Killer,

You bring up some good points and I don't think you are off on what some of the main problems are and I certainly acknowledge there are problems with the system and dog hunting(and yes some dog hunters). Earlier in the thread I posted what VA's laws are in regards to dog hunting, and in my mind that is where the majority of theseproblems stem from, the root cause. Because right now it is not illegal forapersonsdogs(hunting dogs of course)to beofftheir hunting land and it is not illegal fora dog owner to retrieve his dogs off ofsomeone else's private property, without permission even.In my mind that leads to nowhere but trouble and the stories we hear seem to back that up. Bottom line is it is frustrating to a private landowner and annoying as hell but many of the complaints don't actually involve law breaking. Lots of guys are just using the lax laws to their advantage, I'm not saying it's right or wrongjust that's what I have seenand I've seenboth sides of this coin.

This is a little off topicKP and I just wanted to add for anyone readingthat for the record I own 100 acre farmnear Petersburg that 2 sides of our land border a dog club and the other two sides border private landowners who run dogs as well(I'm very familiar with the term "pot hunter)I don't have much choice during gun season. Basically we are surrounded by dog hunters andwe(my family and friends)are food plot planting, bowhunting, blackpowder toting, hard core still hunters onour piece.These days we have a good relationship with the 2 landowners andhave very littletrouble with thecurrent club but it was not always that way(with the club). I also hunt with a large club on the Eastern Shore and we have recently had to make changes on certain properties about running our dogs, and we made the necessary changes and maintained a positive relationship with the surroudling landowners and the company we lease from. I am honestly speaking on this topic from both sides: landowner and dog hunter.

KP I think you are right about needing a certain amount of acreage and hunting your dogs responsibly. Other states do already require 1,000 contigious (sp?) acres and all of the dogs must be registered. If a person gets too many complaints theycan fine and ticket him and eventually he couldlose his ability to register hounds. Another aspect could be to not use hounds or big dogs on smaller pieces, block up your land and use beagles on the smaller blocks and really hunt smart, wrapping a piece up all the way and everyone help catch the dogs when the deer is killed or headed in the wrong direction.

A lot can be done and I'm sure change is on the horizon. Some won't be happy unless it is banned and some dog hunters won't be happy with any kind of restrictions or guidelines. That is to be expected but hopefullythere willbemore on each side to say "Hey there is some middle ground here somewhere, let's see if we can find it."

Only time will tell.