Man, I hate it when this comes up...This is like discussing alcohol there are good and bad things that can happen....

I don't mind 6-7 guys getting together with beagles, having one walk through a cutover and pushing deer out to standers, picking up the dogs and moving to another area, kinda like rabbit hunting, I've done it and done properly it is enjoyable and safe....Deer hunting like this has a very rich and enjoyable tradition, especially here in the South......

What I do not like is....15-20 pickups of guys with CB radios, a seat on top of the dog box so a guy with a 30-06 semi-auto can take pot shots as a deer runs across a field...They spot light deer down east to see where bucks are feeding at night (legal in eastern NC, before 11:00pm as long as no gun is in truck)...Then the next morning, they let 12-15 black and tans out and if the deer crosses a highway they are lined up, just off the road with their shotguns (and rifle close at hand)....And another 12-15 black and tans ready to throw on the buck if they see him....We own 3 family farms in this area, we don't live on the farm, these guys know it....Not only will they drive around gates, through fields, drop off a guy (or 3) with radios, they will also drop their dogs off beside the road, put them in our cutover and try to run deer off our property to property that they can access....

These guys have no concern for others property, because all they own is a pickup, deer hounds and a shotgun....They know that you don't want to confront 15 rednecks with a shotgun....The CBs are used to alert each other when the game warden is near, repeated calls to the game warden have done no good, because he is usually 3-4 counties away....We have 4 different clubs in the county, 3 are this way...When you talk to the president of the club, he says he will talk to his guys or blames it on one of the other clubs...Nothing is ever done, ....Its absolutely ridiculous to own 850 acres of prime land and never know if you can get in a quiet hunt or not because of these poachers.......

Trespassing laws in NC are too lax and these guys know this....By the time you know they are on your land, they are gone....Crops are run over, paths torn up by 4wd trucks and several deer hounds left until they get picked up.....Of course its standard practice to take tracking collars off non producing hounds during the last week of the season and leaving them in the woods to fend for themselves....Last year, I went home for a relaxing few days of turkey season....3 deer dogs ran a pack of does by my setup about 8:00 in the morning (in April!!!!)....

That's my take on dog hunting............[:@]