Saturday 1/12/08 after 40+ years of deer hunting I went on my 1st dog/ deer hunt, a long time southern tradition. We hunted on a 1,700 tract between Waynesboro & Millen. We had 62 standers & 5 packs of 5-7 dogs. The dogs were walkers, begels & Fla curs. It took about 1 hour to get everyone organized but about 10:00 we pilled 6 each into the back of trucks & were put out in a circle on the back 1,000 acres. We were using buckshot & were spaced about 50 yards apart. I felt safe in the hunt. My stand had a small ditch running to the right with 20 year volunteer pines & 30+ year oaks in front. About 10:30 the dogs were turned out at various points around the circle. For the next 11/2 hour you could hear the dogs on trail & burst of shotgun fire. I did not see any deer however.About 12:30 I was picked up & carried back to the parking lot where BBQ was served.1 9 point, 1 small fork & 8 does were shot. There was an afternoon hunt but we went back to our farm to hunt. Net net would I do it again ..yes.

I went for my first deer/dog hunt im 1988 near Clayton, Alabama. As I long time buckeye I thought it would be less than sporting. That is until I saw the swamp the doggers were going to drive. I ended up on the far side on post and took a nice 6 point running out of the swamp on a run. It was like a giant rabbit hunt up north.
I quickly came to the conclusion it was quite sporting. The locals never got used to my Ohio rabbit gun. A 10 guage spanish double sawed off at 20" and firing 3 1/2 #4 buckshot loads (54 pellets per shell). Just remember to head shoot those deer!

Sounds like a good hunt. I would love to try it myself!

I'm sure everyone's experiences with dog hunting is a little different. I live in Savannah, GA and in my opinion dog hunting is ruining the image of hunters throughout this part of the state.

As a hunter and landowner, I've seen neighboring clubs dogs practically starving on my land walking the roads. When I called the number on the tag its always the same. "Thought he was dead!" I see these complete red neck low lifes with their pick up trucks and tool boxes with their custom rigged "tree stand" pedestal seat welded onto the back of their tool box so they can enjoy the tunes of the radio while drinking their cold beer and hunting from the road waiting for the dogs to chase a deer across.

I've spent hours in the woods stalking deer, gone to the local convenience store after a hunt to get a cool drink only to see 5 guys all checking out the back of some guys pick-up truck. He's acting like he's on top of the world for his amazing accomplishment. When I tell him "nice buck, how was the hunt?" The typical response, I was in my truck and the dogs ran him across the road.

Deer doggers are the lowest form of hunting I've seen and they give a horrible image to people who would otherwise support hunting but don't hunt themselves.

I've exactly zero experience with deer and dogs, but my gut feeling makes me not want any part of it. Using a dog to track a wounded deer, or find a dead one makes perfect sense to me, but as to dogs running deer as has been briefly described, I'm not in the least bit interested. As long as it's legal, I support the rights of folks who do, but it sounds to me like an unfair advantage, and I'd not want any part of it. My personal opinion (and worth every penny you paid for it!).

KG

Where do I start? With SkyJacker thread I suppose. I am sorry that you have personally had some bad experiences with dog hunters but don't lump everyone into the same category. I spend half my deer season still hunting and the other half dog hunting and I enjoy both equally. The dog hunting club I am in is made up of some of the finest men in the Southeast. They are leaders in their communtity, Deacons in the Church, business men, Preachers, and physicians. These men are very respected in the communtiy. We do not drink or smoke, espicially while hunting.

We also never leave a dog out. I personally have stayed out until midnight catching up that "one last dog". There is a special bond between a hunter and his dog.

I do not disagree that there are some low life dog hunters, but there are plenty of good ones also. There are also low life still hunters. How many people do you know that will hunt over corn (which is illegal in Georgia) and not think anything of it? How about the hunters that ride the roads and spotlight deer? Is that who you are? I doubt it. Point is, just because one person does it, doesn't mean every one is like that.

