I know the law varies from state to state, and here in Iowa it is illegal to employ the use of dogs to hunt deer. The lawmakers have determined that the recovery of wounded deer is part of the "hunt". As a color blind person, if the deer does not drop in sight, I am pretty much at the mercy of others to help me find a deer that has been shot. I also know that literally thousands of deer go unrecovered each year because the hunter could not locate them.

I suggest to all members of this forum in states where it is illegal to use dogs, that you contact your state legislator and request that the law be changed to allow recovery dogs. I just did so here in Iowa and I truly believe that the more people that contact legislators, the better chance we have of having the law changed. I went as far as suggesting that the law be changed here to state that if a dog is used to track a wounded deer, the dog handler and other persons in the party cannot be armed. This was done to alleviate concerns about people skirting the law and claim they were tracking a wounded deer while they are really just hunting.

I now step down from my soapbox (again).