Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Running dogs effect on Still Hunting land

I am part of a hunt club (5250 acres) that runs dogs 2-3 days a week mid Oct-Dec. I am a still hunter that cares nothing about hunting over dogs. After the first day do all the deer leave all of their territories and never act normal again? Do they leave the land and not come back? I get big deer on my cameras in Aug-Sept. The land is big enough that I don't hunt near where the dogs are. 1500 acres of our land is not dog hunted. I hunt there a lot. The dogs occasionally run there even though it is illegal. How much does a pack of dogs affect a deer population?

Runs them off. The lease I was on in AL had a dog running club east of our property. Ours was a 1000 acre lease. Bastard dog handlers would sit on the west edge of our land and whistle to their dogs. Phuggers would run thru our land every Sat. Would run all of the deer out for about 2-3 days. I ended up hunting more during the week. Stupid redneck bastards would always say there was nothing they could do about it. Called the game warden, same reply. It is illegal in AL to shoot them to. In writing and same reply from the warden.

If you hunt on the fringes of where they run dogs, you will see some deer moving. Stupid dogs ran all the way thru our property, so the deer we saw were moving at a high rate of speed.

I used to be in a club with 6300 acres that ran dogs. In 26 years, I never saw a really decent buck killed in front of the dogs or in the area where dogs had been run in the previous day or two. All the really good bucks were killed way away from the dog running areas or before the dogs were run or several days later.

We had the same problem on our family's farm (about 1200 acres) of sorry azz dog hunters turning loose on one side of the farm, running them across our place and picking them up on the other side, and shooting any deer, no matter how small, that ran out. The bastards doing it were real low-life slime balls and their dogs were never properly taken care of. According to game warden and deputy sheriff friends, many of the dogs had been stolen just for the season. And we were trying to have a Deer Management program.

Two years of antifreeze weenies and SSS cured the problem. We had registered cattle on our farm at the time and did not tolerate any dogs disturbing our cattle.

It will make them leave in a hurry. Big bucks can usually outsmart dogs, but they will not tolerate them very many times before they hunt higher ground. Most counties in Alabama have now outlawed dog hunting for some of the reasons listed above, such as running across property they are not supposed to. Not the dogs fault, but the stupid bastards that are handling the dogs. It's always the same answer from them too, we can't help it , Bullshit, they do it on purpose. And some of them will leave the dogs after the season is over , and then they starve. Wish I could leave some of them and let them starve.

The game warden we called said he was tired of all the calls he had to answer about that clubs dogs all over the county. I forget how much property that club leased, but it was a large amount throughout the county.

They handlers were a bunch of lowlifes and cared nothing about anyone but themselves.

The few people that lived around there that didnt hunt were always calling the sheriff on those dogs too.

Any dogs that appear within reach of my Beanfield Rifle get a solid dose of high octane lead.

The dic!heads that ran dogs thru our lease had tracking collars on their dogs and parked right outside our gates. The jig would have been up had we shot one. Regs clearly stated that shooting them was illegal.

Believe you me, I would have shot everyone of them if I could have done it legally.

Like someone said, not the dogs fault, but the POS that was running them.

Now at home in TX, I know its legal to shoot any dog that is "harassing wildlife".

What I find so interesting here on the fire is the diversity of backgrounds and hunting traditions.

From October to January hunters gather most every weekend in Europe and hunt red stag, roe deer, fallow deer and wildboar over hounds.

These are big drives with up to 100 guns attending. There will discipline, planning, preparation but also camaraderie and enjoyment.

Most areas will have 3 such hunts (1 every four weeks) during season.

Rule of thumb for calculating cooler capacity and meat processing is one animal/hunter/day.

Most important and valued participants by all in attendance, not only by their handlers, are the hounds.

Bred and trained to trail the prey with their nose deep down, slowing them on the trail, with loud and constant sound; to alert the hunters and to be a calculated risk to the prey.

This is the secret. A slow, loud dog will be outmanouvered by a witty animal. No stress excerted.

We cherish our dogs and hunting with them and our fellow hunters together.

The "automotive" replys sadden me. Dogs suffering human stupidity.

START HARASSING YOUR STATE LEGISLATURE.

Ready, I am a dog person.. An one of the things I have always felt I would like to try is hunting deer southern style with hounds.. From the comments here, it sounds like only thugs use that method today.. And the treatment of the dogs by these creatures is sicking.. While I have never hunted in Europe, nor doubt I ever do, I have always been impressed with the respect for game, the chase and those who participate, both animal and human the European hunters carry.. I see too often here some animal shot, poorly dress, slung in the back of a pickup, entirely with out respect for the game that has been taken.. Pretty sad..

+1 remember that when I hunted a particular property near Selma. Serious Dog problem and half were some hound or hound mix. I believe some SSS was performed by people in that area. I just can't bring myself to kill a dog , their stupid owners need a good whipping.

I've been a dog owner most of my life, but dogs chasing big game or livestock in MT. will not live long.

The use of dogs for hunting has morphed from the gentlemenly sport of fox hunting and the style of european hunting described above , to a way of moving all the deer off others property and slob like behavior spoken about above. I have a friend in Virginia that has taken as many deer as anyone and in his own way skirts laws, which I do not approve of , but even he claims the dog hunters in that area have changed to more slob like behavior and have little concern for others or their own dogs......

I love dogs. I f%#* hate dog hunters. If they could stay on their own land I'd be fine with it. Many a hunt on private land has been ruined by dogs.

Most dog hunting clubs in NC are totally legit. You can't expect to lease 1500 acres in dog hunting country and not have dogs run across your land. Adapt and learn how to use it to your advantage. I hunt in dog hunting clubs for the fun and the fellowship but I also hunt in managed still hunting clubs during the week. I have to say I'd rather hear a hound run any day than sit in a box blind over a corn pile or food plot.

Try spending $2,500 for membership in a still-hunt only trophy club, and then sit weekend after weekend in your stand while dogs with tracking collars run the deer half to death on your property. When you try making a fuss about it, the local Dog Hunters' Alliance tries to threaten the landowner. I have seen this crap for years in SC, and I'll never do it again. I switched states to avoid it.

Dog hunters in the south have ZERO respect for others, so I have no respect for them (or their dogs).

I've seen both sides of the argument. I've been madder than hell still hunting, when the neighbor's let their dogs run wild. I've also been on a couple well controlled large dog hunts. Dog hunting has a long tradition, especially in the deep south. Not all of it is bad. It's just like anything else. A few (or a lot) give the entire sport a bad name and image. There is nothing like the comraderie and exhilaration that comes with a well planned and executed dog hunt. The bad ones ruin it for everybody though.

SSS

I hear some guys set out conibears on their property.

Thats why I won't shoot a dog. Its not his fault. Damn shame you can't shoot the owners.

Of course its not a bit different than being on places that have folks come in and do farm/ranch things while you are trying to hunt. It ruins that hunt and usually another one or two. But they are not gone at least.

And yes I'd have like to shoot even our renter... I mean geez, feed his cattle at 515 pm on a Sunday when Its the only day I can sit in my bowstand.... And I heard you all day long on the other place where NO one hunts... but I digress.