Lastly, (for Kamo Gari and other with "zero" dog hunting experience) if you saw the places we hunt, you would understand why dog hunting is necessary. We can't hunt over a bait pile. We can't track in the snow. The land we hunt is some of the thickest swamp and most grown up briar patches you will ever see. If you didn't run dogs, you would never see a deer. I assure you, there is no unfair advantage. Beseides that, how much of an unfair advantage is it to sit in deer stand and shoot a deer that walks out on a food plot 200 yards away? The end result is the same. A dead deer.

I would challenge any person from another part of the country to come to southeast and hunt for a season and see how different it is. I guarantee that if the outdoor writers had to hunt in the souheast, they would be out of a job.

Hey Tom, I could almost hear the dogs baying in your post. Sure does bring back some fine memories with Deer, Coons, Hogs, Rabbits and Squirrels.

I also understand the disgust that SkyJacker has experienced. No doubt some folks can take anything good and turn it into something bad.

As a lifetime Southern boy I have seen both sides of the fence on this one. I'm 56 years old and I grew up dog hunting in south west Alabama. We hunted all kinds of habitat from swamps to hardwoods. I started stalk/still hunting in my teens with a rifle. I now mostly bowhunt deer. Somewhere in the middle of that I spent 26 years as a Conservation Officer for the State of Alabama, retiring three years ago. I 've hunted three continents and have killed over four hundred head of big game, if you count turkeys(Alabama does), so I have a fair amount of experience hunting.

For you that damn dog hunters across the board I guess you never attended a south Alabama community dog hunt. It was a great social event, usually involving several dozen to more than a hundred men, standers and drivers. A morning hunt, BBQ lunch, and an evening hunt were the norm. Not many der were killed, probably less than ten, for a hundred hunters. Unfair advantage? I think not, having been there. A hundred greenfield hunters would, do, kill way more than ten deer!

These hunts, and like club hunts, usually involved large tracts of land, usually in the thousands of acres. A lot of time was spent getting ready, cooking, and looking for lost dogs. A LOT of these hunters were stand up leaders of conservation in that era...

I HAVE seen the other side of the fence as well. Outlaw dog clubs are the flip side of this. Small acreages, road hunting, trespassing lock cutting outlaws give all hunters bad images to non hunters and landowners. They were, and some still are, a major problem in some Alabama counties. Alabama ha started outlawing any dog hunting in selective counties, usually depending on the number/type of complaints against dog hunters.

Increased cost of hunting, almost total use of the rifle, and smaller land tracts have spelled the demise of dog hunting across a lot of Alabama.

If,a big if, clubs have enough land there is nothing wrong with dogging deer. It's not unethical, unfair, or immoral. Besides, I've killed a lot more bucks that some neighboring dog brought to me than any dog ever ran off of me.....
troy

I find this post very interesting as I'm a dog hunter. I hunt snowshoe hare with a pistol behind my beagles alot. (New York won't let you hunt deer with a dog) Its much more enjoyable to me then any other form of hunting that I do. My dogs are like family to me and I've spent alot of time finding them on occation. I wouldn't leave them for anything. Its harder to hit a aniamal behind a dog. I've hunted in Alabama for deer just once and it was a dog hunt. Lots of fun, After the hunt nobody went home till all the dogs where found. Great bunch of guys! Bad hunters are everywhere and you can have your opionion but from what I found dog people are good guy's.

I hunt with Dogs for Bear & Coons.Tell you what ,you had better be in shape to do this type of hunt.I would like to try Dogs on deer but Wi. does not allow that.

No doubt it, different strokes for different folks. I'd be more inclined to call it a deer shoot than a deer hunt but that is just me.

Oddly enough, but here in Montana if we see dogs chasing deer the dogs get shot and deer get to pass go and collect $200.

Not my way for sure but if it turns you crank and its legal then get after it.

Mark D

quote:

I'd be more inclined to call it a deer shoot than a deer hunt but that is just me.

