Deer hunts with dogs stir rising outrage

By STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Hunting deer with dogs, a way of life in some parts of South Georgia, has gained some powerful enemies this year.

Several members of the state Board of Natural Resources are threatening to outlaw the practice in at least one county if the Legislature doesn' t do something to rein in the hunters. The board is likely to at least shorten what' s called the dog hunting season in four of the 41 counties where it' s allowed.

Board member and former Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard said he knows people who live in fear of the dog hunters and feel trapped in their homes during the hunting season from November to January.

" It' s almost like anarchy," Howard said. " I' m telling you, somebody' s going to get killed."

The state Department of Natural Resources, which regulates hunting, is looking closely at four counties considered hot spots: Candler, Emanuel, Jenkins and Screven.

Todd Holbrook, chief of the state' s game management section, said there' s been at least one fight between a hunter and a neighbor in Jenkins. The state also has received complaints about hunters trespassing and threatening to hurt people and damage property.

And most of the 495 landowners surveyed in the four counties said they oppose dog hunting. In Candler, the opposition was 80 percent.

But Holbrook and other state officials said the problems are caused by a small percentage of dog hunters. Most dog hunting clubs stay on their own property, often leased from timber, pulp and paper companies. The problem clubs ignore their neighbors' property rights, allowing their dogs to chase deer onto private land and across public roads.

Bobby Schwallenberg of Collins, president of the Georgia Dog Hunters Association, said his group would support regulations that require dog hunting clubs to register with the state. The ones that cause problems could lose their hunting permits, he said. " If we have a problem club, we don' t want them out there. We do support ethical dog hunting. It' s family-oriented."

The DNR board has been asked to resolve disputes over dog hunting in the past, and has outlawed such hunting in several counties. But opposition has flared again as rural counties where it' s still allowed have become more crowded.