There's the issue -- poachers / still hunters who trespass are conducting illegal activities and can and should be prosecuted. A "still hunter" who comes busting through the brush and screws up a land owner's hunt is breaking the law, while a person who intentionally runs dogs through the same brush and ruins the same hunt has a whole series of excuses and ways out (I'm retreiving my dogs, they're chasing foxes, dogs can't read, etc) and there is very, very little that the land owner can do.

I am not how sure I am of your statement that there are "FAR more still hunters who trespass and actually kill deer" than dogs trespassing. Maybe, maybe not. Of course, a "still hunter" who is smoking cigarettes and standing on my property at a funnel who is waiting for his buddies to run the dogs through -- ishe included inthe type oftrespassing still hunter that you are referring to? Still hunters who trespass and poach are a problem too, but there are already laws in place that make that an illegal activity... therefore there is not big debate about adding more laws to make it more illegal!

Just on my experience, and my property, this year alone, I had two still hunters trespassing - one during bow season and one during gun season (the guy during bow season argued with me and THEN asked for permission to hunt my land! The guy during gun season, carrying both a rifle and a shotgun, and not wearing a stitch of orange, left quickly and apologized -- and we both pretended that he didn't know he was intentionallytrespassing). I had, if I recall correctly, four issues with dogs (the keyword"issues" - not "an occasional dog wandering through my property"). Last year I think I had one still hunter trespassing and multiple, multipleissues with dogs and deer-doggers -- one that included one guy threatening me and law enforcement getting involved. Now, to your point, just about anywhere on my 200 acres I can hear dogs running, but I can't necessarily tell if there are still hunters trespassing unless I hear them shoot or see them.


Now, there are no doubt some "anti-dog hunters" on this board - and they obviously arrived at their strong stance due to their personal experiences (and not through jealousy or any issues related to "fair chase").I think most land owners are willing to work with deer-doggers provided that they are willing to treat the land owner (and their land) with respect. Yes, deer-doggers have the right to come onto my land without permission to retrieve their dogs, but I have my cell phone number on ALL of my posted signs and talking with local dog handlers they have mostly agreed to give me a call if/when they need to come on my land to retrieve their dogs. Are they required to? No, not by law, but they're doing it now out of a courtesy - working with me so as not to spoil my hunt and also for a point of safety - just so I know that there may be someone coming over the north boundary (we are all armed, afterall). That's what I mean by cooperation.

Part of my land borders a hunt club. Used to be, they'd come over and drop their dogs off on the road that runs adjacent to my property so that the dogs could run across my property and onto the club -- that's illegal activity according to the local game warden, but it is near impossible to enforce. The game laws allow deer-doggers to release their dogs on a road and across a public right of way IF that public right of way borders authorized hunting land -- it isn't license to drop their dogs on any road in the state. Talking with the dog handlers, the game warden, and a sheriff's deputy we've reached an understanding. Quite frankly, the dog handler didn't know that it wasn't allowed - he thought that the regulation that let him drop his dogs on a public right of way meant any public right of way. In my post a page or two back, that's what I meant by defining loopholes and educating people.

We need to be able to get beyond the "screw you we've always done it this way, it's our hunting heritage" and the "well screw you, it's my land and I'll shoot any dog that comes on it". Likewise, we need to move beyond the "my form of hunting is better than yours - your not a real hunter" or the "the reason you can't kill a deer isn't because dogs run through your area but because youdon't know enough about hunting" crap. That gets us no where. I don't think we can count on those guys, on either end ofthe argument,to be the ones to start the compromise. The rest of us have to start and either those guys will come along or the whole process will go down the toilet.