Hunting with dogs...

[Cane Pole]

This is a good read...Basically why I don't hunt quail anymore.

Bryan Brasher: Days of running dogs seem to be numbered : Outdoors : Memphis Commercial Appeal

[talltimber]

There's still a few people around here that run deer dogs, but usually they won't run them until after opening weekend. That seems to cause a lot less friction. I like to hear a hot race whether it be hounds or beagles.

[jimmydee1]

Love to hear beagles on rabbits, or hounds on coons but dogs running deer just doesn't seem, well, ethical to me. I know guys that let their dogs run deer to them and they shoot the deer- and call it hunting. Seems to me like the dogs are doin the hunting and the guys are just doin the shootin. Bet they'd even let the dogs field dress it they could teach them to do it.

Just sayin-----

In Missouri it is illegal for dogs to run deer, and per a conservation agent, if you see a dog running a deer you can legally shoot the dog. Now, I'd have a problem shooting someone elses dog, but I know folks who have and will continue to shoot dogs running deer on their private property.

[skeetbum]

Tried for 2 (wasted) seasons to hunt with and near deer dogs with a group in FL 20 yrs ago. Dogs, by and large, were unkept and mistreated. Ethics of the hunters themselves were poor and generally disrespectful of those who didn't run dogs. After a few weeks of season it was common practice to take dogs into still hunt areas and drop them to run deer back into dog areas. A pint in a back pocket was common, by someone carrying a 12ga with buckshot. Suffice to say that I gave them an opportunity to show me something new, and learn another part of Southern Heritage. They didn't show me much at all.
Let me finish by saying that there is little in life that compares to flushing birds over a good pointer. Just seems like a different breed of people than I was in contact with years ago.

[Crappie Buster]

I am a still-hunter. I have been since I started hunting with my dad when I was six. That was 15 years ago and I get just as excited seeing a deer as I did back them. No matter how many I kill or see it still gets my knees knockin' and heart racing.

My cousin grew up a dog man. They still hunt too, but his real love is in dog driving. It's a thing of the past now because so many people have quit doing it for one reason or another. I have had the opportunity to go on a few dog drives with my cousin and let me tell you from a first hand experience...IT IS FUN!!!! The excitement you get when you hear the dogs bringing a deer your way is unbelievable. Not to mention the hunter isn't "just shooting." To shoot a deer on a dog drive takes some skill to say the least. They don't just waltz out real easy like, they are MOVING! Also, the success of a hunter is based largley on stander location. Deer might be running from a dog, but they are still going to use certain escape routes and trails. It's not a lazy man's hunting by no means.

I have to disagree with ppl when they say it's unethical. SkeetBum's crowd sounds unethical to say the least, but in defense, those people can be found anywhere doing anything. I know people, and I'm sure you do to, who do what I call "trash hunt." They are still hunters who shoot anything that moves. Fawns, does with little ones, does on antlered deer days, etc. The same goes for people who keep more than there limit of crappie or keep ones below size laws. These people just make a bad name for their sport! As you can see through SkeetBum's response. If the sport is done right, it is ethical! You may disagree, but I don't see the difference in a dog running a rabbitt, a fox, a hog, or a deer.

In short, I hate to hear when a sport like dog driving gets a bad rep because of people doing it the wrong way! If these people would think about the future generations and not just themselves they might do things a little different!

If you've got the time look up a fellow named David Cooler. He's a artist from Bamberg, SC I believe. He's got a song called Dog Hunting Man. It's a pretty neat song to listen to even if you've never dog hunted.

[Crappie Buster]

By the way, that is a great article Cane Pole! Thanks for posting it.

CB

[jlaughlin72]

It's a good read, and I am a still hunter only for deer, but I love to hear a few beagles hot on the trail of a rabbit. My brother in law lives in MS and used to run deer dogs, and it was always on private land with the permission of the land owners, who often would make the hunt with them. He couldn't afford it, but had a friend who had a tracking collar on his dogs.. I will probably never make a deer hunt with dogs because its just not my thing. Here in La, it is still legal and the best part is that the dog hunt season is near the end of our still hunt season and most of the time we are tired of hunting by then anyways, and it doesn't mess up our opening weekend of still hunt.

[Countryboy N.C.]

It is sad! I have coon hunted for 25 years, about quit now because I have no where to hunt, All the game lands around here are gone because the rich deer clubs give more money Per acre and then shut every one else out, I have tried and tried to get permission from them to hunt after deer season, even offer to pay but they want hear of it! Give up rabbit hunting about 6 or 7 years ago because of the deer hunters, I do take my son deer hunting on my own land some, not knocking deer hunting but the deer hunters will not share anything! We were hunting small game here long before the deer ever came here. The same thing is happening to the bear hunting also, I have done that for about 15 years now, but we have to travel too far now to hunt so I have about give that up! I just hate that my son will never experience that type of hunting. I have been on some deer hunts with dogs and I liked it, If we could do that in our area I would have me some deer dogs! Things have really changed in the last 25 years, for the worst I think! I better hush before we get something started, because I got a lot to say about this subject and I will get riled up here in a hurry!

[Uncle BS]

Love to hear beagles on rabbits, or hounds on coons but dogs running deer just doesn't seem, well, ethical to me. I know guys that let their dogs run deer to them and they shoot the deer- and call it hunting. Seems to me like the dogs are doin the hunting and the guys are just doin the shootin. Bet they'd even let the dogs field dress it they could teach them to do it.

Just sayin-----

In Missouri it is illegal for dogs to run deer, and per a conservation agent, if you see a dog running a deer you can legally shoot the dog. Now, I'd have a problem shooting someone elses dog, but I know folks who have and will continue to shoot dogs running deer on their private property.

Is it more ethical to plant food plots or fill auto-feeders with corn and then shoot them when they come to eat in a nice, lush, green-field( in the dead of winter) ?

It's not that easy to kill a deer running wide open with a pack of dogs behind it. It ain't like it's standing still in a green field & your in a shooting house with a heater going, trying to "pick one out to shoot" !!!!! Is that what you call "hunting" ?

[NIMROD]

Is it more ethical to plant food plots or fill auto-feeders with corn and then shoot them when they come to eat in a nice, lush, green-field( in the dead of winter) ?

It's not that easy to kill a deer running wide open with a pack of dogs behind it. It ain't like it's standing still in a green field & your in a shooting house with a heater going, trying to "pick one out to shoot" !!!!! Is that what you call "hunting" ?

Is it hunting when a bunch of locals messes up everyones still hunting? Here they dump dogs where ever they please, then try to head the race off with tracking collars, 2 way Radios, and driving ATV or Trucks. Even being illegal does'nt slow them down.Takes a fool to run wide open carry'n a loaded gun. Sometimes they even bother to get out of the motor vehicle to shoot! They are a danger to everyone hunting or just driving down the roads!