idunno

I've hunted with dogs in 3 different leases here in central/south Louisiana. Of the 3, only one was even halfway organized about how they did things. We had cut sugar cane fields between patches of woods so standers would line the edges of the fields and wait for the deer to come out of the woods to try to make a break for the next patch of woods.I had no problem with running dogs this way. The problem I have is that it was done entirely too much. Every Sat and Sun for I think 6 weeks or however long the season is. It seemed that they ran every deer completely off the property. I do enjoy deer hunting with dogs, just wish more of the guys would be more organized with how they do it. Some of the guys also hunted in north Louisiana and said they only shoot big bucks up there. I'm not sure how they can do that, but have seen several nice racks that came from in front of a pack of dogs.

One thing I will agree with is that I have never heard of a dog catching a healthy deer. The earlier reference to hyenas, wolves, and coyotes doing it is absurd. These are all quiet stealthy hunters who ambush their prey. Deer dogs are some of the noisiest bunch I've ever heard when on track. There's no way a deer would let them get close enough to even think about catching it.

Anyway, enough ranting. I voted ethical and believe if it's legal, then don't knock it till you've tried it.