I can assure that it is not a "deer shoot" as you call it. Do you think that we turn the dogs out and the deer walk up to the hunters so they can get shot? No way. You had better be in shape, you better be paying attention, and you better be a good shot if you hope to kill a deer in front of the dogs. I can honestly say that is more of a challenge to kill a deer ahead of the dogs than it is to shoot one from a tree stand or ground blind.

If you don't want to dog hunt that's fine, but don't sit back and say "that's unethical" or "that's unsportsman like". Different areas of the country hunt deer using different methods. I'm glad you realized that as you stated in you last line.

quote:

Not my way for sure but if it turns you crank and its legal then get after it

quote:

Not my way for sure but if it turns you crank and its legal then get after it

Exactly!

Other than that, we all know what opinions are like! And everyone has one!

Notes on the hunt
1. We had permission from the surrounding land owners to retrieve dogs & wounded game.We were only on 1,700 acres but the drive was managed to stay on our land.

2.The dogs uses were worth over $1,000 each & would not be left.

3.The host club is primarly a dove shooting club with high initiation fees, dues & a long list to get in.



I agree that it was more sporting that the way I normally cull deer in towers over food plots but our bucks are shot out of stands in the swamps & the real work & fun is figuring out where to put the stand.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Dobrenski:
No doubt it, different strokes for different folks. I'd be more inclined to call it a deer shoot than a deer hunt but that is just me.

Oddly enough, but here in Montana if we see dogs chasing deer the dogs get shot and deer get to pass go and collect $200.

Not my way for sure but if it turns you crank and its legal then get after it.

Mark D

Mark.I don`t see it as any differnt than a Deer drive,which is a tradition in The Midwest and Eastern US.In fact it is probably a lot safer than most Deer drives as you are not shooting into the pushers.Believe me that no one is going to shoot one of those dogs either.Hounds up here for Bear & Coon can fetch up to $5,000.All of our Dogs wear GPS- collars to make sure we get them back. OB

I think people forget that dog hunting is one of the purest forms of the sport since ancient times.

The inexpirienced bystander might comment that the dog does all the real hunting and the hunter is there just for the "coup de grace" But its so much more than that. Handlers spend countless hours in the field from the time these dogs are pups. Much breeding and training invovled, plus the heartache of losing one.

The dog hunters enjoy running their dogs because they are there's. It's a culture of it's own

Hey Mark and Kudu56, Have you all done any kind of Hunting with Dogs? Even Birds?

quote:

Originally posted by OLBIKER:

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Dobrenski:
No doubt it, different strokes for different folks. I'd be more inclined to call it a deer shoot than a deer hunt but that is just me.

Oddly enough, but here in Montana if we see dogs chasing deer the dogs get shot and deer get to pass go and collect $200.

Not my way for sure but if it turns you crank and its legal then get after it.

Mark D

Mark.I don`t see it as any differnt than a Deer drive,which is a tradition in The Midwest and Eastern US.In fact it is probably a lot safer than most Deer drives as you are not shooting into the pushers.Believe me that no one is going to shoot one of those dogs either.Hounds up here for Bear & Coon can fetch up to $5,000.All of our Dogs wear GPS- collars to make sure we get them back. OB

I see a diff between a line of people doing a deer drive and a pack of dogs doing a deer drive. The deer can way easily avoid a human but has a difficult time with a dog let alone a pack of them. I see what you're saying in terms of either way the deer is being pushed but make no doubt about it there is a diff.

No make it one dog and take away his nose and his ability to go fast and things would look a bit different to me.

I've seen dogs chasing deer and from what I've see it's not a pretty sight.

Mark D

quote:

Originally posted by GA DEER HUNTER:

quote:

I'd be more inclined to call it a deer shoot than a deer hunt but that is just me.

I can assure that it is not a "deer shoot" as you call it. Do you think that we turn the dogs out and the deer walk up to the hunters so they can get shot? No way. You had better be in shape, you better be paying attention, and you better be a good shot if you hope to kill a deer in front of the dogs. I can honestly say that is more of a challenge to kill a deer ahead of the dogs than it is to shoot one from a tree stand or ground blind.

