOMEWHERE in the area?

Also, running dogs and driving deer get deer up and moving. So they are actually helping your hunt by increasing the odds of a deer coming through your area!

7.62NATO

Yeah, I kinda do feel the same way. It's almost worse, actually. The human drivers are louder than the dogs!!

It's one thing when there might be only a couple of other people hunting that day, as evidenced by parked vehicles, but on a Saturday in Virginia, that's never the case.

They DO get more deer up and moving, but not within their normal patterns or along their normal routes.

WNYhunter

IMO, I can't stand driving deer. Dogs or human. If you leave the deer alone they will act naturally and we will have no need to "get them up". It's not hunting it's kiiling to me.

But we all pay taxes to be able to hunt public land. By whatever legal means I guess.

superstrutter

When someones dogs run through MY land, that's disruptive, and it ****** me off. It normally doesn't happen anymore. Dog hunting down here is becomig a thing of the past, and I'm not upset with that in the least bit. Most of the dogs that occasionally come through my land are either strays, coydogs, or a nearby neighbors pet. The wild strays and coydogs get a bullet behind the shoulder for trespassing. Deer drives are unheard of down here. That seems to be more of a northern thing. Also, around here, you cannot run deer with dogs on public government land. Some hunting clubs still do it, but not very many.