If you don't want to dog hunt that's fine, but don't sit back and say "that's unethical" or "that's unsportsman like". Different areas of the country hunt deer using different methods. I'm glad you realized that as you stated in you last line.

quote:

Not my way for sure but if it turns you crank and its legal then get after it

I really don't know how many miles you travel a day in your hunts if it is up and down in high elevations and steep country like we hunt elk in then I can understand the need to be in shape.

I do see the letting the dogs do the work for me a differently than you do. I see it is they do the work and someone does the shooting. Now someone does the training of the dogs I would imagine (just like training a good pheasant dog) and so I would say that they work at that. As for sitting in a stand and shooting the deer if off a drive by people I still call it deer shooting and not hunting. Now if you set the stand and did your homework and pattern the deer and take one without it being pushed then I see it as hunting.

If you just show up and sit in a stand that someone else set for you then IMO it is shooting and not hunting as well.

I never said it was unethical or unsportsman like, I just said if it is legal and it turns your crank then by all means get after it.

I see this kind of like baiting for deer or high fence hunting. It isn't my cup of Joe but if it is legal and it turns one crank then Powder River let er buck and get after it!

Mark D

quote:

Hey Mark and Kudu56, Have you all done any kind of Hunting with Dogs? Even Birds?

Scroll to the top!
Maybe you had better read both of my posts!
I have hunted with bird dogs and hounds since I was a kid! I no longer own a dog, my son has 15.

Kudo-very nice El Gato!

Mark D

Thank you! It was a Christmas present from my son.

Hey Kudu56, I did forget your initial post. Nice cat!
-----

No response from Mark? No dog experience?

I have always wondered about this kind of hunt.

Do the shooters get to see the dogs work in a deer dog hunt? I imagine that you can keep up with the action by listening to the dogs.

I love hunting rabbits over beagles, mostly because the dogs work close, in partnership. I get as torn up as they do. The dog deer hunt sounds quite a bit more separated.
Do the dog handlers stay with the dogs during the chase? Is that even possible (I can't keep up with a deer)?
Are the dogs sight chasing or scenting, or a bit of both? Do the dogs keep close to the deer?

I doubt I could hit a running deer in the woods, but it still sounds like a fun hunt.

Used to live in East Texas surrounded by National Forest in the early '70s and this was one of the ways we deer hunted. The terrain made the dog chases the most productive type of hunting we did. There were many clear cuts in varying stage of growth from a head high 600 acre plot of 90% briars through which you could not walk or see to overstoried pines with 2nd and 3rd growth brush through which you could see 30 or 40 yards. Then you had the roads which twisted and turned and had a general view of at the most 100 yards.

I guarantee that you could still hunt very silently and carefully down those roads when the ground was wet moving no more than 50 yards an hour and not see a deer. I guarantee that you could crash through those briars and see even less (not possible to see less than zero but I'm looking for emphasis here). You could find a deer trail which were usually very faint and sit for hours, count squirrels and have only a slightly better chance of seeing deer than you did of seeing a zebra! Corn didn't work, they had too much natural forage to eat. Oat patches would work very early and late in the day about 10% of the time depending upon the weather.

It's tough hunting. Until you have done it then don't think you know what it is like.

Generally we hunted no more than a dozen hunters (that was with all the neighbors) with 3 or 4 dogs on as many acres as you could count but the applicable area was around 5 thousand acres depending upon how far the chase went. We had to keep moving down the roads to try and get in front of the dogs. One thing you learned is that the older and smarter bucks would peel off and let the does lead the dogs so even if they weren't coming your way you better pay attention if you were in a good crossing.

It is no longer legal in Texas but a way of life and a tradition has been lost. Did we load pickup beds full of deer? Never. There were some magnificent very old bucks that were killed that way that would never even be seen today.

I've only killed one deer that was being pursued by dogs, and it wasn't on purpose. When I was going to grad school in Mississippi, I joined a hnting club west of town with about 3400 acres. A road split the property in two with the small tract being about 1200 acres.

One morning I was enjoying looking over a food plot in a mature stand of pines. Directly to my east was the thickest tangle of green briars you would wish your worst enemy to walk through. About 9:00 that morning I heard the dogs start barking toward the north end of the property. After probably about 30 minutes of listening to the chase, a lone beagle came through the food plot headed in the direction of the other dogs. It was great just sitting there listening to the dogs work their magic. After another 10-15 minutes I noticed the dogs were getting closer. Suddenly, I noticed movement to my right and readied my gun. A mature doe burst out of the thickets and stopped in the middle of the food plot smelling were the beagle had run down it. Had the pup not run through that food plot, there is no way I would have ever gotten a shot at the doe because she would have been through the narrow plot and into the standing pines.

It was an absolute blast that day listening to the dogs. I guess you could say I was the luck receipent of hunting with dogs. It certainly is something I would do again, if given the chance. But then again, I grew up chasing coons with my dad and his friends, and now I own a 8.5 month old pheasant/quail dog. I guess I just enjoy hunting with dogs regardless of the quarry.

I have never hunted deer with dogs but would love to. My grandfather took me hunting rabbits with dogs every Saturday that it wasn't pouring the rain. He knew each dog and the subtleties of it's voice. We would put the dogs out just after daylight. They would go off into the thickets after the rabbits. After a bit one of the dogs would sound. Grandpa would say, "That is Panzy and she is on a cold track." Another voice without real conviction would join. He would say, "That one was Pride and he never sounds without a good scent." In a few moments a chorus of excited voices all at once, and Grandpa would say, "they jumped him out of his bed." Then the race was on. Grandpa would say, "He is going through the bottom and up onto that little rise. When they do that they will usually cross over by the gate where we came in. Run over to that point and you may get a shot." Sometimes I got a shot and sometimes I didn't. The rabbit would go in a hole sometimes. Sometimes he would back track and jump to the side. Sometimes he would duck into a deadfall and as the pack ran by he would run back up his back trail and give them the slip. No promises of killing rabbits just because there was a bunch of dogs chasing him.

One of my friends hunts deer with dogs on invitation from where he used to live and describes the deer hunts as very similar to the rabbit hunts I remember from my youth. Nothing like the excitement building as you hear the race turn your way and getting closer and closer . You still can't see the game animal but you know it is near and headed your way and will be moving fast. Pressure to make the snap shot builds with every passing second and yip or yap of the dogs. There it is! Get on him quick! Just as quick the chance is over. Shot or no shot. I am getting excited just remembering how it was to be 13 and hunting for the first few times. Don't condemn dog hunting until you have done it a few times with a true houndsman. YOu will be be surprised by how much there is to it and how sporting it really is. Good hunting. "D"

quote:

Originally posted by bja105:
...Do the shooters get to see the dogs work in a deer dog hunt? I imagine that you can keep up with the action by listening to the dogs.

Hey BAJ, Excellent questions. The under-story generally prevents the Standers from seeing the dogs working. But you are correct about hearing them. Since you have hunted Rabbits, you are aware each dog is recognizable by it's voice if you have Hunted with it enough. Just as D Hunter said.

quote:

I love hunting rabbits over beagles, mostly because the dogs work close, in partnership. I get as torn up as they do. The dog deer hunt sounds quite a bit more separated. Do the dog handlers stay with the dogs during the chase? Is that even possible (I can't keep up with a deer)?

We either wore Brier Pants, or (I prefered) Snake Chaps. The Snake Chaps allowed me to move as quickly as I could force my way through the mess without being concerned about stomping a snake.

As Woods mentioned, the Doe and yearlings tend to move ahead of the Dogs. But, many of the Bucks allow the Dogs to pass on by and then go back toward the Dog Handlers (Pushers as some call them). And some Bucks move forward at various speeds, not all of them are in a big hurry.

It is possible to catch up to the Dogs occasionally as they are trying to sort-out which direction the Deer went. And Hogs can be a problem in some places, because they can Kill the Dogs.

quote:

Are the dogs sight chasing or scenting, or a bit of both?

Primarily scent, but they do occasionally spot the Deer and then, just as with Rabbits, the voice changes and the race is on.

quote:

Do the dogs keep close to the deer?

Some do and as I mentioned, some get passed-up by the Dogs. It is by no means a "clean sweep" of the man eating briers and shin tangle. On the other hand, once some Dogs get on a Track, you have to grab them to get them stopped. Some Dogs can lope along until the Deer are exhausted. That is because of the retained Heat in the Deer.

quote:

I doubt I could hit a running deer in the woods, but it still sounds like a fun hunt.

It is more of a challenge than the "Roaming around till you eventually spot a Deer and shoot at it" method of Hunting.

When it was my turn to do the Dog Handling, I found a short barrel Shotgun worked the best for me. Some of the folks just sawed them off to 18", didn't concern themselves with a Front Sight and did just fine. Some used Lever Actions for 1-Dog Drive and then switched to a Shotgun. Scopes are not seen on firearms used by the folks Handling the Dogs.

I settled on a 21" barrel 12ga M870-SPS and normally 3" 000BuckShot. More weight in the shot helped it penetrate the growth. Shots for the Handlers are normally very close or slightly behind them.
-----

It can be a fine Hunt, or bad for Hunting in general - depends on the people doing it.

i must say that i as well am a dog hunter and at time am a bit of a redneck but, not in the trashy way. more of a lynyrd skynard esk simple man sort of way. and i do believe that all of the advantages we can legaly take here in Ca are fair, i also feel we are probably one of the least responsable satates as far as heard management and preditors go, but thats a different discussion. I haven't hunted as long as alot of people on this board or in the world for that matter but, what i do is ethical and i have no problems sleeping at night. after a few years with out dogs we started hunting with Beagles when we bought hunting property again as was tradition in my family in years past. though were not necessarily the above mentioned comunity leaders we will not leave dogs behind, as a rule i always bring out way to much food for them so if i do have to go back to town before finding them to notify my work that ill not be back for an unknown amount of time i can leave food out for them incase they return while im away. my dogs are more than tools there members of my family and any of my hunting partners dogs may as well be there kids as far as im concearned. it's this that that has as of yet stopped me from gettin larger hounds for bears as ive seen and heard what can happen to them, i don't know what the mental blockis there as i can accept that i am putting my self at risk of being mauled but, i guess it's that my dogs wouldn't have the protection of hot lead at there disposal. im not sure if that changes any ones oppinion of doggers but, i really don't care.
Rant off

33 years ago this past fall I began my deer hunting career listening to dogs run deer near my father's ancestorial home in the Ozark Mountians of Arkansas. Going to my grandfather's farm and getting to miss a full week of school the 3rd week of November each year was my reward to good grades and staying out of trouble. In five years time participating in dog deer hunts I killed one deer which was not being run by dogs, shot at one that was and missed another I encounted by chance returning to my grandfather's farm. That means that at 14 hunts per year for 5 years for a total 70 morning or evening hunts during that period I fired on 3 deer and only killed 1. I would call that pretty sporting and more than fair chase. I can't remember the number of deer that were wounded by my party of hunters and others that were recoverd each year, but I know we never lost a deer that had shed blood.

Although I had limited chances to kill deer I remember those hunts with great fondness as taking part in that wonderful old southern hunting tradition initiated me into the brotherhood of deer killers and let participate in fireside hunting stories of great bucks killed and missed. That area no longer permits hunting deer with dogs and is much poorer for it. However, I don't suppose it would be the same what with my grandfather gone a few years now and the pending death of my favorite hunting uncle any day now to cancer.

It is a great and wonderful tradition that is being lost way too quickly in this rapidly urbanized society in which we live today. Dog hunting deer in the south harkens back to a much simiplier, much richer, much friendlier time in America and it is a shame to see it will probably pass within my lifetime and that my girls will probably never get to experience the thrill of hearing the race turn your way and hear the crunching of leaves as you first become aware the deer is coming into view.

I hope God grants me one more good old southern dog deer hunt before I go and it is a damn shame my uncle Ray cannot be there with me.

Perry

Perry i know we got different habbitats here and fewer smaler bucks but, when your girls are of age your more than welcome to join a Buck Fever Lodge Beagle hunt. i know what you mean about the traditions of a simpler time and i feel too that with out much dilligent work on our part my children (when i finaly have some) and all the future generations of hopefully will be hunters won't have things the way we do and our fathers and grandfathers did. comparitivly C.A. isn't really changing things too much as far as deer go but, people don't look at it the way they used to. i write most of that off to ignorance and will argue the validity and necessity of hunting to any bleeding heart P.I.T.A. liberal any chance i get and i like to think that they might just be capable of making a more educated decission on things once they have heard the facts. Though it can't be forced i give any one who's interested an invitation to come and see why i feel the way i feel about what i do. i like to think i have made a small difference in the way we as hunters are thought of.

I'm from mississippi and there was quite a bit of dog hunting going on when I was growing up in the 80's, now it's pretty rare to find someone who does it. I've been on more than my share of dog hunts and I can assure you that there's nothing unsporting about it. Sitting in a box blind over a green field is a much, much more effective way to kill deer than dog hunting ever was. If you're thinking that dog hunters kill inordinate numbers of deer due to some perceived advantage then you're just flat wrong, they're less successful than stand hunters pretty much across the board. Any healthy whitetail can leave any dog ever made in the dust, the story of dogs running healthy deer down is a myth. A smart old buck will almost never be killed in front of the dogs, the guys that see him are usually well off to the side and usually it's 30 minutes after the dogs have gone past when the big bucks are slipping out the back door. Dog hunting is a big social and family event more than anything else, much like a driven pheasant shoot. I've known many a grandfather that kept a yard full of deer dogs so he could gather the family together on weekends during deer season. Times change and all people seem to want to do today is climb in a shooting house overlooking a food plot. Folks don't seem to have the time to keep dogs and getting 20 hunters in one place at one time is hard in our hurried world. Dog hunting is a great tradition and I for one hate to see it die out.

Game wardens shoot dogs found running in the woods during deer season here. It is not permitted to have a dog with you in the woods if you are hunting.

i would shoot the warden ,then again i loke my dogs more than i like most people. then again i thend to try to know the rules and not break em as far as hunting goes.

I guess whay bothers me is that people have never tried The Sport are against it because of preconcieved ideas or heresay from others who don`t have a clue either.I have never done it,but am a Dog Man.In Wi.we can run Bears,Coons,Rabbits.We have a lot of Southern Boys that come up and Hunt with our Club.They are all gentlemen of the first degree.
What really is the difference from using a Lab or Golden for flushing pheasants or a Pointer from pointing Upland game??????Only difference is in the Mind of the hunter!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by GA DEER HUNTER:The land we hunt is some of the thickest swamp and most grown up briar patches you will ever see. If you didn't run dogs, you would never see a deer.

I own property in a dog hunting county. Camden County to be exact. The Okiefenokie Swamp runs through part of Camden. I grew up hunting in the swamp and never hunted by using chase dogs. It is certainly much harder for a still hunter to harvest a mature buck in this country than it is anywhere else, I am convinced. That said, the above statement you made is totally false.

quote:

Originally posted by GA DEER HUNTER:I can assure that it is not a "deer shoot" as you call it. Do you think that we turn the dogs out and the deer walk up to the hunters so they can get shot? No way. You had better be in shape, you better be paying attention, and you better be a good shot if you hope to kill a deer in front of the dogs.

Yeah, because the fat slobs I see hunting from the back of their trucks typically mame the animals instead of making a good clean kill shot. Which is just another problem with deer dogging.